CHAPTER 1357 THE DISADVANTAGES OF THE ARCHEAN GODLY ENERGY

This was a land that remained untouched, a legacy left behind from the Archean Age, fraught with the

mysteries of the unknown.

Therefore, Darren instinctively felt cautious when he came across the stone balls arranged so neatly

around the flat wilderness. Even though they sat peacefully in place, their presence sprouted an

unsettling feeling in Darren's heart.

Whoosh!

Darren's sword intent flew out, piercing through the air and struck one of the stone balls in its scope.

The ironclad defense of the stone ball deflected Darren's sword intent, causing it to dissipate almost

effortlessly, leaving only a white mark on its surface to vouch for the strike.

"Damn. That stone is almost impenetrable!" Weber exclaimed, taken aback by the spectacle.

"Don't read too much into it, Darren. It may be sturdy, but it's just a stone. What harm could it possibly

do? Let's keep moving."

Shrugging the looming danger aside, Sally flew out.

"See? It's totally okay! There's nothing to worry about."

Sally continued to exaggerate her conjecture by flying low. She then turned to look at Darren and the

others to prove her point, turning her back towards the stones.

"Sally! Watch out!"

Everyone's face paled at the sight of the stone cracking under her. A yellow claw extended from the

crack, trying to grab her.

Taking caution from their sudden reaction, Sally propelled herself into the air to avoid the approaching

calamity.

Whoosh!

Hot on her pursuit, a black figure chased after her.

Carefully, she steadied her movements to launch a strike, all the while maintaining a safe distance from

the black figure. Brandishing a purple sword, she flung herself downwards.

The sword shadows she unleashed launched themselves at the black figure, amassing to land a heavy

blow.

"Pathetic. Not even worth breaking a sweat!" Sally relaxed, flipping her hair aside tauntingly.

Bang!

Suddenly, an overwhelming force rushed in her direction. Although the black figure appeared ragged

and its body cloaked with uneven wounds, it was still alive! Even in such a feeble state, it managed to

subdue Sally.

"Ah!" Screaming bloody murder, Sally writhed helplessly in its clutches. She felt something sharp

piercing itself into her throat.

Whoosh!

At this moment, a sword intent sprung out from nowhere, decapitating the black figure, putting an end

to Sally's suffering.

The source of it was the Beast-subduing Tripod held by Darren.

The black figure then collapsed on the ground, having lost its vitality. Upon closer inspection, it was

revealed that it was actually a bird with a long sharp mouth. Judging from the fluffy feathers, the bird

was only an infant.

Worried, Weber rushed to Sally's side to see if she was okay.

"I was so scared..." Sniveling, Sally tried to hold back her tears, grabbing Weber's arm feebly. Although

her cultivation base was not low, she had always been cultivating in the Starry Sword Region and had

never experienced a real battle. After her recent near-death encounter, she was left traumatized.

"Don't be scared. I'm here now. Everything will be alright!" Weber puffed out his chest, attempting to

make himself look reliable. Noticing Sally's fragile state, he tried to offer her emotional support by

gently consoling her frail body, allowing her to lean against him.

However, she quickly removed herself from Weber's embrace and jumped into Beatty's arms.

Rejected, Weber averted his gaze, concealing his defeated expression. He thought he could win over

Sally's heart by offering her a shoulder to lean on, but he was wrong.

"To think that just a newborn baby bird was so capable. It's frightening. We should be more careful

when venturing into the Archean relic." Lindsay glanced around, stricken with worry.

"I second that. The creatures of the Archean Age have innate strength. We should steer clear of them."

Darren worded out, gazing into the distance. As far as the eyes could see, the area was choked with

stone balls. It was in their best interests to avoid that path entirely. Nodding to himself, he decided to

lead everyone through the other road.

With Darren in the front, they walked along the left side of the edge.

After traveling one hundred kilometers on foot, there was no stone ball in sight.

They continued to tread along this path, devoid of any potential danger.

"Did someone die here?"

Before long, Darren and the others came across a patch of land besmirched in blood. From the looks of

the flesh, the victim appeared to be human, but it was hard to pinpoint who it was.

"Someone was definitely killed here. From the looks of the scattered blood, it only makes sense that

they had a struggling battle. It's not safe to go that way."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Sally voiced her concerns, clutching her fluttering heart tightly. The

last traumatic event still fresh on her mind.

According to the age in the Primitive Wilderness, Darren was much younger than Sally. Despite that,

Darren's maturity level outshone Sally's by leaps and bounds.

"Let's stop here and cultivate on this spot. The old man from the Ancestral Land said that the Archean

godly energy is good for us. We should try it and see if something useful comes out of it for us." Beatty

suggested the idea, referring to Darren and the others.

"Sounds good to me. Let's do it then." Darren nodded, acknowledging her idea.

They hunkered down, leaving a wisp of god's sense outside to prevent a sneak attack, and then sank

into cultivation.

As he concentrated, Darren activated his talent and began to absorb the abundant godly energy from

the atmosphere, pulling it towards him.

In just an instant, his meridians were overflowing with godly energy. However, the godly energy here

differed from that of the outside world. It was also different in appearance, a pale-yellow color, like that

of quicksand. holds text © rights.

"Huh? Incredible..."

His insides experiencing constant evolution from the sudden surge of energy made his heart skip a

beat. The godly energy breached his elixir field and made his cultivation level improve exponentially.

In just a quarter of an hour, he had almost broken through to the upper-level Star God Realm!

The sudden increase in his strength overwhelmed Darren. Cherishing the results brought by absorbing

the Archean godly energy made him work harder with unwavering fortitude.

Soon, eight hours passed with Darren cultivating calmly.

Crack! Crack!

During this interval, every energy meridian in Darren's body had undergone the tedious process of

being broken and later reunited, which was a sign of breaking through.

"I reached the upper-level Star God Realm already?"

The whole ordeal of improving this much at such a quick rate baffled Darren.

"How can this be? It doesn't seem natural. Something's definitely up." The speed was too good to be

true. It was enough to make Darren suspicious.

"Ouch!"

Darren felt a sharp pain spring from his elixir field!

A ball of yellow sand was brewing up a storm in his elixir field, spinning and rampaging inside.

To neutralize the storm enough to tolerate its effects, Darren mobilized his god's power, attempting to

push the sand out.

However, before he could go through with executing the countermeasure, his god's power was

absorbed by the yellow sand in one fell swoop!

Having added more power to its gears, the yellow sand expanded its horizons and spun more fiercely.

"There's something wrong!"

Helpless, Darren opened his eyes and screamed on top of his lungs, all the while enduring the pain

from the commotion in his elixir field. "Everyone, stop absorbing the Archean godly energy! It will

destroy your elixir field!"

However, when he stopped screaming, it dawned upon him that it was already too late from the image

that greeted his eyes. Everyone's face lay devoid of color, blood dripping from the corners of their

mouths. They looked miserable in pain.

Meanwhile, the sandstorm in Darren's elixir field continued to bear its fangs, intensifying the agony.

Darren could tolerate it himself, but the rest of them had never experienced such torment. Their bodies

collapsed to the ground and began to convulse, forced to their wit's end.

If they didn't find a way to control it in time, their elixir fields would be torn to shreds.

In a moment of desperation, Darren directly activated the Assimilating Force.

The Assimilating Force made quick work of the ball of yellow sand and wrapped it in its influence,

putting a stop to Darren's suffering altogether. However, unlike the pain, the yellow sand did not

disappear entirely. It was just blocked from functioning by the Assimilating Force.

As soon as Darren recuperated, he noticed the ground in front of him crack open. Several bumps

started to take shape on the now rugged landscape as if something was preparing to come out of it.

Darren felt helpless. His mind was torn between his friends, who were treading on the thin line that

stood between life and death, and the approaching calamity about to sprout from the ground.

After a while, the things lingering on the ground finally showed up.

They looked like "earthworms," but they were as thick as thighs, wriggling their long and soft bodies. In

just a blink of an eye, the ground was swamped with their population.

Darren activated his black god's power and the dark gold god's power. With the giant worms in his

scope, he used his Beast-subduing Tripod to lay waste to them.

The golden light emitted from it quickly spread its influence in many directions and struck a few giant

earthworms. As a result, they broke down into smaller components but did not die.

To his surprise, the components separated from the bodies of the earthworms regenerated to form new

bodies, only adding to their numbers.

Shocked from the revelation, Darren watched with his mouth agape.

'How do I get rid of them? This is insane!' The more he killed, the more worms would grow. It was an

endless process.

'Fuck, run!'

Sizing the odds in his mind, Darren decided to retreat.

Releasing his god's power once more, Darren plucked everyone from the ground and flew into the air,

trying to escape the meddlesome worms.

Countless earthworms shot out from below and chased after Darren. Their speed was on par with his.