Chapter 4372: The Chaotic Desolate Ox
Countless bugs rose from each stone and, following the lightning, flew toward the colossal beast.
The instant he saw the bugs, Lin Moyu's soul roiled with unrest and a deeply buried memory in Little Peng's bloodline awakened along with a powerful sense of terror. Little Peng trembled all over, his jaw moving but unable to utter a sound. Still, the shock in his eyes was clear to Lin Moyu. Lin Moyu didn't press with questions, just waited for Little Peng to calm down, for Lin Moyu saw even more than he did. Among the flashing lightning, a formation faintly appeared, half obscured by the light, but just a few glances filled Lin Moyu with delight.
Within that formation, Lin Moyu glimpsed the traces of the Catastrophic Supreme.
That Supreme would never leave traces lightly after all, his enemy had once been "Dao," and every trace might be used against him. To leave a trace here must be for a purpose.
Lin Moyu instinctively felt this ultra giant chaotic lifeform was far from simple.
He did not act rashly, knowing now was not the time.
When the lightning finally faded and calm returned, the bugs vanished as well. They still existed, but when the lightning disappeared, so too did their visibility. If anyone set foot on those stones now, they'd surely be attacked and unable to escape.
After Little Peng eventually calmed down, Lin Moyu asked, "What did you remember?"
Little Peng's voice was hoarse and much lower than usual, "A segment of bloodline memory resurfaced one sealed away, only triggered under special circumstances."
Lin Moyu asked, "Because of those bugs?"
Little Peng nodded, "Yes, those bugs are called Soul Eater Bugs. Normally, they're invisible, almost undetectable, showing themselves only in special circumstances. They absorb the life force of living beings and are difficult to handle, but the truly frightening thing isn't them it's him."
He continued, "He's called the Chaotic Desolate Ox (混沌荒牛). The Soul Eater Bugs are its symbiotic creatures, even servants. The Desolate Ox was born in the Ancient Wilds, roams chaos, its strength unknown legends say it rivals Supremes."
"Usually it just sleeps. When sleeping, its hide splits off fragments, scattering with Soul Eater Bugs to lure in other lifeforms."
"Any beings entering those fragments are trapped, becoming food for the bugs, who drain their life and transmit the energy to the Desolate Ox."
"Those inhabited by the bugs don't die; the Soul Eater Bugs will control the draining so that, until the Ox wakes and recalls the fragments, only then will all those beings perish once and for all."
Lin Moyu asked, "Why did your ancestor seal these memories?"
Little Peng shook his head, "I don't know, but there must have been a reason. The memory is filled with ancestral fear. Long ago, we must have tangled with the Desolate Ox, but the details are lost."
Lin Moyu asked, "Do you know how many Chaotic Desolate Oxes there are in the world?"
Little Peng shook his head again if it wasn't in the bloodline memory, he didn't know.
Creatures as impossibly powerful as the Desolate Ox could never be many. Born of the Ancient Wilds, with power to rival a Supreme, whether myth or truth, at the very least it was no weaker than any Full Completion powerhouse. Most tellingly, it had no domain, just like the Primordial Worm another signature trait of the Ancient Wilds: becoming peak existences without domain power.
Now that Lin Moyu knew the Ox's name, he realized that to learn more, he'd have to converse with it directly.
But before that, he needed to make preparations always leave an escape route.
He retreated further, putting several hundred million li between himself and the beast before laying a formation. This array had two main functions: teleportation and creating clones. Controlling the cross domain grand array made setting up teleport arrays easier than ever; this one could send him hundreds of billions of li in an instant, always in a random direction, and erase all traces of his presence.
He was thorough; against something like the Chaotic Desolate Ox, you must never be careless.
The second function created a clone, allowing Lin Moyu to send a duplicate forward, risking nothing personal. Even if the clone was slain, no true harm would come to him.
Once the formation was ready, Lin Moyu activated it, remaining in reserve while infusing a shred of soul into the array, grabbing a few chaos grade materials and refining them into a clone. The clone, looking much like Lin Moyu himself, was animated with a touch of soul, appearing lively not stiff.
Lin Moyu and Little Peng hid together within the array, while the clone approached the Desolate Ox.
When a million li away, the clone halted and tried to rouse the beast with soul transmission.
Several attempts brought no response. Lin Moyu realized he'd have to move closer.
He soon entered the stone field orbiting the Ox's body some stones the size of worlds, the smallest bigger than mountains.
He wove carefully among them, knowing that as long as he didn't land upon them, nothing would happen; the Soul Eater Bugs only inhabited their own stones and would not leave them.
Still, Lin Moyu took all precautions.
As he got closer to the Desolate Ox, the stones grew thicker and thicker. These stones did not orbit randomly; they followed fixed trajectories, like satellites, and Lin Moyu matched his pace to theirs slow but safe.
Five hundred thousand li…
Three hundred thousand li…
One hundred thousand li…
At a mere hundred thousand li, the density multiplied again everywhere he looked was packed with swirling stones.
He kept to his route, pressing on.
Suddenly, a booming sound crashed through the void; Lin Moyu's face changed slightly. "Sooner than expected!"
The boom was the Desolate Ox snoring. Each snore had a certain rhythm, but this time it came early.
Lightning exploded from the Ox, forming a web of ten thousand crackling arcs.
Anyone near the beast would have no way to escape.
Lin Moyu's clone could only endure.
Engulfed by lightning, his clone was instantly torn to pieces, unable to mount any resistance at all.
Far away, the true Lin Moyu witnessed this, sighing, "What a headache. Even the snoring isn't regular."
With no hesitation, he directed another strand of his soul into the array, grabbed more materials, and swiftly forged another clone.
This time, Lin Moyu waited for a round of snores to end before advancing the clone.
Armed with prior experience, he navigated expertly to the hundred thousand li mark close enough that the Ox's body could barely be seen in full, only a section. The rocks now crowded so thickly they merged to a solid mass.
He advanced along their orbital route, closing the distance with all haste, fearing another snore would erupt.
A hundred thousand li wasn't far he covered it in mere minutes, now less than ten thousand li away.
One last push, and the rocks would be behind him.
Suddenly, several rocks nearby erupted in dazzling light, thunder rumbled, and swarms of crystalline Soul Eater Bugs burst forth…
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