Chapter 152: Xuanying Treasure Pagoda [9]

As soon as Atlas rushed into the hole he created, the sand flooded in and clogged the gap. In normal cases, one would expect the sand to follow him into the worm's body, but it did not.The sand's contained heat seeped into the worm's flesh and blood, and the mass filling the cavity was turned into a patch that actually served to heal the wound.

As the sand's energy was sapped away, the material itself was expelled through the new flesh that was forming in its place. When the flesh formed, a portion of it separated away and thickened into cartilage through a transmutation-like process.

Atlas definitely caused the beast more pain than it had ever felt in its life, but he didn't actually manage to do any substantial damage.

But that was not a problem. In his current position, it was far easier for him to make an impact.

Holding his breath, he scanned the area around him.

He was submerged in a viscous liquid that felt disgusting on his skin, surrounded by the internal structures of the massive beast.

The majority of its body was filled with this kind of liquid. Its stomach took up most of the other space, while its other organs were very neatly hidden in the expansive space to make them inaccessible from the outside.

Veins and other sorts of channels that distributed nutrients and energy across its body were spun through the entire body like the webs of a gargantuan spider.

They were Atlas' first targets.

He swam while using qi to keep a layer between himself and the liquid.

'It is most certainly acidic. It will corrode any living material it touches.'

Regardless, he still moved through it. seaʀᴄh thё nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

In this space, he couldn't even feel the beast's overall movements. It was like everything around him was in a state of suspended animation while he was the only thing alive.

Qi blasts pushed through the viscous fluid and cleared a path for Atlas to move through. He used his hands as blades and cut through any and all webs that he could see.

The clear fluid and the darkness around him were both suddenly filled with color.

Every time he cut a blood vessel or vein, blood flooded into the space. When he cut nerves, he could feel the vibrations of electricity fizzling out as it lost its path.

He moved without thinking about anything else, and slowly, he started to feel what the beast was doing.

It thrashed around even more violently. The internal bleeding and cuts couldn't be healed so easily, and more importantly, every time Atlas found his way to a nerve, its control over its movements was considerably impacted.

Its rampant movement was meant to throw Atlas off and hinder him, but it actually worked in his favor.

'For the first time, I can sense your organs.'

They were also being moved around the space as they reacted to the wild thrashing, after all. The ripples in the liquid reached Atlas and told him exactly where he needed to go.

He pushed in that direction, arriving before a long, pink sack. It extended as far as his eye could see and even further into the blackness, making him believe that it was the beast's stomach.

'As a Sky Sage, I have enough control over my qi to survive without breathing for several minutes, but that is still only several minutes.'

He projected that in ten minutes at the very most, he would be unable to remain stable without breathing.

'Then, let's make it impossible for you to survive for longer than that.'

[Dominating Fist]

Boom!

A deep sound reverberated through the liquid as a strong punch made contact with the stomach.

[Dominating Fist]

Boom!

[Dominating Fist]

Boom!

[Dominating Fist]

BOOM!

Three huge bursts of qi-amplified power slammed into the stomach lining and burst it open. A mess of green fluids and half-digested creatures flowed into the viscous liquid, forcing Atlas to move back to a distance.

'Now, for the next…'

It was too dark for Atlas to see where he was going, but he didn't care. He was going to move to every single organ he sensed and methodically destroy them until the sand worm was dead. Discover hidden tales at M-V-L

It could not stop him. Now, only time stood in his way.

It was a brutal, silent, and calculated murder scene on the inside of the beast's body, but only chaos was present in the outside world.

It thrashed wildly, its body moving in and out of the sand. It charged up out of the dunes and roared, doing everything in its power to signal its brethren.

OOOOOOOOH!

The trees shook when the worm passed by. They exploded into tatters when it surfaced. Its roars scared away all potential life in the vicinity and its throes tore the environment apart.

The sand worm had nowhere to go.

And it had no choice but to die. Around that time, Atlas found its heart and crushed it to bits.

Its blood still rushed through its body and allowed it to live and desperately flee for its life for a moment longer.

Atlas should have felt some happiness there, but that was the opposite emotion to the one in his mind.

'Ten minutes…'

'...it has been eight.'

His eyes narrowed. It took him far too long to guarantee the beast's death.

He swam with all of his power towards the end of the worm that he believed to be its mouth. He could only hope that he would be able to escape that way.

He swam through the viscous body fluids combined with the various beastly excretions that had been released into the area by his attacks, closing his eyes as he moved through acids and extremely poisonous materials in the name of escape.

Two minutes was not enough time at all. No matter how he swam, he wouldn't be able to reach the end.

He didn't expect it to be like this. No, maybe he did, but he was gambling on a specific idea.

The trial told him to kill the Sovereign Sand Worm. He put all of his chips into the assumption that it would end the moment the beast died.

Still, he swam desperately. He reached the beast's mouth, but he found exactly what he was expecting.

More darkness, but a more physical darkness. A wall of sand, nothing more.

That was the last thing he saw before his two minutes ended. Almost immediately, his face puffed up as he was forced to use only his physical endurance to keep his breaths from escaping.

However, at the same time, the beast's movements stilled. The last of its blood flowed through its veins, and the last signals of electricity fizzled out when they reached the muscles they were meant to reach.

The thrashing of the worm died down. Its body fell lifelessly into the sand. There was only blackness in every direction, and Atlas knew that his qi was fading. The lump in his throat grew and grew as he forcefully kept himself from taking a breath.

He held his throat as his face turned blue. The blackness felt more present as his world began to fade, and then…