Poison God's Heritage

Meng Hao was the first to descend, blazing a trail through the rakshasa swarming below. From a distance, you could see him lighting up his palms, each glowing with deadly intent. He sent precise, shattering palm strikes left and right, every movement perfectly timed and devastatingly effective. Each blow landed squarely on a rakshasa's chest, and the moment his palm made contact, a fiery incineration erupted from within the creature. A hand-shaped flame seared their bodies, burning through their orifices and joints until the creatures exploded into smoke and ash, turning to nothing more than cinders.

Following Meng Hao was the Jade Dragon, his spear dancing through the air like a living thing. Each swing echoed with the roar of an ancient dragon, the sound reverberating through the cavern as his spear cut apart the rakshasa with deadly precision. Where his spear struck, the rakshasa were reduced to brittle shards of crystallized jade, their bodies shattering as they fell.

I descended next, Creeping Demise in hand, the sentient blade ever eager for destruction. Each swing of the weapon extended its reach, cleaving through the white rakshasa with ruthless efficiency. At times, the blade would split into nine serpentine heads, each moving independently. Some heads belched searing flames, others spewed corrosive poison that melted through rakshasa flesh, while others bit down and injected venom that caused the creatures to explode in a canopy of death and devastation. None survived the blade's fury.

Just the three of us were enough to obliterate the majority of the rakshasa that dared to crawl out of their pit, leaving only a few stragglers for the rest of the group.

Dao Shen, in his usual eerie silence, moved through the fray like a shadow. He jumped from one rakshasa to the next, opening his mouth and devouring what could only be described as a corrupt form of soul—though we had long confirmed that the rakshasa had no souls. What Dao Shen consumed was the twisted fragment of a stolen Heavenly Dao, the same power that created the first rakshasa. He was a master of devouring this corrupted essence, and the creatures crumbled in his wake.

Master Rain was a sight to behold, descending in a lotus position, hundreds of small intricate formations swirling around him. These formations were reminiscent of the Cryptic Sun's formation net, but far more powerful. Where the Cryptic Sun relied on brute cultivation power, Master Rain's formations were the result of genius-level mastery and dedication to the art. Lightning bolts rained down from the formations, each one striking with thunderous force, disintegrating any rakshasa caught in their path.

Zhang Tian and Law and the Fire King descended with less fanfare, mostly because there were no rakshasa left to reach them. The Slave kept a vigilant guard, fending off the occasional stray rakshasa with brutal efficiency, ensuring no creature could threaten the two.

The rest of the group—Blue Sun, Tao Yang, YuYu, and Liang Yu—followed from the rear, conserving their energy. The battle was already in hand, and they were wisely keeping themselves fresh for what was still to come.

The flight downward took far longer than we had anticipated. The cave seemed endless, and the oppressive darkness made it feel as though time itself had slowed. After what must have been a full day or more, we finally reached the bottom of the massive chasm.

The sight that greeted us was both awe-inspiring and unnerving. We found ourselves in an enormous cavern, its size so vast it seemed to stretch into infinity. The walls and floor were dotted with towering crystals, each one glowing faintly from the dim light of the moss we had seen earlier. It was as though we had entered a forest of glass, where the crystals refracted light in all directions, casting ghostly shadows and creating an almost otherworldly atmosphere.

The air was thick and humid, clinging to our skin, and the stench was unbearable. A mix of ammonia and sulfur filled the cavern, making it feel like we had walked into a giant public toilet. It was sickening, but with a simple tweak to our cultivation, we blocked out the smell.

"What's the plan?" Law asked, his voice echoing off the cavern walls in a way that seemed unnaturally loud.

He immediately slapped his hands over his mouth, eyes wide with regret. "I didn't think it would echo that much!" he said, switching to divine sense.

I shook my head, suppressing a smile. "We're not exactly on a stealth mission, but let's try not to draw more attention than we need to. The palace is still far ahead. Let's pick up the pace."

Without another word, I took to the air again, flying above the crystalline ground. The others followed suit, silently moving through the dimly lit forest of crystal.

As we moved, we passed several sleeping rakshasa. Their grotesque forms lay scattered throughout the cavern, some curled up near the crystals, others sprawled across the mossy floor. We had no desire to wake them; engaging them now would only slow us down. If we could avoid a confrontation, it would be better for us in the long run.

But fate rarely bends to one's will. Despite our best efforts, some of the rakshasa stirred. Their eyes snapped open, and they let out low, guttural growls. From ahead, more appeared, charging toward us with reckless abandon. Two massive brutes—rakshasa far larger and more vicious than the others—smashed through the crystal forest, their speed and strength terrifying.

In their charge, the brutes crushed several of the slower-moving white rakshasa underfoot, caring little for their own kind as they barreled toward us.

The Jade Dragon was the first to respond. With two swift swings of his spear, he decapitated both brutes in one fluid motion. Their blood sprayed into the air, mixing with the already foul stench of the cavern. Unfortunately, the sight of their fallen kin only stirred the other rakshasa into a frenzy. More and more began to awaken, their growls and roars growing louder by the second.

"Let's move faster," I said, urging the group forward as I threw several cannisters and pills into the air. The devices exploded into clouds of green and purple smoke, filling the cavern with noxious fumes. Any rakshasa that touched the smoke instantly froze, their bodies turning to brittle ice before shattering. It wasn't enough to kill all of them, but it slowed our pursuers considerably.

The Jade Dragon and the Slave led the charge, tearing through any rakshasa that dared come close. Their Heaven Stage cultivation allowed them to clear the path ahead with ease, ensuring that the rest of us could move unhindered. Blue Sun stayed close to me, her presence a reminder that she was our trump card. She was the only Sun Stage cultivator among us, and we needed her strength conserved for the inevitable confrontation with the Liberator.

Our advance was steady, but something had been nagging at me since we started our descent. Something... wrong.

"Tao Yang," I called out through divine sense, my eyes scanning the dark cavern ahead.

"Yes?" she replied, her voice cutting through the rising cacophony of rakshasa growls.

"When you mentioned earlier that the Queen had woken up... what exactly did you mean?"

She hesitated, her divine sense carrying a tinge of unease. "When we were investigating the deaths in one of the settlements, Dao Shen devoured the last remnants of a soul. It triggered something—a disturbance in the cave. A massive protrusion shot up from the ground, something similar to the appendages of the First Borns, but... different."

My frown deepened. "Another First Born?"

"No," Tao Yang replied firmly. "We've seen the First Borns before. This was different. The First Borns have flesh that resembles humans—just grotesquely inflated. But this... this was scaly, pitch black, and far sharper. There was a foulness to it, something that made my skin crawl. It's hard to describe, but it felt like all the worst things in the world manifested into a single entity."

Her words sent a shiver down my spine. "No wonder that thing coming toward us is making me feel like I want to throw up."

From the depths of the cavern, a massive, writhing tentacle-like entity began to emerge, its grotesque form illuminated by the dim light of the crystals. The ground trembled beneath it as it slithered forward, and the foul stench intensified, becoming almost unbearable.

It was the Queen. And she was coming.