The monster beneath suddenly cried out in pain and began to struggle, trying to flip over to alleviate the agony in its body.
With such a large monster and her mana temporarily frozen, this was extremely perilous for Su Xi. One wrong move could cost her life.
The liquid in the pool below, whatever it was, had incredibly potent corrosive properties and wouldn't show her any mercy.
If she fell in, she would undoubtedly be reduced to dust.
Therefore, facing the monster that was starting to turn, Su Xi could only keep running.
She strongly believed that if she ran fast enough, she could find solid ground again before the monster fully flipped over and avoid falling into the accursed lake water below.
Fortunately, Su Xi's physical conditioning was excellent. Just as the monster began to turn, she landed on another part of its belly, narrowly escaping the corrosive fate.
The monster's massive commotion instantly attracted others.
"Report, Commander, the Heavenly Pool Worm Mother has suddenly become agitated."
"The Heavenly Pool Worm Mother is beginning to devour the demon-beasts."
"The Heavenly Pool Worm Mother is about to collapse the room."
...
It was very dark, and Su Xi couldn't see the situation outside, but she could clearly hear the conversations of those people.
Hearing the sounds from outside, she immediately used her supercomputer to investigate what exactly the Heavenly Pool Worm Mother was. Not only was it enormous, but its abilities seemed quite powerful, almost causing her to lose her life inexplicably.
Fortunately, Su Xi had previously uploaded the information from the scripture repositories of the Five Great Immortal Mountains into her supercomputer, making it very convenient to use now.
After a mere 0.00001 seconds, she successfully retrieved information about the Heavenly Pool Worm Mother.
Although the description wasn't extensive, it was enough to shock her.
Upon reading the introduction to the Heavenly Pool Worm Mother, Su Xi's mood worsened.
The Heavenly Pool Worm Mother was a creature from the demon realm, constantly submerged in the Demon Swallowing Pool. It was hermaphroditic, capable of converting the demonic energy from the Demon Swallowing Pool into demonic fetuses, thus creating demon-beasts. Simultaneously, because it generated powerful demonic energy itself, it consumed the surrounding spiritual energy. Without the replenishment of spiritual energy, Su Xi's mana naturally became unusable.
The Heavenly Pool Worm Mother itself possessed no offensive capabilities, but its sheer size was enough to exert immense deterrence even without it lifting a finger.
What was even more terrifying was its ability to utilize the remains of demon-beasts to successfully replicate them. Furthermore, this replication ability was indiscriminate.
Regardless of any innate talent a demon-beast might possess, as long as it was given enough fragments, the Worm Mother could replicate it perfectly.
After understanding the explanation of the Heavenly Pool Worm Mother, Su Xi instantly realized that the demon-beasts in the mysterious rooms before must have been its offspring.
However, they had not yet been infused with souls, which was why they couldn't move for the time being.
Thinking this through, Su Xi became even more perplexed as to why these people were creating so many demon-beasts. And who exactly was the demon-beast being imitated.
But she was incredibly fortunate that her reaction had been swift enough.
Otherwise, if those demon-beasts had been unleashed onto the battlefield, countless lives would have been lost.
"Wuwuwu!"
Soon, a series of horn calls echoed throughout the entire space.
The sound of these horns was incredibly strange, mournful and filled with an eerie sensation that made Su Xi feel drowsy.
Concurrently with the horns, people were continuously throwing things into the Demon Swallowing Pool.
The immense chewing sounds of the Heavenly Pool Worm Mother emanating from the vast space sent shivers down Su Xi's spine.
"Ah."
"Don't kill me, I won't go."
Suddenly, several cries of distress pierced Su Xi's eardrums.
These voices were familiar; they belonged to the people who had caused her trouble in the Five Great Immortal Mountains. She just hadn't expected to encounter them in such a manner.
Unfortunately, their cries were of no avail.
Accompanied by a splash, they quickly fell silent.
After consuming so many human sacrifices and with the surrounding soul-soothing incantations, the Heavenly Pool Worm Mother soon quieted down, instantly returning to its former serenity.
Su Xi, still on the Heavenly Pool Worm Mother's belly and being too small, was not noticed by anyone at this moment.
Seeing that the Heavenly Pool Worm Mother had been pacified, the others prepared to leave.
The Heavenly Pool Worm Mother was about to lay its eggs, and they couldn't disturb it.
After those people left, Su Xi quietly followed them.
However, she hadn't yet noticed that wisps of black energy were continuously converging into her body from behind.
Su Xi soon caught up with the departing group and stealthily followed them.
No one in the group noticed that someone had joined them, and they continued to go about their tasks.
After following the group for a while, the leader's hand suddenly emitted a blue light, and he stopped, giving orders to the others: "Strange, the Heavenly Pool Worm Mother is boiling again. Hurry and capture more people."
"The rest of you, follow me and continue with the sleeping incantations."
Their plan could not be disrupted, so nothing could go wrong.
Su Xi heard this and immediately followed the group tasked with capturing people.
Since these people wanted to leave quickly, she naturally had to find the people as soon as possible.
Only by finding the disciples imprisoned in the Five Great Immortal Mountains and obtaining their assistance could they turn the tide. Otherwise, relying on herself alone, she would be unable to achieve it.
The group began to move forward. After passing through several heavily guarded checkpoints, they successfully located the area where the prisoners were held.
"Each of you grab two, and hurry to follow me." The squad leader issued the order, then immediately grabbed two people in front of him, slung them over his shoulder, and walked out.
These people from the Five Great Immortal Mountains had already been subjected to restrictions, their entire bodies of mana were sealed, and they were unable to exert any power. Therefore, dealing with them was as easy as pie.
He had been here for many years and was well aware of the horrors of the Heavenly Pool Worm Mother boiling.
Once the Heavenly Pool Worm Mother boiled and went berserk, it wouldn't just fail to produce demon-beasts according to their will, but it could also destroy this place.
The Demon Swallowing Pool, being an item of the demon realm, meant that if they were to come into contact with it, they would be utterly annihilated, with not even their souls able to escape.
The squad leader ran out with two people on his shoulders, but after only a few steps, he realized that no one was following him.
"These sons of bitches, daring to slack off." The squad leader threw the two people on his body to the ground and began walking back into the room, intending to settle the score.
He wanted to see if these people had the guts to disobey his orders.
At a time when the Heavenly Pool Worm Mother was boiling, they dared to falter.