The rocky path was extremely narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time. Liu Chen walked cautiously, and when he reached the halfway point, he suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet begin to tremble violently.
He looked down and saw the muddy ground on both sides of the rocky path boiling, constantly churning and forming surging waves. Accompanied by a low roar, grotesque mud monsters emerged from both sides of Liu Chen.
These mud monsters resembled Muk, covered in mud and emitting an unpleasant odor. Each one was as tall as an adult man, and their numbers exceeded a hundred! This was a veritable torrent of mud beasts, charging fiercely towards Liu Chen.
Among this group of mud monsters, the leader was a giant mud beast, clearly the king of these monsters—the Beast King. This Beast King was a full three meters tall and over five meters long, with a protective shield of mixed mud and water covering its surface, making it look exceptionally formidable.
With a furious roar from the Beast King, the mud on its body rapidly coalesced into a massive mud ball. This mud ball, like a cannonball, shot directly towards Liu Chen with powerful force.
"So that's how it is, this is the so-called trial!" Liu Chen thought to himself. "If it were any other Gu Master, they would probably spend a lot of time dealing with these mud monsters. But, luckily for me, I encountered them."
Liu Chen was fearless. He immediately activated the Sword Qi Gu within him, and a dazzling sword light instantly shot out from his hand. The sword light was as swift as lightning, accurately cutting through the incoming mud ball.
After the mud ball was cut open, the mud inside splattered everywhere, but Liu Chen's Sword Qi did not stop. He continued to activate the Sword Qi Gu, and the sword light swept through like a storm, cutting apart the gathering mud monsters one by one.
These mud monsters were powerless against Liu Chen's Sword Qi; their bodies were easily torn apart, turning into puddles of mud scattered on the ground.
However, to his surprise, the scattered mud began to slowly gather, as if attracted by an invisible force. They rapidly underwent Fusion, returning to their original state, seemingly unharmed.
These mud monsters were not ordinary creatures but naturally formed elemental beings. Their bodies were composed of mud, possessing powerful self-healing abilities, and were not afraid of physical attacks. For Strength Path Gu Masters and Sword Dao Gu Masters, mud monsters were their bane.
Because neither the powerful strikes of a Strength Path Gu Master nor the sharp sword techniques of a Sword Dao Gu Master could cause substantial damage to the mud monsters. Unless their core could be directly destroyed, no matter how many times they were cut apart, they would quickly recover to their original state, completely unharmed.
The characteristic of Sword Dao was to break through a point to affect a surface; its sword techniques were as swift and sharp as lightning, capable of destroying anything. However, in the face of these mud monsters that were like rotten mud and impossible to support, the advantage of Sword Dao was completely nullified.
"Five-Stage Slash!" Seeing this, Liu Chen unhesitatingly activated both the Sword Qi Gu and the Sword Step Gu simultaneously. With each step he took, a fierce Sword Qi would emerge before him, like sharp swords, ruthlessly tearing open the muddy path ahead.
Liu Chen's figure was like a ghost, moving freely among the mud monsters. Each of his Sword Qi accurately landed on the mud monsters, but these mud monsters seemed to have no physical form; the Sword Qi easily passed through their bodies without causing any effect.
Despite this, Liu Chen did not give up. He continuously activated his Gu, releasing streams of Sword Qi, painstakingly carving a path through the mud monster horde, eventually returning to his starting point.
"What a trial, what a Sword Shadow Trace, what a Ping Du He!" Liu Chen exclaimed. These three consecutive "what a"s made him instantly understand the mystery of this Legacy.
The design of this Legacy was exquisite; the mud monsters were exceptionally troublesome, and ordinary attacks had almost no effect on them, but the Sword Shadow Trace killer move happened to counteract the mud monsters, forming a perfect closed loop.
In other words, only by skillfully mastering and utilizing the Sword Shadow Trace killer move could these mud monsters be eliminated, thereby successfully passing this rocky path and continuing to explore the next Legacy.
Even better, these mud monsters seemed to be confined to the land below and unable to come ashore, which left Liu Chen with a relatively safe area.
"Killer move: Sword Shadow Trace!" Liu Chen returned to the shore and unhesitatingly activated four Gu. A black sword shadow shot out like lightning, and under the control of the Sword Control Gu, it cut through more than a dozen mud monsters like a whirlwind before its power gradually dissipated.
However, the cut mud monsters did not give up; their bodies began to attempt to reaggregate. Seeing this, Liu Chen's lips curled slightly into a confident smile, and he softly uttered a single word: "Break!"
In an instant, tiny streams of Sword Qi suddenly erupted from the scattered bodies of the cut mud monsters, pouring down like a torrential rain, instantly crushing the mud monsters attempting to aggregate, preventing them from reassembling.
After completely turning into mud monsters of mud, many primeval stones gradually began to emerge within their bodies. These primeval stones flickered faintly in the mud, emitting a weak glow.
Seeing this, Liu Chen couldn't help but marvel at Ping Du He's ingenious arrangement. He had originally approached the mud monsters with a trial-and-error mindset, not expecting such an unexpected gain.
However, for Liu Chen, these primeval stones no longer held much appeal. His strength had long surpassed the level of ordinary trial-takers; these primeval stones were merely expendable items to him.
But for other trial-takers, these primeval stones would undoubtedly be their lifesaver. After all, in intense battles with mud monsters, the consumption of one's true essence is immense, and these primeval stones could precisely compensate for that loss.
"Come on, let me kill to my heart's content!" A hint of excitement flashed in Liu Chen's eyes as he unhesitatingly stepped onto the rocky path once more.
As he walked, the surrounding mud monsters were startled, surging towards Liu Chen like a tide, baring their fangs and claws, with a formidable Aura.
Liu Chen showed no fear; he continuously activated his killer moves, wielding Sword Shadow Trace with fierce power in his hands. Each sword strike accurately hit a mud monster, followed by a burst of Sword Qi that instantly slew them.
Mud monsters were killed one after another, and Liu Chen's killer moves became even more formidable.
Just then, the Mud Monster Beast King let out a furious roar. This roar was like a clap of thunder, deafening.
Immediately after, centered around the Mud Monster Beast King's body, a terrifying mudslide swept towards Liu Chen like surging waves.
Seeing this, Liu Chen immediately realized that this Mud Monster Beast King also had Gu parasitic on its body.
"Second Rank Mud Bomb Gu, Third Rank Mudslide Gu, and there should be a defensive Gu..." Liu Chen calmly analyzed the Mud Monster Beast King's attack methods, pondering to himself.