Chapter Forty-One: An Exceptionally Difficult Battle

"No, don't!"
"Brother Gu, come back quickly!"
...
All the fellow disciples, realizing too late, watched in alarm as Fatty Gu fought desperately to attack, shouting anxiously.
A series of strange sounds erupted in quick succession.
They saw two treasure rhinoceros horns successfully pierce the giant scorpion's abdomen, thick, pungent, brownish-yellow viscous liquid splattering out.
Both exceptionally sturdy horn tips were covered in dense cracks.
Fatty Gu, unable to withdraw in time, was flung forcefully to the ground by the violent backlash, the sound of bones fracturing echoing.
...
The Golden Core Scorpion, seemingly shocked that such a weak insect could injure it, instantly spat out a fist-sized golden core, hurling it alongside the tail's massive stinger with a fierce whistling sound, all aimed in fury at the fallen Fatty Gu.
Before everyone’s eyes, a gigantic crater, no less than several dozen meters wide and tens of fathoms deep, appeared.
Fatty Gu, whose combat instincts were exceptionally strong, instantly activated his earth spirit energy the moment he touched the ground, burrowing into the sand. Yet, the violent explosion threw him up again, allowing him to escape death by a hair’s breadth.
"Senior Brother Gu!"
"Brother Gu!"
"Quick, take the medicine!"
...
Several figures immediately appeared at Fatty Gu's side, lifting him up and stuffing several healing pills into his mouth without hesitation.
Meanwhile, the rest of the disciples quickly formed ranks to launch another long-range assault on the Golden Core Scorpion, which was about to strike Fatty Gu again.
Blocked by countless small insects, the giant scorpion instantly recalled its golden core, its radiance mixed with the might of the core as it smashed toward the arrayed disciples.
...

A series of muffled thuds, cries, and cracking sounds filled the air.
Those disciples who had previously hindered the scorpion were now scattered across the ground—some coughing up blood, some with ribs shattered, some with weapons covered in cracks, and some whose weapons had shattered into pieces.
A weak cough.
"It seems that the giant scorpion hadn't even used half its strength when it was toying with us earlier. It was playing cat and mouse all along!"
"What do we do now?"
...
Amid the pale-faced and despairing crowd, Fatty Gu felt as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, helpless and frantic.
...
"Old Qin! Master! Venerable Supreme!"
"What is it?"
"What do you mean, what is it? Your disciple is about to be killed by a demon!"
"Oh, and then?"
"Aren’t you a peerless master? Please, help me out!"
"..."
"Master, I beg you! Take the Earthfire Essence as a filial offering, I don’t want it anymore..."
"Rascal, do you think your master is the kind who covets such trifles?!"
...
A flash of light flickered across the stone pendant. Suddenly, Fatty Gu, still not recovered, jerked as flames erupted all over his body, his power rising more than tenfold in an instant.
"Ah!"
Facing the giant scorpion’s massive pincers about to descend, Fatty Gu shot out like lightning, dodging the claws, and once more charged straight for the wound beneath the scorpion’s belly.
At the same time, his true energy surged, hurling the two rhinoceros horns with all his might to collide with the massive tail stinger that was stabbing toward him, sparks flying in all directions.

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Fatty Gu ripped open the wound in the giant scorpion’s abdomen with brute force and dove inside.
...
This scene left the severely wounded disciples on the ground dumbfounded, and even the Golden Core Scorpion, writhing in pain, was stunned.
Now, inside the scorpion, Fatty Gu’s fire spirit energy blazed fiercely, burning away the corrosive fluids that tried to engulf him, sizzling and crackling like the god of fire himself.
The panicked scorpion quickly drew its golden core back into its body for defense, concentrating all its Golden Core might on its abdomen.
...
Inside the scorpion, Fatty Gu fought for his life, enduring the thunderous blows of the core’s power, gritting his teeth through the suffocating pressure, struggling forward, burning his way inch by inch toward the scorpion’s chest.
"Brother Gu, you really are... sigh!"
"Senior Brother Gu, you must hold on!"
"You must win!"
...
At this moment, all hope and prayers of his fellow disciples rested on Fatty Gu, desperately wishing for a miracle, longing for him to return as a king once more.
After one incense stick, then two, then three,
The massive body of the scorpion finally could not remain aloft, slowly collapsing to the ground.
The hard shell on its abdomen, chest, and back was scorched red.
On the brink of death, Fatty Gu, with no other options as the scorpion’s golden core kept battering him, suddenly grasped the plain stone pendant on his chest...
Within the scorpion, golden light still flared now and then, accompanied by the sound of metal clashing against stone.
A crisp crack.
Just as the golden core was about to be shattered by the stone pendant, it seemed the scorpion finally mustered the courage to perish together with its foe. With its last ounce of strength, it raised its tail and stabbed the massive stinger directly through its own back, burying most of its tail within its body.
Thanks to the warning from Old Qin, Fatty Gu, in that moment of life and death, exploded with his final reserves of strength and narrowly escaped.
...