94: Insect swarm descends
Having accepted the mission to exterminate the Bone-Eroding Insect Swarm, Liu Qingtian and Wang Gou did not delay in the slightest and immediately left Blazing Fire Town.
The town was crowded with prying eyes, and with Yan Hao as a potential threat, it was far less comfortable than being outside the city.
Following the instructions on the mission map, the two sped toward the northwest of Blazing Fire Mountain.
The environment of the Flowing Fire Realm was extremely harsh; the earth was parched and cracked, the air was filled with the smell of sulfur and scorched material, and occasionally, dark red magma could be seen gushing from cracks in the ground.
The sparse vegetation mostly appeared in an unhealthy, scorched black color, evidently having been long affected by the harsh environment and the Annihilation aura.
After flying for about two hundred li, the surrounding environment became increasingly desolate, and a faint, sour, putrid smell began to permeate the air—the characteristic sign of the Bone-Eroding Insect Swarm's active area.
Liu Qingtian slowed his speed, his Divine Sense spreading out like mercury pouring onto the ground, carefully probing the terrain below.
Very quickly, at the entrance of a massive, honeycomb-like cave, he sensed dense and evil life fluctuations—this was the nest of the Bone-Eroding Insect Swarm.
"There are quite a few, nearly a thousand. The aura of the Insect Mother is deep within the cave, roughly equivalent to a Late-stage Kai Shan Realm Cultivator," Liu Qingtian quickly assessed the enemy situation.
The individual strength of this insect swarm was not high, but they excelled in sheer numbers and were adept at spitting corrosive acid and burrowing for sneak attacks, making them quite troublesome to deal with.
However, for Liu Qingtian, who had mastered the area-of-effect Poison Barrier and the Wither and Flourish Domain, this was the perfect target to test his new tactics.
He was preparing to set up the Poison Barrier to lure the insects out and wipe them all out in one go, but his brows suddenly furrowed, and he abruptly turned his head to look in the direction of Blazing Fire Town!
Wang Gou also sensed something at almost the same time and clicked his tongue: "Tsk, trouble has come knocking, and they've come in a group, no less."
At the edge of the horizon, five powerful Escape Lights were tearing through the air at an astonishing speed! The person in the lead was none other than the Young Lord Yan Hao, his face full of resentment and murderous intent!
And behind him followed four figures with overwhelming auras, their pressure shaking the Void Realm; they were, shockingly, four Golden Body Realm experts!
One of them was the elder who had appeared earlier in the Merit Hall, while the other three were unfamiliar faces, yet their strength was extraordinary: two were at the Early Stage Golden Body Realm, and one was at the Middle Stage Golden Body Realm!
Such a lineup was clearly intended to ensure nothing went wrong, aiming to completely annihilate Liu Qingtian here!
"Broken willow tree! Let's see where you can run now!" Before Yan Hao had even arrived, his arrogant voice rolled over like thunder, filled with the smugness of one who believed victory was assured. "If you're sensible, obediently hand over the willow wood heart, and this Young Lord might grant you a quick death! Otherwise, I will ensure you suffer a fate worse than death!"
The pressure of the four Golden Body Realm experts combined, like four invisible mountains pressing in from all directions, firmly locking Liu Qingtian and Wang Gou in this airspace.
The Bone-Eroding Insect Swarm below also seemed to sense this terrifying pressure, becoming agitated but not daring to rush out of the cave.
Facing a lineup that would make the vast majority of Kaishan Realm Cultivators despair, Liu Qingtian did not show the slightest hint of panic on his face.
He even had the leisure to glance at Wang Gou, who was still looking on as if it were a show, and asked calmly: "Are you afraid?"
Wang Gou shook his head like a rattle-drum: "Afraid? Of course I'm afraid! Golden Body Realm experts, and four of them! brother, should we just make a run for it?" Although he said he was afraid, his eyes were full of excitement; clearly, his talk of "making a run for it" was just a joke.
Liu Qingtian ignored him and looked calmly at the five people, including Yan Hao, who arrived in an instant.
The Golden Body Realm was indeed one major Realm higher than his, and under normal circumstances, he had zero chance of winning.
However, he was not without a trump card.
Feeling the silent purple-black great halberd—burying netherworld—in his Sea of Consciousness, Liu Qingtian felt a coldness in his heart.
The cost of using it was immense; every time, it would leave him with a massive debt and even drain his Origin.
But at this very moment, facing the encirclement and killing intent of four Golden Body Realm experts, this was his only reliance to quickly turn the situation around.
"More debt doesn't weigh you down..." Liu Qingtian silently repeated one of Lin Feng's catchphrases, a flash of determination in his eyes.
Compared to his life, the debt didn't seem unacceptable. As long as he was alive, there would always be a day to pay it off.
Just as he was about to communicate with the burying netherworld, willing to take on more debt to exchange for power—a sudden change occurred!
The sky of the entire Flowing Fire Realm suddenly darkened without warning! It was not dark clouds blocking the sun, but a deeper, eerie dimness, as if the space itself had been twisted and obscured!
Immediately following this, an indescribable screeching sound that made the Soul tremble came from the extremely high firmament! The sound was sharp and dense, as if billions of lives were shrieking at the same time!
Crack! Crack-crack!
The sky of the Flowing Fire Realm, already riddled with cracks, was now being forcibly torn open like shattered glass, creating countless massive, pitch-black spatial rifts!
Through those rifts, a hair-raising sight could be seen—endless, hideous creatures resembling giant insects were pouring out from the rifts like a tide!
These creatures varied in size, some as small as calves, others as large as mountains, covered in hard chitinous carapaces, their compound eyes gleaming with cold light, and sharp fangs exposed as their mouthparts opened and closed.
Their auras were tyrannical and chaotic, filled with a pure desire for destruction!
"It's... it's the Insect Race! Interstellar Insect Race! How can there be so many?!" The Middle Stage Golden Body Realm expert beside Yan Hao exclaimed, his face instantly draining of color!
It was not just in their direction; looking around, the entire sky of the Flowing Fire Realm was covered by countless torn spatial rifts and the surging army of the Insect Race!
This scene was more than a hundred, even a thousand times larger in scale than the Annihilation Beast Tide they had encountered before!
"It's over... the Flowing Fire Realm is finished..." another Early Stage Golden Body Realm Cultivator muttered, his eyes filled with despair.
An insect invasion of this scale had far exceeded the limits of what the Flowing Fire Realm could withstand! This was no longer a local conflict, but... a world-ending catastrophe!
Liu Qingtian also looked on in shock at this terrifying scene where the very heavens and earth changed color.
The Interstellar Insect Race, he had only heard of them in Lin Feng's information; they were a disastrous race that struck fear into the hearts of all in the Myriad Heavens and Myriad Realms. Wherever they passed, not a blade of grass would grow, and even the Origin of the world would be devoured completely!
He instantly understood that the Realm wall cracks and Annihilation aura he had sensed earlier were likely not caused solely by the Annihilation Beast; more importantly, it was these Insect Race creatures behind it all!
They were the true culprits causing the Flowing Fire Realm to verge on destruction!
"Young... Young Lord! What do we do?!" Yan Hao's guards were also panicking; faced with this overwhelming insect tide, personal grievances seemed so small and ridiculous.
Yan Hao's face was as pale as paper; no matter how arrogant he was, he knew what this scene meant. Family? Power? In the face of a world-ending insect tide, they were all bullshit!
He now only wanted to escape back to Blazing Fire Town immediately, activate the strongest defensive Formation, or simply find a way to flee the Flowing Fire Realm!
However, the speed of the Insect Race was faster than imaginable!
In the time they were stunned, the vanguard of the Insect Race that had surged out first was already pouring down toward the earth like a black waterfall! One group was heading directly toward the location of Liu Qingtian, Wang Gou, and the five people with Yan Hao!
It was a torrent composed of thousands upon thousands of flying insects, emitting ear-piercing screeches, spraying green acid from their mouthparts, and their sharp limbs gleaming with cold light!
"Not good! Defend quickly!" The Middle Stage Golden Body Realm Elder reacted first, roaring and summoning a massive flame shield to block in front of everyone.
The other three Golden Body Realm experts also used their own methods, raising their Protective Aura to shield Yan Hao in the center.
Liu Qingtian also reacted instantly. He contracted his Wither and Flourish Domain to the extreme to protect himself and Wang Gou, while simultaneously spreading out the Formless Poison Barrier to try and block the insect tide's impact.
But he could feel that, facing this massive insect tide with not-so-weak individual strength, the effect of his Poison Barrier would be greatly diminished.
Rumble!
The insect torrent smashed fiercely into the flame shield raised by the Golden Body Realm Elder, emitting a deafening roar! The shield trembled violently, the flames flickered unsteadily, and the acid hissed as it corroded the surface of the shield!
More insects bypassed the shield, lunging at everyone from all directions!
The battle erupted instantly! And it was a desperate, unequal battle!
Liu Qingtian brandished his willow branches, each strike containing potent poison and Qi of Life and Death, knocking away and poisoning the lunging insects. But the number of insects was too great; they were endless, and his Demonic Power was being consumed rapidly.
Under the protection of the four Golden Body Realm experts, Yan Hao was temporarily safe, but he was scared out of his wits, only able to randomly cast some low-level Spells, which were completely useless.
Wang Gou's figure flickered in and out of the insect swarm; his attack style was peculiar, seemingly not directly killing the insects but always managing to aptly incite the insects to attack each other or cause their attacks to miss, appearing to have plenty of room to spare, but facing the boundless sea of insects, he could only protect himself.
"We must break out! Otherwise, we will be worn down and die here!" the Middle Stage Golden Body Realm Elder roared, having already felt the immense pressure.
Liu Qingtian fought while calmly observing the situation. The primary target of the Insect Race seemed to be the Origin of the Flowing Fire Realm and its living beings; they were not concentrating their full force to besiege these few "little snacks." This might offer a glimmer of hope.
His gaze turned once again toward the bottomless burying netherworld.
Perhaps, he didn't need to fully awaken it; he only needed to borrow a sliver of its power to open a path to survival...
Just as his thoughts turned, from the higher firmament, within that largest spatial rift, a suffocating, terrifying pressure far exceeding the Golden Body Realm slowly descended!
A massive, incomparable shadow began to emerge from the rift...
The true disaster had only just begun!