209: Chapter 209 The sword formation is corroded by acid, and Chen Xiaodao is extremely anxious.

The moment the giant arthropod poked its head out from the depths of the wormhole, Chen Xiaodao had already moved.

He didn't wait for the thing to fully crawl out. The high-frequency blades on his arms vibrated, his feet kicked off the ground with a bang, and he shot toward the center of the swarm like an arrow from a bow.

Sword light exploded as psionic trails traced two silver arcs in the air. Immediately after, the preset program launched—the "Star River Sword Array" was activated!

Buzz!

Along the paths carved by the blades, psionic energy rapidly condensed into ring-shaped light tracks. One after another, they rippled outward, sealing the mid-air like a woven net.

Dozens of Purple Beetles about to spray acid were swept by the light tracks. Their movements stalled, and their shells emitted a soft "sizzle," as if suppressed by an invisible force.

"Stay right there!" Chen Xiaodao growled, crossing his arms for a horizontal slash. The final main light track closed, and the sword array was fully formed.

In an instant, the swarm was compressed into a circular area ten zhang in diameter, unable to advance or retreat.

But this victory only lasted for three breaths.

The largest Purple Beetle suddenly raised its back glands, and deep green acid shot out like an arrow, hitting a psionic light track dead center.

The moment the liquid attached, the light track flickered violently. Fine bubbles surfaced, and the psionic circuit actually began to crack!

"What?!" Chen Xiaodao's pupils constricted.

Before he could react, three other beetles sprayed in synchronization. Four streams of acid hit four nodes of the sword array in a cross pattern.

With a boom, the energy became chaotic. The entire sword array creaked like glass, and cracks spread rapidly.

"Shit! This stuff eats psionic energy?!" He leapt back abruptly. A piercing alarm suddenly came from his right arm's servo System—it had short-circuited!

The mecha's right shoulder joint jammed for half a second. In the next moment, a palm-sized beetle leapt through the smoke and latched directly onto his left leg armor. Its glands pressed against the plating, and with a "pssh," it sprayed a stream of thick green acid.

"Argh!" Chen Xiaodao let out a muffled groan. A searing pain radiated from his left leg. The surface of the outer armor blackened and bubbled rapidly, the coolant pipes ruptured, and white mist hissed out.

He stumbled back, leaning against a charred rock, panting heavily as he wiped sweat and acid residue from his face.

The scene before him made his anger flare.

How long had it been? In less than a minute, his sword array had collapsed, his mecha was damaged, and he was dodging in disarray like a trapped beast being hunted.

Those mere fodder who used to turn to ash under his sword could now actually counter his ultimate move?

"I shouldn't be this weak..." He gritted his teeth, his nails digging into his palms. "I clearly practiced for so long, went through seven versions of the operating System, and even the Clan Head said this sword array could cut gold and jade... How can it be useless against a few bugs?"

He looked up at the wormhole. Beetles were still pouring out of the pitch-black opening, their numbers increasing rather than decreasing.

The giant arthropod finally crawled out completely. Its eight metallic legs landed steadily, its triangular head turned slowly, and its spiral drill-mouth opened slightly, as if locking onto a target.

Chen Xiaodao gave a cold laugh. "Come on then, who's afraid of who?"

He forced himself up, holding a single sword across his chest with his left hand while his right hand slammed the emergency charging button.

The mecha's core hummed as it restarted, but his right arm remained stiff and could only be driven clumsily in manual mode.

He stopped attacking proactively, instead lowering his center of gravity and retreating bit by bit using the terrain's blind spots.

Every roll was cautious, avoiding the acid-filled puddles remaining on the ground.

He knew that if he rashly deployed the sword array again, he would only deplete his energy faster and drive himself into a dead end.

Meanwhile, thirty zhang away at the edge of the battlefield, Chen Wuwang finally arrived.

He stood atop the wreckage of a collapsed rune plate. His Mechanical Prosthetic Eye flickered with blue light as it performed a spectrum scan on the area where Chen Xiaodao was located.

In his field of vision, the moment the acid was sprayed, it was slowed down and decomposed—the green slime carried a specific frequency vibration when it left the body, highly consistent with the biochemical enzyme waveform used in a Zerg raid years ago.

"Targeted corrosion medium..." he whispered to himself, his fingers unconsciously tapping the hilt of his dagger. "It's not random destruction; it's specifically designed for composite Materials."

He quickly pulled up combat data from his memory bank: Three years ago during the West Ridge mining disaster, the Zerg had released a similar enzymatic solution specifically to corrode psionic conduits.

Two months ago, the Beipo Liu Clan's mecha test accident was also caused by the protective layer being degraded by an unknown acidic substance, leading to an explosion.

"This isn't a temporary measure; it's a counter-strategy prepared long ago." His eyes turned cold. "Someone knows we use a metal-psionic composite structure and developed a counter-weapon in advance."

The heavy mechas' long-range firepower was now essentially neutralized.

The acid mist was pervasive; the cannon ports would short-circuit from corrosion before they could even finish charging halfway.

The Shadow Guards could only barely hold on with close-combat Rune Guns and flamethrowers. The defensive line was being eaten away bit by bit.

This couldn't go on any longer.

Chen Wuwang's gaze locked onto Chen Xiaodao's position.

The youth was panting behind a charred rock. A large portion of his left leg armor had dissolved, and his right arm's mechanism was smoking, yet his eyes remained fixed forward, showing no intent to retreat.

"Xiao Dao!" He charged forward, shouting as he ran. "Don't force it! Get out of there!"

"I can't hear you!" Chen Xiaodao turned back with a grin, his sweat-streaked face full of stubbornness. "I'm having a blast right now!"

Before he finished speaking, three Purple Beetles leapt from different directions, spraying acid simultaneously.

He rolled violently, narrowly avoiding two streams. The third grazed his shoulder armor, causing a section of the outer plating to collapse with a "pssh," and the alarm blared piercingly again.

"Are you fucking looking for death!" Chen Wuwang roared. His speed increased sharply, and in a few strides, he reached the boy, swinging his blade toward the ground.

The Titanium Alloy Dagger embedded into the scorched earth. Qi exploded, and a shockwave sent several nearby beetles flying.

He grabbed Chen Xiaodao's arm. "Can you still move?"

"Yes!" Chen Xiaodao gritted his teeth and stood straight. "The right arm is just jammed, and the left leg is a bit hot. Everything else is fine."

Chen Wuwang glanced at the mecha's status panel, his brow furrowed. "Servo System short-circuited, coolant leaking, armor resistance dropped below thirty percent. Every move you make now is a gamble with your life."

"So what?" Chen Xiaodao shook off his hand and raised his sword again. "If I don't go, who will? How many spiritual plants have these bugs destroyed?"

"If they break into the main medicinal garden, the 'Nine-Turn Resurrection Grass' that Old Man Lin worked so hard to cultivate will be ruined!"

Chen Wuwang was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "You still remember Old Man Lin's grass?"

"Duh! When I had a fever as a kid, he secretly gave me some to chew. It was bitter and astringent, but I remember him saying—'Xiao Dao, only the living have the right to complain that medicine is bitter.'"

Chen Wuwang nodded, his gaze softening for a moment before turning cold again. "But charging in like this now isn't saving anyone; it's just causing more trouble."

"Then what do you suggest?!" Chen Xiaodao's voice rose. "The sword array is broken, long-range can't pierce the mist, and close-combat can't withstand the spray. You can't expect me to just sit here and watch them tear the place down!"

Chen Wuwang didn't answer, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye continuing to scan the ground.

There was a difference in the evaporation speed of the acid after it hit the ground—the acid that landed on Spiritual Vein residue corroded quickly but evaporated slowly; the acid on ordinary scorched earth actually dried faster.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Wait..." he murmured. "Is this acid afraid of dryness?"

He suddenly grabbed a piece of rubble and threw it into a puddle of acid.

The liquid immediately began to bubble, but as the rubble absorbed the moisture, the reaction weakened significantly.

"It's not afraid of dryness... it relies on humidity to maintain its activity!" He suddenly realized. "They hatch underground in a damp environment. Once they reach the surface, as long as they lose moisture, their corrosiveness drops!"

He turned to stare at Chen Xiaodao. "When you were rolling just now, did you notice the acid traces becoming shallower in the places you stepped?"

Chen Xiaodao blinked, looking down at his footprints. "It... seems like it."

"That's it then." Chen Wuwang's speech quickened. "Their attacks have a window. They're weak after spraying and degrade upon landing. We don't need to face them head-on; we can use rhythm to disrupt them!"

"How? I can't even open the sword array now!"

"Then don't open it," Chen Wuwang said solemnly. "Abandon the preset programs and return to the most primitive sword techniques. Haven't you always been fastest when striking by instinct? Now, use the 'man' to suppress the 'bug,' not the machine."

Chen Xiaodao was stunned.

Abandon the sword array System? That meant all auxiliary locking, trajectory prediction, and energy allocation would go to zero. He would have to rely purely on feel and reaction?

This was equivalent to throwing away all advantages and gambling with his life.

But he looked into Chen Wuwang's eyes; there was no hesitation there, only certainty.

"Do you trust me?" Chen Wuwang asked.

Chen Xiaodao took a deep breath and tore off the damaged armor on his right arm, revealing the exposed mechanical limb interface beneath. "You said it—the mind is faster than the sword. Now, my mind will listen to you."

The corner of Chen Wuwang's mouth curled up. "Good. Next, when I say one, you take a step. No rushing the rhythm, no showing off. Follow my lead."

He raised his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye, locking onto the movements of the swarm. His voice was low and clear:

"Wait for their next round of spraying to end; there will be a two-breath gap. Within those two breaths, circle from the left, advancing along the dry earth belt. I'll draw the fire; you find an opportunity to cut down that lead Purple Beetle."

"And then?"

"And then—" Chen Wuwang sneered, "let them know what a real Sword Cultivator is."

In the distance, the giant arthropod stepped forward slowly, its eight long legs parting the smoke as it closed in on them.

Chen Wuwang gripped his dagger, blood-colored spirit runes quietly surfacing at the edges of his pupils.

The wind swirled with the smell of char across the battlefield. The two stood side by side, motionless against the sky full of black shadows.

Until the first beetle raised its glands again, and the deep green acid traced a lethal arc across the night sky.