Chapter 1287: Giant Insect Attack

The old man chuckled, saying, "Since Young Han has spoken, I won't press the matter further." He then fell silent.

Han Li smiled faintly, looking around him once more. He stood quietly on the giant tortoise, also saying nothing.

Since the giant tortoise Han Li was riding was in the middle of the convoy, it remained still. However, other tortoise-carts from both the front and back quickly converged towards their location.

Before long, over thirty giant tortoises formed several simple defensive formations.

The fifty or sixty knights riding giant wolves also gathered, positioning themselves outside the defensive perimeter. They were led by the scar-faced man, and surprisingly, the blue-robed girl was also among them, with the blood-red strange tiger crouching beside her.

The distant bird calls grew more urgent and closer. When several crimson birds appeared in the distance, circling high above, the scar-faced man roared with a grim expression: "Prepare for battle! All transport tortoises, assume defensive positions!"

As soon as he spoke, all the drivers on the giant tortoises cracked their whips on the creatures' massive heads. The towering beasts, which had been standing steadily, slowly crouched down, retracting their heads and limbs into their immense shells, transforming into what resembled colossal blue boulders lying across the ground.

From the distance, rumbling ground tremors could also be heard. A vast expanse of yellow dust appeared at the horizon, rolling towards them, completely obscuring anything within.

The scar-faced man's expression was grim. Without a word, he simply waved his hand, and all the knights beside him silently raised their mace-like weapons, displaying a remarkably disciplined demeanor.

Seeing this, a hint of surprise flashed across Han Li's face. But before he could ponder it further, another sight unfolded that left him stunned.

The scar-faced man suddenly raised a hand and tossed a jade-green pill into his mouth. Immediately, with a long roar, yellow light coursed over his body, and a fine layer of yellow fur sprouted on his face and arms. His pupils also transformed into a deep, emerald green.

He then nudged the flanks of his mount with his legs. The giant wolf let out a low growl and shot forward like an arrow.

The other knights behind him didn't undergo such startling transformations as the scar-faced man. However, after activating their cultivation techniques, various colored lights flashed on their bodies, and they charged out fearlessly, closely following the big man.

Dozens of riders stirred up a swirling yellow mist as they rode to meet the approaching threat.

"What's going on?" Han Li wondered. "Has this person transformed from a demon? No, that's impossible. A demon capable of shapeshifting into a human would at least be a shapeshifting beast. This person doesn't look like such a high-level demon cultivator at all. Moreover, judging by how others react to the big man's transformation without surprise, this situation must be common in the Spirit Realm. It seems I really need to spend more time understanding everything about the Spirit Realm. Whether it's the big man's strange transformation or those so-called 'spirit tools,' I've never heard of them in the Human Realm."

Han Li was somewhat taken aback. His thoughts raced, and the more he considered it, the more he realized how vastly different the Spirit Realm was compared to the Human Realm.

At this moment, the group of knights led by the scar-faced man finally plunged into the vast yellow dust several hundred yards away from the convoy. Immediately, shouts of battle erupted from within, followed by one roar after another. However, the yellow dust only paused slightly in the middle, then continued to roll towards the convoy from both sides without stopping.

In an instant, the dust reached the vicinity of the convoy, vaguely concealing something within.

"Kill!" someone shouted first. The guards holding bows and crossbows immediately launched a ranged attack.

Volleys of arrows rained down from the convoy.

A muffled "thudding" sound erupted, and the rolling yellow dust briefly paused and slowed. But then the dust cloud churned, and several dark figures violently burst out: giant insects, each about a zhang in size.

Each of them had a flattened body, a massive mouth on its head, and a row of fleshy tendrils on each side that waved constantly, giving them an exceptionally ferocious appearance.

These were the so-called "Sandworm Beasts."

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he watched this scene. He had exterminated countless demonic beasts in the Scattered Star Seas in his time, having encountered creatures a hundred times more ferocious than these. Such creatures were hardly worth his attention.

As several insect beasts revealed themselves, the air was filled with a rushing sound. A dozen arrows flashed with cold light, firmly embedding themselves in the bodies of these giant insects. However, except for one that was directly pierced through its large mouth and fell silently to the ground, the other injured ones became even more ferocious. Disregarding the blood gushing from their bodies, they leaped up and lunged towards the nearest giant tortoise. The four guards on the giant tortoise did not panic. Their swords flashed with cold light, and they chopped down without hesitation.

Evidently, they had all cultivated some special martial arts. Although they couldn't cut the insect beasts in half with a single strike, deep, long wounds immediately appeared on the creatures after their swords slashed, directly knocking the giant insects down from the air.

For a moment, several giant insects writhed on the ground, appearing to be seriously injured.

But even more giant insects burst out from the yellow dust, one after another, in a continuous stream. In an instant, the entire convoy was enveloped.

Below, a fierce battle naturally erupted! Roars and the sounds of clashing weapons filled the air, intermingling, while cold glints of metal and fresh blood appeared everywhere.

The tortoise-cart Han Li was on was in the innermost position of the entire defensive circle. On the cart, however, there was no one else apart from the old driver and himself; the other three girls had also disappeared without a trace.

As a result, Han Li, who for now didn't need to worry about his safety, calmly observed the battle around him.

After watching for a short while, his brows subtly furrowed.

Just as the old driver had said, these sandworms, due to their immense size, had limited jumping ability. Most of them could only just reach the edge of the tortoise shells and had no strength to climb higher, allowing the guards to conveniently strike them down one by one.

As a result, the guards indeed held a significant advantage at first.

But the number of giant insects was simply overwhelming. Although their true count couldn't be discerned because the yellow dust hadn't yet dissipated, over three hundred had already surged out in such a short time.

Although these giant insects were somewhat clumsy in their movements, they were thick-skinned and tough. Even if they took a dozen blows simultaneously, as long as no vital spots were hit, they could still leap up and attack.

As a result, with more and more giant insects emerging, the defenses eventually became overstretched. Some insect beasts finally leaped onto the tortoise backs, directly biting the guards.

The guards on the tortoise-carts finally began to suffer casualties.

Either someone failed to dodge in time and had half an arm torn off by a giant insect's bite, or an insect beast stealthily lunging from behind bit off an entire head. Once they jumped onto the giant tortoises, the fleshy tendrils on both sides of these giant insects also became extremely formidable weapons when swung.

The situation for the entire convoy gradually worsened.

The only quiet place within the defensive perimeter was the few tortoise-carts in the central area, one of which was the giant tortoise Han Li was on.

He watched for a while, his eyes flickering, then turned his head towards another nearby tortoise-cart.

He had clearly seen that Nan Qizi and several other cultivators had entered that cart. With the abilities of these Foundation Establishment cultivators, killing these mere insect beasts should not be difficult. Yet, even now, there was no movement from the opposite carriage, and the cultivators showed no intention of acting.

Han Li's eyebrow twitched. He turned back and continued to observe silently.

At this moment, over twenty guards had already been heavily wounded or killed by the giant insects. The remaining individuals, due to continuously wielding their weapons, also began to show signs of fatigue.

As a result, the number of casualties increased further.

It seemed that if the scar-faced man and those knights didn't deal with the demon insect sooner, this side of the convoy might not be able to hold out for much longer.

Han Li, however, wasn't overly worried about himself.

Although he couldn't cast spells and his meridians hadn't fully recovered, having cultivated the fourth layer of the Bright King Art, his body was so tough that even if he stood there allowing the giant insects to bite him, they wouldn't be able to harm a single hair on him.

Furthermore, he also carried two Immortal-Slaying Beads, which, if used by surprise, could heavily wound even a Demigod stage demon cultivator.

With these assurances, Han Li could calmly stand there and observe the situation.

"Oh no, Sister Xiang'er, the situation is getting bad. Let's act quickly," a clear girlish voice came from behind him.

Han Li's expression shifted, and he slowly turned around to look.

He saw Xiang'er and two other girls standing behind the giant tortoise. Each of them held a small banner. The speaker was the youngest girl, dressed in red, her face filled with anxiety.

"It's alright, there's still time," the green-robed girl said. "Let's quickly set up the Minor Spring Revival Array. Although Sister Liu'er is absent, it should be enough to hold out for a while longer." Immediately, the three girls quickly took their positions. Each took out a washbasin-sized brocade cloth, piecing them together on the ground to form a several-feet-wide array diagram.

Han Li looked from a distance, a peculiar expression flashing across his face.

At this moment, the three girls simultaneously raised the small banners they held. On their exposed fair wrists, they wore bracelets inlaid with spirit stones, identical to the one on the blue-robed girl's hand.

The three girls chanted incantations. Their bracelets and the small banners in their hands emitted faint spiritual light. Then, with a flick of their wrists, the three small banners were inserted into the array diagram on the ground. Immediately, a faint spiritual energy fluctuation burst forth, and a swathe of white light rapidly spread in all directions.

As the white light swept over the surrounding guards, it vanished into their bodies one by one.

These guards were immediately reinvigorated. Not only did the fatigue vanish from their faces, but an inexplicable surge of power emerged throughout their bodies. The weapons, which had felt somewhat heavy, instantly became incredibly light, and were swung into blurs of cold light. For a time, they even drove the giant insects off the tortoise shells again and regained the upper hand.

Seeing this, Han Li stroked his chin, his lips twitching slightly, and a hint of a sneer appeared on his face. He understood that this "Minor Spring Revival Array" was clearly just a simplified version of the Devil Sect's "Essence Gathering Array" from the Human Realm. While the array appeared to fully restore the physical strength of those affected by its restriction and grant them immense power for a short time, in reality, it was draining their internal essence, essentially consuming their future lifespan for present gain. This brief period of recovery, he realized, at the very least overdrawn two or three years from these guards' lives.