Chapter 1716: The Battle of the Ferocious Insects

Blood-Transforming Butterflies! We have a chance…

Han Li was no longer as ignorant as he had been when he first entered the Spirit Realm. The moment he clearly saw the appearance of these green butterflies, he gasped, then immediately revealed a look of wild joy.

“It really is this fierce butterfly! Excellent. These butterflies and the Silver Xiang Worms are natural enemies; they fight to the death whenever they meet.” Liu Shui’er also used a secret technique to clearly see the true form of these green butterflies, and she was equally overjoyed.

“Indeed, we have a chance to escape. But be careful, make sure not to get caught in their fight. Otherwise, your lives will certainly be forfeit.” Shi Kun’s spirits also lifted.

“At a time like this, it’s not good for the three of us to stick together. Otherwise, our target will be too large. It’s very likely we’ll be targeted by both types of fierce insects simultaneously. Anyway, we only have a little less than half the journey left to the forbidden ancient ruins, and we all know the map. How about we split up and flee for our lives now? Two months later, I’ll meet you directly at the ruins,” Han Li said calmly.

Hearing Han Li’s words, the other two were momentarily stunned.

However, Shi Kun was the first to react, decisively agreeing, “Fellow Daoist Han is right; at a time like this, the smaller the target, the easier it is to escape with one’s life. Let’s follow this plan and each look out for ourselves to ensure our survival first.” Liu Shui’er hesitated, but after repeatedly pondering it, she finally gritted her teeth and nodded.

Thus, at this critical juncture, the three quickly exchanged a few telepathic messages and decided on a strategy of fleeing separately.

At this moment, the distant green cloud had already flown near in an instant. Even without using divine abilities, one could clearly see the overwhelming form of the green butterflies approaching…

The fierce butterflies’ buzzing changed without a word. About ninety percent of the green cloud they formed surged towards the silver tide behind them, while a few clusters headed directly for Han Li and the other thousands of beasts.

Seeing this, the silver tide behind them showed no weakness. It also split into two; the majority of the silver current surged towards the green cloud, while several smaller streams of silver continued to relentlessly pursue the beasts ahead.

The beasts fleeing alongside Han Li and the others fell into chaos. Many intelligent spiritual beasts immediately knew that their chance to escape had arrived.

Immediately, under the furious roars of a few of the highest-cultivation exotic beasts, all the other beasts scattered. Some transformed into hurricanes and vanished, while others turned into rolling demonic qi and fled in all directions for their lives.

“Go!” Han Li also let out a low shout without hesitation. A thunderous roar erupted behind him, and the Wind-Thunder Wings emerged.

With a single flap, he transformed into a streak of azure-white light and shot away.

As soon as they heard Han Li’s words, Liu Shui’er and Shi Kun also accelerated their escape lights without a word, charging wildly in two other directions.

With the terrifying speed Han Li achieved by fully activating his Wind-Thunder Wings, even among thousands of exotic beasts, he was easily among the top three. In just a few flashes, he left the other beasts fleeing in the same direction far behind, instantly reaching the edge of the horizon. Only then did his escape light pause, and he turned his head to glance back.

The sight that met his eyes sent a chill through his heart.

He saw that the hundreds of exotic beasts behind him, those not proficient in flying, had been caught in the armies of the two types of fierce insects because their movements were slightly slower.

The green cloud and the silver tide surged forward simultaneously. These exotic beasts were instantly submerged without a sound, vanishing into thin air, leaving not even a trace of their remains.

Just as clusters of green clouds and silver tides were about to collide, the dense green butterflies suddenly paused in mid-air. Then, they furiously flapped their wings towards the opposing force.

Immediately, strange green winds swirled out from the butterfly swarm, aggressively surging into the silver tide.

Strange “squeaking” sounds suddenly grew loud.

Many winged insects, though only a few inches long but shimmering with silver, fell from the silver tide.

Several clusters of green cloud surged forward, and with a sweep, they completely engulfed the fallen silver insects. When they dispersed again, not a single one of those fallen silver insects remained.

Blue light flickered in Han Li’s eyes, allowing him to see everything clearly.

Among the butterfly swarms that had devoured the silver insects, many clearly showed flecks of blood appearing on their bodies.

However, even though the poisonous wind unleashed by the Blood-Transforming Butterflies was so potent, there were simply too many silver flying insects, and many strong ones had a certain resistance to the poison.

As a result, after the poisonous wind passed, tens of thousands of silver insects still charged headfirst into the butterfly swarm. Initially, these silver tide insects naturally went in and never returned, but as more and more silver insects plunged into the green cloud, the silver tide and the green cloud finally collided completely.

Buzzing and squeaking sounds simultaneously intensified. Green butterflies and silver insects fell like raindrops from the sky, only to be promptly devoured by the surging green clouds and silver tides behind them.

Clearly, the silver flying insects’ consumption ability was much stronger than that of the green butterflies, but these fierce butterflies were entirely covered in potent venom. Often, a few frantic flaps of their wings would disorient their opponents, causing them to lose all resistance.

However, both were incredibly fierce and seemed to care nothing for their own lives, resulting in a stalemate for a time.

As for the two types of fierce insects that had been pursuing the exotic beasts separately, once they saw the beasts scatter and flee, they also broke into countless smaller groups and furiously gave chase.

These two types of insects seemed to have a tacit understanding, never pursuing the same prey.

Many exotic beasts failed to escape far before they were caught by one of the two swarms and had to fight desperately.

For a time, roars of beasts and chirps of insects intertwined, occasionally punctuated by rumbling explosions.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and saw that Liu Shui’er and Shi Kun had also flown far away. However, each of them was being pursued by a small stream of silver and a small cluster of green cloud respectively.

However, he only had time to see this much. With a glance, he discovered that a swarm of silver tide insects was ignoring the other exotic beasts they had overtaken, heading directly towards his hidden location.

This swarm of silver insects numbered about a thousand.

Han Li took a deep breath, and with another flap of his wings, he once again transformed into a streak of light and shot away.

This time, Han Li flew for over half an hour in one breath before glancing back again.

Behind him, for a moment, there was nothing; no insect silhouettes were visible.

However, his face showed no joy at all; instead, he frowned slightly.

In the preceding days, when he and Liu Shui’er were escaping, they had indeed used extreme speed to shake off these fierce insects for a time. However, these insects seemed to possess some unknown, bizarre divine abilities; as long as their escape speed slowed down even for a moment, the insects would relentlessly pursue them again shortly after.

No matter what kind of stealth secret technique Shi Kun and the others used, it seemed to have no effect.

After Han Li’s expression flickered for a moment, he suddenly let out a cold snort. A black light flashed on his body, and a layer of black gauze appeared, causing his figure to vanish without a trace.

After concealing his form, he calmly drifted forward.

But half an hour later, Han Li, who was slowly flying, suddenly sensed something and abruptly turned his head, his expression changing dramatically.

A moment later, a buzzing sound suddenly emanated from the edge of the horizon.

A giant silver insect, several tens of feet in diameter, suddenly appeared in the sky over there.

With just a flap of its wings, this giant insect emitted a sharp, explosive cry, and with a flash, it instantly teleported over a hundred zhang away, shooting directly towards Han Li’s hidden location. Han Li’s expression changed, but he had already seen through the insect’s true form with his Clear Sight Spirit Eyes.

It was clearly a colossal creature formed by the aggregation of a thousand silver flying insects.

Although he didn’t know why even a marvelous concealment treasure like the black veil couldn’t hide him from these fierce insects, and how they had consistently tracked him here, Han Li now clearly understood: he wouldn’t be able to leave safely without eliminating this small swarm of fierce insects before him.

However, the reason the Silver Xiang Worms were so terrifying wasn’t just their horrifying numbers; even individually, they were quite formidable.

Their bodies were not only extraordinarily hard, capable of withstanding the impact of ordinary treasures, but their fangs, capable of biting through metal, and their forelegs, which could easily tear apart defensive treasures, were even more terrifying, striking fear into anyone who heard of them.

If one were to use ordinary treasures to deal with these fierce silver insects, they truly wouldn’t be very effective.

As he pondered this, seeing that the giant insect was about to arrive, a cold glint flashed in Han Li’s eyes, and he suddenly flicked his sleeve towards the sky.

Immediately, a similar buzzing sound rang out, and suddenly hundreds of golden flowers flew out from his sleeve. After a single swirl, they rapidly expanded in a flash of golden light, transforming into huge beetles about half a foot long.

Their entire bodies shimmered with golden light; these were precisely the mature-stage Gold Devouring Beetles.

“Go!” Han Li shouted lowly almost without thinking, swiftly flicking his sleeve towards the opposing giant silver insect.

The giant silver insect, which had been approaching aggressively, suddenly trembled upon seeing these mature-stage Gold Devouring Beetles. Immediately, it let out a shrill cry, abruptly turned around, and fled in disarray.

However, since Han Li was willing to release so many Gold Devouring Beetles at once, he naturally intended to finish the fight quickly.

Almost simultaneously, a clap of thunder sounded behind him, and he vanished amidst azure-white electrical arcs.

The next moment, above the giant silver insect, an azure-white electric light flashed, and Han Li’s figure strangely reappeared. Without a word, he flipped his hand.

A small black mountain flew out, growing from small to large, transforming into a peak over ten zhang tall before falling down.

With just a spin, this treasure immediately emitted a grayish light mist from its base, instantly enveloping the silver flying insects beneath it.

The giant insect, just as its wings began to move, instantly trembled and its body became sluggish and unresponsive, temporarily trapped by the Primal Magnetic Divine Light.

A furious shriek erupted, and the giant insect’s massive body suddenly flared with silver light, then shattered into tiny pieces with a shake.

In just the span of a single breath, this giant insect reverted to its original form of a thousand silver flying insects, which then swarmed in a single direction, devouring the surrounding light mist that obstructed them.

The surrounding Primal Magnetic Divine Light indeed rapidly thinned out at a visible pace.

However, Han Li, in the air, paid no mind to this, showing no trace of worry on his face.

Because with this brief delay, the hundred Gold Devouring Beetles behind him had already shot forth, also arriving below the black peak.

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