Chapter 215: Wormhole

Half an hour later, the Blood Pact Sect's outpost, which had regained much of its lively atmosphere, suddenly became quiet as all registered disciples and rogue cultivators rushed to the Bug Valley ten miles away.

Although no one was left to guard the outpost, there was no need to worry about cultivators from the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge attacking it. Little Gray was still there; with it present, any cultivator from the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge who dared to come would be courting death. Furthermore, with the Bug Tide, a natural disaster, sweeping across the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield, it was unlikely any sect would have the spare capacity to cause trouble at such a time.

Ten miles away, in the Bug Valley, battle had already erupted.

Compared to half an hour ago, the number of bugs in the Bug Valley had increased further. The Bug Tide is called a natural disaster primarily because of the bugs' extremely rapid reproduction and growth rates. As long as they have enough energy, they can transform into an army of bugs capable of destroying everything in a very short time. Therefore, to defeat the Bug Tide, the early stage is crucial; it's essential to curb their numbers and not give them a chance to develop.

Seven hundred cultivators formed a hundred teams. Under the leadership of their respective squad leaders, they spread out across all sides of the Bug Valley, killing bugs and gradually pushing towards the bug nest entrance.

The bugs that crawled out were not strong compared to cultivators; most were only equivalent to the first or second level of Spirit Creek, with a few equivalent to the third. Their size was also not large, unlike the bugs Lu Ye encountered in the illusion realm, many of which were about his size. Here, the smallest bugs were only fist-sized, while the largest were about the size of a washbasin. Coupled with their singular attack methods, killing them was not particularly difficult. The only difficulty was their sheer numbers, with tens of thousands of bugs covering the entire valley, and the ground itself gnawed away several layers deep.

Spiritual energy surged as squad after squad cleared their designated areas, killing bugs one by one. Their greenish blood soon spread throughout the Bug Valley, filling the area with a pungent, fishy smell.

Unlike the squads that systematically cleared the bugs layer by layer, pushing inward from the outside, Lu Ye, alone with his single blade, carved a direct path through the bug army, leaving bug corpses everywhere he went. Against enemies that were not particularly large but very numerous, the Mountain Breaker Blade in his hand couldn't be fully utilized. Even if he killed one with each strike, the number he could slay was limited.

However, Lu Ye's methods for killing enemies were not limited to the Mountain Breaker Blade; he could somewhat be considered a counterfeit spell cultivator. The Fire Phoenix Art and Fire Dragon Art were alternately deployed; with surging spiritual energy, each use killed a large swath of bugs. The Fire Dragon Art, especially, was the second spell technique accompanying the Red Lotus Soaring Heaven Art, only accessible to cultivators at the seventh level of cultivation. Its power and area of effect were several times greater than the Fire Phoenix Art. Of course, greater power also meant greater consumption.

Comparing these two spell techniques, Lu Ye was undoubtedly very satisfied with the Fire Dragon Art because it finally didn't produce any unexpected bizarre results. The Fire Phoenix Art, for some unknown reason, had been turned by him into a Fire Quail, with an extremely peculiar appearance. The Fire Dragon Art, however, had an excellent visual appeal. When unleashed, it looked as if a real fire dragon was soaring, with even the dragon scales on its body faintly visible.

The valley was not very large, and Lu Ye quickly reached the entrance of the bug nest. He peered down; it was pitch black, and he couldn't see the bottom. Bugs of various shapes continuously climbed up the walls of the bug nest. Seeming to sense Lu Ye's life force, a few bugs leaped towards him. As his blade flashed, these bugs were cut in half before they could reach him.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Lu Ye leaped down. Boom... While still in mid-air, bugs swarmed at him from all directions, but spiritual energy surged around him, repelling all the attacking bugs.

Lu Ye landed at the bottom of the pit. He looked up, estimating the depth, which wasn't too deep, about a dozen zhang or so—good news. A rustling sound of scuttling echoed in his ears as the bug tide surrounded him from all directions.

Spiritual energy began to surge. Lu Ye didn't stop, continuing to kill his way deeper. He held the Mountain Breaker Blade in one hand, while raising the blade's hilt high with the other. A point of light illuminated all directions from the blade's hilt. This was because he had imbued the hilt with a Sun Ray spiritual pattern. While this spiritual pattern's direct use in combat was not very significant, its application here was just right. To conserve spiritual energy, Lu Ye didn't dare to forcefully activate the Sun Ray's full power, only allowing the light to radiate enough to cover a ten-zhang radius.

A short while later, Lu Ye's figure shot out from the pit, with a pair of fiery red wings on his back that drew attention. He flew across the Bug Valley, landing next to Hua Ci, covered in greenish blood. Several rogue cultivators who were only at the first level immediately stepped forward, brought clear water, and washed his body.

Hua Ci did not participate in the battle. As the only medical cultivator at the outpost, she needed to treat injured disciples there. However, the time elapsed was still short, and the battle hadn't been going on for long, so basically no one was injured. A dozen or so people had gathered around her. Ten of them had very low cultivation, only at the first level; with such cultivation, they would easily die if they joined the battle, so they stayed with Hua Ci to act as assistants. The other few individuals were interested in developing into medical cultivators and were learning medical arts from Hua Ci. This was quite good. A sect always needs different factions to develop, especially the medical cultivation faction. Although the Blood Pact Sect's overall strength was currently low, it was like a small sparrow with all its internal organs, meaning it was small but complete; it had various factions within the sect.

"Did you find it?" Hua Ci stepped forward, picked up a broken limb from an unknown bug species off Lu Ye's head, and tossed it aside.

Lu Ye shook his head. "There are too many branching tunnels inside; I didn't dare to go too deep."

The reason he ventured alone into the bug nest was to search for the bug hive. These bugs were not without origin; deep within each bug nest, there was a bug hive, which was the source that spawned them. To resolve the Bug Tide, they had to find the bug hive. Only by destroying the bug hive at its source could the Bug Tide be eradicated. This information came from Li Baxian.

The bug hives were deep underground and protected by powerful bugs, making it difficult for Lu Ye alone to succeed. Therefore, whenever a Bug Tide descended, major sects would go all out; although not to the extent of the Blood Pact Sect deploying all its forces, they would send out a large number of people to first locate the bug hive before making plans. Those sects had to deal with a Bug Tide periodically, so they were experienced. They had knowledge of the underground terrain, knowing where the branching tunnels were and which direction each led. In contrast, for the Blood Pact Sect, this was the first time in decades they had enough manpower to deal with a Bug Tide. No one knew the underground terrain, so everything had to start from scratch.

Therefore, the top priority was to quickly clear out the bugs in the Bug Valley and then investigate the underground situation. The formation of the Bug Tide was a mystery because each time it appeared, it would be thoroughly eradicated, yet soon after, it would return. Before each Bug Tide arrived, there would be heavenly lightning descending from the sky. This could be said to be a very obvious sign. The countless bugs, and indeed the Bug Tide itself, seemed to appear out of thin air. Therefore, whenever the time drew near, and thunder and rain appeared on the Spirit Creek Battlefield, the major sects would become vigilant. This was also the reason Li Baxian sent a message to Lu Ye immediately.

Soon, the first injured cultivator arrived. Although the bugs in the Bug Valley were not strong, their numbers were too vast, so injuries were inevitable during the battle. Hua Ci naturally treated them with great care, and while doing so, she also explained medical principles to the disciples who wanted to pursue medical cultivation.

Lu Ye did not make another move. Although he had easily killed those bugs before, he hadn't gained much merit. With his current strength, he estimated he would need to kill twenty to thirty bugs to earn a single point of merit. Unlike the lower-level cultivators, who gained merit for each bug they killed, though the amount was small, the accumulated gains were still very substantial. The Blood Pact Sect disciples currently had no suitable channels for earning merit, so the Bug Tide was an opportunity for them. Anyway, with the Blood Pact Sect's current foundation, clearing out the bugs in the Bug Valley was not a difficult task, so Lu Ye would not interfere further. Later, entering the bug nest would be where Lu Ye's efforts were needed.

The battle continued, with injured individuals constantly arriving and rejoining the fight after receiving treatment from Hua Ci. A few hours later, the Blood Pact Sect cultivators' encirclement had already shrunk by half. Progress was swift because the Blood Pact Sect was narrowing the scope from the outside in, so the further they went, the smoother their progress became. Two more hours later, the bugs in the Bug Valley were completely wiped out, and the disciples cheered excitedly. The entire Bug Valley was now littered with bug corpses, and greenish blood flowed like rivers.

"Clean up the battlefield. All teams rest and recover. Three hours from now, follow me into the bug nest."

As Lu Ye's command was issued, the disciples immediately took action. Several teams guarded the entrance of the bug nest, killing bugs that crawled out, while the rest went to collect bug corpses. Bug corpses could be sold to the Heavenly Secret Vault. For cultivators in the Nine Provinces cultivation world, the Heavenly Secret Vault was definitely a good place. Whatever one desired, as long as they had enough merit, they could buy it from there. Anything could be sold to the Heavenly Secret Vault, though their value was hard to determine. For example, the bug corpses currently being collected by the disciples might require a dozen or so to be sold to earn a single point of merit, but that was still merit, after all, better than nothing.

Three hours passed in a flash, and seven hundred cultivators gathered at the entrance, all brimming with fighting spirit. Lu Ye approached from the rear, hand on his blade hilt. Amber followed beside him, with Yi Yi riding on Amber, and the crowd voluntarily parted, forming a path. He reached the entrance and leaped down. Amber also jumped down without hesitation, carrying Yi Yi. Following them was Chen Yu, who was at the seventh level of cultivation, followed by the few squads led by sixth-level cultivators.

Sounds of intense fighting came from below, accompanied by the dying cries of the bugs. A short while later, Chen Yu's voice came from below: "It's clear!" The teams waiting at the entrance then descended in an orderly manner. Squad after squad gathered at the bottom of the pit, and under the leadership of their respective captains, they began to explore forward. Torches were lit one by one...