Chapter 2156: Situation Is Not Right

"The entrance is a dry well. Once we're inside, we can collapse it to block the exit," someone suggested.

"That's too dangerous. If anything goes wrong, we'll all be buried alive," another worried.

"How about we lure them away?"

"That's a plan, but since these beasts are guarding the insect nest, it might be hard to draw them off. Even if we manage to lure some away, we can't lure them all."

"We have to try, one way or another."

"Who will go?"

The group exchanged glances, and no one spoke. It wasn't that luring the monsters away was particularly perilous; though there were many beasts here, there weren't more than at Two Worlds City. Everyone present had fought their way out of Two Worlds City and certainly wouldn't fear being pursued by the local beasts. However, if they were to lead the beasts away, they wouldn't be able to participate in the upcoming task of destroying the insect nest. For the cultivators of the Nine Provinces, this was a golden opportunity to earn military merits. If they could truly destroy the insect nest here and subsequently resolve the crisis in the entire Myriad Beast Domain, they would undoubtedly gain significant contributions.

A moment later, the entire group looked at Lu Ye, their intention clear.

Lu Ye naturally understood what they were thinking. He turned to the Grand Elder and said, "Grand Elder, you and your people are responsible for luring away as many beasts as possible!"

The Grand Elder replied, "Understood. However, this old man wishes to stay with the Young Master."

Six members of the Myriad Beast Sect remained. Excluding the Grand Elder, that left five. While more people would be better for luring the beasts away, there wasn't a significant difference between five and six. Moreover, the Grand Elder was a Ninth-Level Cloud River Realm cultivator; if he stayed by Lu Ye's side, he could provide him with a certain level of protection.

Lu Ye immediately agreed, "No problem."

The old woman said, "Young Master, be careful."

With that, she led several Myriad Beast Sect cultivators and swept downwards. Soon, violent spiritual energy fluctuations and roaring sounds came from below. Everyone looked down to see several Myriad Beast Sect cultivators transforming into streaks of light, soaring above the ruins of the Black Tortoise Sect and continuously attacking.

Soon, a large, dense swarm of beasts followed closely behind these individuals. The cultivators didn't immediately flee but instead circled above the Black Tortoise Sect several times before leading the beast horde to escape into the distance. The number of beasts gathered around the Black Tortoise Sect immediately decreased by half. The situation wasn't overly optimistic, but it was within expectations.

At this point, splitting their forces further was impractical. There were still many beasts within the insect nest. If they were to split again to lure away the surface beasts, only a few people would be left to enter the nest, making it difficult to achieve anything significant.

"Fellow Daoist Ye, you lead the way!" Zhou Hai said.

Without a word, Lu Ye transformed into a streak of light and swept downwards, with the others following closely behind. The spiritual energy fluctuations quickly attracted the beasts, and large numbers of avian creatures flew up to meet them. The group following Lu Ye immediately unleashed their attacks. Streaks of light from their magical techniques and controlled artifacts, carrying a deadly aura, blasted into the beast swarm, forcibly carving a path through it.

They swept straight down, and a dry well came into view. Lu Ye's figure was the first to descend into it, followed by the Grand Elder, who had been protecting him. Then came Shen Xiaomao and Lan Ziyi, and after them, Xia Qianqian and the helpers she had summoned. Two body refiners brought up the rear.

As they descended, the two body refiners at the back continuously attacked, striking the well walls around them. By the time everyone reached the bottom, large chunks of falling rock followed them down.

The dry well was not too deep, only about ten *zhang*. The moment Lu Ye landed at the bottom, Amber leaped from his shoulder and darted to one side, with Lu Ye quickly following. Yiyi had previously scouted the underground passage, and with her secret guidance, Amber wouldn't lose its way.

A continuous rumble echoed from behind them as the well walls completely collapsed. The entrance they had used to come in was now sealed, so there was no need to worry about pursuers. However, their actions seemed to have startled the underground beasts, as angry roars continuously erupted from all directions, echoing the roars from the surface.

The underground passages were not singular but winding and frequently bifurcating. Without Yiyi's secret guidance, even if they had entered this place, it would have taken them a great deal of effort to find the insect nest. Periodically, beasts would ambush them from the branching paths, their crimson eyes particularly prominent in the darkness.

With the Grand Elder guarding him, few beasts could approach within ten meters of Lu Ye due to the Grand Elder's Ninth-Level Cloud River Realm cultivation. Any creature daring to show itself was instantly blasted to death by the Grand Elder's punch. Honestly, having such a loyal Ninth-Level Cloud River Realm cultivator as a guardian truly provided a full sense of security.

Their journey deeper was incredibly smooth.

The Grand Elder wasn't the only Ninth-Level Cloud River Realm cultivator in the team; there were also Xia Qianqian, Pang Dahai, and Zhou Hai. Zhou Hai, in particular, was a swordsman with extraordinary sword manipulation techniques. Often, with just a flash of his sword light, a monster would be slain. With Lu Ye's eyesight and cultivation, he couldn't even discern how Zhou Hai made his move. The difference in cultivation was simply too vast, especially since swordsmen were renowned for their lethal combat arts.

After descending about three hundred meters underground, the path suddenly opened up, and a massive chamber appeared before their eyes. They had reached the insect nest!

It was largely similar to the insect nests Lu Ye had seen on the Spirit Stream Battlefield. This place seemed to be an underground溶洞 (karst cave/cavern), but it was completely enveloped by a layer of fleshy wall. The wall was covered with bulging sacs that periodically蠕动 (squirmed), as if living creatures were hidden within, ready to burst out at any moment. As they stepped on this fleshy wall, it felt as though they were inside the stomach of a living creature, and the air was filled with a pungent odor.

In the darkness, countless pairs of crimson eyes opened, dense and numerous, like fireflies. This insect nest was guarded by a large congregation of beasts.

After a brief standoff, roars and howls suddenly erupted. Accompanied by the beast roars, the creatures guarding the nest launched an attack on Lu Ye and the other uninvited guests. Overwhelming sword light illuminated the entire insect nest, along with the chaotic glow of magical techniques and controlled artifacts. Although it was their first time cooperating, the tacit understanding among Cloud River Realm cultivators was far superior to that of Spirit Stream Realm cultivators. The two body refiners immediately joined forces, standing in front of the group. Their vital energy surged as they each manifested a spiritual artifact greatshield, enduring the furious onslaught of the beasts. Weapon cultivators positioned themselves behind, with spell cultivators further back. In an instant, a fierce battle erupted.

One by one, the charging beasts were cut down, and the scent of blood began to permeate the air. The beasts' frenzied assault caused the spiritual artifact greatshields of the two body refiners to flicker wildly, and their defensive line was breached at one point.

After enduring the most difficult initial phase, as the number of beasts dwindled, the pressure on the group gradually lessened until their formation was completely stabilized. Although some members of the team were occasionally injured, generally, none were in life-threatening danger. With hope within reach, everyone fought even harder.

Half an hour later, all the beasts within the insect nest had been slain. Where the group stood, piles of beast corpses were stacked like mountains in every direction.

"Something's wrong!" Xia Qianqian suddenly exclaimed.

"I feel something's off too!" Pang Dahai gasped, popping a Vitality Pill into his mouth as he spoke.

Though Zhou Hai remained silent, the unsheathed sword light hovering beside him showed that he was constantly on guard. Even the Grand Elder stayed by Lu Ye's side, never leaving him, his expression tense. Several Ninth-Level Cloud River Realm cultivators had sensed the anomaly.

Everything had gone too smoothly. From their deep descent underground, into this insect nest, until all the beasts here were utterly annihilated, there had been some minor setbacks, but overall, it had been too effortless. This excessive smoothness made a few of them feel uneasy, as if something they hadn't noticed was at play.

"Our retreat path is cut off!" Lu Ye announced.

Everyone quickly turned to look, only to discover that the entrance they had used was gone, completely enveloped by the omnipresent fleshy wall. No one had noticed when their path had been sealed. Everyone had been fighting fiercely, completely oblivious to the entrance behind them. At this moment, the insect nest was completely sealed off.

A flash of sword light from Zhou Hai's side, and a flying sword struck towards where the entrance had been. However, this sharp sword light only pierced the surface layer of the fleshy wall, creating a gap but failing to cut it completely. As the sword light dissipated, the fleshy wall rapidly squirmed, instantly restoring itself.

Seeing this, everyone's expressions turned grim. This insect nest was unlike any they had encountered before. The insect creatures encountered in the Myriad Beast Domain this time were also unlike anything they had ever seen. If this insect nest's fleshy wall possessed such powerful regenerative and defensive capabilities, how could they possibly destroy it?

"I have another question," Pang Dahai walked to a spot and stomped his foot on a fleshy sac. "If the insect creatures in this world's insect tide are tiny, cicada-like things, then what's inside these fleshy sacs?" In other insect nests, the sacs typically hatched large-bodied insect creatures. It was clear that the insect nests in this world wouldn't need such large sacs to hatch their insect creatures. Moreover, since earlier, these fleshy sacs had been continuously squirming, as if some living creature was about to burst out of them.

Zhou Hai raised his sword and strode towards the center of the insect nest. "Regardless of what it is, let's destroy the nest's core first!"

Every insect nest had its own core. The core was located within a giant fleshy sac, where the nest absorbed various energies to condense a vitality core. Destroying this core would render the insect nest incapable of hatching insect creatures. This insect nest naturally also had a core; however, they had been blocked by the beasts earlier and hadn't been able to approach it.

Zhou Hai stepped before the fleshy sac standing at the center. He brushed his fingers along his longsword, and its blade immediately shone with dazzling light. As spiritual energy surged around him, the longsword in his hand transformed into a sky-shaking sword glow, striking down towards the core.

This full-force sword strike failed to descend smoothly. Just as the longsword was about to land, a beast claw suddenly extended from within the core's fleshy sac and seized Zhou Hai's sword. The beast claw was as hard as refined iron; the sword strike against it produced a metallic clang, and sparks flew, demonstrating its incredible toughness. Zhou Hai's pupils contracted.

Everyone watching this scene was greatly startled by the unexpected development. No one had imagined that there was still a living creature within this core fleshy sac.