Chapter 220: Feeding

Winds of Kyushu

A vast underground space came into view. The space was surrounded by fleshy walls, and with the constant flickering of spirit energy, a large number of insectoids could be vaguely seen gathered there.

This was another insectoid nest! However, it wasn't within the Bloodflame Sect's territory, but belonged to another sect. When the insectoid tide arrived, every sect with a stronghold in the Spirit Stream Battlefield was affected. Thus, everyone was fighting independently, dealing with the insectoid tide within their own stronghold's territory. In essence, every sect's territory had an insectoid nest to contend with.

The Bloodflame Sect had almost finished dealing with their own. Seven hundred cultivators were guarding that underground space, slaying every insectoid that appeared and happily accumulating merit points with ease. The Bloodflame Sect was able to establish control so quickly because Lu Ye had chosen a more aggressive, and thus highly efficient, approach.

But the situation here was different. The cultivators of this sect had chosen the most standard procedure to deal with it: blocking the insectoid nest's passage entrances and continuously luring out and slaying the insectoids. This method was not highly efficient, but it was safe and reliable. Ninety percent of outer-ring sects would choose this method. After all, not every Garrison Master could fly like Lu Ye, providing support anywhere at any time, with personal strength surpassing the seventh-layer realm.

It was precisely this confidence that allowed Lu Ye to choose such an aggressive method. Facts proved that method was highly effective; otherwise, the Bloodflame Sect's current situation would undoubtedly be the same as what he was seeing now, and it would take who knows how many days to resolve the insectoid nest.

Lu Ye's ability to reach here indicated that the Bloodflame Sect's insectoid nest was connected to this one. This situation rarely occurred, as most insectoid nests were independent entities. However, such an occurrence had happened before. According to Fourth Senior Brother, when an insectoid nest developed to a certain extent, it would devour other nests, thereby strengthening itself. The powerful nest would have insectoids dig tunnels underground, seeking out the locations of other nests.

For many years, no one had dealt with the insectoid tide at the Bloodflame Sect. Whenever an insectoid tide arrived, the insectoid nest within the Bloodflame Sect's territory would develop rapidly. Over the years, neighboring sects would first resolve the insectoid nests in their own strongholds, and then join forces to deal with the Bloodflame Sect's. If they didn't intervene, the insectoid tide's scope would continuously expand, and they would inevitably be affected. Sometimes, they even needed to invite sects from the inner or core rings to intervene, because if too much time passed, the insectoid tide within the Bloodflame Sect's territory would have developed to a degree that outer-ring sects were powerless to handle.

This explained it. The reason the two insectoid nests were connected was that insectoids had previously dug tunnels between them. However, no one expected the Bloodflame Sect to handle it so quickly this time. While this sect was still slowly clearing out the insectoids, victory had already been secured on the other side.

Shouts continuously echoed from the passages, occasionally mixed with a scream. Someone must have been injured. Even with the method of blocking the passages and luring out insectoids to kill them, it wasn't entirely safe. Once the number of insectoids reached a certain point, they could break through the defenses, leading to heavy casualties among the cultivators.

Lu Ye didn't know which sect this was. Currently, there were three forces bordering the Bloodflame Sect's stronghold: two from the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge and one from the Vast Heaven Alliance. According to the detailed map, these three sects formed a triangular encirclement, sandwiching the Bloodflame Sect in the center. The three forces were Bi Tao Academy, Heavenly Fiend Hall, and the Feng Family. Bi Tao Academy, a ninth-rank sect, belonged to the Vast Heaven Alliance faction and was located to the west of the Bloodflame Sect. Heavenly Fiend Hall, an eighth-rank sect, was to the north, and the Feng Family, a ninth-rank sect, was to the east.

Lu Ye recalled the direction he came from, then took out his detailed map to cross-reference. He found that his current location was near Heavenly Fiend Hall's stronghold. In other words, the ones currently dealing with the insectoids were the cultivators of Heavenly Fiend Hall. They had extensive experience in dealing with insectoid tides, so the situation at Heavenly Fiend Hall was relatively stable. Given enough time, they would surely be able to clear out all the insectoids here.

Before Lu Ye arrived at the stronghold, the rogue cultivators in the Bloodflame Sect's territory were often bullied by Heavenly Fiend Hall and the Feng Family. If it weren't for Bi Tao Academy nearby, those rogue cultivators would have had no place to stand. From Chen Yu, Lu Ye had learned many things. Specifically, there was a spiritual ore vein within the Bloodflame Sect's territory, and above it, a fruit forest. The spirit fruits produced from both the ore vein and the fruit forest could be considered resources of the sect. However, because the Bloodflame Sect had been uninhabited for many years, it had been occupied by Heavenly Fiend Hall. For many years, no one had bothered them about it. When Lu Ye had learned about this previously, he didn't pay it much mind. Since he had only recently recruited those disciples, it wouldn't be wise to rashly engage in large-scale conflicts with other sects. At the very least, he needed to wait for the cultivators to develop a sense of belonging to the Bloodflame Sect. Now, it seemed this might be an opportunity.

After observing for a while, Lu Ye pulled back and waved to Yiyi. Yiyi leaned closer to listen. Lu Ye whispered a few instructions. Yiyi nodded, saying, "Understood." With that, she rode on Amber and returned the way she came.

The battle between Heavenly Fiend Hall's cultivators and the insectoids was in full swing. No one expected that a pair of eyes in the darkness had already fixed upon them. On his way here, Lu Ye's exploration speed wasn't fast because he was unclear about the situation in the passages. However, Yiyi had no such concerns on her return; the passage itself was safe, with no traces of insectoids.

Thus, after just over an hour, Yiyi returned on Amber. Amber was laden with storage bags, conservatively estimated to be two to three hundred of them, all collected from the sect's cultivators. Meeting up with Lu Ye, Yiyi handed him another storage bag separately. "They're all here," she said. "Also, Sister Huaci has already taken everyone out of the wormhole to rest, as you instructed. Our insectoid nest over there has already begun to wither."

"Excellent."

"Lu Ye, will this really work?" Yiyi had clearly guessed Lu Ye's mischievous intentions.

"Who knows?" Lu Ye replied. "There's no harm in trying. At most, we'll just lose some insectoid corpses."

Saying this, Lu Ye took a few storage bags from Amber's back, quietly walked to the entrance of the passage, opened the bags, and poured the insectoid corpses inside into the insectoid nest with a rustling sound. There were indeed insectoids here as well, but because the cultivators of Heavenly Fiend Hall were causing such a commotion on the other side, the insectoids' attention was completely drawn to that side. This was also why Lu Ye could hide here safely. Insectoids were very sensitive to light sources and spirit energy fluctuations. As long as Lu Ye didn't make too much noise, he generally wouldn't attract their attention.

A large number of insectoid corpses appeared, causing several unsuspecting insectoids to stumble. Hissing sounds filled the air. Those insectoids looked around but found nothing. The unexpected appearance of more corpses, however, made them pause. Immediately after, many insectoids swarmed from all directions, transporting the corpses throughout the nest. The vitality and energy contained within were absorbed by the nest in a very short time, and all the corpses seemed as if they had been weathered for a thousand years, turning into dust.

No sooner had these insectoids finished their task than another large pile of corpses appeared with a rustling sound. The insectoids clearly had no idea what was happening. Being unintelligent, they probably never would have imagined that one day someone would kindly feed them. Driven by instinct, many more insectoids swarmed over and carried away the large number of corpses. Rustle, rustle, rustle...

One side happily fed, the other rapidly digested, forming a perfect cooperation. Fifty storage bags were emptied. Then a hundred. Then one hundred and fifty... Lu Ye didn't know if this would actually have an effect, but if things developed as he intended, then it would be interesting.

As he was engrossed in feeding them, the clash between Heavenly Fiend Hall's cultivators and the insectoids gradually intensified. Confused voices came from one of the passages: "Senior Brother, why are there more and more insectoids the more we kill? Just now, their numbers seemed to be decreasing."

"Stop talking nonsense! Keep killing them! The more you kill, the fewer there'll be, naturally."

"Oh."

Initially, only cultivators at one or two passages noticed this anomaly. They assumed it was just a temporary phenomenon, believing that the number of insectoids in the nest was limited and they could eventually be wiped out. Every insectoid tide throughout the years had been dealt with this way, and this time would naturally be no exception. But as time passed, more and more cultivators realized something was wrong. Indeed, the more insectoids they killed, the more appeared, with no signs of reduction at all. Several times, their defenses were breached, resulting in numerous casualties.

While feeding the insectoid nest, Lu Ye quietly listened to the conversations of Heavenly Fiend Hall's cultivators. Confirming his idea was correct, he worked with even more enthusiasm. After pouring all the remaining insectoid corpses from the storage bags into the nest, Lu Ye then took out a palm-sized fleshy core from the storage bag Yiyi had specifically given him.

A vitality core! This item was a crystallization of vitality and energy, and also the source of the insectoid nest's ability to hatch insectoids. For this plan, Lu Ye had even halted his sect's disciples from accumulating merit points ahead of time, having Yiyi retrieve all the vitality cores from that side. Otherwise, their insectoid nest couldn't have withered so quickly. One such vitality core was equivalent to who knew how many insectoid corpses. Weighing the fleshy core in his hand, Lu Ye casually tossed it into the insectoid nest. "Here's a grand gift for you all. I hope you don't fail to appreciate it."

After about fifteen minutes, dense, squelching sounds emanated from all corners of the insectoid nest. Hearing these sounds, Lu Ye couldn't help but feel a little nervous for Heavenly Fiend Hall's cultivators. He was familiar with these sounds; they were precisely the sounds of an insectoid nest hatching new insectoids. Just by listening to the dense sounds, he knew that a massive number of newly born insectoids must have emerged at that very moment. He hoped Heavenly Fiend Hall's cultivators could withstand it...

"Ah!" A scream came from one of the passages, followed by one miserable cry after another. Someone roared furiously: "How did so many big ones suddenly appear!" Others were shouting: "Hold on! Don't let them break through the defenses!"

"Senior Brother, help! We can't hold on here anymore!"

In the darkness, Lu Ye popped a spirit pill into his mouth and motioned to Yiyi. "Let's go." The initial plan had gone smoothly. It was time to begin the next phase.