Chapter 221: Madness

About fifty li north of the Blood Sect's base lay a valley, within which a massive pit revealed itself to be a wormhole.

Just like the situation at the Blood Sect, this valley was barren. The very ground had been scraped bare in layers, and patches of greenish dried insect blood were visible everywhere, along with some uncleaned broken limbs and shredded flesh.

On a nearby peak, hundreds of Blood Sect cultivators lay quietly in ambush, their hearts pounding with anxiety and nervousness.

Half a day earlier, they had been happily and easily accumulating merit points within the insect nest. Then, Hua Ci suddenly brought them to this place, and shortly after, Lu Ye arrived. It was clear something was about to happen.

The cultivators vaguely sensed the intentions of their Garrison Master and Deputy Master. To say they weren't nervous would be a lie, as their only previous large-scale operation was the insect tide they had just dealt with.

Fortunately, with that recent experience, the various small teams had gained some coordination. If they could handle an insect tide, what was there to fear in the current situation?

A mountain breeze swept through, and the cultivators remained silent.

Lu Ye quietly surveyed the valley for a moment, frowning. "Why haven't they come out yet?"

Before he left, the Heaven Shaman Temple clearly showed signs of faltering. By rights, they should have retreated by now, unless they had managed to stabilize their formation again.

If that were the case, they would have to take the initiative. While the Heaven Shaman Temple cultivators were locked in fierce combat with the insectoids, they could launch a "warm" backstab, wiping out the Heaven Shaman Temple cultivators underground and dealing with their insect tide as well — killing two birds with one stone.

However, this approach carried considerable risk. Fighting in narrow underground passages could easily lead to heavy casualties for their own side.

So, Lu Ye preferred to wait for the Heaven Shaman Temple forces to retreat, catching them off guard. By blocking the pit entrance, the Blood Sect could coordinate with the insect tide, launching a pincer attack and slaughtering the Heaven Shaman Temple cultivators within the pit.

"Hua Ci, next time we need to be more careful and not focus solely on the front, neglecting the rear," Lu Ye remarked, feeling a touch of regret. He noticed that the Heaven Shaman Temple had left a few cultivators at the cave entrance, allowing them to detect any anomalies and relay messages to others.

In contrast, when the insect tide attacked the Blood Sect, all their cultivators poured out of the base, leaving the entire stronghold empty. It was the same when they entered the wormhole earlier; no one was left guarding outside.

Hua Ci, standing beside him, gave him a resentful look. "I have planted mushrooms."

"That's good then," Lu Ye said, his heart settling.

Suddenly, his battlefield imprint stirred. Lu Ye quickly checked it, his eyebrows rising. "They're here!"

The message was from Yi Yi. Ever since the Sect Master had accepted Yi Yi as a Blood Sect disciple, Yi Yi had her own battlefield imprint.

Being a spirit body, she could shift from solid to ethereal, moving invisibly and without a trace, making her ideal for intelligence gathering in such situations.

When Lu Ye brought her here earlier, he sent her deep underground to investigate. After a long, patient wait, Yi Yi's message finally arrived.

He abruptly stood up, swung onto Amber, the white tiger, and pulled Hua Ci up with him, shouting, "Let's go!"

Amber galloped forward, rushing down the mountain. The strong wind hit their faces, blowing Hua Ci's hair.

Behind them, hundreds of Blood Sect cultivators followed en masse. There were no shouts or cheers, but the movement of hundreds of cultivators together was still incredibly imposing.

Many of these cultivators had been oppressed by the two Myriad Demons Ridge factions in the vicinity, and some had even lost friends because of it. Naturally, they harbored deep hatred for the nearby Heaven Shaman Temple and Feng clan. Even those who hadn't suffered direct oppression felt no sympathy due to their inherent factional antagonism.

Halfway down the mountain, Lu Ye suddenly crouched on Amber's back and shouted into Hua Ci's ear, "I'll go ahead!"

Their formation was too large and could easily be spotted by the few Heaven Shaman Temple cultivators lingering at the wormhole entrance. To prevent them from sending any messages, he had to eliminate them first.

Activating his spiritual power, a pair of fiery red wings spread from his back, and Lu Ye shot forward as a streak of red light.

There were only five Heaven Shaman Temple cultivators guarding the entrance. They were currently panicking, not because they had discovered the Blood Sect's attack, but because they were in contact with their fellow disciples inside the wormhole. They learned that the situation inside was dire, and their sect members were fighting and retreating, probably about to emerge.

"How could this happen?" a pale-faced man murmured. "This shouldn't be!"

The Heaven Shaman Temple had dealt with such insect tides many times, accumulating rich combat experience. Although there were always casualties, they generally managed the situation. But being driven back by an insect tide was a first.

"According to Senior Brother Liu," one of them explained, "the insect tide somehow suddenly became much fiercer, and that's why there was a change."

*Thud...*

One man collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face, and softly murmured, "Junior Sister Sun is dead..." He then banged his head on the ground. "Junior Sister Sun is dead!"

"Pull yourself together, Junior Brother Guo! Junior Sister Sun isn't the only one who died!"

"Junior Sister Sun is dead! What's the point of me living?" Junior Brother Guo suddenly stood up and was about to jump into the wormhole, his eyes bloodshot. "I'll go kill those nasty bugs!"

Someone nearby quickly hugged him around the waist to restrain him. "Don't be reckless! Senior Brother He Meng is already leading people back. What we need to do now is receive them!"

"What's that?" someone suddenly exclaimed.

The others followed his gaze and saw a fiery red light rapidly flying towards them, arriving in an instant.

The light converged, revealing a figure. The few guards were momentarily stunned, for the fiery red glow was precisely a pair of spiritual power wings on the person's back.

Then, a horrifying scene unfolded before their eyes. The newcomer held a streak of light in his hand, which swept out and pierced through their bodies like a flitting butterfly. Blood splattered as, one by one, the Heaven Shaman Temple cultivators all collapsed.

Lu Ye's wings vanished, and he landed with a thud. The hiltless short blade flew back to him, and he put it away.

Good, no messages had been sent out.

He approached the wormhole entrance and peered in. It was pitch black, and he couldn't see clearly. He bent down and pressed his ear to the ground, vaguely hearing rumbling sounds approaching from far away. He frowned, then looked back and saw his own cultivators arriving.

Hua Ci, riding Amber, was the first to arrive and quickly began planting mushrooms nearby. Although these mushrooms might not have any effect, it was better safe than sorry.

A moment later, the Blood Sect cultivators arrived. Pairs of eyes looked towards Lu Ye, some excited, some nervous, and a touch of confusion. They couldn't quite fathom how the situation had escalated to this point.

"Surround it! Whoever comes up later, kill them!"

At Lu Ye's command, everyone spread out, surrounding the massive wormhole three layers deep, both inside and out.

"Body Cultivators and Weapon Cultivators, stand in front! Protect the Spell Cultivators beside you. Don't rush to attack; only strike when I give the order. And whatever you do, do not fall down! Falling means certain death!"

Just as the arrangements were complete, Yi Yi emerged from the nearby ground. Many people were astonished, having seen Yi Yi's unique ability for the first time.

"They're coming!" Yi Yi called out softly, standing beside Lu Ye.

Rumbling sounds came from below the wormhole, accompanied by the sounds of clashes. The Heaven Shaman Temple cultivators were escaping along the various passages.

"Hurry up!" someone roared from below. "Move faster!"

The ropes hanging down around the wormhole suddenly tensed. With the trembling of the ropes, figures rapidly climbed up from below. Cultivators climbed quite quickly, despite the height of over ten zhang.

The first cultivator reached the entrance, anxiously shouting, "Quick, pull me up!"

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand.

No one pulled him. The cultivator looked up and saw that the area in front of him was packed with people, looking down at him from above.

*Do we have so many people staying up here?* a question arose in the cultivator's mind. *And why have I never seen any of these people? Why have they all raised their spirit weapons?*

Spiritual power surged. Fiery dragons with faintly visible scales roared and soared. Accompanied by the command "Kill!", streams of spells and spirit talismans began to unleash their power. Those without spells or spirit talismans raised their spirit weapons and struck at the enemies climbing up to the cave entrance.

Screams erupted instantly. One cultivator's corpse after another fell downwards. Even those cultivators who were still climbing up were not spared.

The sudden and swift turn of events terrified the Heaven Shaman Temple cultivators. No one knew what was happening above. Soon, someone shouted, "It's the Vast Heaven Alliance!"

Only people from the Vast Heaven Alliance would ambush them here. As for which specific sect, it was unclear.

Because at this time, almost all sects were busy dealing with insect tides. Who would have time to ambush others?

This news quickly spread, and the Heaven Shaman Temple cultivators who managed to survive despaired.

The Vast Heaven Alliance was ambushing them from above, and a large number of insectoids were pursuing them from behind. Caught in such a pincer attack, how could there be any way out?

In a passage near the cave entrance, a weapon cultivator holding a long spear was fighting in a bloodbath. This was He Meng, the Garrison Master of the Heaven Shaman Temple base, a Seventh-layer Realm cultivator with over 130 apertures opened.

Earlier, the insect tide had suddenly intensified, disrupting the Heaven Shaman Temple's original deployment. He had no choice but to order his cultivators to fight and retreat. Although they paid some price, they finally retreated safely to the cave entrance. As long as they retreated and held the wormhole entrance, and then reorganized, the Heaven Shaman Temple could fight again. It was merely an insect tide; the Heaven Shaman Temple had dealt with it countless times.

But the spiritual energy fluctuations and terrified screams from behind made him realize something was wrong. He immediately asked loudly and quickly received a reply.

*There are actually people from the Vast Heaven Alliance ambushing them above the cave entrance? Which faction is this, how utterly deranged! Don't they need to deal with the insect tide at their own base?*

Although he found this incredible, He Meng quickly realized that their current situation was absolutely terrible. Caught between a wolf and a tiger, the Heaven Shaman Temple was caught in the middle. How could they have a good end?