Chapter 471: I am Pang Dahai

"Xia Qianqian, what exactly is going on?" The fatty showed no unusual reaction towards Lu Ye, withdrawing his gaze to look at Xia Qianqian.

"I'll explain in a moment."

The fatty frowned, picking up his identification token to check it. The fat on his face twitched as he said with a pained expression, "They deducted 500 battle merits from me!" As he had just mentioned, at such a critical moment for defending the city, unauthorized absence from duty would result in a deduction of battle merits. 500 battle merits was not a small amount; it was enough to buy two White Spirit Charms.

Another sword light whistled in. As the light receded, an imposing figure was revealed; the newcomer was clearly a sword cultivator. The fatty greeted him warmly: "Brother Zhou Hai!" Zhou Hai nodded slightly in acknowledgment, then landed, stood to the side, took out a spirit pill, put it in his mouth, and quietly began to regulate his breathing.

People kept arriving. In a short while, seven or eight individuals had rushed there from different directions. They were clearly all helpers summoned by Xia Qianqian. What was noteworthy was that the fatty seemed familiar with everyone; no matter who arrived, he could exchange a few words with them. Lu Ye observed from the side. Although he couldn't precisely determine the cultivation levels of these individuals, he could make an educated guess. None of the newcomers were below the fifth-level Cloud River Realm. Especially the fatty who arrived first and the sword cultivator named Zhou Hai, both seemed to be like Xia Qianqian, all at the ninth-level Cloud River Realm.

After waiting a moment longer, no one else arrived. The fatty said, "Everyone who was coming is here. Those who aren't here probably won't make it. So, what's going on?"

Pairs of eyes turned towards Xia Qianqian. Xia Qianqian spoke calmly: "We've found out why the monster beasts have been going crazy!" At her words, the cultivators from Kyushu gathered there brightened. Since entering the Myriad Beast Domain secret realm and learning about its current plight, practically everyone had been investigating the cause of the monster beasts' madness. Cultivators from Kyushu, just like the local cultivators of the Myriad Beast Domain, had captured many insane monster beasts for examination and research, but there had been no progress. Hearing Xia Qianqian's words now, they naturally became interested. In the eyes of the Kyushu cultivators, only by understanding why the monster beasts went mad could they take targeted action. Lu Ye could tell that Two Realms City couldn't be held, and others certainly could too. If they only defended the city desperately, it would ultimately be a dead end. They were all cultivators who had reached the Cloud River Realm; no one wanted to die here.

"What's the reason?"

"A kind of insect!" Xia Qianqian replied, and shared all their previous discoveries.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Hai didn't say a word. He flashed away, and in just a moment, he returned riding his sword. This time, however, he was holding a struggling, roaring monster beast. The monster beast looked like a blood fox, with blood-red fur like a burning flame, quite beautiful.

"Three inches behind the neck?" Zhou Hai looked at Xia Qianqian. She nodded: "That's where it was before!"

As the sword light flashed, the blood fox held by Zhou Hai let out a mournful cry, and blood splattered. Everyone looked towards the long sword in Zhou Hai's hand. On the tip of the sword, impaled was something resembling a cicada, struggling and wriggling. However, the next moment, the insect burst into a black liquid. Zhou Hai, with quick reflexes, channeled his spiritual power, enveloped the black liquid, and annihilated it into nothingness.

"There really is an insect!" Seeing it with their own eyes, everyone finally confirmed the accuracy of Xia Qianqian's information.

Someone spoke up: "That's strange. If all those monster beasts were parasitized and controlled by insects, why couldn't we find these insects in the monster beast corpses? We specifically researched many monster beast corpses before, but found nothing."

"Then there's only one explanation," the fatty said grimly, his face full of sorrow. "When the monster beasts die, the insects also burst open, just like that one did! Insects again! I hate insects!" Most of the others expressed strong agreement.

"But we've never seen an insect capable of parasitizing and controlling monster beasts like this. Does this mean there's a nest somewhere?"

"The problem now is, where is the insect nest? If we can find its location, then it will be much easier."

"Since Fellow Daoist Xia called us here, you must have a clue, right Fellow Daoist Xia?"

Everyone looked at Xia Qianqian again. Xia Qianqian said, "Indeed, there's a clue, but I didn't find it. It was found by Fellow Daoist Ye Liu here. He has a highly spiritual beast companion that was previously parasitized by these insects. He discovered the insect problem, and when his pet was parasitized, it sensed a strange connection in a certain direction. If I'm not mistaken, that location is where the insect nest is!"

Following the direction of Xia Qianqian's finger, everyone looked at Lu Ye.