Chapter 472: Xuanwu Sect

A group of over ten people fought and moved, continuously eliminating the pursuing avian demon beasts until, after half a day, all pursuers were cleared out.

From mid-air, the territory of the Myriad Beast Domain was visible at a glance. However, traces of the demon beasts' ravages were apparent everywhere, and the entire world exuded an aura of desolation.

Xia Qianqian, leading the group, briefly discussed with Zhou Hai and Pang Dahai, then called out firmly, "Rest for half an hour!"

Over ten streaks of light descended directly towards the mountains below. A moment later, they each found a spot to recuperate.

Lu Ye popped two spirit pills into his mouth and held two mid-grade spirit stones in each hand, ostensibly recovering. A figure sat down beside him; it was Pang Dahai.

Compared to their meeting over two years ago in Evil Moon Valley, this fellow had clearly gained a lot of weight. Lu Ye wondered why, as a Cloud River Realm cultivator, he couldn't control his physique.

Seeing him, Lu Ye couldn't help but recall the fellow named Leshan; the name Lu Yiye had originated from this person.

"Fellow Daoist Ye, your beast companion is truly magnificent," Pang Dahai chuckled.

"If Fellow Daoist Pang likes it," Lu Ye replied, "you can go and subdue one after this matter is resolved. The Myriad Beast Domain doesn't have much else, but it has plenty of demon beasts."

"I used to raise them," Pang Dahai said, patting his ample belly, "but eventually, they found their way into my belly." He leaned closer to Lu Ye and whispered, "I've noticed that those from the Myriad Beast Sect have some special methods in beast taming. They seem to be able to merge their vital essence with their beast companions, enhancing their combat power. If Fellow Daoist Ye is interested, you could learn a thing or two from them; your current identity is also suitable for utilizing this."

Having fought their way here, he had clearly witnessed things that somewhat overturned his understanding. After all, in the cultivation world of the Nine Provinces, cultivators of the beast-taming faction simply couldn't achieve such a feat.

"I've already acquired it," Lu Ye responded softly.

Pang Dahai raised an eyebrow and gave Lu Ye a thumbs-up.

Lu Ye then said, "There's something I need to ask Fellow Daoist Pang."

"Go ahead," Pang Dahai replied.

"Why did everyone immediately mention an insect lair when insects were brought up earlier?" This puzzled him greatly. Moreover, from their conversation at the time, everyone Xia Qianqian had called over unanimously believed an insect lair existed somewhere in the Myriad Beast Domain.

It wasn't convenient to ask for details at the time, so Lu Ye didn't speak much.

Furthermore, Pang Dahai had also said then that he hated insects, as if he had suffered greatly from them.

"Have you experienced insect tides attacking outposts in the Spirit Stream Battlefield?" Pang Dahai asked.

Lu Ye nodded.

"That makes it easy to explain," Pang Dahai said patiently. "Since you've experienced insect tides in the Spirit Stream Battlefield, you should know that those insect races aren't born out of thin air but are nurtured within insect lairs. It's the same here; the insects that parasitize and control demon beasts aren't born out of thin air either but come from a particular insect lair. You probably haven't been in the Cloud River Battlefield for long and haven't experienced much, but you'll know more later. Many secret realms contain traces of the insect race. The most fundamental way to deal with them is to first destroy the insect lair; otherwise, killing even more insects will be futile. These insect races aren't only found in some secret realms of the Cloud River Battlefield but also in the Nine Provinces themselves."

Lu Ye listened, greatly impressed.

"Before Xia Qianqian gathered us," Pang Dahai continued, "no one realized that this secret realm was also related to the insect race. The main reason is that these particular insects were unlike any encountered before, hidden too deeply, and remained undetected. If it weren't for you, we still wouldn't know how to begin addressing this."

Most likely, they would have had to continue desperately defending Two Realms City, which would have been a dead end.

Pang Dahai raised a hand and patted Lu Ye's shoulder, saying earnestly, "In the future, if you encounter similar situations, first consider if insects are behind it. If you find insects, then follow the clues to find the insect lair. Destroy the insect lair, and everything will be solved easily."

Lu Ye nodded, indicating he had learned.

"How much further is it to the Black Tortoise Sect?" Lu Ye asked.

Lu Ye looked up at the Great Elder beside him. The Great Elder replied, "At our current pace, it will take at least another two or three hours."

"That's not far then," Lu Ye mused.

Lu Ye silently estimated the guidance Amber had given him earlier, compared it with their current pace and direction, and confirmed it was correct.

Half an hour later, the group set off again. After a period of recovery, the condition of all dozen people had greatly improved.

They continued their journey, encountering no obstacles and not even a single demon beast.

It seemed all the demon beasts in the Myriad Beast Domain had gathered at Two Realms City.

After another two hours or so, a continuous mountain range came into view. After passing several spiritual peaks, the Great Elder in the team suddenly raised a finger and pointed forward, exclaiming, "That's the Black Tortoise Sect!"

Everyone looked over and saw that the terrain there was undulating and continuous. From high above, it looked like a gigantic black tortoise prostrating itself on the earth.

There were originally many buildings on the tortoise's back, but now they were all crumbling ruins.

It was evident that the Black Tortoise Sect had once been a sect with a profound heritage, but after the demon beast upheaval, the entire Black Tortoise Sect had fallen into disrepair.

What was surprising was that within this dilapidated Black Tortoise Sect, a large number of demon beasts had gathered!

This unusual situation brought joy to everyone's faces, and they felt that they had come to the right place.

Currently, almost all the demon beasts in the Myriad Beast Domain were gathered at Two Realms City. The group, having traveled all this way, hadn't encountered even a shadow of a demon beast on the way, apart from those that had pursued them from Two Realms City earlier.

Yet, so many demon beasts had gathered here at the Black Tortoise Sect. This undoubtedly indicated that the insect lair was very likely located here, and the demon beasts gathered here were all guarding it.

"There are so many!" Pang Dahai exclaimed, straining his vision to look down, his expression grave.

Although the number of demon beasts here wasn't as great as at Two Realms City, it was still not something a team of over ten people could resolve. The current problem was how to find the insect lair without alarming these demon beasts.

Insect lairs are usually located deep underground and are extremely difficult to find through ordinary means.

Fortunately, every insect lair has entrances and exits, so if one wants to find an insect lair, the entrances and exits extending to the surface are good starting points. However, finding such an entrance or exit within such a large area is clearly not an easy task.

"How many Ghost Cultivators do we have?" Pang Dahai asked, looking around. In this environment, Ghost Cultivators were undoubtedly the best candidates for finding entrances and exits.

Xia Qianqian glanced around, her expression awkward. "We originally had two..." she said.

One got separated on the way, and now there's only one left.

The few people from the Myriad Beast Sect were all from the beast-taming faction, clearly possessing no Ghost Cultivator methods. As for the others Xia Qianqian had gathered, two were Body Cultivators, most were Weapon Cultivators, and Pang Dahai was a Law Cultivator.

Everyone turned their gaze to the lone Ghost Cultivator, a petite woman with peculiar markings on her neck. The female cultivator said, bracing herself, "I'll give it a try."

Saying this, she flashed downwards and quickly disappeared from sight.

"I'll go look too," Lu Ye offered proactively.

Xia Qianqian was utterly surprised. "What faction do you actually belong to?" she asked.

At first glance, seeing Lu Ye carry a beast companion, they had thought he belonged to the beast-taming faction. Yet his combat methods were entirely those of a Weapon Cultivator, he could also cast spells, and now, offering to help like this, he was undoubtedly skilled in Ghost Cultivator methods.

"I brought some concealment talismans!" Lu Ye explained.

The effect of simple concealment talismans naturally wasn't as good as a Ghost Cultivator's stealth methods. However, what Lu Ye intended to use wasn't concealment talismans, but concealment spirit runes, which were not much inferior to a Ghost Cultivator's methods.

"Be careful," Pang Dahai cautioned.

Lu Ye nodded and descended in another direction.

A moment later, somewhere in the jungle, Lu Ye looked up but couldn't see Pang Dahai and the others. To avoid being discovered by the demon beasts gathered at the Black Tortoise Sect, they were currently at a high altitude.

With the concealment spirit runes activated, Lu Ye concealed himself and then softly called out, "Yiyi."

Yiyi's figure darted out from Amber's body, leaving a phrase "Leave it to me," and then flashed and burrowed underground.

The area where the Black Tortoise Sect was located was vast; without enough personnel, it would be difficult to find any clues here. With only one Ghost Cultivator in the team, expecting her to find the entrance to the insect lair would take ages.

Fortunately, Lu Ye had Yiyi.

Yiyi's unique spirit body characteristics allowed her to move freely underground, a feat no Ghost Cultivator could compare to. As long as she didn't stray too far from Amber, there would be no major issues, making the search much easier.

As for Lu Ye, he didn't need to do anything; he just needed to wait quietly here.

If things went smoothly enough, Yiyi could even directly destroy the insect lair, as her current strength was not to be underestimated.

Time passed slowly until, half an hour later, Lu Ye received a message from Yiyi: The insect lair had been found, located a hundred zhang deep underground. No wonder cultivators from the Myriad Beast Domain had previously investigated the Black Tortoise Sect but found nothing.

At such a depth, Cloud River Realm cultivators simply couldn't investigate.

After finding the insect lair, Yiyi was currently trying to see if she could destroy it.

However, soon after, she sent another message, informing Lu Ye that there were many demon beasts guarding the insect lair and that with her current strength, she couldn't instantly destroy such a massive insect lair.

When Lu Ye was in the Spirit Stream Battlefield, he had also ventured deep inside insect lairs, so he knew what the interior of an insect lair generally looked like. He immediately sent a message back, telling her not to act rashly.

Yiyi confirmed she understood, and then, starting from the insect lair, she followed the internal passages to find the exit in reverse.

This was much simpler than searching for an entrance within the vast Black Tortoise Sect.

After about another half an hour, Yiyi sent a message: The entrance and exit had been found, located in a dry well in the Black Tortoise Sect's back mountain.

Once Yiyi had successfully returned, Lu Ye then shot up into the sky to rendezvous with Xia Qianqian and the others.

Seeing Lu Ye return, the group eagerly looked his way.

"Found it!" Lu Ye said, nodding.

Everyone let out a long breath.

After informing everyone of the insect lair's entrance, Xia Qianqian frowned and said, "How should we deal with the demon beasts here? If we eliminate them one by one, it will be too time-consuming. But if we don't eliminate them and charge in, we'll inevitably be attacked from both sides."