Chapter 473: Situation 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," another person worried. "If something goes wrong, we could all be buried alive."

"How about we lure them away?"

"That's a possibility, but these monsters are guarding the insect nest, so it'll probably be hard to lure them away. Even if we manage to draw some off, we won't be able to get rid of all of them."

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

"Who will do it?"

The group exchanged glances, but no one spoke. It wasn't because luring the monsters away was particularly dangerous; although there were many here, they weren't more formidable than those in Two Realms City. Everyone present had fought their way out of Two Realms City and certainly wouldn't fear being pursued by these monsters.

The issue was that whoever took on the task of luring them away wouldn't be able to participate in the subsequent destruction of the insect nest.

For the cultivators of the Nine Provinces, this was an excellent opportunity to earn military merits. If they could truly destroy the insect nest here and resolve the crisis in the Myriad Beast Domain, they would undoubtedly receive a substantial amount of commendations.

A moment later, everyone 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're responsible for luring the monsters away as much as possible!"

The Grand Elder replied, "Alright, but I must accompany the Young Master."

Six people remained from the Myriad Beast Sect. Excluding the Grand Elder, that left five. While more people would be better for luring the monsters, there wasn't a huge difference between five and six.

Moreover, as a Ninth-Stage Cloud River Realm cultivator, the Grand Elder could provide Lu Ye with a certain degree of protection if he stayed by his side.

Lu Ye immediately affirmed, "No problem."

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

With that, she led a few Myriad Beast Sect cultivators sweeping downwards. Soon, violent spiritual energy fluctuations and roaring sounds emanated from below. Everyone looked on to see the Myriad Beast Sect cultivators, transformed into streaks of light, soaring over the ruins of the Black Tortoise Sect, continuously attacking.

Before long, a dense swarm of monsters followed closely behind them. These cultivators weren't in a hurry to flee; instead, they circled above the Black Tortoise Sect a few times before finally leading the beast horde into the distance.

The number of monsters gathered at the Black Tortoise Sect was instantly reduced by more than half.

The situation wasn't overly optimistic, but it was within expectations.

Splitting forces again at this point was unrealistic. There were still many monsters inside the insect nest, and if they further split to lure away the monsters on the ground, 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 everyone following closely behind him.

The spiritual energy fluctuations quickly drew the attention of the monsters. Large numbers of avian beasts actively flew forward to meet them. The group following Lu Ye simultaneously unleashed their attacks. Streaks of light from their spirit artifacts and spells, imbued with the aura of death, blasted into the horde, forcefully carving a path through the monster ranks.

Sweeping straight down, 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 Shen Xiaomao and Lan Ziyi. After them came Xia Qianqian and her summoned helpers, with the two body cultivators bringing up the rear.

As they descended, the two body cultivators in the rear continuously attacked and blasted the surrounding well walls. By the time everyone's figures landed, large amounts of falling rocks followed them down.

The dry well wasn't very deep, less than ten zhang. The moment Lu Ye landed at the bottom, Amber leaped off his shoulder and darted to one side. Lu Ye quickly followed.

Yiyi had previously scouted the underground passage, and with her secret guidance, Amber wouldn't lose its way.

Behind them, rumbling sounds continued as the well walls completely collapsed. The entrance they had used was now sealed, and they no longer had to worry about pursuers.

However, their actions seemed to have startled the underground monsters. Roars continuously echoed from various directions, responding to the howls from the surface.

The underground passages were not singular but winding and frequently branched off. Without Yiyi's secret guidance, even if they had entered this place, it would have taken them a considerable amount of effort to find the insect nest.

From time to time, monsters would rush out from the side passages, their crimson eyes particularly conspicuous in the darkness.

With the Grand Elder guarding him, few monsters could approach within thirty feet of Lu Ye, thanks to the Grand Elder's Ninth-Stage Cloud River Realm cultivation. Any monster that dared to emerge was instantly punched to death by the Grand Elder.

To be honest, having such a loyal Ninth-Stage Cloud River Realm guardian by his side indeed provided a strong sense of security.

Their journey deeper was exceptionally smooth.

The Grand Elder wasn't the only Ninth-Stage 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 sword light, a monster would be slain. Even with Lu Ye's eyesight and cultivation, he couldn't discern how Zhou Hai made his moves.

The cultivation gap was simply too vast, especially since sword cultivators were renowned for their lethal combat techniques.

After descending a hundred zhang underground, the path suddenly opened up, revealing a massive chamber to everyone's eyes.

They had reached the insect nest!

Similar to the insect nests Lu Ye had seen in the Spirit Stream Battlefield, this place appeared to be an underground cave system, now completely enveloped by a layer of fleshy walls. Numerous bulging sacs covered these walls, constantly wriggling as if something alive was hidden within, ready to burst forth at any moment.

As they stepped onto the fleshy walls, 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 crimson eyes opened, dense like fireflies.

Inside this insect nest, a large number of monsters had gathered to guard it.

After a slight standoff, a roar suddenly erupted. Accompanied by the roars, the monsters 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 brilliant glow of furious spells and spirit artifacts.

Although it was their first time cooperating, the Cloud River Realm cultivators displayed a level of synergy that Spirit Stream Realm cultivators couldn't match. The two body cultivators immediately stepped forward together, their vital energy surging. Each conjured a large spirit artifact shield to withstand the monsters' fierce onslaught.

Weapon cultivators stood behind them, and spell cultivators were positioned even further back. Instantly, an intense battle raged on.

One by one, the charging monsters were cut down, and the scent of blood began to permeate the air. The monsters' frenzied assault caused the two body cultivators' spirit artifact shields to flicker wildly, and their defensive line was even breached at one point.

After enduring the most challenging initial phase, as the number of monsters decreased, the pressure on the group gradually lessened until their formation was completely stabilized.

Although some members of the team were occasionally injured, overall, none of them were in life-threatening danger.

With hope in sight, everyone fought even harder to slay their enemies.

Half an hour later, all the monsters within the insect nest had been slain. Where the group stood, monster corpses were piled high in every direction.

"Something's not right!" Xia Qianqian suddenly exclaimed.

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

Although Zhou Hai remained silent, the sword light hovering beside him, never dimming, showed that he was constantly on guard.

Even the Grand Elder stayed by Lu Ye's side, not moving an inch, his expression tense.

All the Ninth-Stage Cloud River Realm cultivators had sensed something unusual.

Everything had gone too smoothly.

From the moment they delved underground and fought their way into the insect nest, until all the monsters there were annihilated, despite a few minor hitches, the overall process had been far too smooth.

This excessive smoothness, however, instilled a sense of unease in them, as if there was something they hadn't noticed.

"Our retreat is cut off!" Lu Ye said.

Everyone quickly turned their heads to look, only to discover that the entrance they had used was gone, completely enveloped by the omnipresent fleshy walls.

No one had noticed when their retreat was cut off. Everyone had been fighting fiercely moments ago and hadn't paid attention to the entrance behind them.

The insect nest was now completely sealed off.

A flash of sword light appeared beside Zhou Hai, and a flying sword sliced towards the location of the entrance. However, this sharp sword light only breached the surface of the fleshy wall, creating a gap but failing to cut through completely. As the sword light faded, the fleshy wall rapidly wriggled, recovering to its original state in the blink of an eye.

Seeing this, everyone's expressions turned grim. This insect nest was unlike any they had encountered before.

The insect race encountered in the Myriad Beast Domain this time was also something they had never seen before.

If the insect nest's fleshy walls possessed such powerful regenerative and defensive capabilities, how could they possibly destroy it?

"I have another question," Pang Dahai said, stepping to a spot and tapping a fleshy sac with his foot. "If the insects in this world's swarms are small, cicada-like creatures, then what's inside these sacs?"

In other insect nests, the sacs typically hatched large-bodied insects. Clearly, the insect nests in this world wouldn't need such large sacs to hatch their insects.

Moreover, ever since they arrived, these fleshy sacs had been constantly wriggling, as if something alive was about to burst out of them.

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

Every insect nest had its core, located within a huge fleshy sac. This core contained a vitality nucleus, condensed from various energies absorbed by the nest. Destroying this core would cause the nest to lose its ability to hatch insects.

This insect nest naturally also had a core, but the group had been obstructed by monsters until now, preventing them from approaching it.

Zhou Hai stepped up to the fleshy sac standing in the center. He drew his fingers across his longsword, and its blade immediately lit up with a dazzling glow.

As spiritual energy surged around him, the longsword in his hand transformed into a sky-shattering sword beam, which he brought down towards the core.

This sword strike, unleashed with his full power, did not land smoothly. Just as the longsword was about to descend, a monstrous claw suddenly extended from within the core sac and seized Zhou Hai's sword. The claw was as hard as refined iron; the sword striking it produced a metallic clang and sparks flew, demonstrating its incredible toughness.

Zhou Hai's pupils constricted.

Everyone watching this scene was greatly startled by the sudden turn of events. No one had expected a living creature to emerge from within the core fleshy sac.