Chapter 26
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Chapter 26: A Sword Comes from the North
Boom!
Just as many believed the ordeal had concluded, an unforeseen calamity abruptly unfolded.
The earth trembled violently, and vast stretches of spirit fields abruptly surged upward, disgorging swarms of land rhinoceroses from the fissures.
These obsidian beetles glimmered with an otherworldly aura, their numbers seemingly infinite, swiftly amassing into a towering mound.
They spread with alarming rapidity in every direction!
Numerous cultivators, who had been scavenging insect remains nearby, were caught off guard; some were hurled into the air, while others tumbled to the ground, only to be engulfed by the relentless tide of land rhinoceroses in mere moments.
A harrowing shriek pierced the air, sending chills down the spines of all who heard it.
Land rhinoceroses are feeble creatures; even monsterized land rhinoceroses can be subdued by young cultivators at the first or second level of Qi Training.
Yet, when thousands upon thousands of them assail, their sharp horns pierce, their sturdy mandibles bite, and they infiltrate ears, nostrils, and mouths…
Taken unawares, more than a dozen hapless cultivators met their doom.
The remaining cultivators fled in abject terror, their spirits nearly deserting them as they scrambled for safety.
But at that very moment, the mountainous aggregation of land rhinoceroses began to metamorphose.
It suddenly surged upward, attaining a height exceeding thirty zhang.
Simultaneously, heads, torsos, limbs, and hands emerged.
It grotesquely morphed into a terrifying insect giant!
In the next breath, the insect giant stooped, extending its colossal hand to seize a fleeing cultivator.
The fifth-level Qi Trainer reacted swiftly, activating a protective talisman.
Yet, the protective aura was no match for the insect giant’s crushing grasp, which obliterated it in an instant.
The ensnared cultivator wailed in despair, “Save me…”
His voice was laden with hopelessness.
Then he was thrust into the gaping maw of the giant.
The "crunching" sounds of mastication resonated clearly from miles away!
The insect giant, evidently unsatisfied, spread its arms and seized two more cultivators, shoving them into its mouth.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Yunyang flying ship, positioned directly before the insect giant, unleashed a volley of crossbow arrows at the monstrous entity.
Each arrow was imbued with potent spells, igniting into searing flames as they streaked through the air, striking the insect giant’s form.
They detonated into devastating infernos!
Innumerable land rhinoceroses were incinerated or blasted into fragments, cascading to the ground.
The insect giant’s head and body swiftly became riddled with craters.
But swiftly, a multitude of land rhinoceroses surged forth from within it, instantly repairing the damage inflicted by the fiery arrows.
The insect giant was unmistakably incensed.
It devoured the cultivator it had just captured, straightened its massive form, and let out a silent roar toward the flying ship hovering in the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the insect giant’s right arm elongated into a long black whip.
With a mighty swing, it lashed out at the Yunyang flying ship!
Bang!
Despite the considerable distance between the insect giant and the flying ship, the whip struck with the force of thunder, extending hundreds of zhang in an instant and landing a devastating blow on the ship’s hull.
The Yunyang flying ship was sent spinning and tumbling backward, its radiant glow dimming noticeably.
The Qi Training cultivators who witnessed this scene turned pale, their hearts gripped by fear.
The Yunyang flying ship was a formidable weapon upon which the Yunyang Sect relied to maintain its dominance. Each ship was guarded by at least two masters, and its combat ability was strong enough to rival three Purple Palace cultivators of the same level.
Yet, it had been driven back by an evil creature formed from land rhinoceroses.
It was nothing short of horrifying!
The Purple Palace master controlling the flying ship seemed equally shaken, retreating hastily before the vessel could stabilize.
This created a significant gap between the two forces.
However, this retreat spelled disaster for the outer sect cultivators who had gathered to watch.
The insect giant did not pursue the agile flying ship.
Instead, it took heavy, deliberate steps and began to ravage the surrounding spirit fields.
One by one, cultivators were seized by the insect giant and devoured.
Only those who possessed escape techniques or had the foresight to use life-saving talismans managed to escape its grasp.
Many cultivators, enraged by the insect giant’s brutality, summoned their courage and unleashed a barrage of spells, magical tools, and talismans in a desperate attempt to fight back.
Fire dragons coiled through the air, wind blades howled, thunderbolts crackled, and ice arrows rained down…
Yet, if even the Yunyang flying ship had failed to harm the insect giant, how could these Qi Training-level spells pose any threat?
The resistors quickly became the insect giant’s primary targets for slaughter.
In moments, the fields were filled with cries of anguish, and the casualties were overwhelmingly outer sect cultivators—many of whom were spiritual plant farmers.
From his vantage point on a distant hillside, Wang Chen watched the scene unfold with a heavy heart.
He felt no joy in their suffering.
As the saying goes, "When the rabbit dies, the fox mourns."
Seeing these Qi Training cultivators, much like himself, being trampled and devoured by the insect giant filled Wang Chen with profound sorrow.
Though many had brought this upon themselves by prioritizing petty gains over their safety,
their mistakes did not warrant such a fatal punishment!
The Purple Palace master controlling the flying ship clearly viewed them as expendable, delaying any counterattack.
To the masters, these low-level outer sect cultivators were little more than ants.
To seize control of their destiny, they would have to grow stronger!
Wang Chen couldn’t help but clench his fists tightly.
Boom!
A beam as thick as a water bucket shot out from the bow of the Yunyang flying ship, a thousand zhang away.
In an instant, it struck the chest of the insect giant!
This blow annihilated countless land rhinoceroses, creating a massive void in the body of the evil object.
The insect giant immediately crumbled, and thousands upon thousands of land rhinoceroses lost their support and plummeted to the ground.
But before anyone could rejoice at the defeat of this terrifying enemy, the ground suddenly swelled again, and a new insect giant began to coalesce and take shape!
Was there no end to this?
Just as many cultivators were sinking into despair, the sky above suddenly blazed with light.
A resplendent sword energy came from the north, sweeping across the vast sky and eclipsing even the great sun.
An overwhelmingly powerful aura followed the sword, firmly locking onto the newly formed insect giant.
The insect giant seemed to sense its impending doom. It raised its arms in a defensive posture, its body trembling violently.
Time seemed to freeze in that instant!
In the next breath, the brilliant sword energy pierced through the insect giant’s head and body from above, its unmatched killing intent grinding countless beetles into dust.
Then, the sword energy continued unabated, penetrating the soil layer and plunging deep into the earth!
The ground shook violently.
Everyone within dozens of miles heard a bone-chilling scream at the same time.
It was over!
Wang Chen realized that this terrifying evil object had been utterly destroyed.
But this dazzling sword light was deeply etched into his soul.
At this moment, the shock within Wang Chen was truly beyond words.
Mu Qingqiu!
The Grand Elder of the Yunyang Sect, one of the three Golden Core true masters.
Although Wang Chen had only heard of her and never seen her, his intuition told him that this strike could only have been delivered by Mu Qingqiu, known as the "First Sword of Tianyun"!
