Chapter 206 Approaching the Divine (28)
These foot soldiers were terrifying in appearance, their bodies covered in hard carapaces, their mouths filled with sharp teeth constantly retracting and extending, drooling, and their compound eyes, reflecting the firelight, were filled with bloodlust.
“Prepare to fight!” Liu Sheng shouted, drawing her Holy Sword, its sacred divine radiance illuminating the grotesque faces of the foot soldiers ahead. She swung her sword forward.
“Earth Mother!” the three Divine Officials behind Liu Sheng prayed.
In truth, with Liu Sheng nearby, there was no need for them to pray or summon; the lurking Little Tentacle immediately sprang into action.
Tianyuan held a ceramic bowl adorned with a crudely drawn rooster. The Little Tentacle snatched it and threw it among the foot soldiers, whose intelligence seemed low, as their sharp claws immediately swatted it against the wall.
The dish struck the wall, then fell to the ground, shattering into five pieces.
“What a pity…” Tianyuan sighed upon seeing the fragments.
From the fragments, five crudely drawn roosters emerged, strutting proudly and flapping their wings, flying into the midst of the insectoid foot soldiers. With sharp claws and beaks, they swiftly tore through the soldiers’ carapaces and bodies…
The hall filled with the sound of crowing, and the ground was covered in chicken feathers.
At the same time, the jade bracelet on Qing Cong’s hand began to seep a blood-like color. As the blood color seeped out, a faint green phantom gradually appeared behind her, carrying a resentful hatred. It instantly moved among the foot soldiers, and once the phantom touched them, that part of their limbs would become jade-like and immobile.
A hoe swung down, easily smashing the jade-like insect body into countless fragments on the ground.
It was a crane-headed wack that had appeared among the foot soldiers, with a long, slender neck below a robust body, wildly swinging a hoe.
This was the effect of He Shan being enhanced by a weird object.
After being enhanced, he seemed to have completely lost his usual calm and self-possession, retaining only the instinctive will to destroy enemies.
With the assistance of the three Divine Officials, Liu Sheng, who was at the forefront, felt much less pressure.
Her Holy Sword possessed unparalleled power, each swing carrying the rule-based force of data disintegration. Once it pierced an insectoid foot soldier’s body, translucent tentacles, emanating pure light, immediately wriggled and burrowed into its core.
Beams of Holy Light shot out from within the foot soldiers, their data disintegrating, and their terrifying forms, like the bowl that had just been shattered, broke into countless points of light.
“We must find the Mother Worm immediately,” Liu Sheng quickly assessed.
The Holy Sword swung out Holy Light, and a wave of foot soldiers fell.
However, behind them was an endless stream of insectoid foot soldiers; as one group fell, another immediately replaced them.
This is the terrifying aspect of the insect race.
This endless productivity…
But the species is singular, possibly because it’s a juvenile nest.
But each of these things, in terms of physical strength alone, is equivalent to an Initial Realm Cultivator… Our bodies are too weak…
Not to mention these Divine Officials, who are entirely relying on the Little Tentacle’s power to fight.
Fortunately, the Little Tentacle can replenish energy by using the Guai Qi within these insects.
Let’s see whose endurance is stronger! Is it this A-rank nest or our S-rank “Mom”!
Upon hearing this, the Little Tentacle worked even harder.
Although the Little Tentacle was still black, it was now more translucent than before, like dark agate, with more numerous and brilliant holy starlight within, gradually forming a bone-like structure.
Guai Qi was injected into each weird object, unleashing even greater power.
Relying on this power, Liu Sheng led the three forward a considerable distance, gradually pushing deeper into the passage.
Just then, a deafeningly sharp shriek echoed from deep within the passage, piercing directly into Liu Sheng’s and their ear drums, making their ears buzz.
The sound was laced with endless fury, and a powerful oppressive force surged from the depths. Liu Sheng felt her body almost collapse under this pressure, and the other three fared even worse, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.
This was… the Mother Worm’s roar!
With this roar, all the insectoid foot soldiers seemed to be injected with adrenaline; the carapaces on their backs rose, revealing thin wings underneath, vibrating at high frequency, and their mouthparts simultaneously emitted the same piercing shriek.
This combination created a high-frequency resonance, causing everyone’s chests to vibrate even more intensely.
Then, they launched an even more violent assault on Liu Sheng!
“Fall back!” Liu Sheng roared.
And so, the distance they had just managed to gain was lost again, almost being pushed back to the passage entrance by the insect tide.
At this moment, a mirror light shot from behind, and the few excited foot soldiers in front suddenly trembled violently, then began to shiver.
“Grand Divine Official!”
“Grand Divine Official!”
Several voices rose and fell, male and female.
Liu Sheng looked back and saw that Yanran Divine Official had finally arrived, guided by the Little Tentacle, holding a mirror weird object, with five more Divine Officials following behind her.
“You’ve arrived,” Liu Sheng nodded, then turned back, striking down a foot soldier that was closing in with a single sword swing.
“Your subordinate is late!” Although Yanran Divine Official was still panting from the journey, her hands did not stop. Her family’s mirror weird object rotated, shining its light on the foot soldiers in the passage. Its special effect activated, and wherever it shone, the bodies of the insectoid foot soldiers instantly froze, trembling and falling into fear.
“It’s good that you’re here. Join in quickly, and we’ll push all the way to the deepest part.”
“Yes!” the Divine Officials responded in unison.
“For the Earth Mother’s people!” Liu Sheng declared, raising her Holy Sword high, and charging at the very front.
Shame, shame, shame…
Fortunately, the others didn’t feel it; instead, they followed her cheers.
“For the Earth Mother!”
“For faith!”
“Earth Mother above!”
Initially, the five newly arrived Divine Officials were all uncontrollably filled with fear at the sight, but this emotion was quickly overwhelmed by their sense of responsibility as Divine Officials. They all summoned the weird objects in their hands and joined the battle.
With the addition of Yanran Divine Official and the five Divine Officials, the battle situation gradually improved.
Liu Sheng continuously swung her Holy Sword, disintegrating data, and insectoid foot soldiers fell one after another, like an unstoppable sharp sword piercing into the enemy’s heartland. The other Divine Officials, meanwhile, cleared out the remaining foot soldiers, leveraging the advantage she had created.
In this manner, they continuously pushed deeper into the passage, towards the center of the nest.
The darkness grew deeper, and the oppressive force weighed heavily, making it almost impossible for everyone to breathe, forcing them to endure and continue forward.
Liu Sheng was the most exhausted. Her mortal body clearly felt muscle soreness, unable to sustain such high-intensity use.
Liu Sheng drank a drop of holy water, and her fatigue vanished. She then shared a few drops with them.
“We’re almost there!” Seeing that everyone looked like they were reaching their limit, she quickly spoke words of encouragement.
And it was true; the Mother Worm’s desperate shriek was already as if right beside their ears.
“Everyone, plug your ears with cloth,” Yanran Divine Official suggested upon seeing the situation.
Liu Sheng looked at Yanran with approval, nodded, and said, “Do as she says.”
So everyone either used a handkerchief or tore a piece of clothing from their bodies to plug their ears.
Fortunately, this roar was physical, so a physical barrier was sufficient.
Even more fortunately, the insectoid foot soldiers appearing now were increasingly weaker, their strength only slightly greater than that of an adult human.
Their carapaces seemed not yet fully grown, still retaining white soft shells that could be easily cut in half.
After all, it’s a juvenile version of the nest; it no longer has the energy to multiply so much.
And we’ve stopped its foraging behavior, so it hasn’t been able to replenish its energy.