145: Chapter 145 The Ant Swarm Hides a Mystery, Danger in the Canyon

Just as the crack in the western light barrier spread by half a foot, a crimson blade glow streaked past like a meteor, slicing the leading Bone-Eroding Ants in two.

"What are you brats panicking for!"

The bearded Teacher Wang strode out of the tent carrying a massive blade, muscles bulging on his bronze arms, each step making the ground tremble slightly.

"They're just some bone-gnawing bugs, watch how I chop them up!"

Zhang Wen recognized this Aura—the Transformation Realm!

A full major Realm higher than the Domain Realm, his spiritual power could already resonate with the power of heaven and earth, every movement carrying a crushing pressure.

This Teacher Wang Wude was likely the one who had soloed three Transformation Realm Vicious Beasts in his early years, occasionally mentioned by teachers as a case study in practical combat classes.

Almost simultaneously, three figures dashed out from the southern tents.

The leader's fingertips flowed with green light, instantly weaving a wall of thorns outward, firmly blocking the Vicious Beasts;

Almost at the same time, a sharp Sword Qi swept out, knocking the ant swarm a hundred meters away into a scattered retreat;

The last person pressed a palm with profound runes onto the vibrating alloy pillar, and the Bone-Eroding Ants gnawing at the pillar were instantly turned to powder.

These timely appearances were Teacher Chen Mingda, who taught the habits of Vicious Beasts, Teacher Li Feiyuan with her superb swordsmanship, and the Formation Great Master Teacher Zhao Yingming!

"It's Teacher Chen's 'Spirit-Rotting Finger'! And Teacher Li's 'Sky-Rending Sword'!"

Su Xinyue whispered, a clear look of awe flashing in her eyes.

These were the backbone of the school; they were either buried in research labs or leading teams deep into high-Rank areas. Ordinary students were lucky to even see them once.

Dean wiped the dust from his face, his tense expression relaxing significantly: "What's there to fear? In our camp alone, counting me, there are five in the Transformation Realm. Can't we handle this small scene?"

He tilted his chin toward Zhang Wen, "You two go to the east side to help Teacher Li reinforce the formation eye. Don't let people think Azure Mist students don't even know how to help out."

Zhang Wen and Su Xinyue exchanged a look and charged toward the east side simultaneously.

Although the light barrier there hadn't broken, Teacher Li's Sword Qi had begun to stagnate—the number of Bone-Eroding Ants was simply too many. The dense swarm crashing into the barrier actually caused the spiritual power of a Transformation Realm Cultivator to dissipate slightly.

"Use your Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder to burn off their wings!"

Teacher Li's voice was as cold as a sword. Wherever the sword light swept, the ants fell one after another, yet there were always some that slipped through the cracks in the barrier.

Zhang Wen understood immediately. He spun the sky-splitting startling thunder spear in his palm, and the Lightning Radiance erupting from the tip turned into fine electric threads, like a spiderweb attached to the light barrier.

Those Bone-Eroding Ants trying to glide touched the electric threads, and their wings were instantly charred, falling into the swarm like kites with broken strings.

Su Xinyue took out several Ice Crystal Talismans. Under the stimulation of spiritual power from her fingertips, the talismans turned into thin ice covering the cracks in the light barrier.

The ice surface was as smooth as a mirror. The Bone-Eroding Ants would slip when stepping on it, buying reaction time for Zhang Wen's Lightning Radiance.

"Good coordination."

Li Feiyuan glanced at them, her sword light suddenly becoming several degrees sharper, "Hold on for a moment longer, Teacher Zhao's 'Heaven-Burning Formation' is almost complete."

Zhang Wen followed her gaze. Teacher Zhao was pacing around twelve alloy pillars, a flame rune lighting up on each pillar with every step he took.

As the final rune lit up, the twelve pillars erupted with soaring pillars of fire, weaving into a massive fire net in mid-air that enveloped the entire camp.

"Buzz—"

The moment the fire net descended, the ant swarm outside the camp let out a chorus of screeches. The black tide of insects was scorched by the flames, emitting billows of black smoke, and the smell of burning filled the air.

Even more miraculously, the flames only burned the ants, not harming the camp's vegetation at all, clearly being precisely controlled by the spiritual power of a Transformation Realm Cultivator.

"Done."

Wang Wude tapped his massive blade with its back and grinned, "With only this much capability, they dared to raid our camp?"

Before he finished speaking, a half-person-tall Queen Ant suddenly lunged out from the remains of the swarm. The acid sprayed from its mouth actually penetrated the fire net, heading straight for Zhao Yingming in the center!

"Watch out!" Chen Mingda's vines timely wrapped around the Queen Ant's body, but were corroded with a sizzling sound by the eerie green glow on its shell.

Teacher Zhao remained calm, reaching out his hand and making a grasping motion toward the Queen Ant.

The fire net surrounding the camp suddenly contracted, turning into a fire Dragon that bound the Queen Ant. The high temperature caused its shell to gradually turn red and soften.

"This Queen Ant is not right."

Dean suddenly said in a heavy voice, "An ordinary Bone-Eroding Queen Ant could never penetrate Old Zhao's fire net. There are rune fluctuations on its shell!"

Zhang Wen's pupils constricted. As expected, he hadn't guessed wrong—this ant tide was being controlled by someone!

Just as the fire Dragon was about to completely consume the Queen Ant, its body suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon.

From the cracks in the shell, dozens of ants with silver markings crawled out, scattering and fleeing at extreme speed!

"Trying to run?"

Li Feiyuan's sword light instantly caught up to three of them, but paused the moment it touched the ants—those silver markings suddenly lit up, and the ants' bodies turned into fine talisman ash.

"It's 'Substitute Talisman Ants'!"

Chen Mingda's expression changed slightly, "Someone wanted to use the Queen Ant as a container to deliver cursed talismans into the camp!"

Zhang Wen's heart sank, and he instinctively looked toward Su Xinyue.

He saw her bending over to pick up a silver ant that had fallen near her feet. Just as her fingertips were about to touch it, the ant suddenly exploded into a cloud of black mist and drilled into the wound on her lower leg!

"Hiss—" Su Xinyue gasped in pain. When she looked down, a black floral pattern appeared at the wound, looking very much like the silhouette of an ant.

"Xinyue!"

Dean's face changed drastically, and he rushed over to press on her wound, "Don't circulate your power! This is the 'Heart-Eroding Curse', it will spread along with your spiritual power!"

Zhang Wen then noticed that while helping on the west side earlier, his own hand had also been scorched by the ant's acid, leaving a small wound. At this moment, a faint black pattern was also emerging, though it was much lighter than Su Xinyue's.

In the center of the camp, Zhao Yingming suddenly snorted coldly, the flame runes on his fingertips flickering.

"To dare play dirty on our Azure Mist's turf, you must truly be tired of living."

He raised his hand and grasped at the air. A dark shadow wrapped in flames was dragged out from the edge of the dense forest, turning into a burning talisman paper as it landed. The writing on the paper flashed and vanished in the firelight—

"Eliminate Azure Mist's rising stars."

"Eliminate rising stars?"

Teacher Wang frowned, his gaze toward Zhang Wen and Su Xinyue becoming more solemn, "Is this aimed at you students with potential?"

Dean's face darkened: "In recent years, competition between schools has become increasingly fierce. There's no shortage of scum using underhanded tricks to suppress their rivals."

"Zhang Wen is currently our school's number one New Student, and Xinyue's Freezing Frost talent is also top-tier. I'm afraid you've long been targeted."

Zhang Wen looked at the faint black pattern on the back of his hand, suddenly remembering Principal Gongsun's advice upon enrollment.

The world of Cultivators never lacks fair competition, but it hides even more underhanded schemes. The more outstanding one's talent, the more one must watch out for knives in the dark.