75: Chapter 75 The Heavenly Flame of Salvation!

Nansha City.

At the very moment the crowd's wails were swallowed by the gnawing sounds of the Ant Swarm, a blazing red light, powerful enough to tear through the darkness, suddenly erupted from the deep pit at the center!

That red light pierced through the dust-billowing pit, transforming into a sky-burning flame that soared into the air, carrying a scorching heatwave!

Wherever the heatwave passed, the collapsed gravel was instantly scorched into glass-like molten beads, the falling rock pillars cracked into sparks in the high temperature, and even the pervasive stench was roasted into a burnt smell.

Chu Ran's figure was enveloped in flames; as his sleeves fluttered, dancing tongues of fire swirled around his body.

Beneath his feet stood none other than that World-Burning Flame Sky Sparrow!

Its wingspan reached a full thirty feet, covered in flame feathers of interwoven crimson and gold; every time a feather trembled, sparks would patter down. Its sharp beak was like a quenched blade, glinting with a cold light, and its sharp claws were like cast iron, radiating a daunting luster.

Its eyes were pure flame; with a single disdainful glance, it seemed as if even heaven and earth would be burned to ashes by it.

"Li—!"

The Flame Sky Sparrow let out a cry that could pierce gold and crack stone, its sound making the entire Gobi Desert hum.

With a violent flap of its wings, a rain of fire poured down from the sky. The Ant Beasts that were clinging to the ruins and gnawing on them let out shrill screeches the moment they touched the sparks, their entire bodies bursting into raging flames.

Wherever the fire rain passed, the black Ant Swarms were like waves of wheat being harvested, turning into fly ash in vast patches without even the room to struggle.

Chu Ran stood upon the back of the flame sparrow, the hem of his clothes snapping in the heatwave.

He raised a hand and waved; the World-Burning Flame Sky Sparrow understood his intent, folding its wings before suddenly spreading them wide, causing a wave of flame that spanned the sky to explode outward.

Everywhere the flame wave reached, all Ant Beasts within a hundred meters were annihilated, their charred remains burned to powder in the blink of an eye, leaving not a single trace behind.

In just an instant, the once-rampaging Ant Swarm was slaughtered to the last.

The World-Burning Flame Sky Sparrow flapped its wings and hovered in mid-air, its crimson flame feathers shimmering with light. Chu Ran stood with his hands behind his back; man and bird soared above the sky-filling firelight, looking down at the messy Gobi Desert and the terrified crowd below, their piercing pressure so tangible it pressed the entire land into silence.

The fire rain dissipated, and a burnt scent replaced the blood and stench, the firelight from the sky illuminating every terror-stricken face.

The first to react was the woman holding a child. She had been curled up tightly in a corner, covering her eyes and not daring to look until the screeching of the Ant Beasts completely vanished and a scorching heatwave brushed past her cheek; only then did she tremblingly move her hands away...

When she saw that figure draped in flames in mid-air and the fly ash that the Ant Beasts on the ground had become, her dull pupils suddenly contracted, followed by a violent trembling.

The child in her arms had long since cried himself hoarse; now, he also stared with red and swollen eyes, dazed by the "deity" surrounded by flame feathers. The woman suddenly knelt on the ground, her forehead knocking heavily against the scalding earth, as she cried out incoherently:

"God... it's a god from the heavens!"

The peddler, who had been staring toward the deep pit with a face as ashen as death and lacked even the strength to flee, now suddenly looked up. An unbelievable light burst forth from his cloudy eyes as he watched the figure standing in the air and the flame sparrow whose wingspan covered the sky. His lips trembled, unable to say a word for a long time.

He tremblingly reached out his hand, wanting to touch the firelight filling the sky, but then suddenly pulled it back. Then, as if all his strength had been drained, he fell to his knees with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly toward the air. His forehead hit the ground with a thumping sound as he repeatedly muttered in the Nanxiu dialect...

The merchant who had nearly fallen into the abyss and was fortunately stopped by some rubble was now lying at the edge of the pit in a disheveled state, his body covered in sand and blood.

He looked up at the figure that had dispelled darkness and death, tears mixed with sand rolling down his once-desperate face.

He struggled to get up, staggered a few steps, and fell to his knees with a thud, kowtowing heavily in Chu Ran's direction, his voice as hoarse as a broken gong...

The chaotic crowd seemed as if a switch had been flipped; first there was a brief, deathly silence, followed by an eruption of wailing and kowtowing from all sides.

Those who were running around in a daze stopped in their tracks, and those who had fallen to the ground with bleeding heads struggled to climb up. Everyone knelt devoutly toward the man and the sparrow in the air.

On their faces, the blood-red of fear was slowly fading, replaced by the wild joy and awe of surviving a disaster.

Some were covered in tears, some were sobbing uncontrollably, and some small children were clenching their fists tightly, looking at the figure shrouded in flame light with eyes full of near-fanatical worship!

Across the entire Gobi Desert, the ground was covered with prostrate figures, the sounds of kowtowing and cries of gratitude intertwining and shaking the clouds.

In their eyes, the figure standing atop the flame sparrow was no longer a mortal, but a deity descended to the mortal realm to save all living beings!

Chu Ran scanned everything around him, trying to find that unique aura amidst the gusts of yellow sand...

But he still couldn't find a single trace of the Ant Queen...

To completely resolve this disaster, he had to find the Broodmother!

Furthermore, Chu Ran's purpose for coming to the Desert this time was to hunt this Saint Spirit Grade Demonic Beast.

Therefore, he was exceptionally excited at this moment, urgently wanting to find the Broodmother's specific location!

"Damn it!" Chu Ran couldn't find it no matter what and blurted out a curse.

He made a bold decision: since he couldn't find it by searching, he would force it out!

With a single thought, the Flame Sky Sparrow knew what Chu Ran was planning to do.

After the surrounding people had all backed away, Chu Ran rode the Flame Sky Sparrow back to the exit from before!

When the ground collapsed earlier, he had taken the opportunity to enter the catacombs; the ground beneath Nanxiu Country had long since become a series of interconnected, massive ant nests!

Since every small nest was hollowed out and interconnected...

Then he would use fire to force it out!

"Start the burning!"

Upon the scorched earth, Chu Ran stood on the back of the Flame Sky Sparrow with his hands behind his back, his cold gaze sweeping over the holes at the edge of the pit where sand was constantly seeping.

Those were the thousands of entrances to the Abyssal Ant Queen's nest, spreading underground like a spiderweb and hiding a darkness capable of swallowing the entire Gobi Desert.

"Li—!"

The World-Burning Flame Sky Sparrow raised its head and let out a cry that could pierce gold and crack stone, its wings suddenly spreading wide as the thirty-foot flame feathers burst with a red-gold shimmer under the sunlight.

Its chest heaved violently, heatwaves like magma surging in its throat. In the next second, a condensed pillar of heavenly fire erupted from its sharp beak! The fire pillar did not scatter; it struck precisely toward the entrance in the center of the pit...

The red-gold flames, like living venomous snakes, surged frantically into the ground along the hole...