210: Earth-devouring insect swarm, the sword domain of life and death
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
The dull and violent thudding, like war drums urging one to their death, rang out one after another from the dome of the cavern! Gravel and dust fell in showers, the faint blue light flickered violently, and the entire underground space seemed as if it could collapse at any moment!
“Earth-Devouring Insects! It is a swarm of Earth-Devouring Insects!” The Grand Elder’s face turned ghastly pale, his voice trembling with despair. “They can perceive vibrations and vitality underground! It must have been when the black mist receded just now, or perhaps your aura, Fellow Daoist Ye, that attracted them!”
The cavern instantly descended into Chaos. Women held their children tightly, and although the warriors’ faces revealed fear, they still gripped their crude weapons tightly, quickly gathering at the main entrances of the cavern, their eyes filled with a desperate resolve to die. Clearly, this was not the first time they had faced such a crisis.
“What are Earth-Devouring Insects?” Ye Chen frowned slightly, his Divine Sense instantly piercing through the thick strata of earth to probe upwards. The next moment, his expression tightened.
Hundreds of zhang above in the underground, he “saw” countless terrifying creatures, huge in size, resembling centipedes but possessing numerous digging legs and a giant mouth filled with spiral sharp teeth! Each one was over ten zhang long, their carapaces dark and shiny, exuding a fierce aura ranging from the Early Stage to the Middle Stage of the Tiangang Realm! Moreover, they were extremely numerous, densely packed, numbering far more than a hundred! They were frantically gnawing and ramming into the rock layers, digging towards the location of the cavern with a clear target!
These Earth-Devouring Insects were one of the fearsome predators in the Star Abyss of Fallen Gods, adept at traveling underground, with keen perception and a fierce temperament; wherever they passed, all living things would be devoured completely!
“It’s over... there are too many this time... we cannot stop them...” A young warrior looked at the rubble falling continuously, his voice choked with sobs.
The Grand Elder took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He looked at Ye Chen, a glimmer of final hope in his eyes: “Fellow Daoist Ye, Earth-Devouring Insects fear extreme cold and fierce flames, but ordinary fire has little effect on them... that fire of yours before...”
His words were not finished, but the meaning was clear.
Ye Chen nodded without saying more. He took a step forward, and his figure appeared above the very center of the cavern.
“Everyone, gather together and protect the elderly and the young!” His cold voice spread throughout the cavern, carrying an unquestionable majesty.
The panicked crowd seemed to have found their backbone and, under the command of the Grand Elder and Yan and the others, quickly retreated toward the central area.
At this moment, the rock wall on one side of the cavern suddenly broke open with a violent roar, revealing a huge hole! Gravel sprayed like rain, and the head of a hideous Earth-Devouring Insect, with foul-smelling saliva and a violent aura, suddenly poked in! Its compound eyes instantly locked onto the crowd gathered in the cavern, let out a sharp hiss, and opened its giant mouth to bite!
Just at this critical moment—
“Nirvana.”
Ye Chen just spat out the word faintly.
An invisible yet bone-chilling Nirvana Sword Intent, like a precise scalpel, instantly swept across the head of that Earth-Devouring Insect!
That Earth-Devouring Insect’s huge body stiffened abruptly, and the half of its body that had poked into the cave seemed to have all its life force drained away instantly; all its movements stopped abruptly, and the fierce light in its compound eyes dimmed and extinguished instantly. Immediately after, its carapace and flesh began to turn gray and withered at a speed visible to the naked eye, and eventually, like rock that had weathered for millions of years, it shattered inch by inch, turning into a pile of lifeless dust!
Instant kill!
Everyone in the cave was stunned, looking at the Earth-Devouring Insect that had turned into fly ash in an instant in disbelief. They had been fighting Earth-Devouring Insects for many years and knew well the hardness of their carapaces and the tenacity of their lives; when had they ever seen such an effortless extermination?
However, the crisis was not resolved!
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
More rock walls were smashed open, and seven or eight Earth-Devouring Insects drilled in from different directions simultaneously, hissing and pouncing on the crowd! Behind them, more digging sounds and hissing sounds were coming!
Ye Chen’s eyes turned cold. Passive defense was not the solution; he had to take the initiative to block these Earth-Devouring Insects outside the cavern, or... annihilate them all!
His figure moved, no longer confined to the interior of the cavern, but turned into a stream of light, actively rushing towards the largest hole!
“Senior!” Yan exclaimed.
Ye Chen’s figure had already disappeared into that dark hole, entering the tunnel dug by the Earth-Devouring Insects!
Inside the tunnel, it was narrower, but for the Earth-Devouring Insects and Ye Chen, it was spacious enough. Ahead were countless scarlet compound eyes lit up in the darkness, as well as the scalp-numbing sound of sharp teeth rubbing and hissing!
The swarm of Earth-Devouring Insects discovered this “little snack” that had delivered itself to their door, becoming even more frantic, surging over like a black tide!
“Just right, let me use you to test my newly comprehended Move.”
Ye Chen’s expression was calm, and the guixu sword remained sheathed. He just lifted his hands vaguely. In the palm of his left hand, a wisp of Chaos living flame quietly danced, emitting warm vitality; in the palm of his right hand, the ultimate Nirvana Sword Intent condensed, emitting cold deathly silence.
Life and death, two diametrically opposed forces, began to slowly circulate and blend around him. Thanks to the balance of the chaos ancestral talisman and the suppression of the chaos primordial fetus, these two forces did not conflict and annihilate each other, but formed a strange, grayish, brand-new force field that seemed capable of evolving all things and ending everything!
This was exactly the prototype of the Life and Death Sword Domain that he had initially comprehended by combining the Chaos fire seed and the Nirvana Sword Intent!
“Life and death cycle, Sword Domain—open!”
Ye Chen gave a low shout and pushed that grayish force field forward violently!
The force field, like a constantly expanding gray bubble, instantly filled the entire tunnel ahead and spread rapidly towards the depths of the insect swarm!
A bizarre scene occurred!
Wherever that grayish force field passed, the Earth-Devouring Insects at the forefront seemed to experience the rapid blooming and withering of life simultaneously! Half of their bodies, nourished by the Chaos living flame, had flesh growing frantically, even blooming with strange flowers, while the other half of their bodies decayed and disintegrated rapidly under the Nirvana Sword Intent! This extreme contradiction erupted within them, causing them to not even be able to let out a scream before they exploded with a bang after a brief distortion, turning into a cloud of energy dust mixed with vitality and Death Qi, which was then assimilated and absorbed by the Life and Death Sword Domain!
The rules of life and death, at this moment, became the most lethal weapon!
The Sword Domain continued to advance, like a ruthless millstone, and wherever it passed, the Earth-Devouring Insects were annihilated in batches in this bizarre and terrifying way! Their hard carapaces and massive life force appeared so fragile under the conflict of the rules of life and death!
The Earth-Devouring Insects behind seemed to feel the great terror contained in that gray force field, instinctively producing fear, and the momentum of their charge stagnated, even beginning to try to retreat.
But would Ye Chen give them a chance?
His figure merged with the Sword Domain, like a gray god of death, charging forward against the insect tide! The guixu sword was finally unsheathed. The sword light was no longer purely gray, but carried a hint of Chaos color intertwined with life and death. Every sword strike was precise, triggering the power of the Life and Death Sword Domain, slashing and assimilating the powerful Earth-Devouring Insects that tried to resist or flee!
His power, instead of being consumed in the slaughter, became even more abundant and surging because he was constantly absorbing and refining the pure energy released after the annihilation of those Earth-Devouring Insects (mixed with vitality and Death Qi, perfectly converted by the chaos ancestral talisman)!
He did not know how long he had killed, or how many Earth-Devouring Insects he had slashed.
When there was no longer a single living insect in front of the tunnel, and only a bizarre “corpse pile” mixed with strange flowers, plants, and decayed remains was left on the ground, Ye Chen slowly stopped his footsteps.
His body was surrounded by faint grayish air currents, and his aura not only did not weaken but became even deeper and more restrained. The prototype of the Life and Death Sword Domain, after being baptized by this actual combat, became increasingly refined and rounded.
He put away his sword and stood still, looking into the depths of the tunnel. There, a more powerful and tyrannical aura seemed to remain—it should be the leader of this group of Earth-Devouring Insects, but after sensing Ye Chen’s terrifying slaughter efficiency, it had already turned cowardly and retreated silently.
The crisis was temporarily resolved.
Ye Chen turned around and returned to the devastated cavern.
Inside the cavern, it was dead silent. Everyone looked at him as if petrified, their eyes full of unparalleled shock, awe, and... fanaticism like looking at a god!
The Grand Elder walked up tremblingly and bowed deeply to the ground: “Many... many thanks to Fellow Daoist Ye... no, Venerable Ye for saving our lives! The Star Scar Tribe will never forget this!”
Ye Chen casually waved a gentle Chaos air current, smoothing out the damaged rock walls and panicked hearts in the cavern, and said faintly: “A mere trifle. Prepare yourselves; I need a quiet place to go into seclusion for half a day, and after that, I will set off for the Star Burying Valley.”
He needed to completely digest his recent gains and stabilize the Life and Death Sword Domain. Facing the Star Devouring Ancient Dragon that surpassed the Tiangang Realm at the Star Burying Valley, having one more point of strength meant having one more point of certainty.
Hearing this, the Grand Elder did not hesitate at all and hurriedly led the way personally: “Venerable, please follow me. The best quiet room in the tribe has already been prepared for you!”
After this battle, Ye Chen’s status in the Star Scar Tribe had become like that of a true god.