Chapter 137

Chapter 137: Insect Beasts Riot
“The World-Cleansing Azure Lotus has appeared!”

Everyone looked toward the swamp. Sure enough, they saw a blue lotus swaying in the wind. Through the gaps between its petals, they could faintly see the lotus seeds inside the pod, round and full.

Just as everyone was getting excited over the appearance of the World-Cleansing Azure Lotus, the ground suddenly shook. From all directions came waves of buzzing cries from avian beasts and insects, along with the roars of unknown demonic beasts.

Before they could react, a rustling sound rose from beneath their feet.

Countless poisonous insects of all shapes crawled out of the soil and surged toward the center of the swamp like a tide.

Buzz, buzz –

When they looked up, they saw giant bees larger than a human head and avian beasts that fed on rotting flesh darkening the sky as they swarmed in.

In the blink of an eye, the swamp seemed to have become a paradise for poisonous insects and fierce beasts.

“Ah!”

A cultivator was so shocked that he failed to dodge in time. A venom beast bit into his cheek, and the flesh on his face started rotting at once.

The thick smell of blood instantly drew other insect beasts over.

“No! Get away! Get away!”

He raised a shield of spirit power, trying to block the insect beasts charging toward him like a flood.

But under the dense attacks, his spirit power shield lasted less than a single breath before it shattered with a boom.

The next moment, he was swallowed up by the mass of insect beasts, and his screams cut off abruptly.

“Run! Hurry and run!”

Someone screamed in terror while bolting blindly for the outside.

But he had barely taken a few steps when the poisonous insects rushing in caught up and wrapped around him, leaving behind only a skeleton.

“Come behind me.”

Yu Zhao’s face was solemn. Forming hand seals with both hands, she quickly set up several illusion arrays in front of her.

Some of these illusion arrays hid their aura, some confused the five senses. Taken together, they did everything they could to erase their presence.

Yu Zhao and Ji Han Zhou cooperated smoothly. While Yu Zhao set up the arrays, he was already urging Mo Ci and the others to hide behind Yu Zhao and not stray too far from her.

Although Mo Ci and the others did not understand Yu Zhao’s abilities, they trusted her, so they followed her instructions without hesitation.

Then, they saw a strange sight.

Those snakes, bugs, rats, ants, birds, and beasts would, upon drawing close to them, act as if they had run into an invisible wall. They naturally split and went around them on both sides, never noticing they were there at all.

Mo Ci and the other three looked at each other, their faces full of disbelief.

Seeing this, Ji Han Zhou felt secretly proud.

[There are still so many things they don’t know.]

[Senior Sister Yu and I are the closest companions under heaven.]

He had just thought that when the youngest female cultivator of Hundred Flowers Valley let out a soft little sound and reached out her small hand to tightly grab Yu Zhao’s sleeve.

“Sister Yu, you’re amazing. With you here, I feel like I’m not scared at all.”

“Senior Sister Yu, me too.”

“And me.”

Ji Han Zhou’s face turned dark.

[How hateful!]

[They are going too far!]

While Yu Zhao was using her illusion art, the others were also showing off their divine abilities.

Yao Wu Jisummoned a huge red spider and sat cross-legged on its back. She ordered the spider to spit at Fang Cheng Lang and Cui Jue – no, not spit, but spiderwebs.

The sticky spiderwebs were colorless and tasteless. They did not make a person feel uncomfortable when they were covered in them, but poisonous insects and other such creatures were extremely repelled by them and all went around.

Yao Wu Jisaid arrogantly to Fang Cheng Lang: “I saved your lives again.”

[These two are interesting. She did not want them to die too early.]

Fang Cheng Lang clearly understood her twisted sense of fun. He kept silent. His eyes looked past the crowd toward Yu Zhao.

He saw Yu Zhao protecting several unfamiliar men and women behind her. On that familiar face there was a firmness that felt completely strange to him.

His expression turned dazed.

So Little Six had already grown, out of his sight, into someone who could shelter others from the wind and rain.

[What he missed is missed forever.]

“Who are you looking at? Your little lover?”

Fang Cheng Lang had been lost in thought for too long, long enough for Yao Wu Jito notice something was off.

Following his gaze, Yao Wu Jilooked over and almost at first glance confirmed who the person he cared about was.

The corners of her lips hooked into a smile with an unclear meaning: “Interesting.”

Fang Cheng Lang snapped back to himself. He wanted to say something, but he was afraid of arousing Yao Wuji’s suspicion and bringing trouble to Yu Zhao. He could only press down his anxiety and did not dare look over again.

By this time, only a few dozen people on the field were still barely holding on. The rest had already died in the previous fighting and the attacks of the insect beasts.

The insect beasts drawn here by the World-Cleansing Azure Lotus were now charging at the swamp.

The swamp treated all living things the same.

Any insect beast that entered the swamp area was either poisoned to death by the miasma or swallowed by the marsh itself.

But they were like fearless warriors. They kept launching charge after charge.

One insect beast, two, three… countless insect beasts flung themselves forward. Their numbers were beyond counting.

The number of insect beasts being consumed far exceeded the swamp’s speed of swallowing them.

After a while, large stretches of insect corpses floated up on the swamp’s surface. Seen from far away, they looked like scattered pieces of floating wood that might sink at any time.

The cultivators who saw this could not help but feel tempted.

Wasn’t this the best chance to pick the World-Cleansing Azure Lotus? As long as they could rush back before the insect corpses were swallowed, they could safely go there and back across the swamp.

This might be their only chance.

[Fight for it!]

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh –

More than ten figures broke free of the insect beasts’ encirclement and swiftly rushed toward the swamp.

When the first cultivator stepped onto the insect corpses and successfully entered the swamp area, everyone boiled over with excitement.

They could actually cross. What were they still waiting for?

Several more figures flashed by and followed.

Yu Zhao’s eyes flickered. She was a little tempted.

But when she thought of the people behind her and the strange, unfathomable swamp, she forced the thought down again.

She kept feeling that this World-Cleansing Azure Lotus would not be so easy to pick.

“Hahahahaha! The World-Cleansing Azure Lotus is mine!”

Among the people racing for the World-Cleansing Azure Lotus, one man’s speed was extremely fast. While the others were just entering the swamp, he had already reached the center, the closest spot to the lotus.

Looking at the ethereal, elegant lotus, his eyes burned with desire. Without any hesitation, he reached out toward the lotus stem.

The others held their breath, their eyes showing all kinds of emotions.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the lotus stem, a beast head covered in the swamp’s black mud suddenly shot up from the depths. Its shape was unclear, and it bit down on his waist and belly.

He did not even have time to cry out before he was bitten in half and swallowed in a few gulps.

The grinding sound of bones and teeth clashing echoed in the ears of every cultivator present.

They stared wide-eyed at this unknown demonic beast, shock and fear filling their hearts.

For a demonic beast to live in this swamp without being affected was truly unbelievable.

“Ah!”

A sudden scream snapped everyone out of it.

They looked toward the sound and saw that it came from the other cultivators who had wanted to pick the World-Cleansing Azure Lotus. Afraid of the demonic beast in the swamp, they had not dared to go forward and had stayed where they were for a few breaths longer.

But in just those few breaths, the swamp had already swallowed the insect corpses. When they tried to go back the way they came, other people blocked their path.

With no other choice, they had to jump up into the air, but because the miasma was everywhere with no gaps, they fell from above and in the end became nourishment for the swamp.