Chapter 023
Chapter 23: Heavenly Insect People
In the northeastern region of Hua Xia, the mountains undulate, and dark clouds fill the sky. Giant mutated beasts occasionally soar across the skies, while mutant vines slither beneath the earth, stretching endlessly. Every now and then, large trees run through the landscape, their movements eerie and unsettling.
This area lies far from the five major bases, a true danger zone.
A meteor streaks across the sky and crashes with a thunderous roar, drawing the attention of several mutated creatures.
Cough cough, cough cough cough…
A young girl stumbles out of the dust and smoke, coughing violently. As a fierce wind blows, the smoke dissipates, and she finally feels a sense of relief.
Her slightly rounded, attractive face surveys her surroundings, and her left eye’s combat power detector flickers wildly, with numbers jumping erratically. Her expression shifts as she mutters, “What a stroke of bad luck! How many powerful creatures are nearby? Seven seals, eight seals… Huh? There’s even a nine-seal?”
“Good thing I landed here. If anyone else had arrived, they wouldn’t even make it out of the mountains,” she smirks in self-satisfaction. As mutated creatures begin to encircle her, she pulls out a dagger and cuts her finger, letting her blood drip onto the ground. The blood forms a hazy, crimson mist that spreads in all directions.
The ground trembles as the mist extends, and with every inch it spreads, the earth quakes more violently. In the next moment, a massive, grotesque centipede bursts from the soil, coiling around the young girl.
The centipede is over thirty meters long, its fierce body exuding an overwhelming force. At the same time, various other insects begin to gather, and all the mutated creatures that had previously surrounded her retreat in fear.
Above, the sky darkens, as a cloud of palm-sized mosquitoes descends, their mandibles glinting with a deadly shine.
The young girl raises her head, leaps into the air, and lands on the centipede’s back. “Let’s go, find Little Zhao! I’ll crush him for daring to compete with me for Brother Xiao. This time, I’ll make sure he’s obliterated.” With her command, the centipede moves, tearing through the earth as swarms of insects follow in its wake, marching out from the mountains.
For ten days, Wang Jie and his group have been hunting in the danger zone. Since the night the second batch of trial takers arrived, the mutated beasts underwent their third transformation. Seven-seal creatures became more common, and eight-seal creatures frequently appeared.
Yet, all fell before Wang Jie’s Heaven and Earth Luo Xuan Finger.
The most dangerous encounter occurred when they faced a group of mutated crocodiles, three of which were eight-seal-level beasts. They nearly overwhelmed Qing Zheng, but the mutated crocodiles did contribute plenty of cataclysm materials.
“If you can’t carry it, just leave it to me,” Wen Zhao offers.
Old Nine tightens his backpack, “I can manage.”
Wen Zhao smiles wryly. She’s said this several times already. They still don’t trust her, but it’s amusing watching them take turns carrying the bags.
Wang Jie steps onto the Armor Eight Steps, leaping and moving gracefully from tree to tree, leaving traces of afterimages. In the blink of an eye, he catches a bird circling overhead and forces it to the ground.
That makes five steps.
Previously, Wang Jie could only manage three steps with the Armor Eight Steps, but now he’s up to five. Wen Zhao, on the other hand, can still only manage five herself.
She realizes Wang Jie has an exceptional comprehension.
“That should be enough. Let’s head back,” she remarks. Unfortunately, the bird didn’t contribute any cataclysm materials, which is rather disappointing.
The aircraft ascends and heads back toward the base.
“How far are you from the nine-seal?” Wang Jie suddenly asks.
Wen Zhao replies, “It’s rude to ask others about their progress.”
“Looks like it’s soon.”
“You could reach it faster than I could. No need to worry about the next realm,” she responds.
Wang Jie turns to her, “Lock Force… Is that it? No future beyond that?”
Wen Zhao chuckles, “As a battle slave cultivation method, the most important thing is speed. Battle slaves are cannon fodder, sent to the frontlines in droves, all below ten seals, but their cultivation progresses quickly. Do you think there’s any future in that?”
Wang Jie falls silent.
Qing Zheng asks, “Can we cultivate your power?”
Wen Zhao gives him a glance, “It’s nearly impossible. Once you cultivate Lock Force, you can’t cultivate Star Force. And if you leak any cultivation methods without sect approval, you’ll be killed.”
Qing Zheng quickly shrinks back.
Wang Jie recalls something, “Did you mention an enemy among the second batch of trial takers? Someone very powerful?”
Wen Zhao’s expression darkens at the mention. “Heavenly Insect People. A rather unique human group whose blood can control insects.”
“People like that exist?” Old Five exclaims in surprise.
Wen Zhao nods, “There are countless strange civilizations in the universe. Even among humans, there are many bizarre factions, let alone non-human civilizations.”
“Do you think the interstellar battlefield is just some simple fight?”
“To be honest, there have been over a hundred human branches in the interstellar battlefield. The Heavenly Insect People are a low-ranking branch. The top-ranked ones? You wouldn’t even dare to imagine them.”
Old Nine interjects, “You mean those who are born with combat power beyond ten seals?”
Wen Zhao falls silent.
When they return to the base, they register the cataclysm materials they’ve collected.
Seeing the large number of materials, many of which are from seven and eight-seal creatures, the short-haired woman is stunned.
“Seven hundred sixty-eight.”
This is now the total score of the Blue Star hunting team.
It ranks just below the tenth-place team, the Remnant Hunting Squad.
Unfortunately, they still haven’t broken into the top ten, though they are steadily improving. Other hunting teams are also increasing their scores.
After returning to the base, news begins to flood in.
Firstly, the Upper Capital City conference is ongoing, but this time, it isn’t represented by the original trial takers. Instead, it’s the second batch of trial takers.
Secondly, Hong Jian has broken through to eight seals.
Zuo Tian, Bai Yuan, and others have also broken through.
Almost all major bases have encountered attacks from the second batch of trial takers, and they’ve barely managed to hold their ground.
Bai Xiao’s birthday party has been canceled, signaling the current tense situation.
Trial takers attending the conference will soon arrive.
Upper Capital City is on high alert, preparing for the arrival of that day.
The registered cataclysm materials have been handed over to Old Five and his team to ensure they all reach eight seals before proceeding.
Eastern Mountain Base, located in the northeastern part of Hua Xia, is a small base. There are many such small bases scattered across Hua Xia, as survivors lack the ability to travel long distances to the five major bases and can only settle nearby.
At this moment, everyone at Eastern Mountain Base is trapped in despair. In the distance, an enormous cloud of insects approaches, both in the air and underground—endless swarms of insects.
They’ve faced beast tides before, but the insect tide is far more terrifying. In the center of it all, a gigantic centipede sends shivers down their spines.
However, unexpectedly, the insect tide bypasses Eastern Mountain Base and heads west, as if unwilling to waste a single second.
The people of Eastern Mountain Base stare in disbelief at the retreating insect tide. What just happened?
“Charge! Charge! Little Zhao, wait for me! I’m coming!” The young girl, riding on the giant centipede, calls out, her face flushed with excitement as she envisions her long-time rival being crushed beneath her feet. She participated in the trial for this moment. Otherwise, as a Heavenly Insect Person, she could have joined the sect directly without the need for the trial.
She glances toward the broken valley above.
The young girl pauses, staring at someone sitting atop the valley. Could it be that someone is there?
It’s a young man, his appearance neither ordinary nor particularly handsome, but his eyes—those eyes draw you in immediately. His gaze is filled with a mixture of contempt and scrutiny, with a mocking and dismissive air that is unmistakable.
The insect tide halts.
The young girl looks at him. He’s a trial taker, but she doesn’t recognize him.
“Hey, want a ride?” the man calls out, his gaze coldly surveying the insect tide. He smirks, “Little insects, go play somewhere else.”
The young girl’s face reddens in anger. “Little insect?” The Heavenly Insect People despise that term. She slaps the centipede, “Move!”
The centipede rises, towering over thirty meters, seemingly about to charge into the sky.
But suddenly, as the man’s gaze turns cold, the atmosphere freezes. The young girl feels a terrifying sense of oppression, as if everything around her—every color and life—is retreating. All she can see is him, those eyes.
It’s an overwhelming sensation, as though he is crushing both her and the entire insect tide in his palm.
Sweat drips down her forehead.
The centipede, which had been rearing up, suddenly lowers itself, trembling in fear, not daring to move.
The young girl swallows hard, her face paling. She slaps the centipede again, and it quickly turns to flee, afraid of being too slow. The insect tide quickly retreats as well.
The man retracts his gaze, casually swinging one leg in the air, humming a tune.
Far off, on the centipede’s back, the young girl pants heavily, glancing at her arm, her skin still trembling. Who is that? There shouldn’t be such a terrifying person among the trial takers—everyone should be below ten seals, and at most, this person could be an eight-seal. The Armor One Sect couldn’t have made a mistake. But why does he feel so terrifying? She should be invincible, with the insect tide unmatched by anyone.
Who exactly is that person?
Days later, Upper Capital City’s base welcomes a new wave of trial takers.
The first and second batches have already arrived, with over a hundred trial takers in total. Nine have reached the city, not including Wen Zhao and Qi Five.
Lian Qin, one of the Five Extremes, personally escorts a trial taker to the city.
Meanwhile, Wang Jie is struggling with how to explain to his brothers that he’s not a pervert.
Yesterday, he came up with a solution to obtain a marriage proposal letter—by buying it with money. It was simple, direct, and highly effective.
Writing a random proposal letter would be pointless, but it seemed sincerity was needed. So, he had Qing Zheng spend a hefty sum to buy a letter from a woman, one written to him. The woman was so emotional that she cried, making the letter genuinely sincere—whether it was for Qing Zheng or the money didn’t matter. Wang Jie received it, and it worked.
So, he had Qing Zheng continue the process.
He never thought of it before because he didn’t have the money.
Ten proposal letters were quickly gathered. With the snow-white canine tooth and sweet tears, they now had three materials. Only the loser’s will and the evil person’s severed palm were left.
Of course, his current situation wasn’t ideal.
The others are looking at him strangely.
Wang Jie doesn’t know how to explain, so he just sighs. The pressure is real.
That day, Wen Zhao received an invitation to a gathering, organized by the trial takers.
She goes, bringing Wang Jie along since there’s no rule against bringing someone.
The gathering takes place at the restaurant Qing Zheng took them to earlier.
It’s a small gathering, with not too many people. But there are over ten of them.
Most are trial takers, gathered together, chatting away. Besides Wang Jie, others have been brought along, like Lian Qin and her daughter Lian Fei.
At this moment, Qi Five is pitching a combat power detector to them. Lian Qin seems very interested. Several have already been bought in Upper Capital City.
Who knows how many little fatty has brought.
When Wang Jie arrives, little fatty’s eyes light up, and he immediately walks toward him.
Lian Qin and her daughter look at Wang Jie.
“Is this him?”
Lian Fei nods, “He’s strong. At least not someone Hong Jian can beat.”
Lian Qin’s eyes brighten as she looks Wang Jie up and down.