Chapter 418 – Mother of Nest Worms: The Endless Insect Plague

“……”

Mu Lin hadn’t expected his own importance to be so high.

However, he felt no unease about it, confident in his ability to revitalize the Agricultural Militia.

But clearly, Mu Lin was the only one brimming with confidence; the other cultivators on the ship all wore expressions of distress.

Fortunately, despite their grim looks, everyone “knew” that their legion commander (Zhang Hetian) was grooming Mu Lin as the designated successor to lead the legion. As for their future superior, unless they were utterly brain-dead, no one dared to provoke him.

Nor did anyone feel discontent or resentful about their position being usurped.

In this disaster-ridden region where death could strike at any moment, people had little desire for power. What they wanted was a hero who could lead them to survival and free them from their precarious existence.

And Mu Lin was undoubtedly such a hero in the making.

…

Time passed swiftly as Mu Lin traveled. Soon, several hours had gone by.

With the profound Mana of an Earth Immortal, Mu Lin covered tens of thousands of miles in just these few hours, arriving at the area guarded by the Agricultural Militia.

It was an endless expanse of black soil. Probing with his senses, Mu Lin found the land quite fertile—even faint traces of Spiritual Energy permeated the soil.

“This is a fine place. It feels like Spirit Rice and Spirit Medicine could be grown directly here,” Mu Lin mused.

Zhang Hemiao, however, wore a sorrowful expression.

“This land isn’t as good as it seems. Before Great-Grandfather came, it was as desolate as everywhere else. Being a farmer by birth, Great-Grandfather nurtured this land bit by bit. In the process, he also embodied his own path and became a Celestial Master.”

“He wished for everyone under heaven to have land to farm, for even the most barren places to be cultivable, so that people could eat their fill.”

“But though Great-Grandfather nurtured this land for a thousand years, our enemies ruined it in less than ten!”

As she spoke, her fists clenched tightly, her face filled with resentment.

Mu Lin, too, noticed that only the edges of this land still retained their fertile appearance.

Most of it had been tainted by sinister forces.

There was no grain there, nor any signs of cultivation.

Not even the weeds that “spring up again after being burned by wildfire” grew on this once-fertile soil.

Some areas had been corrupted into foul, stinking swamps.

Others were caves or graves permeated with an aura of death, but most were covered in insect eggs.

Countless insect eggs lay buried deep beneath the earth.

And countless adult insects roamed between heaven and earth.

“What are these things?”

Frowning at the endless insect eggs, Mu Lin voiced his question. Zhang Hemiao, looking at the eggs, wore an even deeper expression of disgust.

“These are the offspring of the Mother of Nest Worms. That Evil God is also our Agricultural Militia’s primary enemy. Although, thanks to the True Lords’ efforts, He hasn’t yet descended to the earth, several of His Apostles have landed in the Northern Wastelands.”

“These filthy abominations have brought endless insect plagues and swarms.”

“Buzz…”

As she spoke, a swarm of insects blocked the path of their flying vessel.

They were moths, their bodies shimmering with phosphorescence, looking rather beautiful.

But soon, Mu Lin narrowed his eyes, sensing an Illusion Art affecting his mind.

Moreover, Mu Lin discovered that the phosphorescent moths before him, much like his Other Shore Flower, were not individually strong. Yet when gathered together, they possessed a collective will, their power approaching that of Mortal Shedding.

And this was merely with hundreds of thousands of moths gathered. If there were millions, tens of millions, or even billions, their might could rival that of a Celestial Master or True Lord.

“Boom!”

While Mu Lin observed the moths, Zhang Hemiao made her move.

In her unadorned manner, she directly conjured two enormous golden palms.

“Thud!”

With a single clap, the giant palms crushed countless moths into dust.

However, like Mu Lin, she showed no pride in this feat. Clearly, she also understood it was nothing significant.

…

After leaving that area, Zhang Hemiao continued to warn Mu Lin about the dangers of the insect swarms.

“Do not underestimate these insects; they are extremely dangerous.”

“Their numbers are nearly endless, impossible to completely eradicate. Once they gather to a certain scale, even Earth Immortals and Celestial Masters can fall.”

“Secondly, among these insects are many peculiar species. Their abilities are anomalous and more powerful, akin to gu insects. For instance, the Six-Winged Golden Centipede can rival Mortal Shedding even as a single entity. Some insects can even directly parasitize human bodies, controlling their actions… These types have caused us immense trouble.”

“Lastly, there is their evolution or adaptive traits. Originally, we used fire to burn away these swarming insect tides.”

“But after several burnings, many insects developed resistance to flames.”

“In addition, some insects evolved abilities like launching flying spines or camouflage…”

As Zhang Hemiao spoke, Mu Lin also sensed the terror of these insects. He had no doubt that if they entered his previous world, they could annihilate it in a short time.

Fortunately, while the insects were formidable, human spell abilities were not weak either.

More crucially, although many Evil Gods had descended upon the Alien Realm and were extremely hostile toward humans, this did not mean they were peaceful among themselves.

With the threat of humans present, they held together, but if the human threat dissipated, they would turn on each other.

As Mu Lin passed by, he witnessed countless Foreign Races engaged in relentless slaughter across the land.

While Mu Lin pondered this, the flying vessel continued its journey. After traveling some distance, he finally glimpsed patches of green, fertile soil, and human figures toiling on the land.

However, without exception, these areas were heavily patrolled and guarded by many soldiers.

“This is all the land we have left. We cannot afford to lose it; we still rely on it to sustain millions of people… Ahead lies the city of our Agricultural Militia, Tianshi City.”

Tianshi City soon came into view, but the first thing Mu Lin saw was refugees.

Densely packed, numbering in the millions, refugees lingered outside Tianshi City. Seeing their emaciated and wretched figures, Mu Lin felt, for the first time, a visceral understanding of the apocalyptic disaster.

His resolve to slay monsters and reclaim the land grew fiercer than ever.

“Those monsters all deserve to die!”

“We must drive them out, every last one!”

As killing intent flashed in Mu Lin’s eyes, they descended into Tianshi City.

Upon entering the city, without even bothering to exchange pleasantries with the others, Mu Lin immediately turned to Zhang Hemiao and said, “First, take me to the Spirit Vein core. I need to take control of the Spirit Vein here.”

“…Alright.”

Since this had been agreed upon beforehand, Zhang Hemiao did not object.

However, after leading Mu Lin to the heavily guarded Formation Core, she couldn’t help but remind him, “Be careful. This formation is crucial for our defense against the tide surges and for protecting the millions of people here. It must not be compromised. If anything goes wrong, the millions of refugees outside the city, as well as all of us, will be doomed.”

“Also, because large areas of Blessed Land have been occupied and corrupted, the Spiritual Energy stored in our Spirit Vein is running low. Whatever you do, use it sparingly.”

“I’ll be cautious.”

After saying this, Mu Lin expelled everyone else and took sole possession of the area.

Those who were driven out exchanged bewildered glances.

After a long while, one of them couldn’t help but speak up to Zhang Hemiao, “Eldest Sister, is he really Mu Lin—the peerless Prodigy who single-handedly subdued the East Sea Kingdom, slew a True Dragon Descendant, and struck fear into the hearts of countless Demon Race beings? He seems so ordinary to me, and the energy within him isn’t particularly abundant.”

As a Celestial Master, and an extremely pragmatic one at that, Zhang Hetian had nurtured many disciples. With his down-to-earth, farmer-like temperament, he treated his most outstanding disciples as family and juniors, dedicating himself to their cultivation.

This atmosphere led his disciples to address one another as brothers and sisters.

Zhang Hemiao, though not the strongest nor among Zhang Hetian’s first batch of descendants, was ultimately the longest-lived and a direct descendant of Zhang Hetian. Thus, everyone referred to her as Eldest Sister.

The one now expressing doubt was Sheng Cang, another Earth Immortal nurtured by Zhang Hetian, ranked nineteenth… This did not mean Zhang Hetian had cultivated nineteen Earth Immortals, but rather that over the long passage of time, many of the earlier-ranked cultivators had perished.

Currently, Sheng Cang was roughly the fourth-in-command of Tianshi City.

Upon hearing Sheng Cang’s puzzled words, the others also showed signs of skepticism.

It was no wonder they felt this way—Mu Lin’s aura truly seemed unremarkable and ordinary.

However, just as their doubts continued to grow, a thoughtful voice suddenly spoke up.

“That likely isn’t Mu Lin’s true body.”

This time, it was Ji Mao who spoke. Though only at the Mortal Shedding stage, he was the most clever and outstanding among Zhang Hetian’s disciples.

Before his injury, Ji Mao was the successor Zhang Hetian had intended to groom meticulously.

“As is well known, the Yin Eight Gates Paper Artisan lineage excels most in the Paper Figure Secret Art. They rarely act in person, preferring to use Paper Figures to carry out tasks.”

“Given the immense reputation Mu Lin has built through slaughter and the countless enemies he has made, he would inevitably act with greater caution. It makes perfect sense for him to send a Paper Figure north.”

This explanation was indeed plausible, but it only deepened the gloom on everyone’s faces.

“If it’s just a Clone, Mu Lin won’t be much help to us… Moreover, because of him, we’ve already lost two years’ worth of resource allocations. If he holds back out of caution and can’t exert his full strength, we’re truly in trouble.”

This concern weighed heavily on everyone else’s minds as well.

Just as they were worrying, something even more vexing soon occurred.

“Report, Generals! Something terrible has happened—the energy reserves of our Tianshi City have suddenly dropped by a large margin!”

“What!”

…

Ji Mao was right about one thing: the body Mu Lin had sent northward was indeed a Paper Figure.

Fortunately, for the current Mu Lin, where the Paper Figure arrived, his Main Body could also reach.

The moment he arrived at the Spirit Vein hub of Tianshi City, Mu Lin willed it, and using the power of the Spirit Vein, he opened up the Netherworld and the Cycle of Despair.

Mu Lin’s figure abruptly vanished from the mortal realm and appeared within the Cycle of Despair.

Simultaneously, countless streams of Blackwater surged and dripped from Mu Lin’s body, turning a patch of land in the Netherworld into a puddle.

In the next moment, the puddle became a pond, and the pond transformed into a lake. Soon, a lake of Blackwater capable of dissolving all things appeared within the Netherworld.

The creation of this lake was not due to Mu Lin’s power, nor was it the power of Tianshi City’s Spirit Vein. Instead, it was formed by Mu Lin channeling the power of the Abyss of the Black River.

However, although this method of creating the Blackwater lake was effortless, it was beyond Mu Lin’s control.

Even he, while within the lake, would be eroded by this power. Moreover, even Mu Lin’s Netherworld would be corroded.

If left unchecked, this power would eventually affect the mortal realm, polluting the Spirit Vein and Tianshi City entirely.

Such was the terror of Forbidden Power.

Fortunately, Mu Lin had a way to deal with this.

“Roar!”

With a roar, Mu Lin’s Paper Figure body abruptly transformed into the Sky-Scraping Spell – Hebo. Relying on Hebo and the Jiao Dragon’s control over water, Mu Lin restrained the expansion of the Black River Water.

In the next moment, with a thunderous boom and an earth-shattering roar, a magnificent and imposing black ship arrived in this realm from an immense distance, utilizing the interconnected power of the Black River Water.

The top-grade Spirit Tool Mystic Treasure, the Void-Crossing Ship.

It must be said, a legitimate daughter was indeed different—especially when Prince Liang’s Manor had only one legitimate daughter.

For Yan Yunyu and Chu Lingluo, obtaining a Spirit Tool from their families was extremely difficult.

Yet, when Ji Lingsha of Prince Liang’s Manor fully devoted herself to Mu Lin, Prince Liang sent over the Void-Crossing Ship.

Of course, nominally, the one in control of this Treasure Ship was still Ji Lingsha.

Mu Lin did not mind this. He planned to refine this Treasure Ship into the True Spirit Karma Diagram and still entrust it to Ji Lingsha’s care, letting her remain the master of the Void-Crossing Ship.

Since the ship inherently possessed the ability to cross the void, and the Black River Water was in an interconnected state, this ability, combined with Mu Lin’s comprehension of space, allowed Mu Lin’s Main Body to directly teleport from the southern lands over a hundred thousand li away to the north.

“It’s time to go all out.”

…

On this side, Mu Lin’s forces had assembled.

Within Tianshi City, Sheng Cang watched the dwindling power of the Spirit Vein, his heart aching with unbearable pain.

Although Mu Lin did not consume much of the Spirit Vein’s power when having the Void-Crossing Ship traverse space, opening up the Netherworld and maintaining it continuously required a significant expenditure of energy.

The Spirit Vein could sustain this power output, but Tianshi City relied on the Spirit Vein for too many purposes.

Every time Demons and Monsters attacked, immense power was needed to resist enemy assaults, bolster their own forces, or shelter refugees.

What made Sheng Cang even more uncomfortable was that they had no idea how long this kind of life would last.

Because of this, they were extremely cautious about the power of the Spirit Vein, using as little as possible whenever they could.

And now, Mu Lin, who had just arrived, had already consumed a great deal of Spirit Vein power, which was something Sheng Cang simply couldn’t tolerate.

“Big sister, please talk to Mu Lin. If we keep using it like this, we won’t last long.”

“Exactly…”

The persuasion from everyone made Zhang Hemiao feel conflicted as well.

Like Sheng Cang, she also wanted to conserve the use of the Spirit Vein. However, Mu Lin’s status was ultimately different. He had just arrived in Tianshi City and had only done one thing. Persuading him so soon would not be good for their relationship.

Just as she hesitated, unsure whether to persuade him or not, someone rushed in from outside to report.

“My lady, it’s terrible! Many soldiers in our ranks, as well as refugees outside, have suddenly collapsed in pain.”

“What!”

Hearing this, Zhang Hemiao could no longer worry about energy consumption and rushed outside as fast as she could.

Not only her, but Sheng Cang and Ji Mao also hurriedly dashed outside.

Their urgency was understandable—this was Tianshi City, the heart of the Agricultural Militia.

If chaos broke out here, it meant the enemy had already penetrated their layers of defense and struck directly at their core.

This was a blade aimed straight at the heart.

“Huff…”

Flying at full speed, Zhang Hemiao, along with Sheng Cang and Ji Mao, soon saw the unconscious soldiers and ordinary refugees gathered together.

“What happened? Could it be that the Mother of Nest Worms has hatched new insects and attacked this place…”

“Huh? This is…”

(End of Chapter)