Chapter 428 – A Billion-Strong Insect Tide

Mu Lin was unaware of the Black Fiend Legion and Thunderclap Legion’s assessment of the Agricultural Militia.

By now, he had already led his team to the front lines.

The first area they arrived at was called Flower Fairy Lake, originally a clear lake with a Spiritual Spring at its center. Thanks to the resources from the spring water, the surroundings of Flower Fairy Lake were filled with various spirit flowers, Spirit Medicines, and spirit trees.

The lake itself teemed with spirit fish and spirit lotus roots.

It was a scenery akin to a fairyland.

However, now, this beauty had been utterly destroyed.

“Buzz, buzz, buzz…”

Millions of leeches had burrowed into Flower Fairy Lake, polluting its Spirit Vein.

At the same time, billions of locusts filled the sky like thick, dark clouds, covering the entire Flower Fairy Lake.

These locusts were ferocious in appearance, with sharp teeth, and each was the size of a fist.

What was even more alarming was that these locusts possessed the ability to devour spiritual energy, capable of gnawing away at the Spiritual Energy of Cultivators.

Fortunately, while the locusts were formidable, human strength was not weak either.

“Release, Fire Dragon Scorches the Sky!”

“Boom!”

With the support of Arrays, the Cultivators of the Agricultural Militia performed rituals, summoning flames that covered an entire city, relentlessly attacking the locusts.

There were also heavenly thunderbolts that, upon striking the water, would electrocute the locusts with sizzling sounds.

Human cities also had defensive capabilities, allowing the Cultivators to unleash their full assault.

Such a terrifying offensive should, in theory, have wiped out the swarms of locusts.

Unfortunately, the locusts before them were not ordinary; many had evolved the ability to resist fire and lightning.

What was even more troubling was that the billions of locusts were divided into over a dozen groups, each led by a Locust Mother.

These Locust Mothers could link the power of their offspring together, collectively resisting the onslaught of flames and lightning.

In some cases, even flames and lightning were devoured entirely by these locusts.

“Bastards, you all deserve to die!”

“Give me back the lives of my children!”

Upon first seeing the billions of locusts darkening the sky like a dense cloud, Mu Lin was momentarily stunned.

However, while he was surprised, the others in the Agricultural Militia were not.

Especially the Avenging Attendants… chosen by Wu Chen, they came from different places but shared one commonality: their families and loved ones had been killed by insects and demonic monsters.

Thus, they had encountered Demonic Fiends before and were filled with resentment toward these monsters.

Now, driven by extreme hatred, some Avenging Attendants transformed into crow-men, their bodies ablaze, and charged toward the swarms of insects in the sky.

“Die!”

“Boom!”

Amid their furious roars, countless vengeful flames of witchcraft were unleashed by them.

Since these flames were fueled by hatred, with the enemies who had killed their wives and fathers right before their eyes, Mu Lin’s Avenging Attendants all performed beyond their usual capabilities.

“Boom!”

The flames released by nearly a hundred Avenging Attendants working together actually blotted out nearly half the sky.

Their charge also startled the Cultivators of the Agricultural Militia who were still fighting in Water Immortal Lake.

“More Demonic Fiends are coming…”

“Fortunately, those monsters are fighting among themselves…”

At first glance, they thought all the newcomers were Demons and Monsters—it was no wonder they thought so, as after transforming into crow-men, none of the numerous Avenging Attendants looked remotely human.

Beyond their appearance, their auras were not righteous either, but filled with resentment, baleful qi, death qi… giving off a sense of wanting to destroy everything.

Such crow-men, no matter who looked at them, could not be described as having the image of the “righteous path.”

The Agricultural Militia in Water Immortal Lake were far from Mu Lin, but their words still reached his ears, and this made him mutter to himself.

‘I always feel like the image of the Netherworld will be tarnished by these Avenging Attendants… But then again, whether it’s King Yama or the Netherworld Palace, I don’t seem to need human worship—what I need more is human fear.’

While Mu Lin was sighing with emotion, the Vengeful Wraith—Crow Attendants—had already engaged the locusts in battle.

Initially, when faced with the flames, those locusts were fearless; they had evolved the ability to resist fire.

Similarly, the cultivators in Water Immortal Lake did not hold high hopes for the crow demons’ offensive.

“It’s useless. Those locusts can already feed on fire… Huh?!”

Before the words were even finished, the cultivators in Water Immortal Lake were shocked to see that after being tainted by the blood-like Flame of Retribution, those locusts actually failed to withstand it.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak…”

Amidst the shrill, miserable cries, they fell from the sky one after another, like leaves beaten down by rain.

“What’s going on? Is the fire resistance the locusts evolved actually fake?”

Staring at the constantly falling locust corpses, Fang Niu, who was in charge of Water Immortal Lake, was utterly incredulous.

And while he was in disbelief, the next scene brought about something even more astonishing.

As numerous locusts died, the Locust Mother at the center—even without directly touching the Flame of Retribution—let out a miserable howl.

Such a piercing howl thoroughly intimidated many people.

Having fought locusts for years, Fang Niu knew very well one thing: ordinary locusts were completely expendable.

As long as the Locust Mother did not die, ordinary locusts would keep appearing endlessly.

Thus, every time Fang Niu and the others launched an offensive, they aimed directly at the Locust Mother.

Unfortunately, this was not easy. As the Insect Mother, it always hid deep within the center of the locust swarm, protected by millions of locusts.

Moreover, once locust losses reached a certain level, the Locust Mother would flee.

  Such a cautious style meant Fang Niu and his people could only kill ordinary locusts in vain, powerless against the true Insect Mother.

But now, they discovered that those flames could actually attack the Insect Mother directly through its offspring, and this excited them greatly.

“We must obtain this kind of flame…”

Fang Niu, his eyes shifting, was already contemplating how to plot for the crow demons’ flames.

While he was scheming, the situation on the other side for the crow attendants was not looking good.

Relying on the Flame of Retribution, ignited by hatred and capable of directly attacking the soul, they had indeed inflicted massive casualties on the locust swarm.

They had even managed to injure the Locust Mother through the connection between the Insect Mother and its offspring.

However, such actions also alerted the Locust Mother to the danger.

Consequently, the endless locusts suddenly shifted their offensive, no longer focusing on Water Immortal Lake, but instead surging like an infinite tidal wave, pressing down toward the crow attendants.

“…”

“It’s over…”

“Bastards, I’ll fight you to the death.”

Although the Flame of Retribution controlled by the Raven Attendants had a restraining effect on the insects, and their hearts filled with resentment allowed them to perform beyond their usual limits,

no matter how strong their potential was unleashed or how great the restraint, when the enemies were too numerous and too powerful, all of that became nothing but flashy tricks.

At this moment, the overwhelming pressure from billions of locusts made the Raven Attendants feel exactly that.

They sensed the threat of death.

Fortunately, even if they were no match, Mu Lin was still there.

Facing the surging tide of insects, Mu Lin slowly… closed his eyes.

“Hum!”

As his eyes shut, it was as if a curtain had been drawn from the sky. This curtain blocked all light from the world, plunging heaven and earth into utter darkness.

“Chirp, chirp, chirp…”

The sudden descent of darkness and the sensation of endless silence left the swarming tide of insects unable to see or hear.

In such a situation, even the insects grew panicked.

Or perhaps it was precisely because of their insect nature that they became even more frantic.

Darkness could evoke the unknown, and the unknown could evoke fear. Under extreme fear, the insect nest had already become highly reactive—anything approaching would trigger their retaliation.

If Mu Lin had commanded the Raven Attendants to attack at this moment, he could have thrown the insect tide into chaos and inflicted heavy losses upon them.

However, Mu Lin did not do this. Taking advantage of the darkness, he led the Raven Attendants and the other Cultivators who had come to the rescue to the small island at the center of Flower Fairy Lake. There, he took out the Array token and directly entered Flower Fairy Island.

Once they arrived, he opened his eyes, dispelling the pervasive darkness. At the same time, his voice rang out on the island of Flower Fairy Lake.

“Who is Fang Niu? Come and see me.”

“Are you… reinforcements from Tianshi City? What’s the situation with those demonic monsters? Did we subdue a group of crow demons?”

As someone capable of being dispatched and overseeing a region, Fang Niu was not foolish.

The sudden appearance of Mu Lin and the others did startle him, but he quickly realized that only Cultivators from Tianshi City holding the token could silently infiltrate Flower Fairy Island.

Moreover, given that this place was very close to Tianshi City, it was certain that Tianshi City would send reinforcements in the event of an attack by demons and monsters.

Thus, he soon deduced that Mu Lin had come from Tianshi City.

However, while he guessed Mu Lin’s identity correctly, he was mistaken about the Raven Attendants.

And this misunderstanding left them somewhat displeased.

“Raven demons, my foot! Old Ox, it’s me, Zhu Yan.”

“Zhu Yan? How did you end up looking like this?”

“…Traded for power. Turning into this boosts strength several times over, making it easier to kill insects. If it were you, wouldn’t you change?”

Hearing this, Fang Niu didn’t hesitate for even a moment before replying:

“Change, of course I’d change. As long as it helps kill insects, I’d change into a vulture, let alone a raven.”

“And honestly, you all look a bit strange, but on closer inspection, you’re actually quite handsome.”

As the local commander and a high-ranking member of the Agricultural Militia, Fang Niu understood their situation well and knew the importance of strength.

Thus, upon hearing that transforming into a raven could enhance one’s power, he knew that hesitating for even a second would be disrespectful to this transformation.

At this moment, his praise for Zhu Yan’s appearance wasn’t just idle chatter but rather a way to ask: “Zhu Yan, how did you become like this? Can I change too? Right now? We desperately need strength.”

Zhu Yan: “…”

Zhu Yan: “I knew it. When you, old ox, praise someone, there’s always a request… It can be done, but this requires Lord Mu Lin’s approval.”

As he spoke, he looked toward Mu Lin. Seeing this, Fang Niu also turned his gaze and clasped his hands in a salute, hoping Mu Lin would lend him a hand.

Having one more believer and one more Spark to refine Resentment was naturally something Mu Lin desired.

However, at this moment, he had more important matters to attend to.

“Becoming an Avenging Attendant can wait until we repel the insects. For now, hand over control of the Spirit Vein to me.”

These words left Fang Niu momentarily stunned.

“Wait, wouldn’t becoming Avenging Attendants allow us to better defeat the insects? You’ve seen it—our attacks are mostly ineffective against them. Only you can deal damage to those filthy creatures.”

“You’re right.” Nodding in agreement with Fang Niu’s point, Mu Lin calmly stated, “But once I have control of the Spirit Vein, dealing with this insect swarm won’t require your intervention.”

“I alone will be enough.”

“Huh??”

(End of Chapter)