The Attack of the Wastrel

The enormous amount of Insect Beasts covered the sky as they surged towards them. Although individually they were weak and any blow would easily be fatal to them, collectively they were a might to be reckoned with. As the saying goes, “a million ants can kill an elephant”. Who knew how many Insect Beasts there were? The Insect Beasts were certainly not here to help bury the corpses of Wei Lingshu and the group after their strength was depleted.

Realising the situation, Rong Yuan kept his hand back as he reminded her softly, “If you can’t bear it anymore, don’t force yourself. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Mmhm.” Gu Lingzhi smiled back. At the corners of her eyes, she caught sight of Lin Rong. Lin Rong was extremely shocked and was now crouching down and crying silently to herself. At her reaction, Gu Lingzhi grew a little respect for her.

She had thought that with the way Lin Rong had behaved, in a situation like this she would be crying and shouting for someone to protect her. Who would have thought that after her initial reaction to throw up, she would try her best to not get into anyone’s way? Even though she was scared, she only hugged and wept to herself, trying not to affect those around her.

Gu Lingzhi silently assessed that Lin Rong was at least rather matured. Seeing that there was nothing wrong with her, Gu Lingzhi proceeded to ignore her.

With her spiritual energy completely restricted, it was lucky that Wei Lingshu had warned them beforehand and she brought her Fengwu Sword with her. Extending her hand towards her back, she mentally prepared herself as she braced herself to face these insects that activated her gag reflex. She then jumped over.

Gu Lingzhi still did not have the courage to leave the safety of the Eight Trigram Formation and face the Insect Beasts on her own. However, it was still bearable to fight alongside the formation. Her Fengwu Sword drew a few arcs in the air and a few Insect Beasts fell to the ground.

Seeing that Gu Lingzhi was handling herself, Rong Yuan had nothing to worry as he activated the small amount of spiritual energy he had in him to create a faint golden defensive halo. He then hopped out of the formation. With a hum, his Dragon Sword was activated creating a dazzling fire. As the fire died down, a bunch of burnt Insect Beast corpses were left on the ground.

As the only Demigod that could utilize spiritual energy, Rong Yuan’s fighting prowess was extremely powerful. As his Dragon Sword waved in the air, the Insect Beasts in the air were completely killed.

Everyone was slightly surprised as they saw what he did. The rumors were true! He was indeed a Demigod. With his help, they did not have to be afraid of these Insect Beasts!

Due to the close proximity at which they were fighting, the eight people in the formation were already drenched with the sticky blood of the Insect Beasts. However, they never felt better as they were filled with the belief that they were going to be victorious.

Very quickly, their convictions started to waver. There were simply too many Insect Beasts. The floor was already filled with an uncountable number of Insect Beast corpses. Other than Rong Yuan and Gu Lingzhi who were protected by the spiritual halo that Rong Yuan had activated over them, everyone else’s feet were covered in blood from the Insect Beasts. The smell of the blood was as horrid as the appearance of the Insect Beasts themselves.

It was like there was no end to the Insect Beasts as they came batch after batch, causing everyone to become dejected.

“Heck, is there an end to this? Since when were there so many Insect Beasts in the Heavenly Lands?” Xiang Dong could not help but curse.

The only reason why Gu Lingzhi put up with this person that just cursed was because he was the only other Amethyst Class Warrior after Wei Lingshu. His character was coarse and brazen. The fact that he could hold out for so long and only start cursing now was hard to believe.

Gu Lingzhi laughed bitterly as she looked at the Insect Beasts that did not seem to have an end. She was afraid that they would not be able to return as a whole group anymore. She had a strong physical body as she had strengthened her body by using Spiritual Medicine, but even she was feeling tired, much less the others.

Just as this thought popped into Gu Lingzhi’s head, the yellow-golden glow over Fang Yue’s skin flashed and his skin changed back to its normal colour under everyone’s surprised gaze. His body weakened as he fell to the ground.

“Fang Yue!” Lin Mengyan threw her whip to the side as she grabbed onto the weakened Fang Yue and threw him to Lin Rong to prevent him from being buried by the Insect Beasts.

With one person down, their formation was about to collapse. The Insect Beasts immediately tried to enter the hole that was created by Fang Yue. Wei Lingshu’s eyes narrowed as he ordered, “Triple Formation!”

The slightly flustered group then quickly formed two groups of three with Wei Lingshu and Xiang Dong as their leaders. The last person was in charge of protecting Lin Rong who was not in the formation.

Gu Lingzhi was completely exposed to the Insect Beasts and Rong Yuan immediately threw a spiritual energy shield over her to prevent her from getting splashed by the blood from Insect Beasts.

With their strongest formation broken, one man down and another requiring protection, this group of eleven was suddenly thrown into danger. Realisation hit Wei Lingshu as he believed that they were going to fail their mission this time. Now the best option was to give up on those that were no longer able to move and try to help those that could still fight, escape. Maybe some of them could escape before they were killed by the Insect Beasts. But they were his brothers. How could he give up on them while they were still alive?

Understanding that he had become a burden, Fang Yue laughed bitterly as he could only blame himself for not being strong enough and could not last longer. Looking at the two groups of three fighting desperately, looking as if they were about to fall anytime, he opened his mouth and said, “You all should leave.”

If they delayed any longer, there was going to be more people dying with him.

“I will stay too.” Lin Rong followed along as she wiped her tears, “If I follow you all, you will still have to take care of me. I can’t let you all sacrifice yourselves for me.”

“How can we do that?!” Wei Lingshu outright rejected, “You are the only bloodline of the tribe leader. How can I leave you behind?”

“Even if it means risking our lives, we will send you out of here safely,” Xiang Dong added.

Everyone resonated in agreement that they were not going to leave Lin Rong or Fang Yue behind. Yao Teng, who was not in any of the Triple Formation, had already quietly carried Fang Yue on his back, ready to retreat at any time.

Surprise flashed through Gu Lingzhi’s eyes as she never thought that this group of people would be so bonded. Under life-threatening circumstances, most people would choose to save themselves. Giving up on Fang Yue and Lin Rong was indeed their best option now but the people in front of her were not doing this. Their loyalty was extremely touching.

Rong Yuan was also slightly moved. There was no doubt that they chose the dumbest choice possible. With Fang Yue and Lin Rong, it was most likely that they would pull everyone down with them. From his point of view, they were extremely stupid. As a leader, he would usually think for the majority. Of course, when things involved his close ones, it was a different story.

Numerous thoughts ran through his mind, yet Rong Yuan’s expression remained peaceful. Just as Wei Lingshu signaled for the two groups of Triple Formations to start moving back in the direction they came from and for Rong Yuan to follow along, he stated plainly, “There’s no need to go.”

Under everyone’s astonished gaze, he directed a bit of his spiritual energy into the gem on his Dragon Sword.

The weapon crafting skills of the Spirit Tribe were intricate and extraordinary. Furthermore, the weapons Gu Lingzhi made always had a special ability to it. How could this Dragon Sword that she made specially for Rong Yuan not have any special powers?

As Rong Yuan’s spiritual energy entered the Dragon Sword, numerous dazzling golden rays shot out. The golden spiritual energy that was incorporated in the gem released a horrifying attack. All the golden rays turned into essence, forming a countless number of sword energy flying into all eight directions. In a blink of an eye, it killed all the Insect Beasts that were within visible distance.

…...

This horrifying attack was simply crazy!

Standing amidst the piles of Insect Beast corpses, he looked as if he was a warrior descending from heaven as he looked extremely grand. As everyone internalised the power of his attack, he took a bottle of Spiritual Medicine out of his Storage Ring and threw it towards Wei Lingshu, “Let them have it.”

Wei Lingshu instinctively grabbed the jade bottle as he opened it and lowered his head to smell it. Delight shone in his eyes.

There were over ten extremely good quality spiritual pills that were of the high grade Black-Level. Even in the Spirit City, it was very difficult to find such good quality medicine. It would have very good benefits to their physical strength.

“Thank you!” Wei Lingshu thanked from the bottom of his heart. He then poured out the pills and distributed them. He then kept the two remaining pills back into the bottle and wanted to return them to Rong Yuan.

Rong Yuan did not even spare him a glance as he said, “If I gave it to you, then it is yours. You better take one pill so you can last the rest of the journey.”

Although he was still attacking in the front, he could sense Wei Lingshu’s actions and knew that he did not take any for himself after giving them out. His impression of Wei Lingshu increased as he raised his brows, “Don’t drag everyone down with you just because you want to save one pill. I don’t want to have to take care of you while I am fighting.”

This arrogant behavior…

Gu Lingzhi coughed as she took a few steps forwards and stood shoulder to shoulder with Rong Yuan, fighting off the Insect Beasts that had arrived.

The massacre previously had given them some breathing time and Fang Yue managed to recover slightly with the help of the medicine. Not needing anyone’s help to stand, he threw Rong Yuan a grateful look.

Leaving Fang Yue with Lin Rong, the group continued to fight. Maybe it was Rong Yuan’s attack that scared them, or maybe there were not many Insect Beasts to begin with. The intense attack lasted for less than another fifteen minutes before the Insect Beasts retreated with the same hair-raising noise as when they first appeared.

Everyone seemed to deflate as if they were a balloon as they fell into the piles of Insect Beasts corpses on the floor. Laughing soundlessly to themselves, they could not even be bothered about how dirty and smelly they were.

Seeing this, Rong Yuan frowned as he pulled Gu Lingzhi away from them. Finding a relatively clean spot, he used his fire spiritual energy to burn the corpses on the ground into ashes. Using his sleeve, he then swept the ashes away before collecting a thick pile of leaves and placing a clean beast skin rug over it. He then pulled Gu Lingzhi to sit, handing a flask of water to her.

His actions were as smooth as water flowing and he did not seem to hesitate at all. It seems like he did this often.

Everyone looked at him from afar and could not help it as their eyes twitched. Their mouths felt dry as if they had taken a mouthful of dog food.