Chapter 723
Ren Xue
This is the Wasteland of Gods' Remains, the first layer of the tombs of the gods, the burial ground of the deities.
“Stay close to me,” Bibi Dong said, her eyes flashing with a blue light, a manifestation of the Wind Law operating at its peak. “The resentment here will interfere with perception, and once you get separated, it will be difficult to reunite.”
She raised her hand and waved, and four cyan wind marks landed on each of them: "These are wind beacons. With these, I can sense your location, and you can sense each other's location. But remember, if the distance exceeds a hundred miles, the beacons will become ineffective. So, don't stray too far from me."
Dai Chengfeng unfolded the map of wind and carefully compared it with the surrounding environment: "We are now on the eastern side of the wasteland, near the entrance. According to the map, if we go west for about three hundred miles, we will reach the central altar of the wasteland, where there is a teleportation array leading to the Forest of Fallen Gods. However, there is a guardian at the altar, and we need to defeat it to activate the teleportation."
"What is a Guardian?" Tang Wulin asked.
“I don’t know,” Dai Chengfeng shook his head. “The memory fragments don’t describe it in detail. They only say that it was an ‘ancient guardian’ with extremely strong power, at least at the level of a first-level god. Moreover, due to the corruption of resentment, it may have lost its rationality and only had fighting instinct left.”
"A first-level deity..." Qian Renxue's expression turned solemn. Her current strength was roughly equivalent to the peak of a second-level deity, and with the aid of her angelic divine armor, she could barely contend against the weakest first-level deity. But if her opponent was a powerful first-level deity, then it would be dangerous.
“Don’t worry,” Bibi Dong said calmly. “Although the resentment in the wasteland is strong, it doesn’t affect my Law of Wind much. I can scout ahead, and if the guardian is too strong, we can take a detour. There’s another route marked on the map, but it requires crossing the nest of the ‘God-Eating Worm,’ which is also quite risky.”
“When faced with two evils, choose the lesser,” Dai Chengfeng said. “Although the Devouring God Insects are troublesome, at least there are no god-level individuals among them. As long as we are careful not to be surrounded by the swarm, we should be able to get through. As for that guardian… if it is a first-level deity who has lost its mind, it will be more dangerous, because it will relentlessly hunt down any intruder.”
“Then let’s go to the nest of the God-Devouring Worms,” Qian Renxue decided.
With no objections, Bibi Dong led the group westward.
The wasteland was eerily silent, save for the wind whistling through the jagged rocks, its mournful sound like the whispers of countless gods. The soil beneath their feet was soft and dry, each step kicking up clouds of gray dust, dust containing the powder of divine remains, thick with the aura of death.
After walking for an hour, a peculiar landscape appeared ahead—countless enormous skeletons piled together, forming a series of raised "bone mountains." Between the bone mountains, dark red mist permeated the air, and the mist seemed to writhe slowly as if it were alive, its passage causing even the space itself to sizzle and corrode.
“Be careful of those red mists,” Bibi Dong warned. “Those are ‘God-Eating Miasma’ formed from the decay of divine blood. They can corrode divine power and also harm the soul. Try to avoid them. If you can’t avoid them, use your divine power to protect yourself and pass through quickly. Don’t stay in contact with them for long.”
Everyone nodded and carefully avoided the area shrouded in red mist.
Just then, Tang Wulin suddenly stopped and looked at a mountain of bones on his left: "Something's moving over there." Everyone looked in the direction he pointed and saw several dark figures slowly writhing on the mountain of bones formed from the remains of a giant dragon. Upon closer inspection, they were several palm-sized, jet-black worms with countless segmented limbs. They were clinging to the dragon skeletons, their mouthparts piercing the bones, sucking the remaining divine power from the marrow.
“God-Devouring Insects,” Dai Chengfeng said in a low voice, “it seems we are approaching their lair. These insects are individually weak, but there are a great many of them, and they can secrete an acid that corrodes divine power. Once surrounded by the swarm, even a first-level god is in danger of perishing.”
As if to confirm his words, the giant dragon skeleton suddenly trembled violently, and even more God-Devouring Insects crawled out from the cracks in the bones, densely packed, covering the entire bone mountain in the blink of an eye. They discovered Qian Renxue and the others, letting out a sharp screech, and then surged forward like a black tide.
"Don't fight head-on, charge through!" Bibi Dong shouted, making a sweeping motion with her hands in front of her, and a wall of cyan wind rose up, temporarily blocking the swarm of insects.
But the number of God-Devouring Insects was too great, and the wind wall was breached after only a few breaths. More insects swarmed in from all directions, some even emerging from underground.
"Golden Dragon Body!" Tang Wulin roared, golden dragon scales covering his entire body. With a sweeping thrust of his spear, he sent dozens of Devouring God Insects flying. But the insects' carapaces were incredibly hard; even after being struck head-on by the Golden Dragon Spear, they merely rolled a few times before getting up and continuing their charge.
Qian Renxue spread her six wings, and sacred fire rose from her body. The angelic fire had a restraining effect on such evil creatures, and the God-Devouring Insects clearly cowered before the flames, not daring to get too close. However, there were simply too many insects, and the flames could only protect an area of a few feet around them; countless insects still lurked far beyond, eyeing them menacingly.
Dai Chengfeng transformed into wind elements, weaving through the swarm of insects. Wherever he passed, wind blades sliced the Devouring God Insects into pieces. But for every one he killed, ten more would surge forward, seemingly without end.
"This won't do, our divine power will be exhausted!" Qian Renxue said anxiously.
Bibi Dong's eyes narrowed, and she suddenly stopped, forming a complex hand seal in front of her chest.
"The Law of Wind, Great Purification Technique."
With her soft murmur, a cyan halo rapidly expanded from her center. Wherever the halo passed, the Devouring God Insects froze in place as if immobilized, then began to disintegrate from the inside, turning into black dust and dissipating. In just a few breaths, the swarm of insects within a hundred feet was cleared out.
However, Bibi Dong's face also paled slightly, clearly indicating that this move had taken a toll on her.
"Hurry, a more powerful aura is awakening deep within the lair!" she urged. (End of Chapter)