Chapter 724
Ren Xue
The four ceased their fighting and charged forward with all their might. Devouring God Insects swarmed out along the way, but they were either repelled or bypassed. After rushing past more than a dozen bone mountains, a huge cave entrance finally appeared ahead, with a faint, dark red light flickering deep within.
“That’s the exit of the nest,” Dai Chengfeng said, referring to the map. “By passing through this cave, we can bypass the central altar and go directly to the west side of the wasteland, where there is another entrance to the Forest of Fallen Gods. But the mother nest of the God-Eating Worms is deep inside the cave, so we must pass through quickly. Once we get entangled by the mother worm, we’ll be in trouble.”
"What is the strength of the mother insect?" Tang Wulin asked.
"It is at least equivalent to a second-level god, and it can continuously produce God-devouring Insects. If we fight it in the nest, we will be trapped in an endless swarm of insects."
"Then let's stop arguing and just charge straight in," Qian Renxue decided decisively.
The four rushed into the cave. The cave was more spacious than they had imagined, and the walls were covered with countless holes, in which countless God-Devouring Insects burrowed in and out. The deeper they went, the denser the God-Devouring Miasma in the air became, which had condensed into a dark red liquid, dripping from the cave ceiling and corroding the ground, creating pits.
Suddenly, the entire cave shook violently. In the darkness ahead, two red lights the size of lanterns lit up, and accompanied by heavy crawling sounds, a colossal creature slowly emerged.
It was a God-Devouring Insect magnified a thousand times, over fifty meters long, its entire body covered in a black-gold carapace. Its mouthparts resembled giant scissors, opening and closing with a piercing metallic scraping sound. It exuded the aura of a peak second-level deity, and even more terrifyingly, behind it, more God-Devouring Insects were pouring out from various holes, instantly filling half the cave.
"The mother insect!" Dai Chengfeng's expression changed. "It's actually guarding the only path!"
"I'll hold it off, you guys charge!" Tang Wulin didn't hesitate, the Golden Dragon Spear bursting with dazzling golden light as he thrust it towards the mother insect.
"Wu Lin!" Qian Renxue tried to stop him, but it was too late. Tang Wu Lin was already engaged in battle with the mother insect, and the power of the golden dragon erupted in full force, temporarily suppressing the mother insect.
"Go!" Bibi Dong grabbed Qian Renxue's hand and transformed into a streak of azure light, rushing forward. Dai Chengfeng followed closely behind, his wind blades clearing the way and eliminating the ordinary Devouring God Insects along the way.
"No, Wu Lin is still behind us!" Qian Renxue struggled.
“He won’t die, but if you go back, we’ll all die here!” Bibi Dong’s voice was unusually stern. “Trust your man; he has the blood of the Golden Dragon King. He won’t die so easily!”
Qian Renxue gritted her teeth and finally stopped struggling. She spread her six wings, and the sacred fire condensed into a cone shape in front of her to help Dai Chengfeng clear the way.
Tang Wulin's roar and the mother insect's hiss came from behind, the entire cave shook, and rocks kept falling. But Qian Renxue dared not turn around, afraid that if she did, she would rush back.
Finally, a light appeared ahead—it was the exit of the cave.
The three rushed out of the cave and returned to the wasteland. They were now on the western side of the wasteland, and in the distance, they could see the outline of a dark forest—the Forest of Fallen Gods.
“Wu Lin…” Qian Renxue turned to look at the cave, her eyes filled with worry.
"He's here," Bibi Dong suddenly said. Before she finished speaking, a golden light shot out from the cave and crashed heavily to the ground; it was Tang Wulin. His Golden Dragon King Armor was torn in several places, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were still bright.
Immediately afterwards, the mother insect's enormous body burst out of the cave, but its movements suddenly froze—a golden dragon spear was stuck in its head, the shaft completely submerged, leaving only the spearhead trembling outside.
Tang Wulin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and grinned: "Done."
The mother worm let out a final, unwilling screech, then collapsed to the ground with a crash. Her massive body began to disintegrate, turning into black dust and dissipating. The ordinary Devouring God worms, after the mother worm's death, also lost their vitality and receded like a tide.
"Are you alright?" Qian Renxue rushed over and helped him up.
"It's just a minor injury, nothing serious." Tang Wulin drew his Golden Dragon Spear, the spear still stained with the mother insect's green blood. "This beast's carapace is really hard. If I hadn't found its nerve nodes, it would have been really difficult to kill it."
Dai Chengfeng glanced at Tang Wulin's injuries and breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, they are all superficial wounds. The Golden Dragon King's recovery ability is amazing; he will be fine after a short rest."
Bibi Dong gazed at the distant Forest of Fallen Gods and said in a deep voice, "We have no time to rest. The battle just now was too loud and may have alerted other beings in the wasteland. Before they can react, we must immediately enter the Forest of Fallen Gods. Once we get there, the Devouring God Insects will not dare to follow, because their natural enemies live in the forest."
"Natural enemy?" Qian Renxue asked.
“In the Forest of Fallen Gods, there grows a kind of ‘Soul-Devouring Tree,’ which feeds exclusively on divine souls. Although the God-Devouring Insects can devour divine power, their divine souls are weak, making them the most favored prey of the Soul-Devouring Trees,” Dai Chengfeng explained. “Therefore, the God-Devouring Insects never approach the Forest of Fallen Gods. Once we get there, at least we won’t have to worry about swarms of insects.”
“But the Soul-Devouring Tree is even more dangerous,” Tang Wulin said with a wry smile. “It’s like being surrounded by wolves in front and tigers behind; this place is no place for a human to stay.”
“This place was never meant for the living,” Bibi Dong said calmly. “This is the Tomb of the Gods, the realm of the dead. We, the living, are intruders who have entered. Let’s move forward; the real danger has only just begun.”
After a short rest, the four set off towards the dark forest.
Behind them, deep within the wasteland, countless slumbering beings are slowly awakening.
Pairs of eyes opened in the darkness, gazing in the direction they had gone.
In those eyes, there was madness, resentment, greed, and... a barely perceptible expectation.
After ten thousand years, finally, living people have stepped into this forgotten land again.
The abyss has awakened. (End of Chapter)