"This is bad, this is the last bottle of Meditation Water," Yun Sheng said, somewhat unsettled, after discarding the last empty bottle of Meditation Water. "The Guard Team still hasn’t arrived, and this time we might really get devoured alive by these persistent Ant Beasts."
As Yun Sheng hesitated, a few cunning Flying Ants took the opportunity to land on her already faltering Magic Wings, viciously nibbling on the Magic Elements.
Yun Sheng, on guard, clenched her teeth and cast another Floating Technique, lifting herself a few inches higher, widening the gap between her and the dense swarm of Beast Ants on the ground.
Not far away, the Dark Crown Prince stood still like a boulder, motionless.
Since departing from Divine Wind, he had maintained the same posture, neither retreating from the enemy nor fleeing.
A deadly aura, sharp as a blade’s edge, emanated from his entire body.
With just a glare, the nearby Beast Ants would recoil as if encountering a blazing fire.
Yun Sheng suspected that the Dark Crown Prince was a volcano incarnate; if those Beast Ants came any closer, they would probably be killed instantly.
Yun Sheng silently cursed the Dark Crown Prince for his one-man stand against the Beast Ant Swarm.
"Wuu wuu wuu wu—" A strange insect chant came from underground.
The chant rose from the deepest parts of the earth, resembling a human’s mumbling.
It made one’s mind scatter upon reaching the ears, making it hard to muster any spirit.
As the sound grew louder, the ground bulged and burst open, creating a hole from which a foul stench, akin to rotting corpses, emanated.
The restless Ant Beasts, now cautious, began to congregate around the hole.
Upon closer inspection, their antennae drooped, as though they were subjects paying homage to an Emperor.
A behemoth Ant the size of a puppy burrowed out from underground.
Though it was called an Ant, it was dozens of times larger than any other Beast Ant, about the same size as Little Black, with an exterior covered by an exoskeleton as thick as War Armor.
Even more astonishing were its centipede-like legs hanging from its abdomen—at least a hundred legs, each emitting a dense poison.
Underneath its legs, the soil immediately turned black as ink, a clear sign of its deadly toxicity.
"A Commander-level Centipede Ant King," murmured the Dark Crown Prince, his complexion changing even with his composure.
It is well known that while Insect Beasts are among the weakest of Demon Beasts, no one underestimates them due to their sheer numbers on the Wuji Continent.
Once the Insect Clan evolves to high levels, their limbs multiply; the more limbs an Insect Beast has, the longer its Beast Age and the higher its cultivation.
This Beast Tide had come suddenly and without any signs, which is why the Dark Crown Prince had suspected that an immensely powerful Demon Beast General was to blame.
Considering the previous attacks from the Ant Beasts were disorganized and chaotic, and no high-level Ant Beasts had been seen,
who would have expected such an abrupt turn of events with this monstrosity emerging from underground?
On the Wuji Continent, Demon Beasts are classified from low to high into nine ranks; beyond the Ninth Rank, there are Commander-level Demon Beast Generals. Only Mages of Marquis or Archbishop caliber could possibly slay such creatures.
The third and fourth-tier magic beasts that Yun Sheng had previously practiced on, at most Fifth Rank, were nothing but dust in front of this Centipede Ant King that had broken through the Ninth Rank.
Among the younger generation on the continent, the Dark Crown Prince already stood at the pinnacle, yet he was but a Marquis in terms of cultivation. Together with Yun Sheng, who was still a Magician, and facing the ten thousand Beast Ants, their combined strength was not even enough to be stuck in the teeth of this Commander-level Beast General.
Seeing the appearance of a Commander-level Demon Beast, the Dark Crown Prince knew that today’s odds were more likely ill-fated than not.
As the Centipede Ant emerged from the earth, it caught the scent of the charred odor emanating from the corpses of its fellow Ant Soldiers, and became furious. It raised its head, the size of a small dog’s, toward the sky where Yun Sheng was, and with a "pfft," shot out a spray of poison.
The venom was fishy and sticky, and as fast as a flying arrow.
Yun Sheng dodged, but the slime smeared over her Wind Wings on her back.
The Wind Wings on Yun Sheng’s body were already incomplete, and once the magic elements dispersed, she plummeted downwards, about to fall into the mouth of the Centipede Ant King.
Her descent suddenly halted, and beside her, a tall figure appeared; the Dark Crown Prince frowned deeply, grabbing Yun Sheng’s collar.
Yun Sheng and the Dark Crown Prince communicated silently with their eyes, and from each other’s eyes, they both saw disdain. Almost at the same time, they both snorted and turned their heads away.
Although he disliked Yun Sheng, the Dark Crown Prince didn’t let go of her, solely because he had "silently" promised Divine Wind that he would look out for Yun Sheng.
Having missed with its venom, the Centipede Ant King grew even angrier, and it issued a strange hooting sound from its mouth, as if blowing the horn of war.
The Ant Beasts, upon hearing the noise, boiled with fervor, launching a ferocious attack on the closest targets to them, Yun Sheng and the Dark Crown Prince.
Swarms of Flying Ants were stirring, and Beast Ants surged forth like a river, nearly blowing Yun Sheng’s mind.
The Dark Crown Prince unceremoniously hoisted Yun Sheng up and took off in the direction opposite to Daoye Mountain with the fastest burst of speed he had ever exerted in his life.
A Marquis’ leg strength was much faster than these Beast Ants.
But such extreme speed meant it was achieved by explosive bursts of fighting spirit, and it was doomed not to last very long.
The Dark Crown Prince was already quite formidable.
While holding Yun Sheng, he ran at a limited speed for nearly half an hour, maintaining a running pace that modern people couldn’t comprehend.
From his increasingly intense chest heaves, it was clear he was quite exhausted by now.
Damn, what is the Divine Wind King dragging his feet for?
The Dark Crown Prince’s legs were nearly numb, and he could feel that his body was at its limit.
Behind them, they had pulled a distance from the Beast Ants.
But a haze of bugs appeared in the sky; it turned out to be the Centipede Ant King following closely behind with its subordinates.
Just as the Dark Crown Prince was at his last gasp of strength, he caught sight of a deep blue lake on the nearby mountains.
"A lake!" The Dark Crown Prince, too tired to even lift his feet for another step, treated Yun Sheng in his hand as if she were a stone, unceremoniously throwing her into the lake.
With a splash, Yun Sheng plunged into the water, and just before entering, she saw a burst of fighting spirit rising from the Dark Crown Prince, like a mad python coming out of its cave.
Not long after the two plunged into the water, the Beast Tide had already approached the lake.
In front of the unfathomable lake, the Beast Ants dared not move forward rashly.
The Dark Crown Prince stood by the lake, the fighting spirit emanating from his body forming a Fighting Energy Shield. With the shield in hand, he stepped forward with his long legs and plunged into the swarm of ants.
Inside Daoye Mountain Guard City, the Hunter Soldier Branch was urgently mobilizing the entire city’s forces.
"All Hunter Soldiers stationed at Daoye Mountain heed this order, a sudden Beast Ant Swarm has been discovered within a hundred kilometers of the Guard City. According to reports from the returning Hunter Soldiers, it is a Beast Ant Swarm of tens of thousands. All Hunter Soldiers, including the citizens, are strictly forbidden to leave the Guard City."
A Beast Ant Swarm of tens of thousands, once the message was released, the entire city was in panic.
And at this time, Divine Wind King, who had brought back the news, was desperately trying to break out of the city.