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It seems that our Taotie is having lots of "snacks" in this secret place.
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Wu Liang charged forward, his Devouring Domain instantly expanding. The corpses within the domain were transformed into energy, replenishing him and continuously expanding the domain's range.
His killing speed was unmatched by the entire team combined.
Insect beasts below the Fourth Rank were almost instantly killed upon entering the domain, leaving not even a corpse behind.
"Watch out!"
Ling Qingxue's voice echoed in his mind.
Just as Wu Liang was puzzled, a blood-red scythe slashed down towards him.
"Spatial Lock!!"
Several chains descended from the sky, locking a blood-red mantis-like monster in mid-air.
Fifth Rank late-stage Bloodthirsty Mantis!
The scythes possessed terrifying attack power, and their movement and attack speed were unbelievably fast!
Even Wu Liang, with his 'Supernatural Smell' skill, couldn't detect it beforehand.
It was a top assassin among the insect beast race, and Ling Qingxue was only able to detect it in advance thanks to the special nature of the 'Divine Star Ten Thousand Manifestations', an Imperial Rank Spiritual Master skill.
Wu Liang's face contorted with rage, and a pair of dark dragon horns materialized on his head. He unleashed the 'Ink Annihilation Dragon Strike' with ferocious force.
Just before the dragon horns struck, the Bloodthirsty Mantis swerved to avoid a fatal blow, but one of its scythe-wielding arms was severed, splattering a pool of crimson blood.
"The stronger the beast, the faster it breaks free of spatial locks. This Bloodthirsty Mantis is clearly extremely strong even among Fifth Rank beasts!"
The Bloodthirsty Mantis hissed, wielding its remaining blood-red scythe as it continued its attack towards Wu Liang.
A blood-red afterimage flashed past; its attack speed was even faster than Wu Liang's!
Whoosh!
The sound of wind breaking rang out as the scythe collided with Wu Liang's claws, producing a dull thud.
Wu Liang looked at his claw, now bearing a bloody gash, a mocking glint in his eyes. Its attack power seemed rather ordinary, not as ferocious as he'd imagined…
The Devouring Domain slowly contracted, eventually shrinking to a mere ten meters in radius, but its power increased several times over!
The Devouring Domain had now mastered area control, and its control was increasing exponentially with each upgrade!
It could cover a radius of a thousand meters at its maximum, and could be condensed to a radius of ten meters at its minimum, with the devouring power increasing the smaller the area.
At this moment, the Bloodthirsty Mantis's power was being constantly torn apart; energy was being forcibly extracted from its severed limb, and the bleeding was unstoppable.
Realizing this, the mantis immediately retreated.
The Devouring Domain's suppression was too great; if it continued, it would be sucked dry!
The Bloodthirsty Mantis tried to plunge into the ground and escape.
But it discovered that the ground had somehow turned into a swamp, and a suction force from underground prevented it from escaping quickly.
"Well done, Little Xuexue! You're really good at using underhanded tactics!" Wu Liang laughed.
He immediately flew out, his jet-black paws slamming down with immense force towards the Bloodthirsty Mantis's head.
The Bloodthirsty Mantis stretched out its arm to block, but its strength was far inferior to Wu Liang's.
This blow slammed it directly into the ground, leaving it completely dazed.
A second 'Ink Annihilation Dragon Strike' hit it squarely between the eyebrows. The terrifying power, ignoring defense, instantly killed the Bloodthirsty Mantis!
Wu Liang pulled the corpse out and tossed it into his mouth.
Using multiple skills in succession had exhausted his strength and stamina. Devouring the corpse of a magical beast could quickly restore his depleted strength.
"Retreat!"
Ling Qingxue shouted.
Beiming Yan, who was already prepared, immediately spurred the Northern Sea Kunpeng, leading everyone towards the island, their speed so fast that the insects couldn't even react.
Following the lingering scent, the insect swarm continued its advance towards the island, leaving nothing but desolation in its wake.
Back on the island, the initial excitement in everyone's eyes gradually faded.
"Captain, what should we do now? Some of the flying beasts in the swarm will definitely follow the scent!"
"And there will always be a small number of insects that aren't afraid of water. They might wade across to reach the island!"
Ling Qingxue nodded slightly, her expression remaining calm.
"Don't worry, everyone, just follow my instructions. Now, quickly use potions to restore your spiritual strength. We'll need to use a formation for defense!"
Only half of them had cultivated spiritual power, making them a formidable force of Spiritual Masters.
A jointly set spirit formation would be powerful enough to annihilate a Fourth Rank peak magical beast!
There weren't many insect beasts capable of reaching the island, so this power was more than sufficient.
A vast swarm of Earth Moths and Flying Fire Ants flew towards Heart Lake Island like a dark cloud of fire.
"Damn, that's a bit too many! Can we hold them off? If all else fails, we can jump into the lake and hide for a while. The swarm will disperse once it can't find its target," Ma Rendong suggested.
"What's the rush? The captain and Sister Yan haven't said anything, which means the situation is still under control!"
Ling Qingxue took a Spiritual Recovery Potion.
The next moment, her spiritual energy surged forth like a raging torrent, and a magnificent spirit formation appeared before everyone's eyes.
A basic mid-grade spirit formation, Ice and Fire Dual Heaven!!
Ice on the Earth, Fire on the Sky—the Ice and Fire Dual Heaven Formation was both offensive and defensive, making it perfect for the current situation.
Furthermore, the Earth Moth and the Flying Fire Ant were very weak insect beasts, with a maximum level of only Fourth Rank. Their strength was far inferior to the Poisonous Soul Bees'.
The Ice and Fire Dual Heaven Formation was enough to kill eighty percent of them, and Wu Liang and Kunpeng could instantly kill the rest!
"Everyone, take over your positions and unleash your spiritual power to attack the Earth Moths and Fire Ants with flames. Try to prevent them from reaching the island!" Ling Qingxue said in a deep voice.
Countless flames began to blaze on the lake's surface, charring large numbers of insects until they fell into the water.
Only a few higher-level Earth Moths and Fire Ants could pass through the sea of fire, but Beiming Yan led her team to attack.
The vast flames lit up half the sky.
The clear lake water became murky due to insect corpses.
The power of the Ice and Fire Dual Heaven Formation was truly formidable; the Earth Moths and Fire Ants suffered heavy casualties, and soon, they all fled in disarray.
"That was awesome! Our island in the middle of the lake is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Unless a Sixth Rank magical beast appears, no matter how many come, they will all die!" Ma Rendong exclaimed excitedly.
Beiming Yan glared at him. "Don't jinx it, or we'll beat you up!"
Ma Rendong covered his mouth, afraid it would come true.
At times like this, even those who didn't believe in superstitions had to.
A Sixth Rank magical beast was something that could potentially wipe them out.
There was no spring here to revive them...
After driving away the Earth Moths and Flying Fire Ants, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and took advantage of the lull to consume Spiritual Recovery Potions.
Activating a basic mid-grade spirit formation, even with a considerable number of people, was still incredibly taxing.
Compared to them, Ling Qingxue, the one who set up the formation, was truly the one who consumed the most energy. Just this one formation had almost exhausted all her available spiritual energy. Fortunately, she had prepared enough Spiritual Recovery Potions beforehand.
"Brothers, cheer up! After dealing with the air force, we're going to fight the navy!" Qin Hongyan's shout drew everyone's attention.
The swarms of Earth Moths and Flying Fire Ants that had filled the sky had vanished, but some of the insects that had waited on the lakeshore for so long began to enter the water and were rapidly approaching.
Their numbers weren't as large as the previous "air force," but they still held a significant numerical advantage over their squad.
"Quick, use the Ice and Fire Dual Heaven Formation to freeze all those beasts in the water!" Zhou Weiwei urged.
She now understood why Ling Qingxue had specifically set up the Ice and Fire Dual Heaven Formation.
In terms of power, the Ice and Fire Dual Heaven wasn't as strong as the Four Spirits Annihilation Formation.
However, the Ice and Fire Dual Heaven had a wider attack range, and ice and fire could attack magical beasts both in the air and water.
Spiritual energy surged into the formation again, and a chill emanated from it. The lake water froze, trapping a large swarm of insects within the ice.
Even if the Fourth Rank insect beasts managed to reach the island, they would be instantly dealt with by Wu Liang and the Northern Sea Kunpeng. The slaying of so many beasts without any casualties filled everyone with exhilaration.
"My admiration for the captain is like a boundless river! There's only one genius in our generation, and that's our captain!"
"Wait, don't you consider Sister Yan's feelings? Sister Yan is practically a genius herself. Though not as good as the captain, she definitely deserves the title of half-genius!"
"Stop talking, I feel like Sister Yan wants to kill you..."
Beiming Yan was furious and turned to vent her anger on the insects.
Countless sword energies shot out like rain, exploding into sprays of water, and severed limbs floated on the lake.
The scene was chilling, and the person who had just spoken shut his mouth in embarrassment.
If those sword energies had struck him, he'd be covered in bruises!
The stalemate lasted quite a while, the fighting continuing even as night fell.
These insect beasts were stubbornly unwilling to retreat, as if something was preventing them from doing so.
Despite this, the group remained vigilant, taking turns to channel their spiritual energy to maintain the Ice and Fire Dual Heaven Formation and relentlessly killing them.
And those insect beasts that weren't burned to ashes would ultimately become Wu Liang's food!