"HISSS!!"

An enraged screech echoed through the skies above the forest floor.

In a life-or-death battle in the wild, the first rule is to attack the enemy Beast Master!

Yin Yi wanted to control her Flower Thorns to attack the other Insect-men.

But they reacted quickly, commanding their insects to fall back and defend.

WHOOSH—

Waves of scorching fire and a shimmering blue Shield materialized before the Insect-men.

BOOM!

The Emerald Flower Thorns detonated.

Empowered by the Spiritual Surge, the Emerald Flower Thorns were like tactical missiles packed with terrifying Energy, blasting the newly formed Shield into a shower of light motes.

A powerful gust of wind swept through.

The aftershock of the explosion sent the three giant insects flying backward, spiderweb cracks appearing all over their bodies.

"HISSS..." "SKITTER~"

Seeing this, the five surviving Insect-men couldn’t help the human-like expressions of horror that appeared on their ugly faces.

Yin Yi’s figure flashed again.

As a strong wind assaulted them, two Flame Armored Beetles spewed high-temperature flames while trying to use their own bodies to block Yin Yi’s attack.

The other, a Blue-striped Butterfly, shot blue light from its deep black compound eyes.

A deep blue, curved Light Shield spread out.

At this moment, Yin Yi, amplified by Han Ning’s Spiritual Surge, was practically invincible. Spiritual Light pulsed violently around her body.

The three insects opposite her had just used their Soul Techniques.

In the next instant, rapidly spinning cyan silhouettes shot toward them, forcing them to join forces to defend.

Yin Yi nimbly dodged the gushing torrent of flame.

Then, she weaved and maneuvered within the tight space, flying agilely in another direction.

Under Yin Yi’s control, dozens of thick, long Emerald Flower Thorns trailed brilliant afterflames as they indiscriminately bombarded the three giant insects and the five Insect-men behind them.

The remaining five Insect-men wore grave expressions as they raised their Insect Flutes in unison and began to play a strange melody.

The dizzying sound of the flutes echoed through the woods.

Within the dense swarm, nearly two-thirds of the insects suddenly changed direction, gathering as one before the barrage of Emerald Flower Thorns.

"SKITTER SKITTER!!" "HISSSS~~" "BZZZZ~"

Hundreds, even thousands of insects used all sorts of methods—some fired shockingly fast cannonballs of flame, others condensed finger-thick beams of green light...

Their target was always the oncoming emerald Flower Thorns.

The three largest insects once again condensed a thick Light Shield, blocking the path to the Insect-men.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A brilliant green light blossomed.

The Soul Techniques fired by the swarm were completely swallowed by the light, exploding into motes of Spiritual Particles.

One by one, insects were struck by the light of the Flower Thorns and fell powerlessly to the ground.

Immediately, dozens more would fill the gaps from behind, a seemingly endless and inexhaustible supply.

They were using a surging tide of insects, a war of attrition, to deplete the Power of the Flower Thorns.

The two Flame Armored Beetles couldn’t withstand the force of the explosions and were sent flying backward. Mid-air, their bodies seemed to have swallowed a bomb, shattering piece by piece as flames rolled over them. They turned into a dozen insect chunks that scattered in all directions.

As for the Light Shield woven from deep blue and flame, Yin Yi just flicked her vine.

SHING!

In just half a second, several thick, long Flower Thorns shimmering with a pale cyan flame struck the Light Wall with pinpoint accuracy.

CRACK~

The Light Wall offered almost no resistance and shattered instantly. The Flower Thorns, with undiminished Power, struck the Blue-striped Butterfly behind it.

RUMBLE~

The aftershock of the explosion sent at least a hundred stout insects flying and even threw back two of the Insect-men hiding behind them.

SPLAT! SPLAT!

"HISSS..."

A Flower Thorn shot out. One Insect-man who couldn’t dodge in time had a terrified light reflected in his pupils.

Another sound, like a watermelon bursting, rang out.

In just over ten seconds.

Two Insect-men were already dead, their heads separated from their bodies.

The expressions of the four remaining Insect-men grew darker. They blew frantically into their Insect Flutes, and more and more insects joined the battle.

"HISSSS~~" "BZZZZ~"

The flapping of wings and the hissing of the swarm formed a piercing sound wave that swirled above the dark forest.

A curtain of insects in various colors covered half the sky before them, forming an unbreakable wall. As Spiritual Energy flickered, an overwhelming flood of low-level Soul Techniques poured down on Yin Yi.

"Yin Yi, finish off the remaining Soul Beasts, quickly! I’m... not going to last much longer."

Han Ning grunted, his face deathly pale, as he sent the reminder via his Spiritual Power.

Lingling! 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Yin Yi nodded repeatedly, immediately whipping her vine and firing more than ten massive Emerald Flower Thorns to continue bombarding the tide-like swarm blocking her path.

SPLAT!

A large amount of insect limb fragments and pale green insect fluid filled the air.

A pungent, foul stench spread.

It shrouded the dark forest below in a dense rain of insect blood.

Using the Emerald Flower Thorns to blast a clear opening in the swarm, Yin Yi flung out her hand. The few scattered, circling Flower Thorns gathered together and instantly pierced through the gap.

"HISSS, HISSS HISSS!"

The last giant Blue-striped Butterfly guarding the Insect-men let out a pained shriek. Several bowl-sized holes appeared on its massive head. It was clearly done for.

"Good... Yin Yi, just clean up the small fry now."

Seeing Yin Yi kill the three largest insects, Han Ning exited the Spiritual Surge state, dropping to one knee and gasping for breath.

’Hah... hah... hah... Yin Yi’s destructive power is incredible under Spiritual Surge. To think she could fight a hundred at once... so strong...’

He was completely taken by surprise watching Yin Yi deal with two people and three insects with almost crushing force.

’I never expected the amplification from Spiritual Surge to be so significant.’

’But the cost is just too high.’

Han Ning plopped onto the ground, his vision starting to go black.

Suddenly, a brilliant flash of silver light, like a blade, slashed through the air.

Yin Yi, who was busy clearing the swarm, only had time to dodge to the side.

KRAK~

The Frost White Crystal Shield protecting her was grazed by the blade of light and instantly shattered.

The sharp blade’s remaining force struck Yin Yi’s body.

A long, narrow crack appeared on Yin Yi’s emerald green body.

"Ling!"

Yin Yi cried out in pain, clutching her wound as she quickly retreated.

From within the forest, a five-meter-tall silver-white mantis with eyes glinting with a bone-chilling light retracted its sharp forelimbs. Its figure blurred.

In an instant, it had flashed to Yin Yi’s side.

Yin Yi quickly gave up on engaging the swarm and began to seriously deal with the silver-white mantis before her.

Seeing this, Han Ning turned his head to look.

The Heavy-Armored Tree Spirit that had been fighting the silver-white mantis just moments ago was now lying on the ground, its body twitching faintly.

Not far away, its master, Luo Chen, had no time to go and check its injuries.

Because hundreds of insects of all shapes and sizes, along with the small black bugs they had encountered in the ruins before, had already flown up to them.

The swarm was simply too numerous.

Even though Yin Yi had drawn most of their fire.

A small portion still flew through the forest, searching for the humans hiding inside.

RAT-TAT-TAT~ TAT-TAT.

A few automatic rifles, shotguns, and three Silver Lotus Wood plants wove a scorching barrage of fire, struggling to hold back the oncoming swarm.

While Han Ning had been focused on commanding Yin Yi, Lü Xiuning, Luo Chen, and the others had been silently guarding his front, protecting him from the swarm’s attacks.

’We were tricked... The most dangerous attacker was that silver mantis all along.’