Chapter 211: Chapter 176: Vine Monster, Yin Yi

The gale whipped at the Insect Master’s strangely patterned clothes, making them snap in the wind. He stared intently at the splitting Star Core and, below it, at Egg Pancake, whose Sub-dragon form had been revealed by the fierce battle. His expression turned grim. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

’A plant, a Sub-dragon... Could the person behind this be another rebel, like one from the Burning Fire Race?’

Before he could overthink it, he quickly commanded the Flash Spirit Butterfly to withdraw from the battlefield and had the engaged Earth-Split Centipede break off to block the impending Star Core explosion.

But just as the Earth-Split Centipede began to move, a massive Ice Crystal crashed down in its path with the speed of a thunderclap. It instantly froze dozens of meters of ground and erected a solid, thirty-meter-tall mountain of ice.

That brief moment of delay, created by Yin Yi’s Ice Crystal Bomb, was all it took.

BOOM!!

The Star Core exploded!

A blinding light filled every inch of space.

「In the sky」

WHOOSH—

A violent shockwave spread wildly in all directions, blowing the Insect Master’s two antennae back against his head and tossing his sparse, short hair about. The accompanying high temperature scorched the bodies of every single insect.

The ground buckled slightly. More than two hundred meters in front of the Insect Master, a deep, sunken crater had appeared.

The edges of the crater were pocked with deep, irregular, honeycomb-like impact marks. Inside, scattered embers of dark red flame still smoldered.

A massive, crimson dragon silhouette crouched at the edge of the crater, panting lightly.

Inside the crater, a giant butterfly-like creature with silver-white markings lay on its back.

It now looked like a broken rag doll. Most of its head had been swallowed by the aftershock of the Star Core’s explosion, only half of its spindle-shaped torso remained, and its charred, severed body twitched faintly.

The insect blood that flowed out was seared by the surrounding flames, releasing a foul-smelling, acrid smoke.

’Creatures of flesh and blood, after all. Using Molten Rock Pressure at full power in a real battle used up most of its Spiritual Energy.’

Han Ning, hidden in the darkness of the night, sensed Egg Pancake’s slight fatigue. He signaled the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm concealed within its body to supply it with abundant Blood Qi.

"Egg Pancake, once you’ve rested, you and the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm are to go help Yin Yi."

"Chirp!"

Egg Pancake kept a wary eye on the Insect Master ahead as a rich, bloody light inexplicably washed over its body. The dense network of cuts it had received from fighting the Flash Spirit Butterfly began to heal at a visible rate.

Meanwhile, Han Ning himself used the pitch-black night as cover to silently command his Puppet Insects to draw closer.

"Pfft!"

With two of his Soul Beasts on the verge of death, the Insect Master was struck by a wave of dizziness and spat a mouthful of pale green blood onto the ground.

’A rebel. Definitely a rebel.’

The Insect Master’s face was dark. Without a glance at the Flash Spirit Butterfly in the crater, he focused his Spiritual Power.

The Earth-Split Centipede, which had been fighting fiercely with Yin Yi, paused for a moment before abruptly burrowing into the ground.

Seeing this, Yin Yi, still in the sky, sent several more pillars of ice-blue light crashing down, once again trying to disrupt the Earth-Split Centipede’s movements with its Ice Crystal Bomb.

WHOOSH—

A flash of purple light appeared beside the Insect Master.

"!?"

The Insect Master’s senses screamed a warning, and he instinctively snapped his head to the side.

Just in time to see a streak of dark purple light flash past his eyes.

CLANG!!

A shower of sparks illuminated his face.

A bee covered in swirling purple patterns had been stopped dead in its tracks by his swarm.

’What a troublesome swarm.’

Seeing the Netherworld Bee blocked by the swarm, Han Ning cursed inwardly and refocused his Spiritual Power.

Three more streaks of purple light flashed through the night.

Three beetles with huge, round, purple carapaces suddenly burst from the rain. Their eyes were vacant, yet they burned with a ferocious light.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Three enormous phantom beetles materialized, raising the sharp horns on their heads. They aimed for the Insect Master’s swarm and thrust forward with all their might!

Under the explosive force of the three Cyan Light Armors, the remaining swarm couldn’t withstand the immense power and instantly scattered like a rain of insects.

The nearby Netherworld Bee’s eyes flickered with purple light as it silently closed in, stabbing viciously at the Insect Master’s chest.

"Bees... beetles... Who in the world are you? How can you control so many different types of Extraordinary Level swarms!" The Insect Master’s pupils contracted as he let out a sharp, grating cry in the insect tongue.

Facing the rapidly approaching Netherworld Bee, he only had time to raise his left arm and desperately twist his body to prevent the stinger from piercing his heart.

SQUELCH!

The purple stinger plunged into the Insect Master’s left arm. The immense force behind it pierced straight through the bone, jutted out the other side, and sank a few centimeters into his chest before getting stuck on a rib.

"So what if you kill me? It won’t be long before you join me in the Queen’s embrace." A frenzied smile spread across the Insect Master’s bloodless, pale face. He stared at Han Ning, who was still hidden in the darkness, and laughed maniacally.

"Oh, no, you’re a rebel. Rebels can’t return to the Queen’s embrace. You’ll just become food, devoured by the Insect Servants."

Still laughing wildly, the Insect Master threw himself backward, pulling the stinger free from his chest. His right hand simultaneously drew a blade-like weapon made from an insect limb from his hip pouch. A savage glint appeared in his eyes as he swung it at his own left arm—a flash of cold light.

An arm with a clean-cut wound fell to the ground.

Immediately after, his whole body collapsed into the mud. As he fell, he tried to reach out and touch the ground.

’A cornered beast still fights,’ Han Ning thought, standing atop the Gale Butterfly and quietly observing the scene.

The Netherworld Bee shot out like a bolt of lightning, instantly piercing all four of the Insect Master’s limbs.

One of the Cyan Light Armors walked up to the Insect Master and, raising an insect leg, delivered a few sharp blows. WHAP, WHAP, WHAP.

The Insect Master, who had been laughing wildly just a moment ago, immediately saw his eyes roll back into his head as he passed out.

Only when the Insect Master was completely incapacitated did Han Ning command a Cyan Light Armor to lift his body. His gaze then shifted to Yin Yi, who was still battling the Earth-Split Centipede.

’This Insect Master is probably a relatively low-ranking one,’ he mused. ’Of his three Main Combat Soul Beasts, only the Earth-Split Centipede has broken through to the War General Level.’

By now, Yin Yi’s appearance was completely different from its original, delicate form.

Beneath it, a dense thicket of thick, sturdy vines was interwoven, forming something akin to a pair of human legs that stood firmly on the ground.

Yin Yi’s upper body, meanwhile, had transformed into a sky-filling flurry of vicious Vine Whips. Countless whips, like the fabled hair of Medusa, lashed out wildly at the Earth-Split Centipede as it darted across the ground.

Each Vine Whip was over a hundred meters long, like a rod of super-hardened steel rebar. The instant one struck the ground, it would leave a deep scar in the already unstable swamp.

The endless Vine Whips filled nearly the entire area within a one-kilometer radius, crisscrossing to turn the place into a terrifying cage.

If someone were to look from a distance at this moment, they would see Yin Yi looking like an evil Tree Spirit from a horror story. Its nearly forty-meter-tall plant-like body was hidden in the thick darkness, while two bright, flame-like green lights shone from its center. The swaying vines resembled the monstrous tentacles of a giant octopus from the Deep Sea.

As the flame-like lights pulsed, it continuously swung its Vine Whips, reaping the lives of the innocent.

Compared to continuously firing the Cyan Wood Radiance, this was a more conservative method of using Spiritual Energy, but it required a much stronger Wood Element Affinity.

When it was at the Extraordinary Level, it would have been difficult for Yin Yi to control several thousand Vine Whips to attack simultaneously like this.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Vine Whips swept across the ground, creating a violent wind pressure and flinging up sprays of dark brown mud.

Affected by Egg Pancake’s Super Gravity, the Earth-Split Centipede faltered for a mere fraction of a second before it was struck by a rigid Vine Whip.

In an instant, at least several dozen of its insect legs were smashed into a pulp in mid-air.

"SKREEE!!"

The Earth-Split Centipede was no easy target, either. It suddenly leaped up from the ground like a whale breaching the ocean’s surface, its vicious insect eyes locked onto Yin Yi, who was heavily encased in vines.

A terrifying amount of Earth Element Spiritual Energy gushed forth.

A stone "Earth-Split Centipede," thirty meters tall and made purely of hard, earth-yellow rock, materialized with its feet planted on the ground. It whipped its thick body around, sweeping heavily toward Yin Yi with immense wind pressure.

As it swept forward, every inch of the stone centipede’s body sprayed out a dense, thick mud that splattered onto Yin Yi’s vine body, making the already cumbersome vines even heavier.

But Yin Yi was not a true vine monster. It gracefully withdrew from the protection of the vines, and with a flash of its arms, two green Sword Spikes, each over ten meters long, appeared. In an instant, they sliced the sweeping stone centipede into several pieces.

After this blow, the Earth-Split Centipede burrowed back underground, attempting to rush toward the Insect Master.

’The Earth-Split Centipede is an Earth Attribute insect. If it really manages to hide underground, Yin Yi won’t be able to do a thing to it...’

Seeing the Earth-Split Centipede fall back on a passive defense, Han Ning’s brow furrowed slightly as an idea struck him.

The five Insect Puppets beside him were suddenly enveloped in purple flesh and blood. After a moment of transformation, they took on the appearance of Armor-Breaking Ants.

To end the battle more quickly, he directly activated his Spiritual Surge Talent to amplify Egg Pancake and the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm.

Amplifying the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm was equivalent to amplifying the five Armor-Breaking Ants.

In an instant, a blazing aura of Spiritual Energy erupted from all six Soul Beasts. Han Ning pointed at the Earth-Split Centipede, which was still trying to escape Yin Yi’s attacks, and sent out a command with his Spiritual Power:

"Solidify the ground. Seize control of the Earth Element. Don’t let it burrow again."

"Chirp!" "Rustle~"

The six Soul Beasts instantly shot out, positioning themselves along the Earth-Split Centipede’s path.

A yellow light gathered around Egg Pancake’s claws as it slammed them heavily onto the ground.

The earth in front of it instantly hardened like dry cement.

Meanwhile, the five Armor-Breaking Ants burrowed underground and charged toward the Earth-Split Centipede, slamming forcefully into its body.

The moment they collided, the Earth-Split Centipede’s movement abruptly froze.

Its body, affected by the Armor-Breaking Ants’ Talent, became extremely heavy for a short time, while the ground around it was also disrupted by Egg Pancake.

The effect of an Extraordinary Level on a War General Level Soul Beast was limited, restricting it for less than a second.

But that was enough time. High in the air, Yin Yi had already gathered an astonishingly powerful Cyan Wood Radiance, which it unleashed down upon the Earth-Split Centipede’s head.

BOOM!!

A torrent of explosive Wood Type Particles slammed the Earth-Split Centipede’s head deep into the ground, causing the entire area to tremble violently.