Chapter 118: The Demon-Devouring Insect King

"Tell me, Yan Chen, do you really fancy yourself a great scholar?" Mo You, whose temper was the most volatile, retorted with a disdainful pout the moment she saw Yan Chen playing coy at such a critical juncture.

"Listen to me," Yan Chen replied, stifled by her words. However, seeing her fierce, baring-teeth expression, he swallowed back the retort he had prepared and resumed his role as the learned one. "I stumbled upon this in an ancient book within my family's collection. It was written by an elder of my clan two hundred years ago, detailing his experiences when he participated in the battle for the Nameless City in his youth."

"At that time, this elder was a prodigy who had reached the Star Realm at a young age, just in time for the once-in-a-century battle for the Nameless City. Naturally, he participated and became one of the few who succeeded in the history of the competition! However, because the guardians within the city did not acknowledge him, he lacked the qualifications to claim control over it."

"Upon returning to the clan, he recorded his experiences in the battle. There was a passage that read: 'Dragging my exhausted body, clutching a blade dripping with wolf blood, I walked into this icy city that remained relatively intact. Thinking that success was within reach, I did not want to linger for even a moment. I passed straight through the city, and as soon as I stepped outside, a nauseating black storm hit me. In a corner outside the city, there stood a stone slab carved with demonic runes: The Abyssal Land!'"

"Do you understand now?" Yan Chen finished his long explanation and smirked triumphantly. "It means that we have actually been in the Abyssal Land ever since we left the Icy City. For some reason, the once-mighty demonic energy here has dissipated significantly over time."

Hearing this, Lin Dong rubbed his nose in embarrassment. As the son of a lord of one of the eleven territories of the Beast Realm, he knew absolutely nothing about this, even though common sense dictated he should have been better informed than Yan Chen.

The observant Ye Zihan noticed Lin Dong’s awkwardness but pretended not to see it. He looked ahead and said, "Everyone, be careful from here on out. You saw it yourselves—that woman Su Zi and her team reached the Icy City before us. Their group is far stronger than ours, yet they were cautious enough not to rush in. It seems the dangers inside are not as simple as we imagined."

The others nodded. They had witnessed Su Zi’s strength firsthand—three Star Realm experts and over a dozen Five Elements Realm practitioners. Such a terrifying lineup had hesitated to enter the Abyssal Land, which spoke volumes about how perilous this place truly was.

"Let’s go!" Regardless of the danger, they had come too far to turn back. Ye Zihan waved his hand and was the first to charge into the region where demonic energy surged into the sky.

Walking on the edge of death and seeking survival in the face of peril—to them, this was the ultimate challenge and the most anticipated experience.

Chen Yiyan and Yan Chen wiped their mouths with their sleeves, their eyes gleaming with excitement as they followed Ye Zihan inside.

Lin Dong, though initially hesitant, felt he had no choice but to follow them. Gritting his teeth, he plunged into the darkness.

"Hiss! Hiss!"

As soon as they entered the swirling demonic energy, they all gasped simultaneously. They realized that their bodies were covered in tiny black insects. These creatures were no larger than a thumb, but their sharp, hooked mouths were constantly twitching, carving blood-red gashes into their skin.

"Oh no! These are Demon-Devouring Insects, the most numerous and gregarious pests in the Demon Realm. Quick, light a fire! They’re afraid of fire!" Lin Dong shouted in alarm once he identified them.

"Screech!"

A clear cry rang out, followed by a flash of roaring flames. A pillar of fire shot into the sky as Chen Yiyan stood in mid-air, a faint, illusory image of a Heaven-Burning Phoenix flapping its wings behind him. With every beat of those wings, a scorching heat wave washed over them.

"Hiss!"

The previously ferocious swarm of black insects suddenly let out shrill, piercing cries. Upon seeing the Heaven-Burning Phoenix in the sky as if it were a terrifying predator, the insects lost their direction and scattered in a frantic attempt to escape.

"Phew!"

Chen Yiyan landed on the ground and let out a long breath, slowly calming the turbulent Source Energy within him. It was clear that the move had consumed a great deal of his strength; the fierce battle at the Icy City had already left him exhausted, and the journey to the Abyssal Land had drained his remaining reserves.

"Hey, why show off like that? If you’d asked me to spit a few times, they would have been scared off too!" Mo You said, tilting her head and pouting at the landing Chen Yiyan.

"Cough, cough!" Chen Yiyan coughed twice and gave a helpless, bitter smile. "I was afraid that if I waited for you to spit, I’d have collapsed before you even started!" With that, he turned around to show his back to the group.

"Hiss!"

The others leaned in, their curiosity turning to shock as they gasped.

A basin-sized, oversized Demon-Devouring Insect was stuck firmly to Chen Yiyan’s back, its curved, hooked mouth having torn through his outer garment and embedded deep into his flesh. However, the creature now had no signs of life; it was clearly dead.

"An Insect King?!" Lin Dong exclaimed, staring at the giant insect on Chen Yiyan’s back.

Ye Zihan also looked at the insect with a grave expression. Hearing Lin Dong’s exclamation, he immediately asked, "What is that?"

This was no laughing matter. Chen Yiyan’s strength, while not quite on par with his own, was certainly not weak. For this giant insect to have approached him silently and left such a wound—if that mouth had hooked into Chen Yiyan’s brain, he would have died on the spot.

"I know this one! This mutated beast is the leader of that swarm. The reason they all retreated was mostly because their leader was killed. Demon-Devouring Insects are social creatures, and when their numbers reach a certain point, an Insect King is born. This king acts as the lifeblood of the entire swarm. Now that it’s dead, the entire swarm will perish before long."

Hearing Ye Zihan’s question, Mo You rushed out as if competing for credit and spoke rapidly, striking a pose of great scholarly importance.

"That is indeed the case," Lin Dong added with a faint nod.

"Damn it, of all the people to bite, it chose me with my thick skin," Chen Yiyan cursed, ripping the lifeless Insect King off his back and throwing it to the ground.

The creature’s hooked mouth, still embedded in his back, tore a large wound open as he pulled, causing blood to spray out.

However, Chen Yiyan seemed not to feel the pain. With a slight circulation of his Source Energy, he stanched the bleeding.

"Water’s Touch, heal the wound." Having already revealed himself as a multi-element practitioner, Ye Zihan no longer bothered to hide it. He raised his arm, and a small, water-based healing technique was cast upon Chen Yiyan.

Instantly, the bleeding stopped, and the wound began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Ye Zihan then surveyed their surroundings. They had pushed deep into the Abyssal Land, where the demonic energy was at its thickest. Everywhere they looked, the world was shrouded in a hazy black, as if they were in an abyss that had never seen the light of day.

"This place is strange. It would be wise to leave quickly," Ye Zihan said in a low voice. Although he hadn't discovered any immediate threats, his keen intuition told him that their group was being watched by eyes hidden in the shadows—a sensation that made his skin crawl.

"Agreed!"

While the others lacked Ye Zihan’s sharp intuition, they all felt deeply uneasy in this place and nodded in unison.