Chapter 438: A Three-sided Chaotic Battle
In the history of the insectoid race, they had made plenty of attempts to challenge the Holy Realm, so they had a fairly good grasp of it. Though this spatial plane that the Black and White G.o.ds made would often change, the variations done were all within the acceptable range, which was a great benefit to the insectoids.
Unfortunately, Xia Fei, the interloper’s appearance, had caused the situation to change greatly!
Uti washed himself clean of any traces of blood by the river, applying the white powder that he had previously prepared all over his body. The powder gave off a pungent spicy smell, which completely overpowered the scent of blood on his body; this could help him avoid being a.s.saulted by the Evil Spirit Trees.
Uti had the five expert guardians, Tohme, Fini, Bellal, Nimuni, and Li Mo, around him. There were also two mysterious figures, hidden among the troops, a good distance away. They too were always maintaining a short distance from Uti.
Uti, who was a very cautious insectoid, planted two guards with unfathomable strength in the midst of the common troops and had them follow him around. Even when they got surrounded by a host of exotic beasts earlier, the two experts still calmly fought with the others while taking care not to reveal themselves.
He heaved a long sigh. Though the beasts’ rampage had dealt a severe blow on the insectoids he had brought, Uti had not lost much of his confidence. Historically, whenever the emperor of the Golden Tent sallied forth to the Holy Realm, there would always be heavy casualties. Losing fifty thousand lives was plenty, but it was not unacceptable.
At the very least, the experts whom he had brought were still around. Ultimately, he could only rely on these masters if he wanted to get through all five floors, and most of the troops he had were nothing more than cannon fodders.
Waving his slender arm, the troop carried onward, ready to enter the second floor.
The injured warriors were of course unable to follow the main force forward. The scent of blood on them would cause the Evil Spirit Trees to go berserk, so Fini had already taken care of them on the sly, letting them die a painless death. Furthermore, Halleh’s sudden disappearance had also led to the decrease of approximately five thousand insectoids, leaving Uti with an army numbering just around forty thousand.
Uti seemed to have vaguely sensed a scheme brewing. Being ambushed upon entering this realm was very unusual, but he had to carry on this expedition no matter what. After all, making it through all five floors in these fourteen days left was the only way he could get out, and there was no shortcut to this.
Twenty thousand troops acted as vanguards and used the teleportation platform to reach the second floor in advance. Fini told Uti, “Emperor, let’s be on our way as well.”
Uti nodded. His five bodyguards surrounded him so he was in the center, and with a *whoosh*, a beam of light shot down and brought Uti and his entourage right to the second floor.
When they looked around, the scene that greeted them shocked every single one of them!
Monsters had all gone berserk!
Countless Evil Spirit Trees had the platform completely surrounded, and tens of thousands of vines and branches acted like sharp knives raining stabs at the forty thousand insectoid warriors relentlessly!
The twenty thousand vanguards, which had just arrived, got raided, and more than half had been killed! Due to the Holy Realm disabling any use of communication devices, they were unable to inform Uti that the second floor was dangerous, so all they could do was hold out as best as they could.
Xia Fei had left quite a lot of blood here, inciting all the Evil Spirit Trees greatly. When the insectoid vanguards finally arrived, the scent of blood they carried only worsened the situation, and all the trees practically went berserk!
This was truly an unbelievable sight! The vicious trees were surrounding the warriors as if they had gone mad, looking like a scene out of a fantasy novel!
“My emperor, let me protect you as you leave this place!” said Fini and Tohme in unison. Both insectoids held their weapons aloft as they sandwiched Uti from the front and back, while Bellal and Nimuni took the flanks.
*Roar!*
Li Mo let out a guttural roar and went charging forward! It was as if being surrounded by so many enemies only got him more excited.
High Priest Ryun had given him a mountain axe, which weighed well over five hundred kilograms, and the weapon was double-edged. It was not too useful against the agile exotic beasts before because the mountain axe was unwieldy despite its great power, but it was perfectly suitable for use against such tall and humongous trees!
*Cras.h.!.+*
The mountain axe actually had a flame attack when swung, and Li Mo’s single chop sent an entire row of Evil Spirit Trees toppling to the ground. Furthermore, the fire lit several trees nearby aflame, but because these Evil Spirit Trees grew in water, it was hard for the flames to persist, and it did not affect the trees too greatly.
*Splas.h.!.+*
Li Mo jumped into the swamp as he chopped away wildly, determined to kill his way out of the predicament.
“Emperor, that weird disciple of the high priest sent with us sure has a move or two!”
Just as that statement was made, an Evil Spirit Tree used its branches, which were as thick as an arm, to strike Li Mo from behind!
The attack was both powerful and extremely quick!
Most were hardly able to withstand such a blow and most likely to have their bones crushed even if they did not die from it.
*Bang!*
The branches that struck Li Mo’s back actually broke upon contact, with wood fragments flying everywhere!
However, it was as if Li Mo hardly had felt a thing, though he did end up taking an extra step forward reflexively from that strike!
Everyone was dumbfounded. Li Mo was actually uninjured after taking such a powerful blow? Could his body be made of iron?
“Indestructible! Emperor, High Priest Ryun’s disciple is an indestructible ability user! These branches of the Evil Spirit Trees can’t harm him at all. We’re saved!” Fini fought fiercely as he informed Uti.
With everyone working together, especially with the indestructible Li Mo clearing the way for them, the insectoids slowly found their footing and managed to make their way toward the teleportation platform for the third floor.
*Swoos.h.!.+*
A vine shot out and bound a straggling insectoid; its sharp branches then danced about and quickly turned that insectoid into minced meat! The other Evil Spirit Trees hurriedly made their way over to s.n.a.t.c.h this sustenance, relis.h.i.+ng in the fresh blood!
Uti’s eyebrows tightened. The flanks and the rear were extremely dangerous positions to be in this contingent, with warriors dying every second.
It must be known that these one hundred thousand elites were the collective strength of the entire insectoid race! Aside from Tanini and the elite warriors he was leading as they waged distant war, these one hundred thousand insectoids were about forty percent of all insectoid warriors, with grade 3 cultivation being the worst among them, which was equivalent to the Pan-Human Alliance’s Star Domain rank.
They had pretty much lost most of the contingent just as they reached the second floor, and Uti could not help but feel somewhat pained by it.
All of a sudden!
The teleportation platform not too far behind them got activated!
Halleh and his five thousand warriors, who were loyal to the Guild of the Wise, ambushed them from behind! Uti was completely caught off guard by this!
“Darkness ability!” Halleh bellowed, and a ma.s.s of black surged from his hands and spread out like a net. In the blink of an eye, dozens of insectoid warriors got swallowed as the darkness came falling from above!
These pursuers from behind all had pieces of white cloth tied to their arms to differentiate themselves. They chased after Uti, killing their way from behind. Under the command of the third strongest insectoid Halleh, though they lacked in numbers, they held the advantage when it came to the fervor they displayed! The troops who were guarding the rear of Uti’s contingent were momentarily thrown helter-skelter by the ambush, suffering heavy losses as a result!
“Halleh, are you attempting a rebellion?!” Tohme, who was eager to defend his master, pointed at Halleh while yelling.
Halleh let out an uproarious laughter as the glow of darkness kept dancing in his two hands.
“Yours truly has indeed rebelled! What can you do about it?!”
Everyone was ashen face Sure enough, no one aside from High Priest Ryun’s disciple, Li Mo, would be a match for Halleh.
That was when two individuals in all black stepped out from the crowd. One was tall and fat, while the other was short and skinny. The masks they wore, along with their black cloaks, made it impossible to make out their faces.
“Brother Hal, since you’ve decided to rebel, then you can’t blame us brothers from being discourteous.”
The pair took off their masks as they said this.
“That’s the Gru brothers, Grux and Gruy!”
“To think the brothers have been among our contingent this whole time!”
“Grux and Gruy are experts ranked fourth and fifth on the Sacred Warrior Leaderboard respectively! If they were to fight together, perhaps even Halleh would be no match for them!”
“That’s right! We’re saved now!”
The morale of Uti’s troops increased tremendously! With the Gru brothers by their side, there was of course no need to worry about their combat strength!
Halleh panicked. No one would have expected that Uti would actually invite the Gru brothers who had been living in seclusion for many years as part of his personal escort. There was also High Priest Ryun’s disciple, Li Mo, the Seven Champions’ Tohme and Fini, and Nimuni and Bellal, who ranked ninth and eleventh on the Sacred Warrior Leaderboard respectively. No matter how he looked, Uti’s side clearly held the superior strength here!
Halleh gritted his teeth. “To think that you two are here as well!”
Grux barked, “Years back, we brothers were defeated by you and had to settle for rank 4 and 5 on the Sacred Warrior Leaderboard. After the two of us have devoted ourselves to cultivation for the two decades and are now ready to exchange pointers with you again, you’ve actually come knocking at our door.”
Halleh displayed the spirit that a high-ranking warrior of the insectoid should have, swiftly gathering two ma.s.ses of darkness in his two hands as he shouted, “Enough talk! Let’s fight!”
*BOOM!*
Battle resumed once more! The Evil Spirit Trees, the loyalists of the Guild of the Wise under the command of Halleh, and the contingent protecting Emperor Uti, these three forces were soon embroiled in combat, causing the terrain around them to be thrown into constant chaos!
Uti waved his hands as he called Nimuni to his side. “The stage is set! Immediately break out and head to the third floor. Confirm if there are still enemy traps there!”
…
Two hours before the chaotic battle on the second floor, Xia Fei arrived on the third floor, and here were plenty of rocky walls hundreds of meters high, twisting and turning in such a way which made it apparent that he was in an endless labyrinth!
“Any indication on the map?” Phantom asked in a heavy tone.
Xia Fei glanced at the point counter on his wrist and shook his head. “Nope. The way to the fourth floor is still far away, and the display around us is all blank. Looks like the third floor is a labyrinth!”
Phantom furrowed his brows. The walls were high, and reaching the teleportation point to the fourth floor would require them to traverse through this labyrinth which spanned well over hundreds of miles. The walls themselves were gloomy and covered in moss, so there was no telling how many traps could be hidden within.
*Bang!*
Xia Fei pulled out Bloodthirsty Screech and made a wild swing to one particular rock wall!
Just as his blade was about to make contact, a film of energy, invisible to the naked eye, held Bloodthirsty Screech in place. Such a wild swing was actually completely incapable of leaving any trace on the wall!
Phantom spoke. “It’s no use. There’s an energy s.h.i.+eld protecting the wall, so there’s no way you can carve out a path by force. There’s even an energy s.h.i.+eld sealing off the top, so the only way you can reach the teleportation platform which will bring you to the fourth floor is by solving this labyrinth.”
There was not just the one entrance to this labyrinth. Xia Fei went sideways and discovered a withered corpse from another entrance. Due to the amount of time that had pa.s.sed, the corpse itself was left with just bones that would disintegrate into dust with the slightest poke.
There was a large hole on his chest, which obviously meant that this individual had died through being pierced by something hard.
Xia Fei pointed at the withered corpse and said, “There must be many traps in this labyrinth, and this guy probably died from one of those.”
Phantom nodded. “That looks to be the case.
“Let’s go and see just what’s so unusual about this labyrinth!” Xia Fei screwed his eyebrows together and went das.h.i.+ng like a gust of wind.
*Clunk!*
The ground suddenly rumbled in the several steps he managed to take, then countless metal spikes rose quickly from the ground! Each and every spike, which was rising fast, was more than ten meters long!
“Crafty Approach!”
Xia Fei’s body abruptly became extremely limber, evading these spikes as he navigated between the thousands of them while continuing his way forward. His physical agility was simply inconceivable!
Once he was finally able to stand firmly on the ground again, Xia Fei looked back at the rusted spikes and frowned. “That was close! The speed of these spring traps was much faster than what I initially thought!”