With the Mother Worm dead, the remaining beasts were not a cause for concern at all.
Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan no longer had to sneak through the Heavenly Lands and they killed the Insect Beasts casually, leaving the Heavenly Lands to be a bloodbath by the time they left.
At the entrance to the Heavenly Lands, the group of beasts that were originally there had dispersed. They ran off in different directions after witnessing the deaths of a few brave ones that put up a futile fight against Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan.
At the same instant, the beasts that were fighting against the guards on the west city gates of the Spirit City suddenly jerked and fell to the ground lifelessly. Just as the guards were about to investigate the beasts, Le Yan"s body turned into numerous small insects that scattered in many directions.
Everyone gasped in shock and were bewildered by what had happened. How could a person suddenly turn into so many insects?
Thankfully, those experienced with battling the insects reacted quickly and they gave out military orders quickly. Others rushed to call Le Yao for his instructions. However, before Le Yao could be found, Ding Jiule arrived at the scene with a horrified look in his eyes. He mumbled under his breath and his eyes shook with fear.
A person grabbed onto Ding Jiule"s arm and asked about Le Yao"s whereabouts. Yet. Ding Jiule seemed to be dumbstruck and he stammered, “Le- Le Yao, she became an insect.”
Observing the confused looks on everyone"s faces, Ding Jiule rubbed his chin. Why were they so scared? He felt a shudder and had a feeling of insects crawling all over his body. Raising his arm, he jumped in shock when he saw numerous insects crawling up his hand.
“Huh, huh…worms?” Ding Jiule was utterly confused. Before he could react, his head drooped and insects burst out of his head.
“Everyone at attention! We must contain these worms in one area. Do not let them escape!” Guan Yue"s ordered, his voice full of anxiety.
Chaos befell on the battleground instantly not because the beasts were attacking, but because of an unexpected scenario. Guan Yue gave out decisive orders quickly and he suddenly recalled the news of Female Worms appearing in Spirit City. He knew that Female Worms would turn into numerous small worms when they were killed and if they were not contained quickly, they would bring much trouble.
As he turned towards the city wall and saw the citizens trying their best to defend themselves against the flying Insect Beasts, Guan Yue quickly briefed the situation to the Spirit City men. He instructed men to stand guard at the walls and ordered another man to call for Lin Chongyuan to get more help. Le Yao"s body overflowed with numerous worms and he started to worry that men who came into contact with Le Yao would be infected by the worms in her.
By the time Lin Chongyuan received the news, the Insect Beasts were in a state of confusion and chaos due to the pa.s.sing of the Mother Worm. Not letting such a valuable opportunity be wasted, Lin Chongyuan called a large group of Spirit City men to lead an attack against the Insect Beasts.
That was when the man sent by Guan Yue met Lin Chongyuan. After listening to the man"s explanation, Lin Chongyuan had his answers to the puzzling scene that occurred a second earlier with the beasts that he were fighting. Without hesitation, he ordered a few others with high cultivation ranks to head to the west city gates to fight the worms.
As one of the most high profile women in the Lost Lands, there were many men who had a relations.h.i.+p with Le Yao. Six men had their bodies infested by the worms that lived in Le Yao"s body. After instructing the Spirit City men to kill the worms as much as they could, Lin Chongyuan took off.
With the Mother Worm killed, the insects lost their direction and their fight against Spirit City weakened. Flying Insect Beasts in the air flew off in other directions and those worms that lived in the bodies of the men weakened.
The west city gates was an area that had suffered greatly from the numerous battles that occurred there. Many men who had a relations.h.i.+p with Le Yao ran towards the city but before they could get anywhere close to it, they were met with a string of curses from others.
Some cursed at Le Yao for being a s.l.u.t while others scolded these men for not having any dignity.
“Don"t panic, let"s restrict these worms and not let them become widespread.” Lin Chongyuan instructed, “Those with spiritual energy should build more walls to guard the city against the Insect Beasts. The rest should a.s.sist in killing the worms. Do not let them escape!”
However, once everything had been settled and bodies were counted, they realized that the number of men who died from fighting the Insect Beasts were about the same as those who died from the worms.
Many people who lost loved ones due to the worms from Le Yao glared at people from the Burnt City with much hatred. If not for Chu Jiang"s control over the area, a fight might have broken out.
Half a month later, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan returned. They shook their heads and sighed upon hearing of what happened to Le Yao and Le Yan. The Female Worm that took over Le Yao"s body might have possessed her body the moment she worked in collusion with them. This could also explain why the beasts chose to attack Spirit City first.
With that, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan briefed the rest about what happened in the Heavenly Lands. They hid their injuries a secret so that Lin Chongyuan would not worry for them.
The crowd broke into screams of happiness when they learned that the Mother Worm was killed at the beasts would no longer create trouble for them.
Since the beasts no longer attacked the Lost Lands, the four cities returned to their original cities and rebuilt the area.
The Crescent Moon City and Wasteland City could return to its original glory in a few hundred years. However, the Burnt City was much worse off. The Chancellor and other top officials had died after coming into contact with Le Yao and the remaining few thousand people in the city decided to join the Wasteland City after much deliberation. Chen Dong and others decided to join the Forgotten City under Gu Lingzhi"s advice. The Lost Lands needed time to recover from the beasts attack.
Since Gu Lingzhi had used the Inheritance s.p.a.ce extensively during her fight against the beasts, it became known that she was Lin Chongyuan"s real granddaughter. Gu Lingzhi did not deny this and she along with Lin Chongyuan picked a few talents to cultivate in the Inheritance s.p.a.ce.
Others who were not as talented and were not able to stay within the Inheritance s.p.a.ce for long were also given the chance to cultivate in the Inheritance s.p.a.ce once every month. This arrangement made many Spirit Tribe people satisfied.
While Gu Lingzhi"s life seemed to be peaceful, the Tianyuan Continent was in chaos.
In order to obtain more spiritual treasures, Pan Luming hid the fact that Gu Lingzhi fell into the Endless Sea Realm from Pan Luo and managed to obtain more items from Pan Luo. This rendered the Life Whip useless against all the other weapons that the Empire had.
Rong Yuan"s disappearance caused the Alliance to lose a capable general. Similarly, the Alliance lost a reliable spy, Gu Lingzhi, when she fell into the Endless Sea Realm. In the next five hundred years, the Alliance lost ten percent of its territory. If not for the fact that the Empire lost many DemiG.o.ds when they were trying to pursue Gu Lingzhi, the Alliance would be in a worse state now.
“It is all my fault. If she didn"t try to save me, Lingzhi would not fall prey to their scheme and make an agreement with Pan Luming. She would have never fallen into the Endless Sea Realm after being chased by the Empire men.” Pan Yue"s crestfallen face showed his guilt when he heard about the latest disappointing news from the battleground.
“You know that it is your fault?” Ye Fei sternly rolled her eyes at him. “You knew that the men from North Qiu Kingdom were not good and you still made connections with them. Are you trying to help the Pan Family? Do you think they will appreciate it? They hate you the most!”
“Fei"er…” Pan Yue pouted and stared at Ye Fei with puppy eyes, “I did that for our future child.”
“Nonsense. Who wants to give birth to your children?” Ye Fei held her big belly and continued to reprimand Pan Yue, “If not for this child in my stomach, I would have sent you back to the North Qiu Kingdom.”
When she learned from Lord Fashen that the lost son of the Pan Family, Pan Yue, was her husband for many years, Ye Fei was so shocked she almost lost her mind. It was only after Lord Fashen"s patient explanation that she started to believe him. Yet, soon after, Ye Fei learned that Gu Lingzhi tragically dropped into the Endless Sea Realm when she tried to save Pan Yue and Rong Huachang. Her guilt almost overcame her and she wanted to get a divorce with Pan Yue. Lord Fashen and Rong Huachang had to persuade her multiple times before she gave up that time. However, from then on, her att.i.tude towards Pan Yue had changed and it was only recently that she started to warm up to him again.
The news of the Fifth Prince of North Qiu Kingdom being scolded by his wife constantly was common news in the continent. The embarra.s.sed Pan Luming had sought a.s.sa.s.sins out to kill Pan Yue, his shameful son but Pan Yue had managed to escape every single time.
Used to the bickering between the husband and wife, Qin Xinran let out a loud yawn. Everyone was tired of the arguments between the two.
Nonetheless, the arguments between the couple was an entertainment for some given the sorry plight of the Alliance then.
“Do you think there is a chance for Lingzhi to return?”
“Yes.” Tianfeng Jin confidently confirmed. She trusted Gu Lingzhi"s abilities wholeheartedly, “She is capable of making miracles every time.”
“I believe in that too.” Pan Yue nodded, “The Inheritance s.p.a.ce she has is powerful.”
“So… before that, we need to protect the Alliance as much as we can. We cannot let her return with no home to go to.”