Saving lives is like fighting a fire

Murong Wu volunteered, "Give me the insect, let me test it and see if it's poisonous?"

Si Ming hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at Murong Qing. Seeing that she did not object, he handed the black beetle to Murong Wu.

The black beetle, no bigger than a fingernail, immediately tore a gash in Murong Wu's palm with its forelegs and then burrowed inside.

"So, if you feel uncomfortable, just say so right now!"

Ying Zhou gripped the demonic blade tightly, ready to dig out the worm at any moment.

Murong Wu sensed it for a moment, then shook his head and said, "It's nothing. It's not poisonous; it's just absorbing my vital energy, and it's not very fast. Even an ordinary person wouldn't notice anything unusual in a short time. At this rate of absorption, it would probably take about seven days to drain the vital energy of an adult male."

Xia Guanxue said, "That's because you only have one worm inside you. Once the number increases, the speed will also increase exponentially."

Murong Wu said, "But these insects are not difficult to deal with. Ordinary martial artists can easily kill them. Even if one burrows into the body, it can be killed by Internal Cultivation."

As he spoke, he used his muscles to squeeze the black beetle out of his body, holding it between two fingers. The black beetle wriggled its six legs unwillingly, seemingly still trying to burrow back into the human body.

Murong Qing said solemnly, "In other words, its target is ordinary people who don't know martial arts."

Si Ming thought of a possibility, and immediately leaped into the air, channeling his inner energy into his eyes to amplify his vision. Then he saw an overwhelming swarm of black beetles in the distant sky, and he was astonished.

"Just how many statues did the Witch Gu Sect bury...?"

In the Great Qian Imperial Palace, a large flock of black beetles, laden with their spoils, flew toward "Chidahu," who stood alone in the Imperial Garden, looking like a rapidly moving dark cloud.

"The first batch has arrived so quickly? That makes sense; this batch is likely hunting small animals."

"Chidahu" raised his hand, and the black beetles that landed in his palm were immediately absorbed as if melting, and then one after another they rushed forward.

After all the insects in the dark cloud had been absorbed, "Chidahu" exhaled a breath of turbid air, his tiger body trembled, and his body emitted a sound like thunder. Then, several dark energies burst out of his body, bringing with them sprays of foul blood, which devastated the surrounding flowers and plants.

"Phew—my injuries are now fully healed. The remaining energy can be used to strengthen my physical body. Once I devour all the creatures on this continent, no one in the world will be a match for me. Even if all the martial arts masters were to gather together, they would not be able to stop me from destroying the Divine Pillar."

Although he desperately wanted to destroy the Divine Pillar to break the seal and completely liberate his Primordial Spirit, as an Old Devil who was most skilled at preserving his life, he understood the principles of "survival" and developing stealthily. Rather than rushing to destroy the Divine Pillar, he would rather strengthen his power first and wait until he was sure that no one could stop him before sweeping away the enemy in one fell swoop.

At this moment, the Silver Wolf King hurriedly entered the palace.

"Your Majesty, why have you summoned me? Is it related to the swarm of insects we just encountered?"

"Chidahu" smiled and said, "It has nothing to do with the insect swarm. I just have a question for you: Do you want to become stronger?"

The Silver Wolf King asked in confusion, "This... As a martial artist, no one doesn't want to become stronger, but having reached my level, breaking through to the next level is extremely difficult."

"I have a method that can make your cultivation advance by leaps Void Returning Realm, but it can at least allow you to reach the Peak Spirit Transformation."

"Such a miraculous method that defies common sense exists in this world?" the Silver Wolf King asked cautiously. "But what dangers might it pose?"

"Chidahu" opened his hand, and a golden silkworm appeared in his palm, slowly wriggling its body. It was plump and quite adorable.

"There is no danger whatsoever. As long as you consume this Immortal Golden Silkworm, you will instantly possess a top-tier physical body, making you impervious to harm from ordinary Spirit Transformation artists."

The Silver Wolf King's eyes gleamed as he stared at the golden silkworm in "Chidahu's " palm, filled with a desire to try it out. But he pulled his hand back halfway through.

"I'd rather not. Although my talent is like a chicken on the ground compared to an eagle in the sky compared to Your Majesty's, and I probably won't be able to break through to the Void Returning in this lifetime, I still want to try on my own and not rely on external things. Even if I fail, I will have no regrets."

Even though he was dismissed as a barbarian who "feared power but not morality," the Silver Wolf King still possessed the pride and composure of a martial artist. Moreover, in his common sense, most treasures that could rapidly improve one's cultivation level had huge hidden dangers, such as the inability to advance further in the future.

Upon hearing this, "Chidahu" was first surprised, then sighed helplessly, "Alas, since I told you to take it, you should just accept it obediently. Why did you have to force me?"

The Silver Wolf King sensed something was wrong, but before he could react, he was grabbed by "Chidahu" and his Devil Qi sealed all the acupoints on his body.

"You are not the Barbarian King!" The Silver Wolf King was both shocked and furious.

"You found out too late."

"Chidahu" picked up the golden silkworm and stuffed it into the other person's mouth.

Chapter 897 Saving lives is like putting out a fire

In a village where the sounds of chickens and dogs can be heard, Si Ming and his team are removing pests for the villagers.

Ying Zhou grasped the arm of a gaunt old man, channeled his True Qi to probe his body, and after confirming the location of the Gu worm, immediately unleashed a slender, hair-like blade of energy. With a muffled groan, the blade of energy pierced through the back of the old man's neck, bringing with it a black beetle.

Apart from Ying Zhou, the others were doing the same thing. Fortunately, there were not many villagers, only about three hundred in total, and the parasitic worms were all eliminated in less than half an hour.

Si Ming frowned and said, "This won't work. It's too inefficient. Along the way, almost everyone we've encountered has been parasitized by Gu worms, which are secretly draining our life force. If we treat them one by one, it will take us three to five years to save everyone."

In the matter of eliminating insects and saving lives, even with his unparalleled martial prowess, his efficiency was not much higher than that of Ying Zhou. At most, he could pinpoint the location of the insects faster, but he could only do it one by one and could not "shout loudly, causing all the insects in the body to be killed instantly."

Because everyone's physical condition is different, and the location where the Gu worm parasitizes is also different, it cannot be treated as a general case, otherwise it is easy to cause accidental injury. If it is a young man in his prime, it will be fine, but if it is an elderly person in his frailty, he may not be drained of his life force by the Gu worm, but instead be shocked to death by Si Ming. At that time, it will be impossible to explain anything.

Murong Qing agreed, saying, "The number of evil god statues far exceeds our estimates, and they may very well cover the entire territory of the Barbarian Hu tribes. With our limited manpower, eliminating even more Gu worms would be like a drop in the ocean."

Murong Wu bit his lip and said sadly, "What's worse is that even if we were willing to gradually eliminate them, we don't have that kind of time. Ordinary people who are parasitized by Gu worms will die within seven days at most after their vital energy is drained. Those with weaker constitutions can only last even less time. There have already been deaths."

Half a day has passed since the statues appeared in various places. The young and strong are fine, at most feeling weak all over after having some of their life force absorbed. But the elderly are collapsing to the ground one after another, as if they are sick and unable to stand up. Some infants under one year old have died directly. Several mothers are crying their hearts out while holding the bodies of their own children.

In addition, poultry such as chickens and ducks died one after another, their bodies shriveled and dried up.

Hearing the cries, Murong Qing her fists, her voice filled with righteous indignation. "The longer this drags on, the more people will die. Since it's a swarm of insects, there must be a queen or something similar. The most urgent task isn't to remove the insects from the patients, but to find the queen and eradicate the source of the disease in one fell swoop!"

Si Ming's expression was equally grim. He analyzed, "Since these insects came from the evil god statue, they must be related to the Witch Gu Sect. I suspect that everything is the work of the Return to Antiquity Patriarch."

Ying Zhou asked in confusion, "Wasn't this guy completely destroyed by us?"

"First, let's be clear: the main body of the Return to Antiquity Patriarch Primordial Spirit still suppressed by the Divine Pillar. We only eliminated the part that escaped. As for the claim that this kind of demon, which even the creator of the Eternal Barrier couldn't kill but could only seal, doesn't have a backup plan, I don't believe it. We should immediately turn back to find the Barbarian King. He's definitely the one most worried about the Return to Antiquity Patriarch being alive."