Iron-Toothed Locust

Wang Wu did not take part in this farce. At one point, he had at least a ninety percent chance of catching a Wild Chicken.

But he did not want to make a move in broad daylight.

And so, the Wild Chicken Lineage won a sweeping victory, while the Sprite coalition suffered disastrous losses. Even the Golden Holy Mantis and the Black Centipede King were eaten by the wild chickens.

Before long, the valley returned to its former tranquility.

Look, wasn't this much better?

As Wang Wu lay low, he made his calculations.

He currently had a total of 78 points of Spiritual Qi. If he earned a little extra tonight and absorbed another batch tomorrow morning, he would gather 100 points of Spiritual Qi. No matter what, he planned to max out his Stealth Talent for this stage first.

Following the pattern, his Stealth Talent could be raised to level 10 at this stage.

After maxing out Stealth, he would max out Danger Sense, then upgrade his Self-Healing Talent as appropriate, and finally upgrade his Basic Attributes.

Step by step, with both feet planted firmly on the ground—if nothing unexpected happened, he hoped to complete this goal by autumn this year. Then he would dig out a cave dwelling, stockpile food, and when winter came, farm Ice Spirit Energy.

Just as Wang Wu was making these plans, he suddenly heard Giant Eagles crying out in the sky. Their cries were sharp and urgent. Though he had no idea what was happening, he instinctively sensed that something was wrong. Then came a rustling sound, like a violent wind, yet also like a dust storm. Before his eyes, it blotted out the sun overhead.

The next second, Wang Wu looked up and blurted out, "Holy shit!"

It was not a gale, not a sandstorm, not dark clouds—it was locusts. Locusts that covered the sky and blanketed the earth, coming from the east.

A locust plague in spring? Was this a joke? This really was a feature of the Cultivation World.

The locust army stretched boundlessly, with no telling how many there were. The Black Giant Eagle, usually arrogant and overbearing beyond measure, did not even have the courage to fight or block this locust army. With one beat of its wings, it fled higher into the sky.

On the ground, Wang Wu did not hesitate. He leaped up and darted into a nearby crack in the rocks. He had barely squeezed inside when, with a series of whooshes, Gray Rat Knights fled in after him as if escaping disaster.

Among them was a Little Red Bird with nowhere else to go.

No, this was the Cultivation World—a Cultivation World where Great Demons existed. Were they really going to let a bunch of tiny locusts crush their prestige?

Even if these locusts were endless, this made no sense.

Unless there was a Great Demon Locust behind them too!

The moment that thought crossed his mind, Wang Wu barely dared to breathe.

For a locust to cultivate into a Great Demon—now that was truly inspiring.

By then, it had become completely dark outside. Countless locusts flew as they devoured everything—grass, trees, living creatures—leaving nothing untouched.

Then shrill squeals erupted from within the rock crevice. A large number of locusts had discovered this place and burrowed in, biting and tearing madly.

The Gray Rats blocking the entrance were gnawed down to bare skeletons in the blink of an eye. The hell kind of locusts were these?

Zombie locusts?

Wang Wu kept his composure and did not dare move an inch. These were completely different from the Grasshopper Bandits he had seen before. These things were pitch-black and enormous, each around the length of an adult's palm. They had black wings and huge hind legs covered in sharp barbs, like saw teeth.

Wang Wu saw with his own eyes a Gray Rat Knight lose its temper and bite one of them, only to fail to bite it to death.

Wasn't that something?

A Big Rat weighing two pounds could not bite a locust to death.

Instead, it was torn limb from limb by a swarm of locusts moments later. These things were even more terrifying than Mantis Swordsmen.

After seeing that, Wang Wu did not hesitate. He immediately spent 20 points of Spiritual Qi to raise his Defense to 15 points. He had wanted to continue upgrading it, but a prompt informed him that he needed 100 points of Spiritual Qi.

So he had already reached a bottleneck.

Wang Wu then immediately spent another 40 points of Spiritual Qi to raise his Health Points to 250. He was not sure whether his level 6 Stealth could fool these locusts. If it could not, he hoped he could at least hold out a little longer.

Soon, every Gray Rat Knight in the rock crevice had been slaughtered. The only one missed was the Little Red Bird. Relying on its ability to fly and its nimbleness, it hid in a smaller crack behind Wang Wu.

The locusts seemed to have killed until their eyes turned red. Though they had not discovered Wang Wu, they had no intention of sparing the Little Red Bird. Rustling and buzzing, they swarmed inside—because they could fly too.

In an instant, Wang Wu was covered in these bizarre locusts. It would have been one thing if they merely treated him as a stepping stone, but they did not. As they rushed inward, they frenziedly bit and sliced at everything around them—rocks included, Wang Wu included. It was indiscriminate attack.

They were more deranged than zombies.

The moment they attacked, however, they immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Wang Wu's level 6 Stealth had not been seen through, but could the sensation of biting and slicing flesh possibly be the same as biting and slicing stone?

The mimicry provided by level 6 Passive Concealment was only mimicry. It had not truly turned him into a rock.

Almost instantly, dozens of frenzied locusts began madly biting and slicing Wang Wu.

A dense flood of messages appeared before his eyes, completely spamming his vision!

"You have been discovered by the Iron-Toothed Locust Legion, but your level 6 Stealth status has not disappeared."

"You are under attack. You have suffered 22 points of biting damage. Due to your 15 points of Defense, you have negated all damage."

"You are under attack. You have suffered 44 points of slicing damage. Due to your 15 points of Defense, you have negated all damage."

"You are under attack. You have suffered 46 points of critical slicing damage. Due to your 15 points of Defense, you have taken 1 point of damage."

The damage was so high!

Wang Wu was stunned for a second, while silently mourning all the Sprites in the valley.

Then he chose to remain perfectly still, allowing the dozens of Iron-Toothed Locusts to bite and slice him.

This was because Wang Wu knew very clearly that, at this stage, only these few dozen Iron-Toothed Locusts had discovered him. If his level 6 Stealth state were broken, it would not merely be more Iron-Toothed Locusts that discovered him—there might even be higher-level demons, perhaps even the Great Demon behind this locust army.

What Wang Wu did not know was that although his guess missed the mark, it was not far off.

This locust army, which covered the sky and swept across the land, seemed to have brought a catastrophe of annihilation to the Sprites in this stretch of mountains and forests. Yet from several thousand meters in the air, or from the summit of that snow-capped mountain, viewed from a higher vantage point, the locust army was merely a passing mudslide. Its total width was no more than three kilometers.

To the north, it stayed far away from North Mountain Root.

To the south, it stayed far away from that forest.

Its formation was orderly in the extreme.

At that moment, on South Mountain deep within the forest, several Great Demons who had taken human form were talking and chatting. The atmosphere was exceedingly cordial. Groups of beautiful female demons even offered lively songs and dances, leaving both hosts and guests thoroughly delighted.

Among them was a Great Demon wearing a Purple Gold Crown, with two long golden phoenix-wing plumes atop it. It looked somewhat like a locust, and its face was full of sorrowful indignation.

"Fellow brothers, you must make plans early. Some time ago, I heard rumors that Human Race cultivators intended to expand into the Western Wilderness, but I did not take them seriously. Who would have thought that the Human Race was now truly serious? My cave dwelling may be three thousand li from Cloud Cauldron City, but how could I dare truly become neighbors with Human Race cultivators? Does my entire family no longer value their lives?"

"Today, I brought my entire family as we hurried past, disturbing you fellow brothers. Please forgive me."

"This small gift is but a token of my regard!"