Iron-Toothed Locusts

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

But he was unwilling to make a move in broad daylight.

Just like that, the Wild Chicken Lineage won a sweeping victory, while the Sprite allied forces suffered devastating 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 calculated his plans.

He currently had a total of 78 points of spirit energy. If he earned a little extra tonight, then absorbed another round tomorrow morning, he would have 100 points of spirit energy. No matter what, he planned to max out his Stealth Talent for this stage first.

According to 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 improve his basic attributes.

Step by step, with both feet 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.

As Wang Wu was making these calculations, he suddenly heard Giant Eagles crying out overhead. Their calls were urgent and piercing. Though he did not know what had happened, he instinctively felt something was wrong. Then he heard a rustling sound, like a gale, or perhaps a storm raised by billowing dust. Before his eyes, it blotted out the sun in the sky.

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

It was not a gale, not a sandstorm, and 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 some kind of joke? This really did have the flavor of the Cultivation World.

And this locust army stretched beyond sight; no one knew how many there were. That Black Giant Eagle, usually so arrogant and overbearing, did not even have the courage to fight or stop this locust army. With one beat of its wings, it fled higher into the sky.

On the ground, Wang Wu did not hesitate. With a leap, he plunged into a nearby crack in the rocks. He had barely squeezed inside when, moments later, Gray Rat Knights came darting in one after another as if fleeing disaster.

Among them was a Little Red Bird with nowhere left to run.

No, this was the Cultivation World—a Cultivation World where Great Demons existed. Could tiny locusts really crush its prestige?

Even if these locusts were endless, this was unreasonable.

Unless there was also a Great Demon of locusts behind them!

The moment this thought crossed his mind, Wang Wu became even more afraid to breathe loudly.

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

Outside, darkness had completely fallen. Countless locusts flew as they devoured everything—grass, trees, living creatures—leaving none untouched.

Then shrill squeals rang out from the rock crevice. A huge number of locusts had discovered the place and burrowed inside, biting and tearing madly.

Before his eyes, the Gray Rats blocking the entrance were gnawed into bare skeletons. How the hell could these be locusts?

Were they zombie locusts?

Wang Wu held steady, not daring to move at all. These were completely different from the Grasshopper Bandits he had seen before. They were pitch-black and enormous, each roughly as long as an adult's palm. Their black wings and massive hind legs were covered in sharp backward-facing spikes, like saws.

Wang Wu saw with his own eyes a Gray Rat Knight panic and bite down on one, only to fail to kill it.

Wasn't that bizarre?

A two-pound Big Rat could not bite a locust to death.

Instead, it was torn limb from limb by a swarm of locusts in the blink of an eye. These were even fiercer than Mantis Swordsmen.

After witnessing this, Wang Wu did not hesitate. He immediately spent 20 points of spirit energy to raise his defense to 15 points. He had intended to continue upgrading it, but was prompted that he needed 100 points of spirit energy.

So he had already reached a bottleneck.

Wang Wu immediately spent another 40 points of spirit energy 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 hold out a little longer.

Very quickly, every Gray Rat Knight in the rock crevice was slaughtered. The only one missed was the Little Red Bird. Relying on its ability to fly and its nimbleness, it hid in an even narrower rock crevice behind Wang Wu.

The locusts seemed driven mad with bloodlust. Though they had not discovered Wang Wu, they had no intention of sparing the Little Red Bird. Rustling and swarming like a flood, they drilled inside—because they could fly too.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Wu was covered in those bizarre locusts. If they had merely treated him as a stepping stone, that would have been one thing. But no—they charged deeper while madly biting and slicing everything around them, including the rocks and Wang Wu. It was an indiscriminate attack.

They were more crazed than zombies.

The instant they attacked, however, they sensed something was wrong.

Wang Wu's level 6 Stealth had not been seen through, but how could the sensation of biting and cutting him be the same as cutting rock?

The mimicry provided by level 6 Passive Concealment was merely mimicry. It did not truly turn him into stone.

In almost an instant, dozens of frenzied locusts began madly biting and cutting 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 state has not disappeared."

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

"You are under attack. You have suffered 44 points of cutting damage. Due to your 15 points of defense, all damage has been negated."

"You are under attack. You have suffered 46 points of vital cutting damage. Due to your 15 points of defense, you have suffered 1 point of damage."

The damage was so high!

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

Then he chose to remain motionless, allowing those dozens of Iron-Toothed Locusts to bite and cut him.

Because Wang Wu knew perfectly well that, at this stage, only these dozens of Iron-Toothed Locusts had discovered him. If his level 6 Stealth state broke, then it would not merely be more Iron-Toothed Locusts that found 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 his guess, though not quite right, was not far off.

This overwhelming locust army passing through seemed to bring a calamity of extinction upon the Sprites in this mountain forest. Yet from several thousand meters in the air, or from atop that snow-capped mountain, viewed from a higher perspective, this locust army was merely a passing mudslide, only three kilometers wide in total.

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

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

It was remarkably orderly.

At that moment, on South Mountain deep within the forest, several Great Demons in human form were chatting together. The atmosphere was exceedingly cordial. Groups of beautiful female Sprites even came forward with cheerful songs and dances, and for a time, host and guests alike were thoroughly delighted.

Among them was a Great Demon wearing a Purple Gold Crown with two long golden phoenix-wing whiskers. He looked somewhat like a locust, and his face was filled with grief and solemn emotion.

"Brother Daoists, you must make plans early. Some time ago, I heard rumors that human cultivators intended to expand into the Western Wilderness, but I did not take them seriously. Who would have thought that the humans had truly gotten serious? My cave dwelling may be three thousand li from Cloud Cauldron City, but how could I dare truly become neighbors with human cultivators? Do I not care about the lives of my entire family?"

"Today, I hurried past with my whole family in tow and disturbed you Brother Daoists. Please forgive me!"

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