Changes to the Creation Disc, Taking the Initiative

Fifty Queen Insect drifted downstream.

During this time, Zhao Ke and ten Insect Witch did not generate any fluctuations of vital energy on their bodies for most of the time; they simply controlled the direction of the magic ship.

Only when encountering obstacles or running aground will a higher energy fluctuation occur in the body, using the water veins to readjust the position of the Dharma boat and drift towards its destination.

The French ship was not fast; in an hour, it only traveled about 20 li (approximately 10 kilometers).

Although it is slow, it is reliable.

Whether it's the magic ship, the Queen Insect, or the Zhao Ke, the energy fluctuations caused by their spellcasting are very small, and the traces of their spellcasting are extremely hidden, making them almost impossible to detect.

This is what makes Insect Witch so troublesome; they can strike enemies from a great distance without anyone noticing.

Zhao Ke and his men more than five hours to cross the hundred-mile-long river.

When the fifty Queen Insect arrived outside Cloud City, it was exactly Rat Hour.

At this point, the defense is relatively weak in every aspect.

"The Boundary Marker of Cloud City".

At this moment Zhao Ke was emitting a unique life force. A hundred miles away, on a magic ship, Queen Insect about the size of a fist with two pairs of compound eyes suddenly turned its eyes.

At this moment, the Queen Insect began to awaken, and the Insect Witch Zhao Ke began to control the Queen Insect, and the spellcasting fluctuations on his body also became stronger.

This is the only moment in the entire process where Zhao Ke energy is required to cast spells.

Because he needs to control the Queen Insect to find a suitable environment for laying eggs and reproducing.

"Entering Cloud City from the Mei River entrance allows you to float directly into the heartland. You two, control the Queen Insect to enter through the Mei River entrance; the rest of you continue searching for the next tributary."

"Yes."

Zhao Ke and the other shamans cast spells together.

Of the fifty Queen Insect, ten drifted toward the Mei River ferry crossing.

The other forty headed towards the next tributary and entered Cloud City.

The other Insect Witch believed there was no need to divide their forces; they could simply enter Cloud City from the Mei River entrance.

However, just in case, Zhao Ke still chose to divide his forces.

Whoosh~

At the entrance to the Mei River, two pieces of wood floated in.

They were about to pass through the entrance and enter the country.

But just then...

"Splash!"

The water flow suddenly slowed down, and two whirlpools appeared in the river.

The two pieces of dead wood were instantly pulled toward the center of the vortex.

"Um?"

The two Insect Witch were immediately puzzled.

"What happened?" Zhao Ke asked.

"It's probably due to Backflow Tide," one of the Insect Witch replied. "My Queen Insect ship is retreating."

"My magic ship has sunk, but it should float to the surface soon." The other Insect Witch didn't take it to heart.

Zhao Ke nodded.

However, in less than fifteen minutes, the two Insect Witch looked serious.

"Young Master, something seems wrong."

"My Dharma boat has not yet surfaced."

"Mine too."

Zhao Ke immediately ordered, "Check what's going on. If it's Magic Array from the Great Zhou, destroy the magic ship and find a way to send the Queen Insect inside."

"Yes."

The patterns on the faces of the two Insect Witch lit up, as if insects were wriggling under their skin.

The images of two Insect Witch were reflected in the compound eyes of the ten Queen Insect.

At the same time, the ship carrying ten Queen Insect increased its drifting speed.

"Splash!"

One of the French ships used the current to accelerate, attempting to rush towards the shore.

However, the water seemed to be working against him, crashing the dead wood back wave after wave.

"Whoosh~"

The next moment, the piece of dead wood was completely submerged in the whirlpool.

"Buzz~"

The Insect Witch shuddered, her face turning pale.

The other piece of dead wood had long since sunk to the bottom of the river, as if it were stuck in black silt, and no matter how much magic was used, it could not float up.

"Buzz~"

The second Insect Witch also lost contact with the Queen Insect and the magic ship.

"Um?"

Looking at the two elders, Zhao Ke immediately knew that something was wrong.

Sure enough, the two of them reported the situation the next moment.

They were no longer able to perceive the situation of the ship and the Queen Insect.

"Whirlpools, black sludge?"

Zhao Ke was about to ask for more details.

However, two more Insect Witch groaned, their situation exactly the same as the previous two.

"Stop!"

"The remaining thirty Queen Insect and the magic ship, all remain silent and wait; do not advance any further!"

Zhao Ke immediately realized what was happening.

One or two could be considered accidents, but for four Insect Witch to encounter the same situation proves that Cloud City has extremely Gao Ming protective measures.

"It actually managed to prevent the Insect Witch from infiltrating?"

"Didn't the intelligence say that Cloud City was weak?"

"Young Master, what should we do?"

Zhao Ke pondered for a moment, then stood up. "The mission of the divine messenger cannot be left undone, unless it exceeds a certain level."

"We're too far away, and the magic's power is greatly weakened, so we can't determine what's going on. Let's go down the Canglan River and take a look."

One of the older Insect Witch advised, "Young master, isn't this too risky? We are not Strength Shaman; if we suddenly encounter soldiers from the Great Zhou, we could easily be killed."

Zhao Ke said, "Failure to complete the divine messenger's task within a month is worse than death. I am the young master of the Hana Tribe, so I may be exempted from punishment. Half of you will be sacrificed to insects."

The ten Insect Witch remained silent. Over the years, the Sacred Mountain had invested heavily in training Insect Witch, providing them with more resources than other types of shamans. These resources were not given for free.

Zhao Ke: "Hatch two Flying Sky Queen Locust. Keep an eye on the surroundings as we move forward. If we're careful, we should be fine."

"Yes."

Cloud City, the entrance to the Mei River.

Ling Yuan instructed the Mechanism Master to control the Dragon Boat Triple Hoist to lift a black box from the water.

"Whoosh~"

Zhao Xing and Xia Jing descended from the sky aboard the Arrowfish Flying Boat.

"Lord Ling, what's going on?"

Upon seeing the two men descend, Ling Yuan immediately jogged over to greet them, "Lord Zhao, Lord Xia, I received a report from the night watch officer that the Water Clarity Pure Origin Formation of the Mei River suddenly malfunctioned at 11:45 Rat Hour, so I rushed over immediately."

"The Magic Array cage captured some strange things, but I can't recognize what they are."

"Let me see." Zhao Xing walked more than ten meters ahead.

At this moment, the black box was lifted out.

Two pieces of dead wood were constantly bumping around inside the black box.

However, the interior of the Water Clarity Pure Origin Formation is a complete maze; once you enter, you can't get out.

No matter how hard it crashed, it couldn't break free of the restraints.

Upon seeing the piece of dead wood, Zhao Xing's expression immediately turned serious. "Be careful when you open it."

Seeing this, Xia Jing asked, "What is this?"

He had never seen the methods of the Insect Witch.

Zhao Xing pointed to the withered wood and said, "The Insect Witch's Queen Insect nest is made of fourth-grade Black Kite Mulberry Wood, and there are at least ten Queen Insect inside! We can't tell what type they are yet."

"What?!" Xia Jing exclaimed in surprise, "So many?"

During the breakout exercise, Xia Jing was deeply impressed by the Insect Witch of the Southern Barbarians. Countless fist-sized insects flew densely in the air, impossible to kill completely, which was like a nightmare.

However, he had only seen the fully formed insect infestation, and had never seen the Queen Insect.

"Click click click~"

The two pieces of wood burst open immediately after being released.

"Whoosh~"

Two water droplets appeared at Zhao Xing's fingertips. The droplets rapidly enlarged and enveloped all the fragments of the withered wood the moment it shattered.

"Certainly!"

Two clumps of water floated in the air, freezing everything inside them.

"They're Bloodsucking Queen Locust." Xia Jing took a deep breath. "Ten of them."

"My lord, what's the origin of these insects?" Ling Yuan asked in confusion. Inside the water clump, strange insects were wriggling.

Its head has a pair of filamentous antennae, compound eyes, and sharp mouthparts.

Near the antennae on the front of its head, there are three simple eyes arranged in an inverted triangle.

Zhao Xing pointed to one of the Queen Insect and said, "The Bloodsucking Queen Locust has three segments in its thorax and eight legs. It has a pair of wings on its mesothorax and metathorax. On the second and third segments of its thorax, there is a pair of spiracles that can absorb the vital energy of heaven and earth."

"The abdomen, like the head and chest, is very hard in every segment; even ordinary third-tier Divine Soldier cannot cut through it."

"This is the Queen Insect, and the part that protrudes backward at the end of her abdomen is the ovipositor."

"A single Bloodsucking Queen Locust can produce tens of millions of Bloodsucking Locust in a very short period of time."

"They feed on the blood of livestock, and their mouthparts are poisonous. The toxins of adult Bloodsucking Locust can easily paralyze Ranked Martial Artist."

The surrounding officials turned pale. Ling Yuan cautiously asked, "Do they eat people?"

Zhao Xing said calmly, "For Bloodsucking Locust, humans are certainly more palatable than livestock."

Everyone couldn't help but shiver.

"Don't panic. Your previous overtime work paid off. The fact that these female locusts have been caught is proof of that."

"As long as they don't gain momentum, a single Bloodsucking Locust is still easy to kill."

With a gentle wave of his hand, Zhao Xing crushed the nest, including the Queen Insect, into fragments within the water mass.

Just then, a flying boat arrived and reported an anomaly at another tributary inlet.

Zhao Xing and Xia Jing rode the Arrowfish Flying Boat to get there.

A second type of Queen Insect was soon discovered.

"This is Sword Poison Queen Locust."

"It seems that an Insect Witch is launching a natural disaster attack on Cloud City."

"It should be Ten Locust Calamity."

Looking at the Queen Insect, Xia Jing said with lingering fear, "Luckily you had the foresight. If these things had flowed into Cloud City, all our previous efforts would have been in vain."

Zhao Xing shook his head and said, "It's far from over. Only two types of the Ten Locust Calamity have appeared so far. We've stopped them, but they definitely won't give up."

"You mean?"

"The Insect Witch cannot be too far away to control the mother locust." Zhao Xing looked at the sky. "Sitting and waiting for death is not a solution. Brother Xia, you should immediately mobilize all the personnel of the Martial Office and take flying boats to hide in my clouds."

"Follow my cloud, find him, and kill him!"

Xia Jing nodded. "Okay, I'll go and get someone right away. When do we leave?"

Zhao Xing pondered for a moment and said, "Brother Xia, after we return to the city in a quarter of an hour, there is one more thing we need to do first."

"If the Southern Barbarians want to train their troops, they certainly can't just send out one tribe."

"It's not enough for Cloud City against it alone. We also need to notify the other counties. Otherwise, once the Insect Witch gain power, we will be left with no choice but to be attacked passively."

"Let us jointly report to the prefectural city, outlining the harm caused by the Insect Witch."

"Not only that, we also need to notify the counties and prefectures surrounding Cloud City."

"Your wider network makes your words more credible."

"Even if those above don't believe it, as long as we people from Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven take precautions, it will be enough to minimize the losses."

"Okay." Xia Jing nodded and immediately boarded the flying boat and left.

Zhao Xing then left, took out the Earth Mirror, and sent a message to the Agricultural Official whom he had met in the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven.

I sent messages to everyone on my friend list, including Shi Yong, Zhuang Ziqing, Feng Qi, Cai Jin, and Jiang Tianming.

Although there is competition between you and these people, telling them how to deal with it is also beneficial to your own actions.

Otherwise, even if Cloud City, the collapse of others will still affect us.

"Sending this private message after the first encounter with the Insect Witch is the most appropriate time."

"I'm one step ahead, and that's enough."

Zhao Xing put away the Earth Mirror, then glanced at the sky before quickly leaving.

Inside the tower, in the Military Realm.

At this moment, an Earth Mirror was showing Zhao Xing and Xia Jing's actions by the river.

Before the Earth Mirror, Heaven Derivation King, Rahu King, and Ling De King watched this scene.

Two princes of the second rank and one prince of the first rank—this was the configuration used by the Military Realm to oversee the performance of new recruits in each army.

Only such heavyweight powerhouses can ensure a fair selection process. Heaven Derivation King, Rahu King, and Ling De King will not directly participate in the conquest of the Nine Heavens Responding Origin Prefecture. Without any vested interests, they can withstand pressure from all sides and prevent any backdoor deals.

King Lingde pointed to the Earth Mirror and said, "The Insect Witch discovered the natural disaster attack on Cloud City and even sent an alert to the others. Zhao Xing is very vigilant. He not only had the Heavenly Craft Workshop set up a magic array to deal with the Insect Witch, but also protection against other types of disasters."

Rahu King shook his head and said, "That's not entirely true. He completed the first two rounds of the mission relatively quickly, arrived in Cloud City ahead of schedule, and quickly eliminated the hidden dangers, giving him more time to gather all the forces to prevent and control the spread of the virus in Cloud City."

"The missions of the Military Realm are all deduced based on the Creation Disc. He is one step ahead, which gives him an advantage. He is not only faster than Shi Yong and Zhuang Ziqing in the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven, but also faster than the reserve soldiers of the other four Grotto-Heaven."

"Hmm?" Heaven Derivation King suddenly uttered a question.

"Heaven Derivation King, what's wrong?" Rahu King and Ling De King both looked over.

Heaven Derivation King pondered, "The war predictions from the Creation Disc just now suddenly changed."

"For a moment, the term 'Insect Witch' appeared frequently in the Pacifying Barbarians War, reaching its peak before the war."

Rahu King's eyes narrowed. "You mean, this change is related to Zhao Xing and Xia Jing's report, and their sending private messages to the others through the Earth Mirror?"

Heaven Derivation King shook his head and said, "Not necessarily. It only peaked for a moment, and the Insect Witch were something the Military Realm had been wary of for a long time... Let the people of the Heavenly Mystery Hall deal with these things. Trying to explore the Source of Creation is not my job."

Rahu King and Ling De King nodded. The Great Zhou had made a cut to the path of cultivation based on divination, but that meant that others were forbidden from learning it. The royal family supported a group of people called "Fate Officials." This mysterious group had an organization in the Military Realm called the Heavenly Mystery Hall.

"Look, Zhao Xing and Xia Jing have already set off." Heaven Derivation King's gaze fell on the Earth Mirror. "They are only twenty miles away from the Southern Barbarians Insect Witch."