Rescued

By the Eastern Region's classification of monster beasts, these ordinary Blade Worms should count as Tier-Three monster beasts.

But the greatest difference between Blade Worms and other Tier-Three monster beasts was that they could never appear alone.

"When you discovered a single Blade Worm, there were actually at least two thousand more behind it!"

This saying was widespread in the Southern Region. Although it contained some exaggeration, it was still enough to prove how numerous Blade Worms were.

Faced with such a huge number of Blade Worms, even Half-Step to the Innate Realm cultivators would struggle. Even experts from the Innate Secret Realm would probably find them hard to handle.

The Azure Cloud Sect disciples were also numerous, and their strength was considerable. In just this short while, hundreds of Blade Worms had already been killed.

The corpses of those Blade Worms piled up slowly like a small ring-shaped mountain around the fallen Flying Carriage.

Although everyone had killed quite a few Blade Worms, the ones swarming toward them only grew more numerous. These things were practically endless!

"Ah!"

Someone let out a shriek. One person had charged too far ahead and rushed into the Blade Worms' encirclement. By the time the others tried to rescue him, it was already too late. Almost instantly, he was covered by a huge swarm of Blade Worms, which devoured him frenziedly. When they scattered, the man had already been eaten clean—not even his bones remained.

Seeing this scene, many people's scalps went numb.

No one wanted to end up as food for insects.

But the Blade Worms before them were endless. Once everyone's strength was exhausted, they would ultimately meet the same fate.

Everyone's hearts sank, and their morale visibly plummeted.

But at that moment, someone suddenly shouted, "Fight with everything you've got! If you don't fight, you'll die! If you fight, there's still a chance to live!"

"Pffft!" A small purple arrow of true essence shot out, piercing through more than a dozen Blade Worms in an instant.

"Boom!" Fiercely burning flames exploded, instantly dyeing half the sky crimson. The might of that true fire was extraordinary, burning dozens of Blade Worms to death at once. The air was filled with the smell of scorched, roasted flesh.

The experts from the Innate Secret Realm had begun to exert themselves.

Seeing this, everyone was greatly encouraged and began fighting for their lives as well.

Luo Zheng's figure constantly darted among the Blade Worms. Although the might of Rosewood Fist was not outstanding, relying on his own strength and physical advantages, he still killed seven or eight Blade Worms in a short time.

In the midst of this fierce battle, someone suddenly cried out again.

"Blade Worm Leaders!"

Luo Zheng and the others looked up. Amid that expanse of green were dozens or even hundreds of purple Blade Worms. These Blade Worm Leaders were twice the size of ordinary Blade Worms, and their bodies were covered in spikes, making their appearance even more ferocious and terrifying.

So those were the Blade Worm Leaders?

The Blade Worm Leaders were far stronger than ordinary Blade Worms—not to mention that there were hundreds of them!

The Blade Worms before them were already extremely difficult to deal with. Now they had to face these even more powerful Blade Worm Leaders.

The Blade Worm Leaders swooped down from the sky, letting out ear-piercing shrieks. At the same time, even more Blade Worms continued to pour in without end.

Everyone's hearts sank. Were they all going to die here today?

Who could have imagined such a consequence when they boarded the giant Flying Carriage?

Actually, although hunting Blade Worms was quite difficult, something like this rarely happened.

At that moment, from the forest beside them, an object came flying with a whoosh. It was a section of bamboo that had been set alight.

One end of the bamboo was glowing with fire. After it landed, thick smoke began pouring from the other end.

Luo Zheng sniffed and immediately caught a strong medicinal smell mixed into the smoke.

Then even more bamboo sections were thrown in.

Each bamboo section had been lit, and streams of smoke poured from the opposite end.

Before long, the entire scene was enveloped in smoke.

Strangely enough, the Blade Worms seemed extremely wary of the thick smoke. Upon discovering it, they spread their wings and flew into the sky, circling around the area and refusing to charge into the smoke.

Even the more powerful Blade Worm Leaders acted the same way.

Although the smoke was unpleasant enough to make people suffer, it was still within the range they could endure. At least they could finally take a breather.

Then everyone saw the forest sway violently, and quite a few people crawled out from within. They all wore uniform clothing, each carrying several bamboo sections on their backs. Their expressions were stern, and their movements were perfectly synchronized.

"The Imperial Army!"

When the many Azure Cloud Sect disciples saw these people, relieved expressions appeared on their faces. They were finally saved.

The Imperial Army—that is, the soldiers of the empire—would send a considerable number of troops from the Imperial Capital every year during the Insect Tide to suppress it.

Compared with the Azure Cloud Sect disciples, these Imperial Army soldiers moved in unison and followed strict discipline. Although their individual strength might not match that of the Azure Cloud Sect disciples, their overall strength could not be underestimated.

After emerging, the Imperial Army soldiers formed a neat line. A young man with a crew cut stepped out from the middle and said sternly, "I'm Lu Xiao, centurion of the Azure Mist Squad! Azure Cloud Sect disciples, listen up. If you want to live, follow us!"

Yet the Azure Cloud Sect disciples did not move. Instead, they all turned their eyes toward the piles of Blade Worm corpses.

The Azure Cloud Sect disciples had traveled thousands of miles to get here. They certainly had not come on vacation; they had come to earn points.

According to Azure Cloud Sect rules, killing twenty Blade Worms earned one point. In their eyes, the Blade Worm corpses before them were all points!

But the corpses were so large that it was impossible to drag them back. Thus, the Azure Cloud Sect stipulated that they only needed to dig out the Monster Beast Crystal Nucleus in each Blade Worm's chest.

Everyone had worked and fought desperately for so long. They had to get some spoils into their hands.

But the moment this group of Imperial Army soldiers appeared, they ordered everyone to leave with them. Naturally, some people were displeased.

In fact, the relationship between the Imperial Army and the Azure Cloud Sect disciples had never been harmonious. They disliked each other, and there had even been mass brawls between the two sides.

Someone said to Lu Xiao, "Can you wait a moment? We still need to..."

Lu Xiao snorted. "I know what you want to do, but think carefully. We've detected that the Blade Worm army is continuing to gather in this direction. The lives of our Imperial Army soldiers are worth more than the lives of you Azure Cloud Sect disciples! If you won't leave, we're leaving!"

The Azure Cloud Sect disciples had no choice after hearing this. The Imperial Army had already done them a great favor by saving them. As for their points, what did those have to do with the soldiers?

Thus, everyone could only follow behind this group of Imperial Army soldiers.

Several experts from the Innate Secret Realm looked at the ground covered in insect corpses and seemed to want to stay behind to collect some crystal nuclei. Relying on their powerful strength, some of them still had a chance to break out alone. But after looking at the Blade Worms continuing to multiply in the sky, they ultimately shook their heads and gave up.

The average strength of this group of Imperial Army soldiers was actually lower than that of the Azure Cloud Sect disciples, but they had a special trick for dealing with the Insect Tide.

The bamboo sections strapped to their backs were probably specially made to withstand Blade Worm attacks.

Every time they traveled a certain distance, they lit one bamboo section. As long as thick smoke poured from it, the Blade Worms did not dare swoop down to attack them and could only circle above their heads.

The Imperial Army soldiers led the way in silence. The Azure Cloud Sect disciples, on the other hand, occasionally attacked the Blade Worms in the sky with sword qi or arrows.

The Blade Worms were relatively far away and difficult to hit. Thus, whenever they managed to bring down one or two, some Azure Cloud Sect disciples would laugh loudly...

Following behind, Luo Zheng could not help shaking his head at the sight.

Although the Azure Cloud Sect disciples were powerful, perhaps those soldiers ahead would not be their match one-on-one.

But if they fought as a whole, the Azure Cloud Sect disciples would probably collapse at the first blow. They would be no match for the Imperial Army.

Their discipline was simply too poor. Perhaps four or five people could barely coordinate, but once their numbers increased, everything descended into chaos.

After advancing for half an hour, they finally left the forest. Led by the Imperial Army, they crossed a small river and climbed over a slope. A city appeared before everyone's eyes.

"That's Dragon Fortress! We've finally arrived!"

Some sharp-eyed Inner Sect Disciples had already cried out.

The fortress before them was Dragon Fortress, a fortress built by the empire for cultivation and used to guard the southern border. It was also the destination of their journey.

Dragon Fortress was the most important pass in the southern part of the Burning Heaven Empire. Beyond it to the south stretched endless tropical rainforests.

Luo Zheng had once read a book called Records of Exotic Beasts. It recorded the various perilous regions of the Eastern Region.

One entry described an Eastern Region expert venturing deep into that tropical rainforest. According to the book, the first hundred miles of rainforest were still safe, and the monster beasts encountered there were basically only around Tier Three. After going another five hundred miles inward, one could encounter Tier-Five monster beasts. After more than a thousand miles, all kinds of high-level Tier-Seven and Tier-Eight monster beasts appeared...

Farther in lay a world humans could barely explore.

Every year, many monster beasts emerged from the tropical rainforest for reasons unknown to humans and charged into the Burning Heaven Empire.

Dragon Fortress existed to resist the various monster beasts from the tropical rainforest.

Among all those monster beasts, the most troublesome were the Blade Worms Luo Zheng had encountered earlier.

As a fortress, Dragon Fortress looked extremely crude from the outside. There were no decorations on either the city walls or the moat. The only ornament was a huge dragon-head sculpture hanging atop the walls of Dragon Fortress.

The dragon-head sculpture was pitch-black from head to toe. Its eyes gleamed beneath the light, and with its bared fangs and brandished claws, it radiated overwhelming dominance.

As they passed beneath the dragon-head sculpture, every Azure Cloud Sect disciple could not help showing a trace of awe.

When Luo Zheng passed beneath it, he even paused for a while, staring into the eyes of the dragon-head sculpture as a trace of doubt arose in his heart.

Because Luo Zheng could sense the "intent" of this Dragon Shaped Sculpture—in other words, the pressure it radiated.