Fleeing in All Directions

All kinds of insects swarmed in from every direction, encircling the cultivators.

Wang Daoyuan felt no fear. Instead, he heaved a sigh of relief. The danger before his eyes was always easier to handle than unknown danger.

He transmitted his voice to Wang Zhian. "Fifth Uncle-Grandfather, these are the Demon Beast controller's backup measures. Their target is the Netherworld Sect cultivators. Whatever you do, don't stick your neck out. Find a chance and flee immediately. I gave them all escape talismans, so you don't need to worry about us."

Wang Zhian nodded. "Everyone, activate your Defense Talismans."

Hearing the clan head's words, the Wang Clan members all activated Earth Armor Talismans. Golden Armor Talismans feared fire; against fire-element attacks, they could easily be breached. Earth Armor Talismans were more reliable. Though they cost more, the buzzing that filled the sky made them feel their lives were worth far more than an Earth Armor Talisman.

The buzzing grew louder and louder. At last, the enemy revealed itself—an overwhelming swarm of Spirit Insects.

The Wang Clan members were surrounded by a swarm of Fire Cloud Bees. Their bodies were crimson red, and when they flew together in great numbers, they truly resembled a cloud of fire. Their stingers carried fire poison. Once struck, without effective treatment, one would feel as though they had been thrown into a furnace, eventually dying of dehydration.

Fire Cloud Bees were Spirit Bees with extremely formidable combat ability. Unfortunately, the ones surrounding them were only worker bees. There was no queen bee or bee eggs, so catching them would be useless.

At that moment, everyone was glad they had used Earth Armor Talismans rather than Golden Armor Talismans. Otherwise, once a swarm of Fire Cloud Bees closed in, the Golden Armor Technique would be shattered in an instant. Then their lives would be forfeit; no matter how many possessions they kept, they would be useless.

However, while Fire Cloud Bees could not break the Earth Armor Technique in a short time, they attacked without rest or surrender. If this dragged on, even the chance to escape would become vanishingly slim.

Wang Daoyuan activated a Rain Transformation Talisman, forming a dark cloud with a radius of five zhang in the air. Torrential rain poured down from it. The Fire Cloud Bees immediately scattered, hiding beyond the area covered by the cloud.

It was not that the Rain Transformation Talisman could harm the Fire Cloud Bees. The Rain Transformation Spell was not an offensive spell, and the rain it produced was merely ordinary water, at most carrying a trace of Water Attribute spiritual energy.

Spirit Insects generally disliked water, especially fire-element Spirit Insects. Once they encountered water, even their spells would be weakened. There were plenty of cultivators for the Spirit Insects to attack; there was no need to risk their lives stubbornly gnawing at this group.

Wang Zhian stroked his long beard and smiled. "Daoyuan truly is resourceful. A single Rain Transformation Talisman can be put to such great use."

The other Wang Clan members also let out sighs of relief. At least, they were temporarily out of danger.

The others were in far worse shape. Cultivators with Water Spiritual Roots were all right; a casual Rain Transformation Spell could temporarily keep them safe. Those without Water Attribute Spiritual Roots could only use Defense Talismans or consume spiritual energy to forcibly maintain protective barriers.

Talismans like the Rain Transformation Talisman were truly tasteless and discarded like chicken ribs. Normally, they were only somewhat useful for watering Spirit Fields. Cultivators who managed Spirit Fields generally learned the Rain Transformation Spell, and no one was willing to use Rain Transformation Talismans. They had come here to exterminate Demon Beasts—who would bring such a thing?

Wang Daoyuan did not have many Rain Transformation Talismans left either. He had used several earlier while supporting Wang Shouye, leaving him with only two.

Still, the Wang Clan did not need to hold on forever. They only had to last until some cultivators could no longer endure and fled the battlefield. Then the Wang Clan could follow the crowd and slip away together.

On the flat ground to the right of the small hill, the Netherworld Sect cultivators were happily clearing the battlefield. A great battle had just ended, and this was when their minds were most relaxed.

From the first buzz to the Spirit Insects launching their attack, only five or six breaths had passed. The Netherworld Sect cultivators had not reacted in time. Many had not even raised their protective barriers before being surrounded by Spirit Insects.

The clan cultivators, on the other hand, had not been qualified to clear the battlefield. They had kept their attention on their surroundings, and as soon as the buzzing began, they were prepared. Their situation was much better than that of the Netherworld Sect cultivators.

No Spirit Insect was bold enough to attack the three Purple Mansion elders, but the three elders were helpless as well. With their strength, casting several large-scale destructive spells to wipe out all the Spirit Insects would not have been difficult.

But the Spirit Insects were locked in battle with the cultivators. If they unleashed their ultimate moves to destroy the insects, there would probably not be many cultivators left alive.

Left with no choice, Zhou Qi loudly announced, "All Qi Refining cultivators, withdraw immediately! Foundation Establishment Cultivators, follow my command and eliminate the Spirit Insects!"

Hearing Zhou Qi's order, Wang Zhian said to everyone, "Follow Daoyuan's arrangements and withdraw first! If I do not make it back alive, let Shouye succeed as clan head. If Shouye also fails to return, let Daochang succeed him."

After cupping their hands to Wang Zhian in acknowledgment, Wang Daoyuan directly activated an Earth Escape Talisman and burrowed underground. He did not return to Golden Goose City, instead fleeing directly eastward.

East of Cart Gorge lay countless peaks in the remaining ranges of Returning Goose Peak. After thousands of years of human campaigns of extermination, there were not many Demon Beasts left. Still, traveling through rock with the Earth Escape Technique was truly arduous.

Though rock belonged to the earth element of the five elements, it was far harder and denser than soil. Using an Earth Escape Talisman within rock greatly reduced one's speed and vastly increased spiritual energy consumption. A high-grade First-order Earth Escape Talisman could travel a hundred li through ordinary soil. Within rock, it could travel at most thirty li.

However, Wang Daoyuan was not worried about distance. To ensure that he could flee for his life anytime and anywhere, he had escape talismans in abundance. He currently had more than a hundred, nearly half of them Earth Escape Talismans—enough for him to escape all the way back to Jade Spring Peak.

If he could travel underground, he would never show his head above ground. Survival came first. Face, Spirit Stones, and the like—what did they amount to compared to his life?

Compared to traveling through soil, using the Earth Escape Technique to enter rock was not entirely disadvantageous. At least, hiding within rock was more concealed. Wang Daoyuan's divine sense could penetrate one zhang underground, but within rock, its detection range was less than a foot.

To avoid enemy detection, Wang Daoyuan tried his best to descend. With every foot he went down, the surrounding rock's pressure on his body increased by another degree, and the spiritual energy contained in the Earth Escape Talisman was consumed more quickly.

Only after descending more than ten zhang into the rock did the pressure on his body reach its limit. If he went any deeper, he might be crushed flat.

Though descending too deeply increased the burden on his body, it also reduced the chance of being discovered. It was well worth it.

Wang Daoyuan sighed inwardly. What a pity I never cultivated a body-refining technique. If it were Second Brother, descending twenty zhang would be effortless. When I have the chance, I should still cultivate a body-refining technique. After all, the body is the capital of revolution.

Although body refinement consumed vast resources and would severely slow cultivation progress, he did not care much about that. As long as he set aside a few mu within the Spirit Pearl Space to grow spiritual herbs for body refinement, they would be ready in a few years. Resources were no issue at all.

As for cultivation, he had ample Spirit Gathering Pills and did not need to worry about Pill Toxin affecting him. His cultivation speed was comparable to that of a little genius with a seven-inch Spiritual Root.

Besides, he had no way of obtaining a Foundation Establishment Pill right now. Reaching the Qi Refining Peak so quickly would have no use beyond increasing his combat strength. Advancing too quickly also brought the trouble of an unstable foundation, so it was better to refine his body. One only needed to look at Wang Daoxing's combat strength to understand the benefits of a powerful physical body.

Furthermore, slowing his cultivation speed for a while could solidify his foundation and prevent him from drawing too much attention.

After all, everyone knew he was trash with a Five-element Spiritual Root. Rising from Qi Refining Layer Four to Qi Refining Layer Seven in four years was already rather outrageous.

If he rapidly advanced to the Qi Refining Peak again, there would truly be no way to explain it.

All things considered, it was better to slow his cultivation for now and focus on body refinement.

He also needed to consider learning alchemy. Though his talent for alchemy was inferior to his talent for talisman-making, he had no choice but to learn. The spiritual herbs for refining Spirit Gathering Pills that he had planted in the space had already been harvested twice, and all of them were stored within the Spirit Pearl Space.

Having Twelfth Uncle Wang Zhiming refine pills for him once or twice would be fine. But if he asked him to refine all the many spiritual herbs in the space, suspicion would inevitably arise.