Scattering and Fleeing

Various insects swarmed towards the cultivators from all directions.

Wang Daoyuan felt no fear; instead, he breathed a sigh of relief. The dangers before him were far easier to deal with than unknown threats.

He sent a telepathic message to Wang Zhian, "Fifth Uncle-Grandfather, these are the reinforcements of the Demonic Beast controllers. Their target is the Netherworld Sect cultivators. You absolutely must not step forward. Find an opportunity and flee quickly. I've given them all escape talismans, so you don't need to worry about us."

Wang Zhian nodded and said, "Everyone, deploy your Defense Talismans for defense."

Upon hearing the clan leader's words, the Wang family members each deployed an Earth Armor Talisman. After all, Golden Armor Talismans were afraid of fire and could easily be broken by fire-based attacks. Earth Armor Talismans were more reliable. Although Earth Armor Talismans were more expensive, the buzzing sound filling the air made them feel that their lives were more valuable than the talismans.

The buzzing grew louder, and the enemy finally revealed themselves: a sky-covering swarm of spirit insects.

The Wang family members were surrounded by a swarm of Fire Cloud Bees. The Fire Cloud Bees were entirely crimson, and the large group flying over truly resembled a ball of fire. The stingers of the Fire Cloud Bees carried fire poison. Once stung, without effective measures, one would feel like they were in a furnace and eventually die of dehydration.

Fire Cloud Bees were Spirit Bees with extremely strong combat capabilities. Unfortunately, those surrounding them were only worker bees; there were no Bee Kings or Bee Eggs, making them useless even if captured.

At this moment, everyone was grateful that they had used Earth Armor Talismans instead of Golden Armor Talismans. Otherwise, if a swarm of Fire Cloud Bees surrounded them, the Earth Armor Technique would be instantly broken, and their lives would be forfeit. Having more possessions would be useless then.

However, although the Fire Cloud Bees couldn't break the Earth Armor Technique in a short time, they couldn't withstand their persistent attacks. If this dragged on, even the chance of escape would be slim.

Wang Daoyuan deployed a Rain Transformation Talisman, forming a dark cloud with a radius of fifteen meters in the air. Heavy rain poured down from the cloud. The Fire Cloud Bees immediately scattered, hiding outside the area covered by the dark cloud.

It wasn't that the Rain Transformation Talisman could cause any damage to the Fire Cloud Bees. The Rain Transformation Spell was not an offensive spell, and the rain that fell was just ordinary water, at most carrying some water-element spiritual energy.

It was just that spirit insects generally disliked water, especially fire-element spirit insects. Once they encountered water, their spells would be weakened. The spirit insects had plenty of other targets; there was no need to risk a head-on confrontation with this group.

Wang Zhian stroked his long beard and chuckled, "Daoyuan is indeed resourceful. A single Rain Transformation Talisman can play such a significant role."

The other members of the Wang family also breathed a sigh of relief; at least there was no immediate danger.

Others were in a more dire situation. Cultivators with water Spiritual Roots fared better; a simple Rain Transformation Spell could provide temporary safety. Those without water Spiritual Roots could only rely on Defense Talismans or expend Spiritual Power to maintain their protective shields.

Talismans like the Rain Transformation Talisman were truly of limited use. Normally, they were only useful for watering Spirit Fields. Cultivators who managed Spirit Fields usually learned the Rain Transformation Spell; no one would be willing to use a Rain Transformation Talisman. Who would carry such a thing when coming out to exterminate Demonic Beasts?

Wang Daoyuan didn't have many Rain Transformation Talismans. He had used a few to support Wang Shouye earlier and only had two left.

However, the Wang family didn't need to hold on indefinitely. They only needed to last until some cultivators couldn't bear it and fled the battlefield. Then, the Wang family could follow suit and slip away.

On the flat ground to the right of the small hill, the Netherworld Sect cultivators were happily clearing the battlefield. It was right after a major battle, a time when their guard was most relaxed.

From the appearance of the buzzing sound to the spirit insects attacking the cultivators, it took only five to six seconds. The Netherworld Sect cultivators didn't react in time. Many didn't even manage to erect their protective shields before being surrounded by spirit insects.

Conversely, the family cultivators, who were not qualified to clear the battlefield, had their attention focused on their surroundings. As soon as the buzzing sound appeared, they were prepared, and their situation was much better than that of the Netherworld Sect cultivators.

No spirit insects dared to be so audacious as to attack the three Violet Mansion Elders. However, the three Violet Mansion Elders were also in a difficult position. With their strength, it wouldn't be difficult for them to unleash a few wide-area spells to eliminate all the spirit insects.

But with the spirit insects clashing with the cultivators, unleashing powerful spells to destroy them would likely result in few surviving cultivators on the scene.

Helplessly, Zhou Qi announced loudly, "All Qi Refining cultivators, retreat immediately. Foundation Establishment cultivators, follow my command and eliminate the spirit insects."

Upon hearing Zhou Qi's command, Wang Zhian said to everyone, "Follow Daoyuan's arrangement and retreat first! If I don't return alive, let Shouye succeed me as clan leader; if Shouye also doesn't return, let Daocang take over."

Bowing in acknowledgment to Wang Zhian, Wang Daoyuan immediately deployed an Earth Escape Talisman and burrowed underground. He didn't return to Golden Goose City but instead fled directly eastward.

East of Cart Gorge lay countless peaks of the remaining mountains of the Returning Goose Peaks. Under thousands of years of human culling, there weren't many Demonic Beasts. However, traversing through rock with Earth Escape Technique was extremely strenuous.

Although rock belonged to the Earth element in the Five Elements, it was far harder and denser than soil. Using an Earth Escape Talisman in rock greatly reduced its speed and significantly increased Spiritual Power consumption. A single first-tier high-grade Earth Escape Talisman could travel a hundred miles in ordinary soil. In rock, it could travel at most thirty miles.

However, Wang Daoyuan wasn't worried about the distance. To be able to escape at any time, he had plenty of escape talismans. He currently had over a hundred, with nearly half of them being Earth Escape Talismans, enough for him to tunnel all the way back to Jade Spring Peak.

If he could travel underground, he would never show his head. Survival was paramount. What were face and Spirit Stones compared to his life?

Compared to burrowing into soil, burrowing into rock with Earth Escape Technique wasn't entirely a disadvantage; at least it offered better concealment. With Wang Daoyuan's Spiritual Sense, he could probe one zhang underground. In rock, however, his Spiritual Sense detection range was less than a foot.

To evade enemy detection, Wang Daoyuan tried to tunnel deeper. For every zhang he went down, the pressure from the surrounding rock on his body increased, and the Spiritual Power consumed by the Earth Escape Talisman also increased more rapidly.

He continued to tunnel until he was over ten zhang deep into the rock. The pressure on his body had reached its limit. If he went any deeper, he might be crushed.

Tunneling too deep would increase the burden on his body, but it would also reduce the probability of being discovered, making it worthwhile.

Wang Daoyuan sighed inwardly, "What a shame I haven't cultivated any body-refining techniques. If it were my second brother, tunneling twenty zhang deep would be effortless. If I have the chance in the future, I should cultivate a body-refining technique. After all, the body is the foundation of all endeavors."

Although body refinement consumed a large amount of resources and would severely hinder his cultivation, he didn't care about that. As long as he set aside a few acres of land in his Spirit Pearl Space specifically for cultivating body-refining spiritual herbs, they would be ready for use in a few years. Resources were not a problem at all.

As for cultivation, with an ample supply of Spirit Gathering Pills and no worries about the side effects of pill toxins, his cultivation speed was comparable to that of a genius with a seven-inch Spiritual Root.

Besides, he currently had no way to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill. Rapidly advancing to Qi Refining Peak, besides increasing his combat power, served no other purpose. Advancing too quickly could also lead to unstable foundations. It would be better to focus on body refinement. The benefits of a strong physique were evident in Wang Daoxing's combat prowess.

Furthermore, slowing down his cultivation speed would help solidify his foundation and prevent him from attracting too much attention.

After all, everyone knew he was a "waste" with a Five-element Spiritual Root. In four years, advancing from Qi Refining Layer Four to Qi Refining Layer Seven was already quite outrageous.

If he were to quickly advance to Qi Refining Peak, it would truly be unexplainable.

Considering all factors, it was best to temporarily slow down his cultivation speed and focus on body refinement.

In addition, he needed to consider learning alchemy. Although his talent for alchemy was not as good as his talent for talisman crafting, he had to learn it. The spiritual herbs for refining Spirit Gathering Pills that he had planted in his Spirit Pearl Space had already been harvested twice and were stored in the space.

Letting his twelfth Uncle-Grandfather, Wang Zhiming, help him with alchemy was fine for once or twice. However, with so many spiritual herbs in his space, asking him for help repeatedly would definitely arouse suspicion.