To prepare for possible larger-scale invasions by the Insect Race, Liu Changxu devoted most of his energy after the battle to upgrading the Island-Guarding Grand Formations on Golden Ring Island and Fireland Island.
He planned to raise both grand formations to upper-ninth tier. Only then would an insect army of ordinary size struggle to pose any real threat to the two islands.
However, upgrading the Island-Guarding Grand Formations to upper-ninth tier required vast quantities of upper-ninth-tier spirit materials. Liu Changxu had precious few such materials left, so he had no choice but to take out the remains of the upper-ninth-tier Insect Emperor and use materials from its body to refine formation artifacts. Though artifacts refined from the Insect Emperor's materials were slightly inferior in quality, they would barely suffice for the upgrades.
Thus, Liu Changxu once again entered the artifact-refining hall of the Ruyi Lotus Palace and immersed himself in the demanding work of artifact refining.
Yet just as Liu Changxu was pressing ahead with the upgrades at a feverish pace, the insect army they had only just repelled came surging back.
At dawn on July 15, Great Han Year 2223, as the sky was beginning to brighten, an insect army that blotted out the heavens swept toward Golden Ring Island once more, like black clouds bearing down upon the border.
Liu Changxu was concentrating on refining formation artifacts inside the Ruyi Lotus Palace when the urgent report arrived. He could only set his work aside for the moment, rise, and leave the artifact-refining hall.
Just then, his wife Murong Yuyao hurried over, her expression tense. The moment she saw her husband, Liu Changxu, she said urgently, her voice thick with anxiety:
"Your Majesty, we must retreat! This insect army is terrifyingly powerful. There are fifteen ninth-tier Insect Emperors alone,