The strongest mortals could leap no more than a hundred feet, wield the strength of thirty thousand pounds, and cast a few simple spells of the five elements.
Yet even that level of power was enough to surpass the vast majority of Human Rank beings.
Among them, ninth-revolution cultivation already approached the limits of Human Rank. Thanks to its racial traits and enormous size, this Kunlin Insect King even possessed strength comparable to peak cultivation.
Setting everything else aside, its massive body, over thirty feet long, was already practically unassailable. The abundant vitality and thick shell that came with that size made it tough-skinned and thick-fleshed, difficult to kill.
Ye Tianming's attack just now had proved that point.
Second, as an insect king, its ability to summon and command other Kunlin insects rivaled that of Spirit Tamers who cultivated the Manifestation Dao.
It came with its own small legion of beetle demons. With demons of other races added to that, how could anyone not despair?
Worst of all, this Kunlin Insect King had actually cultivated Demonic Essence Gang Baleful Intent!
This Demonic Essence Gang Baleful Intent was demonic energy similar to the blood-baleful battle aura cultivated by those Otherkin races.
Regardless of their race or cultivation level, once demons cultivated battle aura or demonic essence, they immediately became elites among demons, the strongest of the strong.
This meant they had embarked on the path of cultivation and could be called cultivators among demons.
Kunlin insects belonged to an insect species and had difficulty awakening their intelligence. Once they achieved anything, however, they became even stronger than ordinary Otherkin.
This insect king is powerful!
Fang Qianyuan was equally shocked when he saw Ye Tianming blasted away by the Demonic Essence Gang Baleful Intent.
How can we defeat an enemy like this?
Fang Qianyuan's thoughts raced.
Compete in physique and strength?
There was no point even considering it. An insect that enormous could crush people to death beneath its weight. Matching physique and strength against it would undoubtedly be courting death.
Compete in numbers?
All the Training Institute disciples present, together with their summoned spirit creatures, amounted to only a tiny fraction of the demons. The enemy might even outnumber them thirty or fifty to one!
Compete in cultivation and secret arts?
This insect king had also embarked on the path of cultivation. It was no ordinary insect.
Even trying to win through intelligence would probably be difficult.
Insects were less intelligent than humans, but since it had embarked on the path of cultivation, it must have awakened its spiritual intelligence. Simple traps or schemes would be utterly ineffective.
Besides, with so little time, they had no way to scheme against it or make use of the conditions around them.
Ye Tianming was equally helpless against it. He could only circle and engage it alongside Senior Brother Kong, all to no avail.
But there were simply too many demons interfering from the sides. Soon, even experts such as Ba Ming and Wu Longjie had to enter the fray, risking their lives to approach and help.
That was when the casualties began.
With a scream, a disciple fighting at the front had his arm bitten by a giant ant. An acid ant beside it promptly sprayed him, and his body sizzled as though it were being scorched.
His exposed skin rapidly cooked through on the spot, as if it had been deep-fried.
Another disciple of the Manifestation Dao gave a muffled groan, spat blood, and collapsed to the ground.
His primary spirit creature, bound to his very life, had been slain by an Otherkin leader. As the spirit creature dispersed, he lost his support, and another demon closed in to deliver a heavy blow.
Had his fellow disciples beside him not risked their lives to save him, he would most likely have met a grim end.
Immediately afterward, several more disciples were wounded.
Seeing this, the disciples resting at the rear hurried forward to replace them.
Even Fang Qianyuan had to join the fight. Relying on his powerful physique after its transformation, he unleashed combat arts in succession and slew more than a dozen demons in moments, astonishing everyone.
Even so, it was merely a cup of water thrown onto a blazing cartload of firewood.
However hard they tried, they could only hold out for a while. They could not turn the battle around.
At the rear, Senior Sister Mi was sweating with anxiety, but she could only select the few most grievously wounded for treatment. The other injured disciples received nothing more than a hurried dressing of their wounds.
Her healing spells required sufficient spirit essence to take effect quickly. In the time available, she was nowhere near able to treat everyone.
After another stretch of fighting, two disciples failed to dodge in time. Giant wolves tore out their throats one after the other, killing them on the spot.
Their teammates cried out in grief and fury, trying to rush forward and retrieve them, but it was already too late.
The demons swarmed over them. In mere moments, they tore the two bodies to pieces and devoured them right there!
The bloody spectacle deeply shook some of the less resolute disciples, making the battle increasingly difficult.
"Where the hell are the reinforcements?"
"We're done for! We're really done for this time! Why is my luck so damned rotten?"
"Boohoo... I... I don't want to die yet!"
Despair began to breed. Faced with this situation, neither new nor veteran disciples could easily remain calm.
Fang Qianyuan, however, seemed to be an exception. He was still observing the situation, trying to find a chance to overturn heaven and earth.
Suddenly, he turned his gaze toward the black vortex leading to the stone gate.
It lay on one side of the underground cavern, connected to a long passage.
They had avoided that direction earlier because demons kept pouring out of it. Now, however, the demons had been drawn over here, turning it into an escape route instead.
Fang Qianyuan immediately said, "Don't panic, everyone. We still have a chance, as long as we find a way to escape into the passage opposite us!"
"Junior Brother Fang, what did you say? Escape into the passage opposite us?" Wei Wen and the others were startled.
"That's right. The demon-suppressing grand array was designed to make it easy to go inward from outside, but difficult to go outward from inside. There aren't many demons left in that passage. If we can relocate successfully, then even if the stone gate farther out is still sealed, we can hold the chokepoint and restrict the demon army."
"That way, we can hold out longer and suffer fewer casualties. If we keep holding out, we win!"
"You think we can just escape because you say so? How could it be that easy?" Nearby, Ba Ming had just fallen back to rest. Hearing Fang Qianyuan's words, he could not help rolling his eyes at him.
He did not think it was a bad idea. The problem was that it was completely different from Ye Tianming's earlier decision to hold their ground.
Although he understood the need to adapt to changing circumstances, he still felt an inexplicable aversion to the suggestion coming from Fang Qianyuan.
"That's right, Junior Brother Fang. With so many demons blocking the way, it won't be easy to fight our way through. We may still be holding out now, but that's only because everyone is maintaining formation and rotating in and out. Once we start retreating, things will fall into chaos!" Wei Wen said.
"I understand. Holding a fixed position is completely different from relocating. But as long as someone can draw away the demons' main force, we'll definitely succeed." Since Fang Qianyuan had spoken up with the proposal, he had naturally thought it through.
At these words, several senior brothers and sisters nearby could not help giving him peculiar looks.
They had never expected this junior brother, on his first descent into the Demon Suppression Cavern, not only to remain unflustered in a crisis but even to offer a useful suggestion.
Recalling Fang Qianyuan's reputation as a genius and his earlier valor in slaying the enemy, everyone's opinion of him rose yet again.
Ba Ming, however, snapped, "Isn't that just stating the obvious? If someone really can draw away the demons' main force, of course everyone else can seize the chance to escape. But who can do it? You? What damned good is just talking? If you can do it, then go ahead!"
He hated nothing more than disciples with reputations as geniuses tossing out suggestions as though they were so capable.
Unexpectedly, Fang Qianyuan nodded and said earnestly, "I was indeed planning to do it myself. I have a way. Senior brothers and sisters, remember-you must seize the opportunity."
Everyone who heard those words was left utterly dumbstruck.