Chapter 10: The Fire Sect (Part 2)

The group exchanged glances. After a while, Xu Yan said, “The sect’s alarm… It’s over. Without Master Han to escort us, we can’t leave for now. Once the alarm is triggered, no one can enter or exit, except those inside the inner sect…”
Guo Shier immediately checked the interdimensional talisman and found it unusable. He quickly realized that the Fire Sect’s large-scale talisman array had been activated. Once activated, those inside the array couldn’t use any talisman gates. Unless the array was shut down or destroyed, Guo Shier and the others wouldn’t be able to use interdimensional talismans to escape.
Eagle Demon asked, “What’s wrong?” He noticed Guo Shier’s unusual expression.
Guo Shier forced a smile and said, “Nothing. We’re trapped here…”
Xu Yan laughed and said, “It’s fine. We’re inside the Fire Sect’s inner sect, the safest place. No matter what danger arises, there are professionals from the inner sect to handle it. As long as we don’t run around randomly, it’s okay.” He continued, “Let’s keep eating! Hehe, after all, it’s Master Han who’s treating us. It would be a shame not to eat—this is top-tier talisman food from the Fire Sect…”
Guo Shier was speechless. He didn’t expect Xu Yan to be a food lover too. But he didn’t object either; he was actually a food lover as well. Smiling, he said, “Then let’s continue… You introduce the next dishes.”
Although all the inner sect disciples of the Fire Sect had gathered, the market hadn’t closed, so the second dish was served right away.
It was a large plate of stir-fried shells. These shells were different from any Guo Shier had seen before. Xu Yan said, “Duluo shells! Hehe, great stuff. I didn’t expect to find them today.”
Guo Shier picked one up. It was a dark-colored shell, about the size of a goose egg, covered in tiny sharp spines, with an opening at the bottom that seemed unremarkable. He asked, “How do I eat this?”
Xu Yan replied, “It’s easy. See this opening? Suck in the flesh and juice with one bite. These grow in magma lakes and can absorb fire energy. They’re not dangerous, but they’re hard to catch. Only those at master level can enter magma lakes, and even then, it’s very risky for master-level professionals. That’s why Duluo shells are rare.”
Guo Shier sucked hard through the opening in the shell, drawing in a mass of soft flesh and juice. It felt like sucking in a flame, burning intensely as it rushed up his nose. Along with the heat came a fragrant aroma. It tasted like a small chili he had eaten in his past life—so spicy it hurt his tongue, but incredibly delicious.

A few people ate with great joy. Guo Shier was still unsatisfied and asked eagerly, “What’s the next dish?”
At that moment, the low-level professional entered and said, “I’m very sorry, the Grand Feast House is about to close.”
Xu Yan was surprised. “Close?”
The professional smiled bitterly. “There’s nothing we can do. The inner sect has given orders— the market must close…”
Xu Yan’s expression changed instantly. Closing the market meant an invasion by a powerful enemy, and all professionals had to be mobilized. He asked, “What’s going on?”
The man replied, “I don’t know, but… we just received orders. We all need to go to the assembly point. You should go too. Every professional has a task.”
Xu Yan nodded. “Okay, let’s go together. Where is the assembly point?” He couldn’t refuse. In the Fire Sect’s inner sect, once an order was given, every professional had to obey. The only consequence of resisting an order was death. He understood this well, so he didn’t hesitate and immediately asked where to gather.
Guo Shier remained silent. He knew he was alone and powerless; under someone else’s roof, he couldn’t bargain with a major sect like the Fire Sect.
The professional said, “Please follow me.”
Guo Shier asked, “What about the cost of the food?” He didn’t want to be known as someone who took things for free.
The professional smiled. “It’s already been recorded. Elder Han is a regular here, so you don’t need to worry about the cost.”
Outside the Grand Feast House, a large group of professionals had gathered—all outsiders, not inner sect disciples. There was a large table by the entrance, clearly brought from the Grand Feast House, with several low-level inner sect disciples registering and assigning destinations.
The crowd at the entrance was chaotic. From their conversations, Guo Shier gathered some fragmented information. He learned that the entire outer area of the Fire Sect had fallen, including Linhuo City, which they had visited—reportedly completely destroyed.
Xu Yan went to find a few acquaintances to find out more and returned, saying, “It’s a swarm of golden beetles…”
Guo Shier was surprised. “A swarm of golden beetles?”
Xu Yan replied, “Yes. The details aren’t clear yet, but this swarm is enormous. There have been a few smaller swarms before, but they were wiped out before reaching the Fire Sect’s territory. This time is different. By the time news reached us, the swarm had already rushed in quickly, and there was no time to stop it. Luckily, a large defensive talisman array was activated; otherwise, they would have reached the inner sect.”
A professional nearby said, “It seems many people outside haven’t retreated yet. There are countless casualties.”

Another professional said, “Strange, how could there be an insect swarm at this time?”
Guo Shier asked, “At this time? Why shouldn’t there be an insect swarm at this time?”
The man replied, “Aren’t you a professional from the Earth Fire Continent? No wonder. Most insect swarms are caused by massive volcanic eruptions, and this is a period of calm for the volcanoes. On the Earth Fire Continent, the volcanoes go through two alternating phases: a calm period and an eruption period, separated by about several decades. When the eruption period arrives, everyone living in the surrounding areas must retreat.”
Xu Yan said, “Yes, I never thought that such a large-scale insect swarm could occur during a volcanic calm period.”
Guo Shier looked up. In the sky, countless flying vehicles left trails of white light, along with numerous symbols. Though they flashed by quickly, their sheer number made it possible to discern their presence, bringing a sense of oppressive pressure.
Xu Yan said, “Master Guo, you’re really lucky. I’m also benefiting from this… If we were still in Linhuo City…” He felt as if he had escaped death by a narrow margin. After all, once an insect swarm attacked, even a great sage master would find it hard to escape. Those who reacted quickly might be able to flee using magic talismans, but those who were slower would be completely doomed.
Luo Zhan asked, “Where will they send us?”
Xu Yan replied, “I don’t know. Just follow the assignment. I find it strange that even a large-scale insect swarm can be contained by professionals. It’s unbelievable that this time it allowed the swarm to reach near the defense talisman array.”
The professionals around him agreed.
Soon it was Guo Shier and the others’ turn to register. They took out their identity tokens, and a few lower-ranked disciples from the Fire Sect examined them briefly. One of them politely said, “Three sages and one mad master, please come here to register.” He handed over four tokens and said, “These tokens can record the golden-armored insects you’ve slain. After the insect swarm ends, you can use these tokens to claim your rewards.”
Another disciple added, “Any loot obtained during the insect swarm belongs to the individual and doesn’t need to be handed over to the sect.”
Guo Shier nodded inwardly. As a large sect, it did show some generosity. He asked, “Where do we go to register?”
One of the disciples replied, “To the east… There’s an address on your tokens. Just go there directly. You can also take a flying vehicle, but… it’s not far. It only takes about ten minutes to fly there.”
Xu Yan glanced at the tokens and said, “I know that place. Let’s go together.”

There were also seven or eight professionals who went to the same place as Guo Shier and the others; most of them were Mad Masters, with one or two Holy Masters. A group followed Xu Yan and flew toward their destination.
A short while later, they arrived at their destination. It was a small town. Xu Yan said, “This is it—Jinfang Town, one of the outermost towns of the Inner Gate.”
Guo Shier already saw a brilliant array of runes lights, emitted by a large rune array. Upon closer inspection, countless runes could be seen moving, emitting a faint multicolored glow. Due to the distance, only a blur of light and shadow was visible, similar to the auroras he had seen in his past life—very beautiful.
Upon entering the town, they realized the horror of this insect plague. Countless people who had fled were crowded in the town waiting for arrangements. Many were injured, missing limbs, and several professionals were also severely wounded, looking in a dire state. Groups of ordinary residents were directed to retreat toward the Inner Gate.
Outside the town, there were large tents prepared for the professionals. All the professionals who arrived first had their rune cards checked, then formed teams, were assigned tents, and waited for orders. Flying vehicles were parked around the tents. Guo Shier glanced around and saw at least several hundred of them.
Just in Jinfang Town, there were thousands of professionals, including several high-ranking Great Holy Masters. Guo Shier couldn’t help but marvel at the profound heritage of the high-tier continents. The person in charge here was a high-ranking Great Holy Master who, along with a dozen junior and intermediate Great Holy Masters, was urgently assigning tasks.
To Xu Yan and Guo Shier’s surprise, Han Yan was also among them. Seeing them, Han Yan was very happy and said, “Follow me.”
It was great to have acquaintances, so Guo Shier and Xu Yan agreed immediately. Although Han Yan was a junior Great Holy Master, his status was high. As a Law Enforcement Elder, he led a group of about 300 people. Guo Shier, Xu Yan, and two others became Han Yan’s guards and messengers, assisting him in commanding the troops.
After hastily forming teams, the professionals boarded their flying vehicles and flew toward the edge of the defensive rune array.
Sitting in the flying vehicle, Guo Shier asked, “Elder Han, what’s going on this time? Can you tell us?” There were many other professionals in the vehicle, all unaware of the situation, so they pricked up their ears to listen.
Han Yan sighed and said, “This insect plague was caused by humans…”
This immediately sparked gasps of surprise. Guo Shier asked, “Humans? Who could be that powerful to cause such a large insect plague?”
“A King-class Abnormal Golden Armored Beast!”
Guo Shier asked in confusion, “King-class?”

Han Yan said, “That’s how we call it here. King-level refers to Abnormal Symbolic Beetles at level 14! What’s terrifying is that this King-level Abnormal Giant Golden Armor has attracted seven or eight Abnormal Giant Golden Armors at levels 11 to 13, driving out the Golden Armored Beetles that live in the magma and creating a massive swarm of insects. It’s said there are millions of them! They vary in level, with some being Giant Golden Armors at levels 80 or 90.”
Gasps filled the air inside the flying vehicle, and everyone’s expression changed.
Guo Shier and Eagle Demon exchanged a glance; both immediately realized that the one who caused the swarm must be Qiu Mo’s disciple, the one dressed in a bright red robe.
This time, trouble was huge.
Book 16: The Golden Armor Tsunami