Chapter 2: The Abnormal Golden Armor (Part 2)

Amidst the crowd, Guo Shier’s heart was tumultuous like towering waves. He had already witnessed Li Ran and Chou Mo’s might before, but he hadn’t been able to comprehend it. Only after obtaining and mastering the inheritance of the Ancient Soul Altar did he realize just how terrifying those people were—their strength was beyond imagination.
Hu Da and the other two attacking also angered the Abnormal Golden Armor in the distance. It let out a strange cry in fury and sped up slightly.
The swarm of armored insects quickly retreated. Hu Da laughed, “Even these little crawlers know fear, haha.”
Tianhua said, “They’re not afraid; it’s that Abnormal Golden Armor that ordered them to retreat… Interesting. That Abnormal Golden Armor must possess great intelligence. Master will surely like it.”
The Fiery Beauty asked, “When will the Ancestor arrive?”
A figure gradually emerged. The person said, “I’ve been watching for a while now, little demon.”
The Fiery Beauty was startled and quickly stepped forward to bow, saying, “The Fiery Beauty greets the Ancestor.”
The man appeared to be middle-aged, with kind eyes and very short hair. His gaze was sharp, and from the moment he appeared, an invisible pressure made all the professionals tremble. He wore a gray cloth robe, looking clean and unadorned. If not for that terrifying spiritual pressure, he would have seemed like an amiable uncle from next door.
Hu Da and Tianhua stepped forward to bow and called out, “Master.”
The Ancestor nodded and said, “You returned late. If you had come earlier… the sect’s losses wouldn’t have been so great.” There was a hint of reproach in his tone.
Hu Da smiled bitterly and said, “We went to the Thunder Continent…”
The Ancestor was stunned and said, “How could you go there? It’s a bit dangerous for you…”
Tianhua said, “The altar needs to be tempered by lightning. Hehe, Master, we only wandered around the outskirts and didn’t dare go deeper… Still, we gained a lot.”
The Ancestor glanced at them and said, “Hmm, your strength has indeed improved a bit.”
The professionals inside the defensive rune arrays on the ground fell silent, all looking up at the sky with admiration—Guo Shier no exception. This was a true master, a figure at the pinnacle of the advanced continents.
Guo Shier whispered, “I wonder what the Ancestor’s name is?”
Han Yan said, “No one knows. Everyone just calls him the Ancestor…”
Xu Yan said, “I’ve been in the Fire Sect for so long, but this is the first time I’ve seen the Ancestor.”

The Ancestor was not in a hurry to act; instead, he hovered steadily in the air. Whether it was Hu Da and Tianhua or the foreign guest, the enchanting beauty, they all hovered respectfully to one side. The Ancestor asked, “Was this caused by Pei Chong again?”
Hu Da replied, “After I returned, I found out it was likely the Abnormal Golden Armor caused by Pei Chong. But this guy didn’t even send a message before leaving the Earthfire Continent!”
The Ancestor’s expression remained unchanged as he said, “Didn’t we also send people there? Why didn’t they send back any messages?”
Sweat appeared on Hu Da’s face as he bowed and said, “Two Great Sage Masters went there. I heard they all died… completely destroyed. One was swallowed by the Abnormal Golden Armor, and the other escaped seriously injured. But no news has come back. The sect sent many professionals to search, with no results. They’re probably dead too.”
A hint of displeasure flashed in the Ancestor’s eyes as he said indifferently, “In that case… well, I’ll handle this matter. The sect doesn’t need to worry about it.”
Hu Da bowed and said, “Yes, I’ll inform the sect master.”
With his hands behind his back and head raised, the Ancestor watched the Abnormal Golden Armor crawling slowly in the distance and said, “No wonder Pei Chong couldn’t stop it. It’s an Abnormal Golden Armor of level thirteen. Heh, I never expected… our Earthfire Continent could also give birth to such a high-level Abnormal Symbolic Worm. With my strength… I can only kill it, not subdue it. What a pity…”
Guo Shier said quietly, “I knew Abnormal Symbolic Beasts and Abnormal Symbolic Worms were powerful, but I didn’t realize they were this strong…”
Han Yan said, “Of course. Abnormal Symbolic Beasts and Abnormal Symbolic Worms are far more powerful than their normal counterparts of the same level—by at least three levels. This Abnormal Symbolic Worm is equivalent to a level-16 Abnormal Symbolic Beast… However, even in extreme secret realms, it’s rare to encounter such high-level Abnormal Symbolic Worms.”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but sigh bitterly. Equivalent to a level-16 Abnormal Symbolic Beast—what kind of concept was that? The strength of this huge Abnormal Golden Armor was enough to defeat Pei Chong in red robes. Even if he had a dozen or so Great Sage Masters to help him, he still wouldn’t be able to defeat this Abnormal Symbolic Worm. Guo Shier was secretly relieved that if they had continued to watch, they might have lost their lives.
Eagle Demon interjected from the side, “It’s good we left at that time!”
Luo Zhan was also secretly relieved. With their strength, it would have been impossible for them to survive if they had stayed to watch.
The Ancestor said, “Let those who follow come up.”

Hu Da sent out a signal token, and immediately, over 300 professionals at the Great Sage level flew upward. The Ancestor said, “Hu Da, you take charge of grouping them. Remember, don’t kill them all—leave some of the advanced mutated Golden Armored insects. As for this Abnormal Golden Armored insect… it’s impossible to let it live; it poses too great a threat to the sect.”

The Ancestor added, “When the swarm of Golden Armored insects disperses, the sect’s disciples can go out to hunt them. Remember… don’t chase them too far. Stop at an appropriate distance. We can’t wipe out all the Golden Armored insects; they’re still quite useful.”

Hu Da replied, “Yes, Ancestor.”

The professionals below could hear the Ancestor’s words. Many didn’t understand, but Guo Shier did, and he secretly admired the Ancestor’s remarkable insight. Killing all the Golden Armored insects wasn’t a good idea—it would disrupt the ecological balance of living beings. It was better to keep some of them alive than to wipe them out completely.

Hu Da proceeded with the grouping as instructed. The Ancestor said, “Alright, let’s go. Hu Da, Xiao Hua, and Xiao Yao, the three of you are responsible for driving away those advanced mutated Golden Armored insects. If you can’t drive them away, kill them; if you can, try to drive them away. The professionals below who are capable can also go out and fight.”

At the command, Guo Shier and the others rushed out of the second defensive talisman array. However, no one dared to go too far—the defensive talisman array was only about a hundred meters away at its farthest point—before stopping to wait for the Ancestor and the others to take action. Once the swarm was defeated, many Golden Armored insects would surely fly over.

Guo Shier stopped not far after coming out, along with the others. Ying Mo and Luo Zhan stood beside him, motionless as well. He said, “Let’s stay here and watch how the Ancestor eliminates the Abnormal Golden Armored insect.” Having seen the battles of Pei Chong, the man in red robes, he didn’t want to get too close to the battlefield. He had rushed out with the others just to avoid drawing attention. He knew very well that an Abnormal Golden Armored insect wasn’t easy to kill.

The Ancestor slowly summoned his Soul Altar. As soon as the Soul Altar appeared, its immense spiritual pressure suppressed the massive swarm of Golden Armored insects, forcing them to stay on the ground and emit noisy chirping sounds. Even the mutated Golden Armored insects at levels 11 to 12 couldn’t withstand it and retreated desperately. The Fire Sect disciples on the ground, including the external professionals like Guo Shier, also struggled to endure it. Guo Shier kept retreating, and many disciples at the Master orMad Master level collapsed to the ground, their faces pale.

It was a three-story physical Soul Altar that emitted a dazzling light under the Ancestor’s full effort.

Guo Shier suddenly realized how terrifying Li Ran was. His soul altar had six layers, yet he wasn’t as arrogant as the Ancestor. Li Ran’s power was contained, while the Ancestor’s power was unrestrained—the two couldn’t be compared in terms of strength.

A three-layer physical soul altar was far stronger than Chou Mo’s, who only had a one-layer physical soul altar. At the top of the three-layer altar stood seven palm-sized crimson flags, along with a red bead the size of an egg, slowly rotating among the flags.

Every professional who possessed a soul altar was a supreme expert at the pinnacle of the spellcraft profession. Each person’s soul altar was unique—Li Ran’s had a canopy, Chou Mo’s had a bell, and the Ancestor’s had seven flags—each representing their most powerful asset.

Guo Shier was very curious about how to use the seven flags on the Ancestor’s altar. He guessed that if it weren’t for the Abnormal Golden Armor, the Ancestor wouldn’t have unleashed his core soul altar.

The moment the Ancestor released his soul altar, the Abnormal Golden Armor suddenly raised its head—it too knew something was wrong. It had six extremely thick legs, and as it raised its head, its two front legs lifted. With a sharp screech, those legs slammed down.

A deafening explosion erupted. Magma gushed forth from beneath it. It lowered its head and thrust a long, sharp spike from its mouth, driving it deep into the ground. The entire land trembled as cracks spread out in a web-like pattern beneath it.

Magma sprayed everywhere, accompanied by continuous booms. The Abnormal Golden Armor raised its sharp spike, and with another explosion, a magma stream over ten meters wide was ejected, flying thousands of meters toward the Ancestor.

The Ancestor merely snorted without using any artifacts on his altar. He spat out a white stream of air, filled with countless runes. As soon as this stream appeared, the temperature around it dropped sharply.

Guo Shier saw clearly that the runes in the stream spelled three words—Water, Ice, Cold. He didn’t know how the Ancestor had combined these three runes to create a terrifying wave of cold.

Boom! Hiss…

The stream of air enveloped the incoming magma stream, causing massive amounts of water vapor to rise. In an instant, a curved rock bridge formed from the magma fell from the sky and crashed heavily onto the ground.

Guo Shier hurriedly said, “Let’s retreat to the defensive spell formation! This place isn’t safe!”

The Eagle Demon also realized something was wrong. A mere casual strike from the Abnormal Golden Armor and a casual counterattack from the Ancestor had already caused such a huge disturbance. If a real battle broke out, these professionals would likely not even have a chance to defend themselves. They could only retreat into the defensive talisman array and rely on its power to avoid being affected by the battle.

The Abnormal Golden Armor stepped heavily on the magma with its six giant feet, causing the ground to tremble violently once again. More cracks appeared on the surface, and large amounts of magma gushed out. Suddenly, the Abnormal Golden Armor flapped its wings, and countless virtual talismans fell into the magma. With a loud boom, a shockwave was sent out, creating a massive wave of magma that surged forward.

The Ancestor shouted, “All disciples, retreat to the defensive talisman array!”

Luo Zhan said with a bitter smile, “Twelve, I feel something’s off. These Talisman Worms are way too powerful!”