Chapter 3: The Swarm (Part 1)

Fighting against Spirit Beasts, Abnormal Symbol Beasts, or Abnormal Symbol Worms, these latter creatures are not without the ability to resist and often manage to kill some of the Spirit Beasts, which is a very unprofitable situation for Guo Shier. After all, each of his Spirit Beasts is of high rank, and even if he kills one of the Abnormal Symbol Beasts or Worms, he can only obtain one Spirit Beast or Worm in return—clearly a loss-making deal.
Of course, in a desperate situation, one might fight without regard for costs, but when he has control, Guo Shier would never send out large numbers of Spirit Beasts into battle. Spirit Beasts are not only useful for combat but also serve as important sacrificial offerings, which is why few altar-level professionals use them in fights.
The ground trembled violently. The old man said, “It seems there are many long worms under the sand. Be careful.”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Long worms can’t fly. What am I supposed to be afraid of?”
Hundreds of sand worms, large and small, poked their heads up, standing upright like pillars toward the sky. Perhaps the ones killed by Guo Shier earlier were their leaders, and they had come to take revenge.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft…
Dozens of green-tinged viscous substances were spat out, aiming at Guo Shier’s altar. Guo Shier cursed loudly and slapped the altar, sending himself flying into the air. “Damn it, they’re spitting at me…”
Each glob of spit contained deadly poison and glowed green. Even more terrifyingly, instead of falling, the spit chased after Guo Shier’s altar. The old man couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow, these things are really annoying. Spitting all over you, haha.”
Guo Shier raised his hand to form a virtual giant hand, dipped it beneath the altar, and grabbed the viscous spit. With a series of hissing sounds, the entire virtual hand was quickly corroded. Guo Shier’s expression turned serious, and the old man stopped laughing, surprised. “So poisonous?”
Immediately afterward, the old man said cheerfully, “This is great! Capture it quickly!”
Guo Shier pointed at the Soul Calming Cauldron, and instantly, colorful lights flashed as the viscous spit was drawn into the cauldron.
The old man said, “Good. Lower the altar a bit to lure them into spitting more at you!”
Guo Shier’s face darkened. He said, “Ugh, what do you mean ‘spitting at me’? Old man, you’ve gone bad!”
The old man looked innocent and said, “I didn’t say that. You said it yourself before. I’m just following your example… well, going bad… is also by learning from you.”
Pfft! Pfft…

Another series of spitballs flew into the air, chasing after Guo Shier. He was both annoyed and amused, saying, “What’s the use of this… Damn it, if spitting could kill people, that would be strange.”
The handsome old man said, “Don’t be careless. This spit contains highly toxic substances that can even weaken the power of runes.”
With a flash of light, those spitballs were drawn back into the Soul-Calming Cauldron. After several repetitions, quite a amount of the sand worms’ spit was collected. Guo Shier unleashed his Moon Blade, saying, “Enough. It’s time for you to die too!” In an instant, the Moon Blade turned into a rain of blades that descended in a swirling motion. Soon, there was a loud howling sound, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.
Guo Shier felt a sense of exhilaration; he had never found the Moon Blade to be this effective. Those mutated and aberrant rune worms couldn’t withstand its cuts at all, and he slaughtered all the sand worms that gathered there in one go. He then released another group of Soul Beasts to devour the flesh and blood on the ground.
The handsome old man said, “I wonder if these Soul Beasts can survive after leaving this small world. Even if they can, it’s unclear whether there will be mutated or aberrant rune worms to feed them. Well, if you get the chance, kill more aberrant rune worms to save some food for them.”
Guo Shier nodded and said, “Back in Bone Mountain, I collected a lot of the bones, flesh, and essence of high-level aberrant rune worms. They’re still in pretty good condition. Heh, I can use them for grazing in the future.”
The handsome old man was stunned and asked, “Grazing?” Then he realized what he meant and said, “That’s terrifying. Unless we encounter a place like the Great Abyss Pool with a sea of beasts, a few mutated or aberrant rune worms won’t be enough for your Soul Beasts to eat.”
After recalling his Soul Beasts, Guo Shier said, “I didn’t expect there to be no aberrant rune worms here, but instead, there are aberrant rune worms. Let’s keep moving forward.”
According to the rules, if one or a few people went in a certain direction, the others wouldn’t follow. Everyone would search their own paths, and any discoveries would belong to that person alone, thus avoiding conflicts.
Everyone was very understanding of this arrangement. Only Halechi was in a pitiful situation—he had followed Qi Wu Zhen. Pitiful him, a professional at the eighth-level altar level, who was considered a top-tier master in any clan, sect, or merchant alliance. But here, he was nothing. Compared to Qi Wu Zhen, he was far behind. There was no way he could catch up with Qi Wu Zhen.

The speed difference between Halechi and Qi Wuzhen was like one person driving a BMW while another rode a bicycle—completely incomparable. As a result, Halechi lost track of Qi Wuzhen, watching helplessly as he disappeared on the horizon. Frustrated, he stamped his feet and cursed on the altar, forced to chase in that direction desperately.

Halechi, who thought he was about to catch up with Qi Wuzhen, encountered a swarm of desert black-spotted mosquitoes—actually, white-spotted mosquitoes, as these mutatedmutated mosquitoes were entirely black with palm-sized white spots, giving them a terrifying appearance. These mosquitoes were quite powerful, at least at level ten, with some reaching levels thirteen and fourteen. Fortunately, they were mutatedmutated worms, not even more formidableMutated worms.

Halechi was confident he could eliminate dozens of them in one go, but to his anger, there weren’t just dozens—there were thousands, a number that posed a serious challenge. No matter what enemy, when their numbers grew large enough, they could combine their forces. Without any advantage, Halechi had no choice but to flee.

So instead of fighting bravely against the mosquitoes, he fled frantically to the left.

The swarm finally spotted a prey and, sensing a powerful soul, chased after it excitedly. Each mosquito was about the size of an adult, and with their wings, they appeared even larger. The sound of their wings buzzing was terrifying, and they thrust their long, sharp beaks forward like sharp spears, attacking Halechi.

Although troubled, Halechi wasn’t afraid. He controlled the altar, cursing as he fired fireballs backward repeatedly. His goal wasn’t to kill the mosquitoes but to delay them long enough to create distance and avoid contact.

“I hate mosquitoes… especially big ones!”

Halechi didn’t dare turn around to fight. Once surrounded by the swarm, even as an eighth-tier altar practitioner, he would be in grave trouble. With his cowardly personality, he would run as far as possible.

Chased by the swarm of giant mosquitoes, he soon became disoriented and lost track of where he was. In the desert, with no landmarks and similar terrain over hundreds of kilometers, Halechi was confused. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Damn it… mosquitoes…” He sent his sacrificial weapon flying, slashing backward. This strike knocked down several black-spotted mosquitoes, leaving behind a massive crack thousands of meters long on the ground.

Halechi was furious and desperate. It was his angry slash, powerful indeed, but of little use against the swarm of black-spotted mosquitoes. It was his anger that made him resort to such a drastic measure against them. Those mosquitoes were incredibly fast; by the time his sword descended, they had already darted to the side, allowing him to strike only a few. Frustrated, he let out a loud roar.
“Damn it… What kind of stupid mosquitoes… How dare they keep biting me like this…”
As the swarm of black-spotted mosquitoes gradually fell behind, Halechi finally felt a bit relieved. If he had been trapped by them, things would have been unbearable. But before he could enjoy his brief respite, he heard a buzzing sound in the distance. A large swarm of black-spotted mosquitoes surged from ahead, covering the sky. Halechi screamed, “Damn it… More!”
This time, Halechi’s expression truly changed—there were thousands of these mosquitoes, plus those behind him. With such a massive attack, he had no chance of standing his ground. What could have been a fight now meant only escape; he simply couldn’t battle so many mosquitoes.
Turning around, Halechi frantically drove the altar. The two swarms quickly merged and began chasing after him.
Halechi was at his wits’ end, cursing, “Damn it, who did I offend? A bunch of mosquitoes can’t stand me, so now another swarm shows up. With this little blood of mine… even if I give it to you all… which mosquito would be satisfied? Why won’t you leave me alone… I’m not some damn female mosquito…” Panicked, he spoke recklessly.
The altar flew around in the air, circling several times before Halechi became completely lost.
…
On his journey, Guo Shier encountered a few sand worms. After killing them, he released spirit beasts to devour them. After finally getting the spirit beasts in the Soul Calming Cauldron to feed in turn, he couldn’t help but sigh, “How many mutated talisman beasts or large mutated talisman worms would it take to feed them? I can’t afford it… I really can’t.”
The handsome old man said, “Kid, what do you mean you can’t afford it? Spirit beasts won’t die; at most, they’ll become weak. If things get bad, they can even eat each other. What are you thinking?”
Guo Shier replied, “Only the first sand worm was somewhat interesting. The ones that appeared later were far inferior. Strange… there are no mutated talisman beasts or aberrant talisman beasts here… Never mind. I wasn’t looking for those anyway. Hopefully, I can find some treasures like Earth Fiends ahead.”
The handsome old man said, “Look over there… Is that a mountain?”

Guo Shieru cast the vision-enhancing spell and said, “Mountains? There are mountains here? Let me take a look… Uh, I still can’t see clearly. It seems there are some undulations. Alright, let’s go take a look…” He steered the altar and flew toward the left. In just a few moments, he could see clearly and said, “That’s not a mountain…”
That thing jutted out alone in the desert, like a dozen small mounds connected together. Now that they were closer, Guo Shieru also saw a dense swarm of ants, each one a foot long. “An ant nest… It’s an ant nest…” He quickly controlled the altar to retreat.
But it was too late. Dozens of flying ants flew past not far from the altar before turning and charging toward it, while a few others flew toward the ant nest. Guo Shieru sighed and said, “I used to be afraid of you guys, but now… Hehe, just little ants. Even though you’ve mutated…”