Chapter 5: Eliminating Mosquitoes (Part 2)

The handsome old man shouted, “Kid, if they don’t run now… these mosquitoes will go extinct!”
Guo Shier and Halechi cried out together, “Yao Zebusong!”
Hearing this call, Yao Zebusong was overjoyed. He had been extremely annoyed and immediately roared, “Damn it, I’m coming!” He flew over with the swarm of mosquitoes. Even halfway there, the mosquitoes behind him scattered and fled into the distance.
The three of them gathered together, looking at each other with grimy faces. After a while, they burst into laughter.
It was finally over. Among the three, Guo Shier reaped the most benefits—nearly a million black-spotted mosquitoes, almost all devoured by the spirit beasts. Many of the spirit beasts advanced as a result, leaving behind countless black-spotted mosquito carcasses. Though their flesh and souls were gone, their bodies still contained many valuable items.
Guo Shier used the Soul Suppressing Cauldron to collect the black-spotted mosquitoes around the altar and threw them at the mutated ant swarm. He then moved the remaining mosquito carcasses from the cauldron into the ant colony, where they piled up like mountains.
The ants immediately started working, using the mosquito carcasses to build their nests. With their huge numbers and the inability to chew through the surface of the Soul Suppressing Cauldron, they searched for materials to build their nests until they found the remaining mosquito carcasses. The bodies of black-spotted mosquitoes were extremely tough—whether it was their wings or shells, or even their sharp beaks, which were so hard that even the mutated ants couldn’t bite through them.
The ants weren’t picky; they ate whatever was available. They used the toughest parts to construct their nests. They secreted a strange sticky substance to quickly bind the hard carcasses together, and in just a short time, a framework for the nest took shape. Only then did Guo Shier stop observing and turn his attention outside.
When Guo Shier opened his eyes, he saw Yao Zebusong and Halechi lying on the altar, in defense mode, fast asleep. He immediately felt extremely tired and said, “Handsome old man, keep an eye on things for me. I need to sleep!”
The handsome old man knew Guo Shier was exhausted. He reminded him, “It’s better to chant first to restore your soul.” He had already obtained Guo Shier’s scriptures and would sometimes chant them to refine and strengthen his own soul. Thus, his soul was no worse than that of a professional from the ninth-tier altar.
Guo Shier nodded, sat down on the altar, and began chanting silently.

Waves of soul vibrations spread out. Yao Zebusong and Halechi were nearby; as soon as the soul fluctuations began, they woke up. Halechi was familiar with such vibrations, so he said nothing and simply sat there, feeling them silently. Yao Zebusong, on the other hand, was experiencing this for the first time, his face showing shock. But being shrewd, he quickly adjusted his mood and immersed himself in it as well. The benefits were obvious—better to enjoy them first.

This chanting session took a full four hours. It wasn’t Guo Shier’s intention to make it so long; rather, he had expended too much energy in eliminating the black-spotted mosquitoes. After consuming several soul pearls, his soul contained impurities. Through the purification of the soul scriptures, it was completely restored after four hours, with all those impurities removed.

Exhaling a puff of foul air, Guo Shier didn’t even open his eyes before collapsing onto the altar and falling into deep sleep. Shuai Laotou immediately activated his defenses to shield him from the outside world.

Yao Zebusong looked at Guo Shier with complex emotions. He now admired Guo Shier to the extreme. In just four short hours, Guo Shier’s soul had become slightly purer. At his current level, his soul could no longer grow or become purer—it could only strive to prevent it from deteriorating. Yet these soul vibrations had brought him tremendous benefits.

He had originally wanted to ask Guo Shier what was going on, but the guy just fell asleep as soon as he lay down. Yao Zebusong smiled to himself, realizing that even if he asked, he wouldn’t get any answers. After all, this was Guo Shier’s secret technique. The fact that he could benefit from it already showed respect from Guo Shier. If he were ungrateful and got mocked, it would be even more embarrassing.

Yao Zebusong and Halechi also lay on the altar and quickly fell into deep sleep.

They slept for three days. When Guo Shier woke up, he surprisingly found himself hungry. He looked around but saw no one, so he quickly called out, “Shuai Laotou, Shuai Laotou!”

Shuai Laotou poked his head out from the altar and said, “Why are you shouting? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “Heh, have those two left?”

Shuai Laotou laughed, “They ran away yesterday. They whispered something and then left quietly.”

Guo Shier said helplessly, “Those two must have gone searching for treasures first.” He added, “I’ll eat something first and then hurry up and go look…” Before he could finish, a message token flew through the air. It was from Li Ran, telling him to return immediately—they were preparing to head to the next layer, the sixth continent.

Guo Shieru took out some cured meat and started eating. The handsome old man steered the altar out of the dunes and headed toward where the talisman had come from. While the old man was busy operating the altar, Guo Shieru ate and drank his fill to stave off hunger, then turned his attention to the Soul Calming Cauldron. In just a few days, the ant nests had been fully established. There were four nests in total—the one in the center was occupied by the queen, while the nests arranged in a triangular pattern on the outside were home to the other ants. All the ant eggs collected, except for those Guo Shieru kept aside, were taken to the central nest, where the queen laid more eggs. Guo Shieru placed some Earth Fiends beneath the nests and added a little Gold Fiend as well, to see if the ants would mutate again. He then focused his mind on another area, where there were tens of thousands of black-spotted mosquitoes, at least all of them being mutated black-spotted mosquitoes of level ten or higher. He wasn’t trying to raise mosquitoes but rather preparing food for the ants; these mosquitoes would be enough to feed them for a while. After continuing to nurture the Soul Calming Cauldron with souls, Guo Shieru stepped back and asked, “How much further?” The handsome old man replied, “We’re almost there. It’s a shame… there’s no time left. Otherwise, we could collect more Earth Fiend beads. Are we moving too fast? For each continent, we should stay for at least a year or two, or at least a hundred or so days. It’s only been a few days, and they’re already in a hurry to leave… There’s no need to be so eager.” Guo Shieru also felt that they were moving too fast, with no time to explore carefully before moving on to the next continent. However, this was a decision made by Li Ran, and he had no reason to object. He said, “It’s fine. Anyway, we’ve left coordinates for each continent, so we can return at any time and explore slowly then.” The handsome old man nodded and said, “There are many good things on these continents. I’m really looking forward to the next one.” … Li Ran, Qi Wu Zhen, Zhen Wu Ji, Ge Ha, Yao Ze Bu Song, and Ha Le Chi each sat on the altar, silent, waiting. After waiting for a day, Li Ran asked, “Who was with Shieru last?” He only asked now because at first, everyone had gone in different directions, and he had merely asked casually. Ha Le Chi replied, “I and Yao Ze Bu Song… Well, when we left, Shieru was sleeping.” Li Ran was taken aback and said, “Sleeping? Why sleep when everything’s fine?” He couldn’t understand at all—after all, a professional from the Ninth-Level Altar could easily go days without sleep. Ha Le Chi said, “He killed about a million black-spotted mosquitoes… He’s too tired.”

Everyone stared in shock at Halechi. A million black-spotted mosquitoes—a truly terrifying number. Qi Wu Zhen asked, “How is it possible to encounter so many black-spotted mosquitoes?”
Yao Zebusong said, “It’s all because of Halechi’s mistakes. Even I got dragged into this mess. We were chased everywhere, not knowing what to do. Luckily, we met Guo Shier; otherwise, things would have been really troublesome.”
At the mention of black-spotted mosquitoes, Halechi was filled with anger. He knew he had handled the situation poorly from the start. If he had decided to fight right when the mosquitoes first appeared, even with tens of thousands of them, he could have defeated them, even if not all of them. But he chose to flee, resulting in an increasing number of mosquitoes, almost trapping him to death. If it weren’t for Yao Zebusong and Guo Shier, he would still be running around with those mosquitoes.
Li Ran understood the horror of a million insects. No matter what kind of mutated符worms, once they reached such a number, even if their level wasn’t high, they posed a serious threat. He asked, “How was it solved?” Curious, he then realized, “Guo Shier has a Spirit Beast. Well, then they’re not afraid of being surrounded.”
Yao Zebusong said, “He didn’t use his Spirit Beast… He’s here. The senior can ask him himself.”
A glow of符light flashed on the horizon. In just a few moments, Guo Shier returned on his altar, saying, “Ah, you all arrived. Sorry, I overslept…”
Li Ran laughed and said, “You lazy guy. By the way, how did you kill so many black-spotted mosquitoes?”
Guo Shier smiled proudly, “See how amazing I am? Millions of mosquitoes—well, I killed at least eight hundred thousand of them.”
Qi Wu Zhen curled her lips and said, “I could eliminate half of them with one move, and all of them with two moves. What’s there to brag about?” With her strength, she wasn’t exaggerating. A single Fire Sacrifice move could indeed wipe out half of the mosquitoes. But in this world, she was a peak-level expert, unmatched except by Li Ran.
Guo Shier immediately looked distressed and said, “Sister Zhen, who would dare compare to you…”
Qi Wu Zhen smiled slightly, and all the men present found it unbearable. Halechi’s almond-shaped eyes almost popped out. The others turned away, unable to look any longer. The woman was fine with a serious expression, but when she smiled, it was truly deadly.

Guo Shier coughed and said, “Actually, I didn’t kill them. Instead, I used a feature of the Soul-Calming Cauldron to gradually move the mosquito swarm into it. Hehe, it took a few days, and most of the mosquitoes were eliminated, which is why we were able to defeat them. I was just too exhausted; after that, I slept for three days straight.”

Li Ran nodded and said, “No wonder. There are many good things on this layer of the continent. I’ve found quite a few. When you have time, you can keep searching here. Xiao Zhenzhen, shall we head to the next layer?”

Qi Wuzhen rolled her eyes and said, “With your strength, you probably can’t take everyone there.”

Li Ran smiled and said, “Based on our experience from the previous layer, each layer gets harder. If we don’t go, they might only reach the fifth layer at most. They probably won’t be able to reach the sixth layer. Let me try to tear open this layer of space—it should be very difficult.” Sure enough, as he tried to tear open the space, the crack existed for only a few moments before disappearing with a loud noise.

This was beyond everyone’s expectations, even Qi Wuzhen was surprised. She said, “Huh, so resilient?” Then she raised her hands, releasing countless virtual talismans that created a crack, which also vanished in just a few moments.

Everyone’s expression turned serious. This was the sixth layer of the continent. According to Guo Shier’s estimate, such a crack could only allow one person to pass through at most. This was quite troublesome.