Chapter 2: Clashing (Part 1)

Guo Shier said, “Remember, you Tianling clan members can come to us for revenge, but don’t try any sneaky attacks. Otherwise… we’ll wipe out everyone from your Tianling clan in these ruins!” He was utterly fed up with those inexplicable ambushes.
Kasa didn’t dare argue. With the opponent’s strength, there was no way to defeat them without a sneak attack. But given such a severe warning, he couldn’t afford to be careless either. He quickly replied, “Yes, I’ll prevent that from happening.”
Guo Shier nodded and said, “You may go now…”
Only then did Kasa turn and fly into the air, his heart filled with bitterness. By provoking three top professionals from the Spellcraft Clan, he had to abandon a supply point, and so many skilled members of his clan had died in the ancient ruins. The losses from this expedition were enormous. As soon as he took off, he heard someone shout, and the detection devices of the Starry Armory also went off—devices he had set up specifically for the Void Worms. Once a Void Worm entered the detection range, the alarm would sound.
He turned sharply and saw a group of flying vehicles speeding toward them from afar.
About a dozen Void Worms followed behind, with a dozen small black dots tracking them. Guo Shier and the others noticed the Void Worms even earlier than Kasa. Li Ran said, “They’re scattered like this? Heh, interested in fighting them?” He was very curious about the Void Worms. Earlier, he had only had to avoid them because of their sheer numbers. Even with his ability to break through barriers, he hadn’t dared engage them. Now that there were only a dozen Void Worms, he felt tempted to explore them further.
Guo Shier was shocked. “Fight the Void Worms? Brother, those things are nothing but moving spatial rifts—no, countless intertwined spatial rifts. How can we fight them?”
Kasa also heard Li Ran’s words. Thanks to the Starry Armory, every movement around them was detected. He immediately thought of eavesdropping—this was a rare opportunity. He secretly thought that even if those people couldn’t defeat the Void Worms, he still had time to escape. Having experienced an encounter with a swarm of worms before, he knew that as long as he could outrun the others, he had a chance to survive. And there were many here whose strength was inferior to his, so he was confident he could escape. There was no need to leave right away.
Qi Wu Zhen also became somewhat interested. She said, “Good, let’s fight them. I want to find their weaknesses too.”

Cerislin was drenched in cold sweat. These people were truly audacious, daring to fight against such monstrous insects. She had witnessed firsthand the power of these strange bugs—they were utterly devastating, destroying everything in their path. She couldn’t imagine how to fight against them.

Guo Shier said, “Cerislin, fly over there and wait for us. If we don’t return, you don’t need to wait any longer.”

Cerislin wanted to fight with them, but she knew clearly that staying here would only be a burden; she couldn’t help them at all. Reluctantly, she said, “Okay, I’ll go wait there. I… hope you can return safely.” With that, she flew away into the distance, feeling extremely uneasy. She had never hated herself so much before. That sense of powerlessness nearly drove her mad.

Li Ran and the other two floated side by side, quietly waiting for the Void Insects to arrive. Guo Shier said, “There are eleven Void Insects in total, quite scattered… Why do these things hunt living beings? You see, they show little interest in other things, but they stare intently at humans. I don’t know why.”

Qi Wuzhen observed carefully and said, “We’ll only know when we fight. I’m not very confident.”

Li Ran nodded. “Even if we can’t win, escaping isn’t a problem. We can give it a try. Don’t worry. If all else fails, I’ll use the Boundary Breaker to help us break through.” Though they seemed fearless, every move they made had been carefully planned.

Kasa hid on the outskirts of the supply point, concealed behind a huge rock. The Starry Armory hadn’t been fully activated; only its detection function was turned up to the maximum, allowing him to spy on the battlefield. He truly admired these people for daring to fight such insects. At the same time, he was very curious about how they would fight. He had carefully calculated that if he fought a Void Insect, his chances of survival would be less than one percent—essentially certain death.

He still couldn’t believe that the professionals of the Spellcraft Clan were so powerful. In his judgment, these people must be absolute top experts among them. He thought to himself that whether they won or lost, he would be happy. If they died, he could avenge himself through the Void Insects. If they won, he would learn the weaknesses of those insects. No matter the outcome, he felt he had an advantage.

Cecilin ran even farther as Guo Shier repeatedly sent messages to her, urging her to increase the distance. After all, the Void Worms moved at incredible speeds, and even Guo Shier and his group found it hard to escape their pursuit. If it hadn’t been for the ancient ruins and the many Tianling clan members willing to serve as sacrificial fodder, they would likely still be being chased by the swarm. The Void Worms might be related to space, which explained their unique mode of movement—fast not only but also capable of boosting each other’s speed by leveraging one another’s momentum.

As for the Void Worms, Li Ran and his two companions only knew a little about their speed and their ability to destroy everything else; they knew nothing else about them, so they all felt as if facing a formidable enemy.

The flying vehicles were still about ten kilometers away from the supply point, desperately fleeing toward it. They were people who had taken the wrong direction—some from the Tianling clan and others from various other tribes, totaling around a few hundred people, riding in more than thirty flying vehicles. Some of these vehicles had superior performance and were at the front, being high-quality machines from the Mechanical Clan. There were also a dozen or so vehicles with inferior performance, far behind, already being approached by the Void Worms.

It was terrifying to watch those vehicles one by one being approached by the Void Worms, disappearing one after another, only to be chased down by another worm until all of them vanished. The speed of their disappearance was so fast that the people inside couldn’t even scream before turning into nothingness in an instant.

As if spurred on by a whip to the back, the remaining vehicles sped up frantically, even at the risk of damage. One vehicle that had been at the front suddenly malfunctioned due to excessive speed, spinning in midair before being caught up by two worms in just a few moments. The two Void Worms passed through the vehicle side by side, leaving behind only debris—no trace of the vehicle remained.

By the time they reached the edge of the supply point, only seven or eight out of the thirty-plus vehicles remained; the rest had all disappeared.

Li Ran shouted, “Scatter! If something goes wrong, evacuate immediately!”

Hearing this, Guo Shier instantly teleported away. Qi Wuzhen smiled faintly—she wasn’t nervous at all. A streak of flames appeared in the air, and in an instant, she vanished. Li Ran waited quietly, with talismanic lights flashing around him. He didn’t dare be careless either and hid his Breakthrough Technique inside his body, ready to unleash it at the most critical moment. He stared intently at the Void Worms, waiting for them to arrive.

The flying vehicles rushed into the supply point with a roar. At the same time, Li Ran’s entire body glowed brightly. Countless tentacles made of runes extended from his body, colorful and creating a dazzling scene. The entire supply point was illuminated by the flashing talismanic lights.

Kasa stared in astonishment. Even without the detection device, he could see Li Ran clearly. The detection device emitted warnings one after another. Kasa glanced at the data displayed by the detector, his eyes almost popping out—those were incredible numbers. Was this really the opponent’s true strength? He thought that if the opponent had such power, they could crush him with just one hand without wasting any time. It was too powerful. No wonder they dared to confront such terrifying Void Worms.

The four Void Worms, which had been tracking several flying vehicles, spotted Li Ran. As if smelling prey, they silently rushed forward at such speed that even Li Ran was slightly shocked. He slapped out with his hand, not daring to stay in place, and instantly disappeared, teleporting away. His highly refined Rune Palm also struck the Void Worm.

Kasa widened his eyes, staring intently at the battlefield monitor of Starlight Armor. What appeared before him was a three-dimensional battle scene. He could clearly see the Rune Palm being thrown, trembling with tension.

As soon as the Rune Palm approached the Void Worm, countless tiny cracks spread across its body. In an instant, the rune structure began to disintegrate. But runes were not ordinary matter—they were a kind of rule, a form of spiritual power. Even when cut apart, their power remained intact. Like a series of firecrackers exploding with a crackling sound, followed by a loud blast that sent the Void Worm flying. The Rune Palm was completely destroyed, with its fragments scattering everywhere.

Kasa couldn’t help but exclaim, “Good heavens… It’s possible to attack the worm’s core!” He had seen the dominance of Void Worms—anything that touched their bodies instantly turned to nothingness, not even lasting a second. Yet Li Ran managed to fling it away. What kind of insane technique was that? He couldn’t help but feel immense fear toward Li Ran and the others.

In an instant, Li Ran appeared a hundred meters away. Seeing the Rune Palm send the Void Worm flying, he was overjoyed and said, “The attack powered by runes is effective!”

At this moment, Guo Shier suffered a setback—his Moon Blade was damaged, leaving him howling in anger. The Moon Blade had been with him for a long time, evolving from an ancient talisman that he refined bit by bit until it became what it is now, requiring countless efforts from him. He had once possessed better sacrificial treasures, but he had always used the Moon Blade, so its damage caused him extreme pain. Earlier, he had tried to attack using the Moon Blade, not daring to use his true form yet, only employing its shadow attacks, which still affected the blade’s core.

After several rapid teleportations to dodge the Void Worm’s attacks, Guo Shier was drenched in cold sweat. He knew very well that he couldn’t let the Void Worm get close—those swirling spatial cracks around it could cause a cut with just the slightest contact, a type of cutting force that was impossible to resist, far more powerful than any physical cutting in the world. This creature operated on spatial rules; to be precise, it wasn’t cutting but rather splitting space.

Only upon hearing Li Ran’s shout did Guo Shier calm down. He instantly unleashed a rune palm strike, slamming it hard onto the approaching Void Worm and blocking its attack right away.