Chapter 7: The Void Worm (Part 1)

A dark spot followed them from afar—whether it was a spatial rift or something else was unclear. Guo Shier didn’t see clearly, only feeling that the thing seemed to keep flying alongside them. He couldn’t help but say, “Brother Li Ran, Sister Qi Wu Zhen, look at what’s behind us. Is it following us?”
Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen turned to look, also puzzled. Their vision wasn’t much better than Guo Shier’s—after all, their strengths were roughly comparable. Even if they had slightly better eyesight than him, it wasn’t by much, so if Guo Shier couldn’t see it clearly, they couldn’t either.
Li Ran said, “Whatever it is, let’s change direction and see if it follows.”
Since they no longer needed to break through spatial barriers, they both realized the dark spot behind them had little to do with spatial rifts and was likely something else. They didn’t have time to figure out what it was; the better to stay as far away as possible at this moment.
Guo Shier analyzed, “I don’t think it’s a spatial rift. Maybe it’s some powerful creature forced out by spatial collapse… It probably isn’t easy to deal with. Forget it, let’s speed up.” He reached out and grabbed Seraphine—she was the one slowing down their flight speed. Having worked together for so long, Seraphine understood this, so instead of resisting, she moved closer to Guo Shier, hugged his arm, and said, “Fly with me.”
At that moment, the two looked like a young couple, though neither of them had such intentions. With Guo Shier’s experience and mindset, he long had no interest in such things. If he could settle down, he might consider finding a partner, but right now he didn’t want to burden anyone.
As for Seraphine, she didn’t have such thoughts either. She was a fanatic who valued strength above everything else; other matters simply couldn’t compete with that. Even regarding Guo Shier, she only saw his extremely formidable strength and wanted to learn from him to improve her own abilities. Moreover, she needed to rely on Guo Shier to survive in this terrifying place.
Seraphine was well aware that if she were to act alone now, her chances of surviving were almost zero.

The four of them immediately turned around. After flying for a few hours, they found that the small black dot was still behind them. At their speed, they could cover great distances in just a short while, yet only that black dot kept following them. Gradually, their expressions turned grim. Guo Shier said, “It really is following us. Should we check what it is?”
Li Ran hesitated for a moment before saying, “Forget it. Don’t look. Let’s fly for a while longer. I don’t believe that thing will keep following us.”
Qi Wu Zhen said, “Let’s change direction again. If it still follows, whatever it is, we’ll eliminate it!”
Guo Shier agreed, “Good idea!”
Li Ran immediately changed direction. In fact, their overall direction hadn’t changed; they were just taking a zigzag path.
A few hours later, Li Ran said, “It’s still following…”
No matter how fast or slow they flew, no matter if they turned or flew straight, that small black dot remained far behind them, or rather, it was still visible to them. This time, not only Li Ran couldn’t hold back anymore, but Qi Wu Zhen and Guo Shier also felt impatient.
Li Ran said, “Let’s rest for a while. When that thing comes over, we can eat something too.”
The four of them landed on the ground. Cereslin, regardless of how dirty it was, lay down without caring about her appearance—she was truly exhausted, too tired to move. Guo Shier also sat down and said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been this exhausted… this damned place!” As he spoke, he took out some marinated meat and cakes, along with some fruit wine to drink as a substitute for soup, which was both hydrating and convenient.
The four of them ate and drank quickly, keeping a close eye on the black dot in the distance. Soon, the black dot grew a bit larger.
Guo Shier asked, “Can we see clearly what it is? I can’t.”
Cereslin shook her head. “I can’t see clearly either, but that black dot has gotten a bit bigger…”
About half an hour later, Guo Shier exclaimed in surprise, “Strange. It’s not one thing, but a group… tiny… things clustered together. Could they be insects?” Based on his experience, those shapes seemed to be clusters of insects, as their form was unstable—sometimes clear, sometimes blurry. He had seen insect swarms before, so he concluded that these things were very likely insects.
Soon, Li Ran confirmed, “Shier is right. It’s insects!”
Qi Wu Zhen asked, “There aren’t any creatures in this place. How could insects appear here?”
Guo Shier suddenly said, “They’re not easy to deal with…”
Cereslin asked curiously, “Insects? What’s so hard about them?”

Guo Shier said, “Insects that can survive in such a terrifying place—would they be easy to deal with?”
Another ten minutes passed, and Li Ran’s expression gradually changed. He said in a grave tone, “Run… Damn it, these aren’t ordinary insects. Have you heard of Void Worms? I guess these are them. Look below the swarm…”
When Guo Shier saw clearly, his face turned pale as well. It was a terrifying sight—wherever the Void Worms flew, any substance nearby turned to nothingness. If the swarm approached the ground, large chunks of it would vanish instantly, erased without warning. A chill ran through his heart; these were not creatures that could exist in normal space.
The four of them didn’t dare stay any longer and immediately soared into the sky, flying desperately away. Seriously, anyone who tried to probe them would be a fool.
As they raced ahead, the distance between them and the swarm gradually increased. But despairingly, the swarm continued to follow at a steady pace. It was unclear why they were fixated on the four of them. According to Guo Shier’s understanding, these Void Worms might be interested in them. Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle—being hunted by such grotesque insects was terrifying. All four of them were sensitive and sensed the danger.
Guo Shier secretly complained to the handsome old man, asking, “Handsome Old Man, what do you know about these Void Worms?”
The handsome old man replied lazily, “I have no idea. I’ve never heard of any Void Worms.”
Guo Shier said, “I’m not sure if I can resist them. If they catch up, I guess… I’m done.”
The handsome old man comforted him, “It’s okay. After all, you have a powerful elder brother and a powerful elder sister. It won’t be your turn until they’re all done…” His soul’s aura remained extremely calm.
Guo Shier snapped angrily, “If I’m done, you’ll be done too!”
The handsome old man smiled and said, “You’ll be done before me. As for whether I’ll be done, that’s not something you need to worry about. So, I’m not worried.”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but curse, “You heartless old man!”
The handsome old man said, “Kid, are you only realizing now who I am? No, what kind of soul I am?”
Guo Shier was speechless. But after the handsome old man’s teasing, he felt much more relaxed. He said, “Elder Brother Li Ran, Sister Zhen, we need to find a way to get rid of these insects. Do you have any ideas? Flying like this forever won’t work. It might be okay for a short time, but not in the long run…”

Ceriselle reminded, “Don’t you have a mech race speeder? It can be used for transportation.”
Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “That won’t work.”
Ceriselle asked, “Why not?”
Before Guo Shier could answer, Li Ran spoke up first, “Speeders can’t detect spatial rifts ahead. If you’re in a speeder, it’s easy to crash straight into one. Hehe, if that happens… we won’t have time to react, and we’ll be torn to pieces along with the speeder.”
Ceriselle immediately lost her spirit and said, “Then what do we do?”
In the World of Spells, this problem was easy to solve, but not here. In the World of Spells, they could deploy an altar and take turns controlling it, so that only one person needed to fly while the others could rest on the altar. As long as their soul energy wasn’t depleted, they could keep flying endlessly.
Qi Wuzhen stretched out her hand and cast a spell, sending out several purple chains. She said, “I’ll fly ahead with you guys first, then we’ll take turns pulling. This way, we can fly for longer. We’ll figure something out along the way. For now, this is the only option. Hopefully, they’ll leave on their own.”
Li Ran thought for a moment and said, “That’s good. I guess these Void Worms can’t stay in this space for long. The spatial rules must impose restrictions on them. As long as we hold out long enough, we might be able to deal with them.”
…
Three days later.
After the long flight, the four of them felt quite exhausted. The distance and flight time weren’t unbearable; it was mainly the growing pressure behind them. Along the way, the Void Worms were ten thousand times worse than locusts—anything they touched disappeared, leaving behind countless huge holes and ravines on the ground.
They encountered many remnants of the Ancient Sky Spirit Clan along the way, but Li Ran and the others didn’t have time to search. They watched as one ruin after another was destroyed by the Void Worms. By calculation, they were almost at the ancient city of the Ancient Sky Spirit Clan. If they rushed in, that city would likely be destroyed by the Void Worms too. But at this point, they didn’t dare to stop or change direction casually; they could only force themselves to keep flying forward.
Now, it was Guo Shier who was carrying the three of them through the air. Three purple chains connected to their waists, allowing them to maintain balance with minimal effort and keep up with Guo Shier’s flight speed.
At this moment, Guo Shier could faintly see large remnants of buildings in the distance. He asked, “Is that the ancient city of the Ancient Sky Spirit Clan?”

Li Ran staggered slightly, broke free from the chains, and vanished from that spot in an instant. Qi Wu Zhen also freed himself from the purple chains and quickly teleported away. Guo Shier said, “Why rush? Wait for me!” With a gesture of his hand, Seraphine was pulled over by the rune chains, and he hugged her tightly, saying, “Let’s chase after them.”
Seraphine felt her body tighten slightly as the wind around her grew stronger, realizing that Guo Shier’s speed had become extremely fast. She asked, “Do we have time to search the ruins?”