Chapter 9: The Disaster of the Ancient City (Part 2)

In just over twenty minutes, the entire ancient city turned into a giant crater, with everything disappearing. The Void Worms continued their pursuit, chasing after the still-moving flying cars and spaceships. The people of the Tianling tribe were terrified; they didn’t know how to escape. The flying cars and spaceships flew around chaotically like flies, with ships fleeing in all three directions except those pursued by the worms.

Soon, the Void Worms split into three groups, chasing in different directions. They seemed highly interested in living beings, just as they had pursued Li Ran and the others before.

The Grand Elder was the first to flee, so he went the farthest. Wearing starlight armor, his speed wasn’t as fast as Li Ran’s group’s, but it was enough to keep ahead of the rest of his tribe. Behind him was a group of about twenty Tianling tribesmen dressed in royal armor. There had originally been many wearing royal armor, but some were killed by Li Ran’s group, and others had their armor destroyed, leaving only a few left.

Following were various spaceships—about seven or eight, including two battleships that were slightly faster, along with transport ships. After that came numerous flying cars, hundreds in total. Then there were some clever tribesmen who reacted quickly and had already escaped the ancient city, but they soon saw the Void Worms closing in.

The Void Worms following them accounted for only a quarter of the entire swarm, yet none could resist them. One after another, the Tianling tribesmen disappeared. As the worms approached, each of them let out desperate screams: “Save me! Help me!” The cries filled the air before they vanished one by one.

Those on the flying cars witnessed this horror and frantically accelerated, with many turning sideways to avoid the swarm. But once they separated from the main group, small groups of Void Worms pursued them. It seemed no one could escape—there was no way to flee, as if they were determined to exterminate everyone. The Void Worms made no sound, silently chasing from behind. This silent slaughter was even more terrifying.

The Grand Elder didn’t need to turn around; through his Starfield Armor, he could see what was behind him. He watched as one after another of his people disappeared—whether wearing royal armor or unarmed, whether on flying vehicles or spaceships—once caught by the Void Worms, their fate was the same: vanishing silently. Growing increasingly terrified, he didn’t know what these creatures were, but he knew that if caught by them, he too would be unable to resist. Even wearing the highest-grade royal armor of the Tianling clan would be of no use, perhaps only buying a few extra seconds before death.

He desperately pumped energy into his Starfield Armor to maximize its speed, but dared not overload it, as the consequences of overuse would be equally terrifying. Thus, he carefully controlled the armor, trying to stay away from the Void Worms.

The fleeing Tianling clan members disappeared one by one, and soon only a handful remained alive. They were terrified beyond measure, flying around chaotically like flies with no direction. A few, in despair, turned to attack the Void Worms, roaring as they charged—only to vanish instantly, serving no purpose at all.

The Void Worms continued to devour them bit by bit, until only one spaceship was left—a battleship carrying five elite clan members dressed in royal armor. The ordinary members had been abandoned, along with all weapons and movable items, to reduce weight and allow faster flight.

After several splits, the swarm of Void Worms had thinned out, but there were still thousands chasing them. The Grand Elder flew at the front, clearly seeing what was behind. The technology of his Starfield Armor was highly advanced, allowing it to communicate with the spaceship. At that moment, he saw a glimmer of hope for escape. He immediately ordered the few people in royal armor to leave the ship and scatter to flee.

At this point, the Grand Elder was willing to sacrifice the remaining elite members to try and scatter the swarm once more.

The elite Tianling clan members on the ship looked at each other in shock. The Grand Elder’s order filled them with utter despair—it meant certain death, without a doubt. But staying on the ship meant certain death as well; once the ship’s energy ran out, no one could escape. Yet being ordered to disembark and flee on their own clearly meant using them as bait to distract the swarm, so they hesitated to act.

The Grand Elder kept looking behind him and noticed no movement on the ships behind. Filled with rage, he shouted, “Act now, or… even if you escape those insects, I’ll kill you!”
All members of the Tianling clan knew how powerful the ultimate armors were. Even if they defied orders, the Grand Elder could use the Starfield Armor to attack the ships. If the ships were destroyed, they would have to scatter and flee. At this point, they had no choice but to obey. Though they hated it, there was no other way out. As they left the ships, they went berserk, throwing all the crew members out to buy some time.
Only then did they jump off the ships and flee in different directions.
Hundreds of Void Insects immediately separated from the main group to pursue them. In an instant, thousands of Void Insects split into several groups. At this moment, the Grand Elder also changed direction, flying at a wild angle. He knew that their chance of escape depended on this attempt. If it failed, there would be no escaping—only death. Since half of the energy of the Starfield Armor had already been used, although he had a hidden pouch containing energy that could recharge it twice, he couldn’t afford any mistakes. This was a life-or-death moment.
After flying for about half an hour, the warning sound of the Starfield Armor began to sound, signaling that the energy was about to run out. He immediately switched it. The energy could have lasted a while longer, but he didn’t dare delay, fearing that insect swarms might suddenly appear behind him. So he switched it right away and increased his speed to escape faster. Although he couldn’t see the Void Insects through the Starfield Armor, he couldn’t be careless. He knew that often, people died inexplicably because they missed their last chance.
After splitting multiple times, the swarm of Void Insects grew smaller. Though they were still a great threat, it was much easier for the fleeing Grand Elder. Being chased by a swarm of Void Insects created immense pressure that could drive anyone crazy. Even as a skilled member of the Tianling clan wearing the Starfield Armor, he couldn’t bear it.
After flying for a few more hours, the Grand Elder finally breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure if he had escaped danger, but he knew he was temporarily safe. He immediately checked the map. Through the Starfield Armor, he had a complete map of the ruins—these were the ruins of the ancient Tianling clan, with maps passed down since ancient times.

The dead Basrong didn’t have such a complete map. The Grand Elder’s map was the most complete, as his status in the Tianling tribe was unique—he was a true high-ranking figure, a source of deterrence. Just like in the World of Spells, where the eighth and ninth-tier altars served as a deterrent, they didn’t handle specific tasks, but whenever they intervened, those in charge had no choice but to obey.

After taking a quick look at the map, the Grand Elder realized he had entered another dangerous area, which made him slightly annoyed. Yet, compared to facing the Void Worms, he preferred this area. It was also a so-called unstable region with numerous spatial rifts. Ordinary experts who entered usually couldn’t get out, but the Grand Elder was confident he could escape smoothly, thanks to the Star Armament’s detection devices, which could accurately pinpoint the locations of the spatial rifts.

Spatial rifts, especially the small ones, were hard to detect even for experts. But with the Star Armament, these weren’t problems. Although it couldn’t cut through spatial rifts, it could avoid them, giving it an advantage over many experts.

The Grand Elder changed direction and redefined his route. He paid close attention to the flight path of the Void Worms. Based on the analysis from the Star Armament’s devices, the direction he was flying in had a very low chance of encountering them—though not absolutely, just a small probability—it was the best escape route.

…

Li Ran and the others flew for a long time before noticing that the small black dot behind them had completely disappeared. Guo Shier turned back several times before finally concluding, “It seems we’ve shaken off the Void Worms!”

Qi Wu Zhen also said, “Mm, I can no longer sense any danger. We should be free from those Void Worms now.”

Guo Shier let out a long sigh and said, “To be honest, those little bugs put a tremendous amount of pressure on people. I wonder how such creatures could exist.”

Li Ran replied calmly, “They aren’t bugs but a combination of energies. Perhaps mixed with some soul fragments we don’t know about, forming this kind of entity. Anyway, I don’t want to encounter them. Those things are hard to kill—no, it’s not killing; it’s dispersing them. They don’t seem to be living beings.”

Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “I wonder if there are any other similar things. If we encounter them when crossing dimensions… it’ll be troublesome.” He didn’t understand much about these things and lacked basic concepts.

Li Ran said, “There’s no such coincidence. But with the power of Breaking the Boundaries, even if these things appear, it should be possible to tear them apart.” His tone wasn’t very confident, as he had never encountered them nor tested using Breaking the Boundaries against them.
Qi Wu Zhen said, “I feel… at a loss when it comes to these things.” It was intuition, and she had always trusted her intuition, which had saved her from many dangers and troubles.
Guo Shier said, “Which direction should we go now?”
Li Ran had obtained a partial map of the Luotian Ruins, which matched the map on the ruins before. He took out a jade talisman, examined it carefully, and said, “There should be another ruin in this direction. Let’s go take a look…”
Selin muttered with a bitter smile, “Still have to look for them…” She wanted to leave this place as soon as possible—it was too terrifying. She felt extremely powerless; here, she felt like a burden, a huge one at that.