Chapter 6: The Soul of the Insect (Part 2)

Guo Shier turned just in time to see that man turned to nothingness by an insect. He suddenly exclaimed in shock, “Damn it, that Void Insect… it actually grew a bit!”
Li Ran asked, “What do you mean?”
Guo Shier replied, “That man was hit by a Void Insect, and then… that insect seemed to grow a bit!”
Qi Wu Zhen said, “So in other words… if a Void Insect kills a person, it gains something that allows it to grow?”
Guo Shier said, “It seems that’s the case… But I don’t know what exactly allows them to grow. It must be some kind of… uh, soul?”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was filled with dread. Everyone understood how powerful souls could be, especially since they were all masters of souls. How could they not know how much their strength would increase once their souls grew powerful? If the Void Insects truly relied on souls to grow stronger, it explained why they were pursuing them so relentlessly. Each of them had a powerful soul, and if those insects merged with them, who knew how strong they would become.
Qi Wu Zhen said, “It seems we need to find a way to use soul attacks. We didn’t pay attention to this before, and now we’re at a loss against just a bunch of insects.”
Li Ran said, “There are actually many soul attack techniques, but they’re difficult to master, especially in the World of Talismans. If your opponent is stronger than you, their soul will also be stronger. Even if you use soul attacks, it won’t be easy to shake them. If they’re weaker than you, you can easily defeat them without using soul attacks. We’ve overlooked one thing—outside the World of Talismans, soul attacks are the most powerful weapons!”
Guo Shier felt a stir in his heart and immediately summoned Old Shuai. He said, “Old Shuai, you also participated in crafting the Soul Suppressing Cauldron. Since its purpose was to suppress souls, did you discover any attack techniques?” The Soul Suppressing Cauldron was designed for soul refinement, containing countless souls that had become an independent entity.
Old Shuai cursed, “A bunch of idiots!” This time, even Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen, whom he usually admired, were included in his curses. Of course, he only dared to curse Guo Shier, not face them directly—he truly feared them deep in his heart.
Guo Shier was pleased and said, “You have a solution! Old Shuai, hurry up and tell me!”
Old Shuai grunted a few times and said, “I’ll add some runes for you. You should know these spells. Use them after I’m done… It won’t take long. First, put away the Soul Suppressing Cauldron.”

Guo Shier replied with a nod and said, “Brother Li Ran, Sister Zhen, get ready. I’m going to retrieve the Soul-Calming Cauldron.”
Li Ran asked, “What’s wrong?”
Guo Shier replied, “I’ve found a way to attack, but I need to refine the Soul-Calming Cauldron again.”
Li Ran nodded and asked, “How long will it take?”
Guo Shier said, “Not long, very soon.”
Qi Wuzhen said, “That’s good. We’ll find out after trying it. Will these bugs be afraid of attacks on their souls?”
Wang Dayang smiled bitterly, “I don’t have any means to attack their souls either. Who would have thought… these bugs are so strange.”
…
They kept rushing all day long, passing by many ruined cities along the way, all destroyed by the Void Bugs. Li Ran’s team gradually widened the distance between them and the bug swarm. Currently, they were about a hundred kilometers away, but they couldn’t stop, because at the speed of the Void Bugs, they could catch up in just over ten seconds.
Li Ran asked, “How far is it to the exit of the Luotian Ruins?”
Wang Dayang replied, “Not far. At our current maximum speed, we should reach it in half a day. I’m just not sure if those bugs will follow us out.”
Qi Wuzhen said, “We can’t worry about that now. Whether they follow or not, there’s nothing we can do.”
Guo Shier said tiredly, “It’s all luck and fate. Heh, who knows? Running away is the only option.” He had never been in such a desperate situation before. But he soon cheered up because the handsome old man told him that the Soul-Calming Cauldron had been refined and now had a skill to attack souls—now it was just a matter of seeing if it would work.
Li Ran couldn’t help but laugh. “Rely on fate? Heh, I know… my luck has always been great!”
Qi Wuzhen asked, “Wang Dayang, there shouldn’t be any spatial rifts along this path, right?”
Wang Dayang replied, “No. I haven’t seen any spatial rifts along the way. Strange. Have you seen many?”
Qi Wuzhen nodded and said, “Many, many.”
Wang Dayang asked, “Where did you enter the ruins? As far as I know, there seems to be only one safe path…”
Guo Shier said, “Stop asking. We forced our way in. Along the way, we saw that the entire space was unstable, with countless spatial rifts. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have encountered bugs coming out of the void. We were chased… damn it, no way out, nowhere to go. I’ve never been in such a miserable situation, unable even to fight.”
Seshilin chimed in softly, “But you still fought those bugs.”

Guo Shier said, “Hehe, you’ve seen the consequences. That attack really attracted those strange bugs, which pursued us relentlessly without giving up at all. It’s been several days now, and I don’t even know how far I’ve flown… What a hassle.”

There was one more thing Guo Shier didn’t mention: whether it was in the secret realms of the talisman world or various small worlds, they had never returned empty-handed. But in this ruin, they gained almost nothing, just as he said—what a hassle indeed.

However, this trip wasn’t entirely fruitless; Li Ran made some discoveries. He found that this space was an excellent cross-dimensional point. If not for those annoying Void Bugs, he might have found the most suitable place to leave. Now, they had to get rid of these bugs and wait for the right opportunity to return and search for another cross-dimensional point, so he wasn’t too disappointed. As for the items in the ruin, they held no appeal to him—there were plenty of more advanced things in the greater world.

Guo Shier summoned the Soul Suppressing Cauldron, but he didn’t attack the Void Bugs right away because they were about to reach the exit, and a battle was likely to ensue.

Half a day passed quickly. The group continued to take turns flying while the others rested. With Wang Dayang’s addition, everyone felt a bit more relaxed. After all, he was an expert who could handle many tasks and also take the chance to eat something, helping everyone return to peak condition.

Wang Dayang said, “We’re almost there. There’s a city ahead… Let’s go around it from the side and fly straight over. I guess no one can escape. Going around from the side will also involve them, but it gives them a chance to flee.”

Li Ran said, “That’s good. Let’s deviate a bit first, then return to the normal route.”

Guo Shier agreed as well. He thought of Master Kuumu—if he had received the message talisman, he would likely have left long ago. If not, maybe he wouldn’t have entered the Luotian Ruins or might have left after entering. To be safe, going around the city from the side wasn’t a bad idea.

In fact, the high-ranking members of the Tianling Clan had already ordered a retreat. Kasa’s information, along with the loss of contact at several ruin sites, was enough to draw their attention. Other races also received some news, so those who were smarter and more cautious began to withdraw in large numbers. Even so, many people who were unaware of this still lingered in the ruins, especially around the exit.

Li Ran and the others were like a prominent lighthouse, drawing tens of thousands of Void Bugs toward the only exit of the Luotian Ruins.

Soon they noticed a phenomenon: the speed of those Void Worms was slowing down, and they were gradually increasing the distance between them. Guo Shier was the first to spot this change. He said, “Everyone, help me check—it seems the worms’ speed has slowed!”
Li Ran and the others turned to look back while sending out their own spiritual waves.
A few minutes later, Qi Wu Zhen said, “That’s right. The worms’ speed… isn’t as fast anymore!”
Li Ran guessed, “Is it related to spatial changes? I feel the space here is much more stable than inside.”
Wang Dayang asked in confusion, “What does stable space have to do with these worms?”
Li Ran was too lazy to explain and said, “Shier, you explain it!”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Li Ran was such a slacker too. He said, “The Void Worms’ weapon is spatial rifts. Their strength… must be related to space. If they lose or weaken the power of those rifts, they become less formidable. The more unstable the space, the stronger they get. That’s the logic.”
Wang Dayang was confused. He knew very little about space. After thinking for a while, he still didn’t understand and felt too embarrassed to ask further.
Selin, having heard more, gradually understood some basic concepts of space, so she did get it. She said, “Shier, does that mean we can get out of this?”
Guo Shier replied, “It seems we’re a bit lucky and have good fortune. Yeah, there’s hope of escaping. As long as the space stays stable, these worms should be less of a threat! Maybe by then we can even kill them!”
With Li Ran and the others’ abilities, being chased by the Void Worms in such a desperate situation, it would be false to say they weren’t angry. If given the chance, they definitely wouldn’t spare these worms. If they could eliminate them, the group would hesitate none at all.
If they could wipe out these Void Worms, it would mean much less danger next time they entered—even if only half of them were killed.
Li Ran said, “Let’s observe further. I’ve also noticed the worms’ speed has slowed a lot. Have you noticed the threatening feeling has diminished too?”
The group felt it briefly and were overjoyed. The threatening force that had been pressing on their souls had indeed lessened, meaning the danger was decreasing.
Guo Shier said, “Damn it, let’s keep flying. There’s no need to increase the distance!”
All of them couldn’t help but show murderous intent. Once the Void Worms couldn’t rely on spatial power, they should be able to deal with them.

At that moment, flying vehicles and spaceships began to appear in the sky. When they saw the swarm of Void Worms flying everywhere, they were initially stunned and unable to react. Only a few turned around to flee, while the rest continued flying at their usual speed. In that instant, several flying vehicles and spaceships were swallowed up by the swarm, disappearing silently without any sound. The people on the other vehicles and ships were terrified.

Guo Shier said, “There’s no way to escape. They were too careless…”

Li Ran replied, “It’s not carelessness. It’s just that the worms are too fast. Even if they wanted to escape, it would be impossible.”

The swarm was like a giant broom, sweeping away everything in its path, not even the mountains rising from the ground were spared. After the swarm passed, only ridges remained, stretching all the way back to where the swarm had been.