Chapter 9: Like Minds (Part 2)

Cerislin volunteered. Though she was a bit tired, having participated in few battles, she was far less strained than the others, so she offered to take the first shift—no one objected. Everyone went to their rooms to rest. Guo Shieru went upstairs and fell asleep immediately. With their physical condition, they could go months without sleep, but their souls would become extremely exhausted. A good night’s sleep was the best way to replenish them and allow their souls to rest fully.

He slept deeply until he woke up three days later. He felt refreshed and full of energy, with all his previous fatigue gone. He stretched, got up, and went downstairs, only to find everyone already in the living room.

Li Ran laughed, “Shieru, you really can sleep well—three days… hehe.”
Guo Shieru smiled and said, “Young and sleep-deprived…”
Monier gave a slight smile, while Kumu pulled at the corners of his mouth to indicate he was smiling, though it looked ugly. Qi Wuzhen curled his lips. Although Guo Shieru was indeed the youngest among them, he was still over a hundred years old—calling him young was a bit exaggerated.

Wang Dayang said, “Being able to sleep is good. I only slept for half a day before I could’t fall asleep anymore.”
Cerislin said, “I couldn’t sleep either…” She moved closer to Guo Shieru and added, “Let’s eat something. We must be hungry.”
Guo Shieru nodded, took out some food—prepared cooked meals—and invited everyone to eat together. Here, he didn’t feel like preparing spell-based food; just having some dry rations to fill their stomachs would suffice.

…
Li Ran and the others still didn’t know that this battle against insects had been witnessed by some surviving experts from various races, who were astonished. They realized these must be professionals from the Spellcraft Clan. News spread quickly, and the Spellcraft Clan’s status in the worship of the stars soared. Already mysterious, they were now regarded by all races as people who could not be offended.

But this had nothing to do with Li Ran and the others anymore. They delved deeper into the Luotian Ruins. Along the way, they saw flying cars and spaceships fleeing in panic—people evacuating from various ruins. Experts from all races had received warnings about strange insects appearing in groups. If encountered, death was certain, so everyone was rushing to escape.

Only Li Ran’s team was flying in the opposite direction. They were now eager to encounter another swarm of insects. Although each of them had caught quite a few insects, more were needed to create a powerful weapon. Flying swiftly toward the ruins, the swarm they were tracking was the same one that had chased them at first before leaving halfway. Those insects were relatively weaker and unable to adapt to stable spaces.

Soon, they saw the obvious traces left by the Void Insects on the ground. The Void Insects were indeed extremely monstrous—wherever they passed, the ground would sink several meters, filled with intricate networks of small trenches. As for the plants and buildings on the ground, they were completely wiped out, leaving nothing behind.

With such obvious traces, there was no need to search hard. They followed the marks left on the ground. The situation had changed dramatically—from being cornered and forced to flee to now turning around to chase. Serichlin was very excited and whispered something to Guo Shier. Monier watched smilingly from the side; she had long realized that Serichlin was interested in her “treasure.”

Guo Shier replied to Serichlin’s questions intermittently, his attention fixed ahead. The swarm could appear at any moment, and he hoped to catch more Void Insects. Different from others, he always liked collecting things. How could he pass up such a valuable resource? In the future, if they encountered a powerful opponent, this would be a super weapon. Releasing a group of Void Insects would ensure that no matter how strong the opponent was, they would be overwhelmed.

Li Ran said, “More ships are coming…” Before he could finish, distant explosion sounds could be heard.

In the blink of an eye, the explosion sounds grew louder. Then, dozens of ships rushed frantically toward Li Ran and his team, with swarms of Void Insects chasing from afar. The ships launched wave after wave of attacks, retreating while firing back. But they didn’t realize that these attacks were useless against the Void Insects—any attack that got close was instantly destroyed by the spatial rifts.

The only use of these attacks was to slightly slow down the Void Insects’ flight speed. Thanks to this slight delay, their ships were able to escape here. However, the Void Insects behind them were already very close. A few more seconds of delay would mean being overwhelmed by the swarm. Li Ran said, “There aren’t many of these insects—about twenty thousand. Hehe, let’s stay together and not scatter. As for catching insects, it’s up to each of us!”

With a long howl, Guo Shier and Cecile took center position, while Qi Wuzhen, Li Ran, Kuumu, Monique, and Wang Dayang formed the outer edges of a pentagram formation connected by purple chains. As Guo Shier let out his howl, the entire team charged forward. The Soul-Calming Cauldron emitted waves of shock that knocked the Void Worms in the surroundings to the ground. This time, Guo Shier didn’t want to use soul-killing techniques; he didn’t intend to kill the worms but to capture them.

The mouth of the Soul-Calming Cauldron gathered a massive burst of white light, instantly pulling hundreds of Void Worms toward it. This time, no one rushed to seal the worms at the mouth of the cauldron; instead, they focused on sealing those flying toward them. Guo Shier continuously cast spells, and the Void Worms fell like rain, dropping straight into the Soul-Calming Cauldron. Thanks to the plans of the old man, Guo Shier had a complete set of methods for catching worms.

The people on those dozens of spaceships suddenly noticed that the swarm of worms had become chaotic. Some saw Li Ran and the others charging straight into the swarm and were stunned—was there really such a suicidal tactic? Then they realized that no more worms were chasing after them. Out of curiosity, a dozen or so of the spaceships slowed down and activated their detection devices to scan the swarm behind them. They couldn’t believe that someone in this world could deal with such monstrous worms.

Suddenly, the swarm dispersed, and the people on the ships could clearly see a cluster of talismanic light moving through it. Wherever the light passed, the Void Worms were wiped out. They didn’t know what method those people were using to eliminate the worms. Cheers erupted from the ships, but they didn’t dare stay long and quickly left, knowing that even if a few Void Worms escaped, they wouldn’t be able to handle them. This place was dangerous, so it was better to leave right away.

However, the news that a few experts from the Talisman Clan could deal with a group of worms spread as the ships departed. The worms, which had terrified experts from various clans, were now being controlled by professionals from the Talisman Clan. Combined with the earlier incident of Li Ran and his team killing the worms, this news caused another huge sensation.

In just over ten minutes, aside from a few Void Worms that escaped, the rest were captured by everyone. With the help of the Soul-Calming Cauldron, Guo Shier caught nearly five thousand Void Worms, all of which were put into the cauldron.

Everyone was satisfied with their harvest and continued flying forward. Along the way, they occasionally encountered a few Void Worms, which they sealed and collected as well.

Guo Shier said, “The insects we caught this time are clearly weaker; they’re not as good as those we found at the entrance of the ruins.”
Sericeline whispered, “There must be even stronger insects out there. As long as they can kill more people, they’ll grow stronger. This period of time… is enough for them to feed.”
Guo Shier nodded. “Hmm, we still need to find areas where experts from various tribes gather. If there are insects there, they’ll likely be stronger.”
Li Ran asked, “Wang Dayang, do you know any other famous ruins?”
Wang Dayang thought for a moment before saying, “I know one place. I’m not sure if the insects have gone there yet, but it’s always been a supply and gathering point with strong defensive forces. Most people know about it. Should we go take a look?”
Li Ran replied, “Okay, let’s go. Is it far from here?”
Wang Dayang said, “Not very far. It takes about half a day. If we fly at full speed, it’ll be even quicker.”
Half a day might not seem like a long distance, but without sufficient speed, it’s impossible to reach. However, at the team’s current flying speed, it might only take a few hours.
Li Ran said, “Let’s go! Wang Dayang, you lead the way.”
Wang Dayang agreed and led everyone to change direction, immediately engaging in high-speed flight. In an instant, they disappeared from sight, leaving only a faint trail of clouds behind.
This was a comprehensive supply and logistics hub, transformed from a small ruined city. It featured numerous mechanical clan construction elements, all-metal defensive walls, and all-metal buildings, mostly in the shape of fortresses. It was a massive distribution center for supplies, with a large number of people, relics of the Ancient Tianling clan, and various goods brought in from outside for trading. Thus, it was an important gathering place in the Luotian Ruins. Most people who could enter the Luotian Ruins knew about this place, even if they’d never been there before.
Li Ran’s team flew at incredible speed—perhaps a result of having been chased by insect swarms. They flew at top speed the whole way and arrived at this gathering place in just two hours.
There were seven giant fortresses connected by skybridges, each equipped with heavy weapons—some belonging to the mechanical clan and others relics of the Ancient Tianling clan. Combined, these weapons could deal with most experts. Of course, they were ineffective against Guo Shier and his group.

These seven giant fortresses encircled a vast open area filled with numerous buildings. Their outer walls were made of a fully metallic structure, five meters thick and over thirty meters high, topped with numerous metal bunkers, along with many guards for defense.
Guo Shier didn’t help but exclaim, “If it weren’t for those strange creatures like the Void Worms in the ruins, even top experts would never be able to shake such fortresses.”
Several patrol flying vehicles quickly approached, and someone shouted, “Who are you?”