Chapter 10: Counterattack (Part 2)

Everyone was beaming with joy—this harvest was enormous. The seven of them moved back and forth, continuously casting spells to seal the Void Worms. Among them, only Serichlin kept forcing a wry smile. Though she knew the Void Worms were valuable, she couldn’t obtain them on her own and could only rely on Guo Shier. She watched as they sealed the worms, their faces filled with unmistakable delight.

Suddenly, Guo Shier exclaimed in surprise, “What kind of worm is this?”
After the Void Worms were sealed, what should have been gem-like red insects turned out to be strange creatures with dark blue bodies and a sharp, single horn on their heads. Once sealed, they contracted into balls, allowing clear details of their bodies to be seen—unlike other worms, whose bodies remained semi-transparent after sealing. Though surprised, Guo Shier had no time to study them further. He immediately placed the sealed worms on the altar for the old master to examine.

Due to Guo Shier’s extremely powerful Soul Suppressing Cauldron, he collected the most worms. The others also worked quickly, becoming more skilled over time as they used the sealing spells repeatedly.

The Grand Elder, hiding in the distance, was in turmoil. The swarm of worms was shrinking rapidly. He could sense it clearly. He didn’t know how these people had eliminated the Void Worms, but he knew they were absolutely not to be trifled with. Most importantly, the settlement was safe—with these people around, the swarm would surely be wiped out. In just a short while, one-third of the swarm had disappeared.

With experience from before, Li Ran and the others were highly vigilant against the gathering of Void Worms. As soon as they spotted a gathering, they would have Guo Shier use the Soul Suppressing Cauldron to disperse them. This made the swarm thinner and thinner, until it eventually collapsed. Now they knew the Void Worms were intelligent and not recklessly fearless. Once half of them disappeared, the remaining worms scattered in all directions.

A few Void Worms flew toward the settlement, prompting the Grand Elder to order the remaining guards to retreat and the few remaining ships to take off and flee. By then, the entire settlement was empty.

The Grand Elder didn’t dare stay either. He immediately activated the Starry Sky Armory and fled into the distance.

After a frantic chase until no more Void Worms were visible, Li Ran and the others stopped and began checking their harvest. Even the weakest member, Monier, had collected over 5,000 sealed Void Worms. The most successful was Guo Shier, who had gathered tens of thousands.

Guo Shier said, “The largest Void Worms escaped along the way we came. Let’s chase after them!”
Everyone was still eager; the more Void Worms they could collect, the better. Such creatures weren’t encountered every day—they only existed in unstable spaces. By now, they began to understand that Void Worms didn’t grow in empty spaces but rather emerged gradually in unstable areas after the death of numerous lives. As years of exploration passed and more people died, more Void Worms appeared.
Chasing on, they entered the depths of the Luotian Ruins once again, where they could clearly sense the instability of the space. They slowed down because there were already a few spatial cracks. If they moved too fast and overlooked these cracks, they might crash into them head-on, with nowhere to turn back.
As their speed decreased, they finally had time to observe their surroundings. This area had been completely destroyed by the swarm of insects; the ground had sunk dozens of meters. The landscape was full of bizarre shapes. The low-lying gullies were flooded, and the entire land resembled the core of an apple gnawed by countless insects—wounded and desolate, with no signs of life or traces of human activity.
Li Ran said, “Strange, are those insects gone?”
They hovered in the air, examining carefully. Guo Shier habitually sent out soul waves to investigate. He was also surprised and said, “It’s really strange. There’s not a single trace. All the signs here were left by the insects that came before. But when they left, they didn’t leave any trace at all. Could it be they never came close to the ground?”
In the altar secret realm, in front of the old man Shuai, there was a mountain-like pile of sealed Void Worms, glowing like gems with a faint red light. The old man Shuai played with a deep-blue sealed Void Worm, the only peculiar insect Guo Shier had collected for sealing.
He had tested it several times but still couldn’t figure out what made it special. To him, apart from its color, there was nothing unusual about it. After some thought, he set the sealed insect aside.
Li Ran and the others continued searching for Void Worms, sending out wave after wave of soul waves in an attempt to find any clues.

The space here became increasingly unstable. As they hovered in the air, they could sense the changes, so they became even more cautious.
Qi Wu Zhen said, “They’re not here!”
Li Ran was puzzled. “Void Worms flying must leave some trace no matter what. We’ve been chasing them along the way and found clues. Besides, they weren’t far from us. Why did they suddenly disappear here? Could there be passages we don’t know about? Or other routes?”
Wang Dayang guessed, “Maybe they went underground?”
Li Ran thought carefully before shaking his head. “Impossible. If they went underground, we should have noticed the changes.”
According to the characteristics of Void Worms, even if they moved underground, it would only be slightly slower compared to flying in the air, and it wouldn’t hinder their progress. The spatial cracks around them served as the best tools for digging—anything underground that came into contact with them would be reduced to nothingness. But Li Ran and the others hadn’t found any signs of Void Worms activity underground, so this possibility could be ruled out.
Guo Shier said to himself, “Could they have entered the void?”
Li Ran’s eyes lit up. “That’s possible… I guess, given how unstable the space is here, they might use the void for short distances… Uh, everyone, form a formation…” Before he finished speaking, everyone arranged themselves into a five-star formation, with Guo Shier and Sericeline in the center. They were already well-coordinated and would never get the positions wrong.
Just as the formation was completed, a sudden change occurred. With his eyes enhanced by the Vision-Enhancing Spell, Guo Shier clearly saw a spatial crack appearing not far away—like a punch hitting glass. Although the glass didn’t shatter, it developed grid-like cracks. Terrified, he shouted, “The space is breaking! Back away quickly!”
Everyone else saw it too. Spatial cracks appeared mysterious to experts of other races, but to professionals of the Spellcraft Clan, they were clearly visible. As soon as Guo Shier shouted, Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen exerted force at the same time, and everyone retreated rapidly. Who knew if the space where they were might suddenly crack? The immense tearing force was definitely beyond their ability to withstand, unless they used a Boundary-Breaking Shield. Even the Soul-Stabilizing Cauldron couldn’t protect them completely.
After retreating hundreds of kilometers, they finally turned around, still shaken.

In an area of about a hundred kilometers around, the entire sky and ground were covered with spatial cracks. The ground collapsed instantly, with dense spatial cracks everywhere, both in the sky and on the ground. Li Ran said, “Guo Shier might be right. Those bugs must have gone into the void… Will they come back? Or did they create these spatial cracks to block us?”
While still guessing, Li Ran heard Guo Shier shout, “They’re coming out!”
A large number of Void Bugs surged out from the spatial cracks. The spatial cracks around them combined with those in the surroundings, greatly boosting their strength. As more and more Void Bugs appeared, the entire space became even more unstable.
Wang Dayang said in terror, “With the fixed spatial cracks and the moving ones combined, we can’t catch those bugs!”
Li Ran shouted, “Let’s turn around and fly to a place with stable space. I don’t believe… they can do anything to us!”
Guo Shier said, “Good!” This was the best approach. Fighting here was too passive—they had to be wary of both the Void Bugs and the spatial cracks, especially the fixed ones, which would surely hurt them. So they had to leave this place to have a chance to deal with the Void Bugs.
The seven of them turned and ran. This time, the Void Bugs refused to let them go, chasing after them in droves.
Sericeline couldn’t help but laugh. She said, “First you chase the bugs, then the bugs chase you… What kind of situation is this, hehe.” She had fully adapted to this rhythm of combat and was no longer afraid of the Void Bugs. Anyone who saw Guo Shier and the others sealing and capturing large numbers of Void Bugs would no longer fear these terrifying creatures. Of course, this only applied if Guo Shier and the others were all there. If she were alone against the Void Bugs, she would still be scared.
This time, the Void Bugs had new tactics. As they chased after them, they destroyed space along the way, leaving countless spatial cracks. Once Guo Shier and the others turned to fight, they immediately retreated to areas with many spatial cracks, leaving Li Ran’s team at a loss. They didn’t dare to rush in either.
The two sides kept switching between offense and defense. Li Ran and the others didn’t fly fast. When the swarm of bugs approached, they would suddenly stop and seal some of the bugs within a minute, never lingering in battle. They fought and then left, with each person managing to capture a few bugs. By moving back and forth like this, they quickly gathered quite a number of sealed Void Bugs. Meanwhile, the Void Bugs became increasingly cunning. As soon as Li Ran and the others stopped, the bugs chasing behind them also stopped, while those on the sides would encircle them.

The Void Worms would never confront Li Ran and the others in an area without spatial rifts. Instead, they tried to encircle them and create spatial rifts in all directions to truly trap them. What the Void Worms didn’t realize was that Li Ran and his group couldn’t be trapped, as Li Ran possessed the ability to break through barriers using sacred treasures, allowing him to force his way through—even if trapped, it would only be temporary. Of course, Li Ran and his group would never give the Void Worms a chance; they would leave as soon as possible. Even if they couldn’t catch the worms, they wouldn’t linger, acting decisively and leaving the Void Worms with no choice but to pursue them relentlessly. Just as they were about to enter an area with stable space, the Void Worms suddenly stopped chasing and began circling in place. Li Ran and the others also stopped. Guo Shier asked, “What are these worms planning?” Qi Wuzhen said, “There’s a change… Look at the middle of the swarm!” Kuumu exclaimed in surprise, “What the hell is that?” Guo Shier couldn’t help but curse, “Damn! Have these worms gone crazy?” Book 48: Masters of the Secret Clan