Chapter 1052, Insectoid Plague

Translator: Jon

Translation Checker: Silavin

 

The insectoids swirled around in the sky for a while. Since Lu Ye was nowhere in sight, they became dormant again.

 

Lu Ye donned a solemn expression. Since he had just returned to Jiu Zhou, he was engrossed in the joy of coming back to his homeland and didn’t pay attention to his surroundings. Now, he finally saw some anomalies.

 

The most obvious one was how Desolate Plain had changed. This place was a vast plain which was Thousand Demon Ridge’s strategic buffer zone in Bing Zhou, so it was usually void of people. Since it was a vast flatland, it was full of vitality.

 

At the very least, when he came to this place with Nian Yuexian previously, he could see from the sky that the plain was full of greenery.

 

But now, there was no more greenery in Desolate Plain. Everywhere was barren and void of vitality.

 

As he thought about the large amount of insectoids he had just seen, he understood how this place came to be. Wherever the insectoids went, the entire place would become barren and all the vitality would be destroyed.

 

There were many messages on his Battlefield Imprint which were sent by Yi Yi. As Lu Ye went through the messages, he was astounded.

 

He never expected that such a major incident had happened in the past two years in Jiu Zhou when he wasn’t around. The insectoid attack had swept across the entire Jiu Zhou.

 

Moreover, the scale and strength of the insectoid attack this time were the most violent and horrifying in the history of Jiu Zhou.

 

Every acre of land, every corner of Jiu Zhou was invaded by the insectoids.

 

When the previous insectoid attack broke out near Foggy Cliff, it took the Sects within a radius of 10,000 kilometres around the area quite some effort to contain the insectoid attack. Anyway, the scale of the insectoid attack was limited, and its impact wasn’t huge.

 

But this time was different. It was no longer an insectoid attack; it was an insectoid plague.

 

Not only were there a large number of insectoids which came in different forms, but many of them were also in the Divine Ocean Realm.

 

The insectoid plague broke out two years ago not long after Lu Ye left Jiu Zhou. A massive earthquake that affected the entire Jiu Zhou was what caused the insectoid plague.

 

As the entire world was in turmoil, bottomless chasms started appearing in all parts of Jiu Zhou. Then, the entire Jiu Zhou became the playground for insectoids overnight.

 

Affected by the insectoid plague, the strife between the Grand Sky Coalition and Thousand Demon Ridge had subsided. After all, most cultivators were focused on going against the insectoids.

 

Cultivators understood that be it the Grand Sky Coalition or Thousand Demon Ridge, all of them were Humans, whereas the insectoids were enemies. During such a crisis, they had to set aside their grudges and focus on dealing with the insectoids.

 

According to Yi Yi, these insectoids came from the depths beneath the ground. They weren’t aware of their presence since these insectoids usually wouldn’t show up. Cultivators wouldn’t go too deep beneath the ground because they would be affected by Yuan Metal Force Field. The deeper they went, the more their Spiritual Powers would be suppressed. Therefore, the depths beneath the ground had always been a forbidden area for cultivators.

 

But after the massive earthquake that affected the entire Jiu Zhou, chasms started appearing. That was when the underground insectoids rose to the surface.

 

It was a wonder how long these insectoids had existed. They had bred all sorts of offspring in a large number. Although the cultivators of Jiu Zhou had been diligently killing the insectoids, they couldn’t destroy all of them. They weren’t able to solve the insectoid plague.

 

Insectoid nests were hidden in the depths beneath the ground, so it was difficult for cultivators to find them. Some Divine Ocean Realm Masters had taken action as a group, but they couldn’t achieve their goal. That was because the deeper they went, the more insectoids there were, and the more their cultivations were suppressed. Also, in such an environment, once a battle broke out, there wouldn’t be an end unless they could destroy all the enemies in a short time. Otherwise, it was impossible for them to succeed.

 

This was a calamity, but at the same time, it was a feast for the cultivators of Jiu Zhou because killing insectoids would earn them battle points.

 

Lu Ye took a look at his Battlefield Imprint and discovered he had earned several hundred battle points.

 

To cultivators of Jiu Zhou, Contribution points and battle points were useful throughout their lives, and the latter was especially important as it could be traded for Amulets.

 

Usually, they didn’t have many ways to earn battle points. The members of different Zhou Watches earned their battle points through monthly salaries. The amounts were fixed unless they took on extra tasks.

 

Since they could get battle points by killing insectoids now, it was convenient. For this reason, the number of cultivators on the Cloud River Battlefield had decreased sharply.

 

Cloud River Realm Masters who were ambitious and had some heritage had left the Cloud River Battlefield and returned to Jiu Zhou to fight insectoids. Now, Cloud River Realm Masters in the Fifth Order and above could hardly be found on the Cloud River Battlefield since they had come back to Jiu Zhou.

 

They couldn’t deal with insectoids that were too powerful, but the biggest advantage these insectoids had was their number. Although there were mighty insectoids, they were a minority compared with the total number.

 

Therefore, as long as a cultivator wasn’t too unlucky, he could go anywhere and find some easy targets.

 

Needless to say, Real Lake Realm Masters benefited tremendously from the calamity. In the past two years, many cultivators in Jiu Zhou had lost their lives, but those who survived were rewarded handsomely. In the past, they had to be careful with spending their battle points to trade for Amulets, but it was different now. If they were running out of battle points, they just had to earn it by killing insectoids.

 

In the past two years, the collective power of Team D9 had increased significantly as well.

 

It was a coincidence that the plague broke out two years ago. Lu Ye couldn’t help but form some speculation.

 

What concerned him was that while on his way back to Jiu Zhou, he faintly saw many insectoids on a particular floating continent. However, he had moved past the continent too quickly, so he wasn’t sure if he had truly seen insectoids.

 

If those were indeed insectoids that had gathered on a floating continent, did they have anything to do with the insectoid plague this time? Lu Ye couldn’t verify it.

 

As expected, Xiao Xinghe had become the team leader of Team D9. Presently, they were stationed in a city to protect the place alongside other cultivators.

 

This couldn’t be helped. As the insectoid plague swept across the entire Jiu Zhou, those Sects were able to protect themselves regardless of their powers.

 

But the same couldn’t be said for the cities where many commoners gathered. Nearby Sects had to send some people to protect them. Some Sects had ample heritage as they had sufficient manpower to be mobilised. However, some Sects had little heritage as they didn’t have many powerful cultivators. They could only seek help from Grand Sky City.

 

It was for this reason that Team D9 was sent to protect a particular city. In the past two years, they had been to many parts of Bing Zhou. The current city was the seventh one they were tasked with protecting.

 

After going through the messages sent by Yi Yi, Lu Ye had a better understanding of the situation in Jiu Zhou.

 

‘All of you take good care of yourselves. I’ll look for you when I arrive in Grand Sky City.’ Lu Ye sent her a message.

 

‘Alright. You have to be careful too,’ Yi Yi replied.

 

On the wall of Red River City, Yi Yi ended the conversation and donned a joyful smile. She was relieved that Lu Ye had returned.

 

Members of Team D9 had gathered around Yi Yi. As they listened to her telling them about Lu Ye’s messages, Xiao Xinghe guffawed. “We should celebrate Little Junior Brother’s return with the blood of insectoids. Should we go ahead and kill some insectoids?”

 

“Senior Brother, since you’ve given the order, we’ll definitely obey.” Li Baxian rose to his feet.

 

A moment later, Xiao Xinghe led the way as the members of Team D9 left the city and slaughtered some insectoids.

 

In Desolate Plain, Lu Ye activated Thousand Faces to alter his appearance. Also, he turned the Red Dragon Warsuit to a white colour and kept the Inviolable Saber before hanging the Sword Gourd at his waist.

 

In just a short time, he had turned into a handsome Sword Cultivator.

 

He was in Thousand Demon Ridge’s territory, after all. If he wandered around with his original appearance, he might invite some trouble to himself. Although he was now a Divine Ocean Realm Master, many people were stronger than he was in the vast Jiu Zhou. He wouldn’t be so conceited as to think that he was unrivalled in this world. Naturally, he had to keep a low profile to avoid getting into trouble.

 

He activated a Sword Light and charged forward.

 

Wherever he went, he would come across insectoids in small numbers. Many insectoids were fairly powerful. Lu Ye finally realised how serious the insectoid plague in Jiu Zhou was.

 

Even an uninhabited place such as Desolate Plain had so many insectoids, not to mention places where many people gathered.

 

After moving forward for about two hours, Lu Ye earned several hundred battle points.

 

He couldn’t help but think that even though the environment in Jiu Zhou was hostile now, it was easier for cultivators to gain battle points. Naturally, it was risky too.

 

But that was the risk cultivators had to take to cultivate their powers. They had to make sacrifices before they could get anything in return.

 

Along the way, he had killed many insectoids in the Real Lake Realm. Although he hadn’t come across insectoids in the Divine Ocean Realm, it didn’t mean that they didn’t exist.

 

It was just like the insectoids in the form of mosquitos he had come across. Although they were weak individually, he had to avoid them when they came together.

 

He suddenly felt some fluctuations of Spiritual Powers coming from a direction. He turned his head and saw several cultivators running for their lives. Behind them was a relentless mantis.

 

Naturally, the cultivators he would bump into in this place must be from Thousand Demon Ridge. In the past, Lu Ye would probably let them get killed. Since he was from a different side, he was destined to be the enemy of Thousand Demon Ridge.

 

However, his view changed after his trip to Blood Refinement Boundary. He had seen how cultivators from the two sides could live together peacefully and work on achieving the same goal.

 

He had benefited hugely from the Seniors in Blood Refinement Boundary. Half of them were from Thousand Demon Ridge.

 

Naturally, it was because of the unique situation in Thousand Demon Ridge and the state of mind of those Seniors. It had come to a point in their lives where they could dismiss the grudges from their younger days.

 

Before his departure, many Seniors had given him their tokens. They said that if the disciples of their Sects oppressed him, he could show them these tokens. But looking at the matter from a different perspective, those Seniors had implied that Lu Ye should probably help the disciples of their Sects when they were in danger. It was just that they couldn’t make it clear.

 

They had seen how capable Lu Ye was. Given enough time, he would become as powerful as they were or even surpass them. By then, no one in Jiu Zhou would be a match for him.

 

Those tokens represented their trust in him, and they also contained a hidden message.

 

Lu Ye’s state of mind had changed after his trip to Blood Refinement Boundary. Whenever he came across cultivators from Thousand Demon Ridge in the past, his first thought was to kill them. But he had changed now.

 

Some of those Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators might be the Juniors of those Seniors, though the probability was low.