Chapter 1336: Exhaustive Mobilization

"You're still just as captivating to me as when I first saw you," Han Li said with a smile.

"I don't recall you being captivated by me when we first met. When we were facing that flood dragon..."

Nangong Wan's voice abruptly cut off here as she realized that she had misspoken, and the flush in her cheekers became even more pronounced.

Han Li enveloped her in a gentle embrace as a reminiscent look appeared in his eyes, and he said, "Come to think of it, I have to thank that flood dragon. If it wasn't for that thing, you and I wouldn't have..."

"Shush!" Nangong Wan hurriedly interjected as she pressed a finger against Han Li's lips to silence him.

Even though they were already dao partners, she still felt extremely embarrassed whenever she thought back to those events of the past.

The light of the sun filtered through the forest, basking the two of them in a warm and pleasant sensation. The occasional bird chirp rang out within the trees, and the mountain breeze resembled gentle hands caressing over their bodies.

The two of them enjoyed this rare moment of peace in silence, immersed in each other's warm embrace.

......

Half a month flew by in a flash.

The mortal realm under the Southern Forest Immortal region was the smallest and most infertile of all of the mortal realms.

The realm was almost entirely inhabited by mortals with no cultivation base to speak of, and even those who were born with any amount of cultivation aptitude were extremely rare.

Due to the severe lack of the world's origin qi in the realm, there were barely any spirit plants or cultivation resources to be found. As a result, even Core Formation cultivators were considered to be extraordinary cultivation prodigies here, while Nascent Soul cultivators were seen as god-like beings.

In this mortal realm, battles against cultivators were extremely rare. After all, it was extremely difficult just to cultivate at all here, so the few cultivators that did exist were very averse to any risk.

However, on this day, the number one immortal sect of the realm's Northern Origin Nation, the Hidden Mountain Sect, came under the attack of a sworn enemy.

The enemy in question was only a mid-Core Formation cultivator, while the leader of the Hidden Mountain Sect had already reached the late-Core Formation Stage several decades ago, so this should've been a complete suicide mission.

However, the intruder was able to kill all of the disciples of the sect using a bone flute, with which he was controlling a large swarm of powerful insects, the most prominent of which were twenty-eight infantile Gold Devouring Beetles.

Before long, all that was left of the Hidden Mountain Sect were its leader and several severely wounded elders, all of whom were ordered to make their way to the sect's ancestral hall by the intruder.

The leader of the Hidden Mountain Sect was a short man with a childlike appearance, and his entire right arm was missing, having been devoured by the twenty-eight Gold Devouring Beetles.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"I'll admit that it was an oversight on our part that resulted in your failed breakthrough, but you didn't have to go this far!" the sect leader yelled as he turned to the man with the bone flute with a furious expression.

The man stopped playing the flute, and the swarm of insects under his control temporarily drew to a halt.

"Given how sparse the world's origin qi in this realm is, you've most likely robbed me of my only chance of reaching the Nascent Soul Tier in this lifetime! Am I supposed to just let that slide?" the man asked in a cold voice.

"Even so, you've already completely destroyed my sect, so surely you've done enough," the sect leader pleaded.

"It's still not enough. You have to die for your Hidden Mountain Sect to be truly ruined," the man with the bone flute said in a cold voice, then began blowing on his flute again, and the surrounding swarm of insects instantly began converging toward the remaining Hidden Mountain Sect cultivators at his behest.

Right at this moment, a burst of faint rumbling rang out for a moment before fading away, and no one paid it any notice.

However, all of a sudden, a disturbance suddenly ran through the swarm of insects, and the entire swarm erupted into a chaotic frenzy.

The man with the bone flute was very alarmed to see this, and he hurriedly channeled his spiritual power to try and regain control over his spirit insects.

However, that only seemed to make matters worse, and all of a sudden, all of the spirit insects turned on him, led by the twenty-eight Gold Devouring Beetles.

A blood-curdling howl rang out, but it was quickly silenced, and within mere moments, there was nothing left of the man, with his entire body devoured down to the very last strand of hair.

All of the Hidden Mountain Sect cultivators were stunned to see this, but fortunately for them, the spirit insects displayed no intention of attacking them, and they quickly flew away into the distance.

Having just inexplicably survived what they had thought would've surely been their final moments, the Hidden Mountain Sect cultivators were left staring at one another with flabbergasted looks on their faces.

Meanwhile, a spatial rift that was several hundred feet in length had been torn open above a majestic mountain in the mortal realm, and swarms of spirit insects of all descriptions were converging from all directions before flying into it.

However, almost all of them were instantly torn to shreds by the spatial power within the rift, and only the several dozen Gold Devouring Beetles remained unscathed.

......

High Flourish Immortal Region, Bollworm Sect.

A belly of an entire mountain range that was enshrouded in a vast cloud of miasma had been virtually completely dug out, and there were countless maze-like passageways within, leading to thousands of palaces.

At this moment, there were countless creatures with human bodies and ant heads rushing through the passageways in a busy manner.

In a massive underground palace in the deepest part of the maze-like system laid an enormous, white ant queen. Its lower body was rotund and white like a silkworm, yet its upper body was no different from that of a human, complete with a stunningly beautiful female face.

Right at this moment, a burst of faint tremors suddenly swept through heaven and earth, and the ant queen's eyes abruptly sprang open as a look of incredulity and elation surfaced in her eyes.

"Could it be... It has to be!" she yelled in a frantic manner, then abruptly took on a fully human form.

In this form, she was a young woman in a white sheer dress, and her aura indicated that she was at the late-Great Encompassment Stage.

"Guards!" she yelled in an authoritative voice, and a group of eight figures instantly rushed to the palace before each falling to one knee.

"The day that we've been waiting for has finally arrived. Prepare for march!" the ant queen ordered.

The eight figures were ecstatic to hear this, and they quickly began mobilizing everyone in the giant ant colony.

On this day, the High Flourish Immortal Region witnessed the large insect tide in the history of its existence.

It was as if all of the spirit insects in the entire immortal region had suddenly decided to emerge, but as opposed to attacking any cities, all of them converged toward the peak of the tallest mountain in the immortal region, where a gargantuan spatial rift had appeared.

......

Northern Glacial Immortal Region.

The northernmost region of the Infernal Frost Continent was an inhospitable land that was enshrouded in ice and snow all year round, and the hostile conditions meant that there were barely any living beings residing here.

At this moment, a massive and indistinct blue shadow could be seen through a raging snowstorm on the summit of a tall, icy mountain.

All of a sudden, a faint crack rang out, and huge chunks of ice began tumbling down from the mountain to reveal a giant cocoon that was tens of thousands of feet tall.

A faint tearing sound rang out as the cocoon abruptly burst open, and a vast expanse of glacial qi erupted out of it, freezing the entire surrounding snowstorm solid.

A white-haired man with a pair of long feelers extending out of his forehead flew out from within the cocoon.

It was a thin and handsome man with a pair of eyes that glowed like sapphires, giving off a unique sense of allure.

The man was clad in a suit of blue leather armor, and there were four wings of blue light on his back.

Most astonishing of all was his aura, which was at the peak-Great Encompassment Stage, and he looked up into the heavens as he murmured to himself, "My queen, have you finally returned?"

In the next instant, he vanished from the spot with a flap of his wings.

......

Somewhere in the Heavenly Court.

Inside a giant palace that looked as if it had been carved out a single, enormous piece of green jade was a tall and imposing man. He had a head of short hair, a set of intimidating facial features, and his dark green robe was bulging over his incredibly muscular build. At this moment, the man was pacing back and forth in front of a jade throne with a grim look on his face.

Standing before him were several divine officials of the Heavenly Court, all of which were Great Encompassment cultivators, but at this moment, they were all displaying respectful expressions that were tinged with a hint of fear.

The man pacing before them was Xuanyuan Jie, the Essential Earth Dao Ancestor and one of the Seven Heavenly Dao Lords.

"You're telling me even Tong Qiu was assassinated along with Immortal Lord Hu Liang?" Xuanyuan Jie asked in a cold voice.

"All eight Reincarnation Envoys have been deployed in groups of two to hunt down all of the powerful cultivators traveling to attend the Bodhi Banquet, and both of them were targeted," one of the divine officials hurriedly replied as he fell to his knees, while his companions lowered their heads in a tense and fearful silence.

The demise of Immortal Lord Hu Liang wasn't of much concern to Xuanyuan Jie, but Tong Qiu was the son of one of his acquaintances.