Chapter 722 - 722: Beating the Retreat

Soon, the Fifth-level Martial King from the Martial Soul Hall was pinned beneath the giant bug. He lay motionless, dead.

When someone from the Martial Soul Hall dies, their Primordial Power dissipates rapidly, leaving only a cluster of Martial Soul Power that fades at a slower rate.

However, before the Fifth-level Martial King's power could dissipate, the giant bug squirmmed and swallowed him whole.

After swallowing him, its three-meter-long, one-meter-wide, deathly-white, bloated body began to twitch uncontrollably.

It was as if… countless smaller bugs inside were fighting over the Fifth-level Martial King's corpse…

The nauseating scene shocked everyone once again.

These bugs didn't just attack humans; they didn't even spare those from the Martial Soul Hall.

"Useless fool… Kill it!"

The Martial Soul Hall envoy's expression turned ugly as he spoke through gritted teeth.

His group, including himself, only had a meager seven people—far fewer than the Sect Disciples.

They were already at a disadvantage in the fight for the Venerable's corpse.

And now, before they had even seen the Venerable's corpse, one of them had died. Only six remained!

After the envoy issued the command, two Sixth-level Martial Kings immediately made a move. However, they didn't dare get close to the giant bug.

The giant bug usually looked sluggish, as if even moving was a great effort. But when it attacked, its speed was so great that even an Earth King Realm Expert would struggle to react in time.

The pair waved their hands, unleashing streams of Primordial Power that bombarded the giant bug relentlessly.

In agony, the giant bug let out a series of sharp howls from its underside.

But soon, it was blasted to smithereens. A swarm of smaller bugs and a pale-yellow fluid burst out along with chunks of its flesh.

The moment the smaller bugs appeared, they let out strange squeaks and pounced on the six members of the Martial Soul Hall.

Having learned from the previous incident, they dared not let the smaller bugs get close.

One of the Sixth-level Martial Kings snorted. Fusing his Martial Soul Power with his Primordial Power, he swept his arm, freezing the ground for hundreds of meters ahead. All the smaller bugs were sealed in ice, unable to move.

Having dealt with the bugs, the group set off again.

Apparently, those weren't the only two bugs in the Underground Space.

As they advanced, they would periodically encounter more of the same giant bugs.

By now, neither Chu Qingyun's group of Sect Disciples nor the six from the Martial Soul Hall dared to be the least bit careless. The moment they spotted a giant bug, they immediately focused their firepower to annihilate it.

They had also figured out the best way to deal with the smaller bugs.

Namely, to unleash a wide-area Soul Technique or a blast of Primordial Power to kill all the smaller bugs at once, before they could scatter.

However, everyone noticed that the deeper they ventured, the more frequently they encountered the giant bugs.

At first, they would only occasionally encounter a giant bug after walking for a long time.

But later, they started running into one after just a short walk.

Later still, they began encountering two or three at a time. In the most extreme case, the Martial Soul Hall group had run into four giant bugs at once!

Fortunately, the giant bugs' strength was limited.

Even when four attacked at once, the Martial Soul Hall members dealt with them easily, not letting a single one of the smaller bugs escape before freezing them all solid.

But the increasing number of bugs was not a good sign.

Three or four bugs appearing at once was still manageable, but what if there were more? What if it became eight, or ten, or even thirty or forty?

At that point, the smaller bugs bursting out would number in the hundreds or thousands. They would be anything but easy to deal with.

The Underground Space seemed endless, stretching on without a finish in sight.

Tense and solemn expressions were on everyone's faces.

Finally, they encountered the largest swarm of bugs since entering the Underground Space.

Five giant bugs appeared before the Martial Soul Hall group, while a full seven appeared before Chu Qingyun and the other Sect Disciples!

Moreover, these bugs were much larger than the previous ones, their bodies reaching four meters in length.

Seven giant bugs were clearly no match for twenty to thirty Sect Disciples of the Martial King Realm.

And having witnessed how formidable the giant bugs were, none of them held back.

'They'd rather lose a chunk of flesh to the smaller bugs than be swallowed whole by a big one!'

More than twenty people attacked at once, instantly blasting the seven giant bugs to pieces and releasing a massive swarm of smaller bugs.

This time, the number of smaller bugs that burst out was well over five hundred. They swarmed forward in a dense mass; the mere sight was enough to make one's skin crawl.

Fortunately, Chu Qingyun's group was now experienced in dealing with the smaller bugs.

After a chaotic barrage of Primordial Power and Martial Soul Power, they managed to annihilate all the smaller bugs without anyone getting injured.

The Martial Soul Hall group, however, was less fortunate.

Although they killed the bugs, two of their weaker members were bitten by the smaller ones, causing their Martial Soul Power to leak out continuously.

This time, they had once again killed all the bugs and escaped unscathed, but it had been a close call.

But it served as yet another warning: the bugs ahead would only grow more numerous. Finally, some people couldn't bear it any longer and began to talk of retreat.

"This place is just too strange. Why don't we pull back for now? We can report this to the Sect and have them send some experts to investigate."

"That's right! There are too many bugs, and they're getting bigger. If there's a whole swarm in there, we'll be goners for sure!"

"Anything involving a Venerable's corpse is probably beyond our ability to handle…"

As they continued deeper, people finally started to voice these opinions.

Quite a few others nodded in agreement.

The seemingly endless, dark Underground Space, combined with the ever-increasing number and size of the bugs, filled everyone with a sense of dread and immense pressure.

However, the leaders of the various sect teams simply frowned, remaining silent.

They didn't want to retreat; being powerful, they were unwilling to miss such a rare opportunity.

However, they merely continued to lead the way in silence. They didn't say much, because everyone was an Inner Sect Disciple, not a subordinate. Forcing the issue would only be counterproductive and might just compel the others to leave on their own.

Even within the Martial Soul Hall's group, there were now people suggesting a retreat.

The bugs were just too monstrous; they would even try to eat members of the Martial Soul Hall, who lacked physical bodies of flesh and blood.

However, the Martial Soul Hall's envoy showed them no sympathy. He simply berated them and insisted on pushing forward.

'He knew full well that if he missed this chance, he might never get another opportunity to come back here.'