Chapter 0476: The Terrifying Explosive Golden Wasps
Ning Cheng currently was near the Blue Essence Stone Mine that Xu Liangzhi and company had initially discovered. His cultivation had reached the peak of Crucible Transformation 7th Level at this moment. Combined with possessing the Twin Wings of the Radiant Heavenly Clouds and the experience of roaming in the Void for over several months, he honestly did not want to give up on the Blue Essence Stone Mine. Therefore, he finally decided to go look.
However, as soon as he arrived there, he found that someone had already dug out most of the Blue Essence Stone Mine. The blue shimmer to it was much fainter compared to before. At the same time, the terrifying Void Explosive Golden Wasps had also disappeared.
Although fully excavated, Ning Cheng still felt satisfied with what he obtained from the remaining Blue Essence Stone Mine. At least, there was still some ore left. Moreover, Blue Essence Ore theoretically was a hundred times more valuable compared to Black Essence Ore. In other words, if he managed to obtained ores to the value of 10 million Blue Coins, it would mean an equivalent of 1 billion Black Coins in exchange.
Ning Cheng had still not come up with a method to obtain the remaining ore in the shortest possible time when his Communications Pearl lit up with an urgent message. After Ning Cheng read the news, he immediately started rushing back as quickly as possible.
Shen Zimo sent the message stating that countless Void Explosive Golden Wasps had surrounded the Rootless Black City. It was precisely this message that made Ning Cheng shift his attention from half-heartedly trying to dig out the remaining Blue Essence Ore.
He had already experienced the ferocity of Void Explosive Golden Wasps with his own eyes. Once the quantity of these wasps crossed a certain limit then even if the Rootless Black City contained more Crucible Transformation Cultivators, the Explosive Golden Wasps would wipe them all. As for the array formations that he had laid out previously, it would only help them last a little longer. It could not block the horde of Explosive Golden Wasps for eternity.
He had to return to the Rootless Black City as soon as possible; he cannot put Luofei and Zhuzhu in danger. Even if the Rootless Black City had the cultivator army, the moment the City Protecting Array Formation cracked open, the cultivator army would not be in a position to attend to the safety of Luofei and Zhuzhu.
Although Ning Cheng almost reached the threshold of the Great Circle of the Crucible Transformation 7th Level, just relying on his Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds would still cost him half a month to reach the Rootless Black City from the Blue Essence Stone Mine. If a meteorite stream or some other twists and turns showed up along the way, then it might even take a full month.
Therefore, if Ning Cheng wanted to return to the Rootless Black City as soon as possible, then he had no choice but to rely on Xu Kai’s Transmission Array Flags.
If it were an ordinary instance, Ning Cheng would never use the Transmission Array Flags left by Xu Kai. The Transmission Array Flags from Xu Kai used static points to traverse the Void, which was susceptible to Void Dislocations and Void Collapses. In the midst of a transmission, if he managed to escape from one of those Void Dislocations or Void Collapses, it would be equivalent to nine deaths and still alive.
[TL Note – The idiom ‘nine deaths and still alive’ can also be interpreted as ‘a narrow escape’ or ‘a new lease of life’.]
Unfortunately, Ning Cheng currently had no choice in this matter. In fact, Ning Cheng simply did not think about it too much. After learning that the city was under siege of Explosive Golden Wasps, he immediately took out the Transmission Array Flags.
From this location to the Rootless Black City, even with the fastest delivery method, it would still require most of a day.
During this period, he must find the Void Islands that Xu Kai used as anchors for the Transmission Arrays and then use those Void Islands one by one to make his way back.
……
The outermost layer of array formations protecting the Rootless Black City gave out a ‘groan’ sound before it cracked open. Not to mention Wu Yingzhe, who was a Tier 7 Array Formation Grandmaster and the rest of the Array Formation Masters helping him, even if Ning Cheng himself were here, facing such a dense cluster of Void Explosive Golden Wasps, resisting them all would not be possible.
As the outermost array formation cracked open, over a thousand cultivators almost immediately found themselves surrounded by a seemingly inexhaustible number of wasps. They then vanished in just a dozen breaths of time, as if those cultivators never existed in the first place.
In the face of such a terrifying scene, the faces of the cultivators from the Rootless Black City still trying to resist the Void Explosive Golden Wasps turned extremely pale. Once the Rootless Black City’s inner Defensive Array Formations cracked open, it would mark the death of every cultivator within the Rootless Black City.
In the end, even if a few cultivators managed to escape the onslaught by pure chance, there definitely would not be too many of them. Once caught up in the sweep of Void Explosive Golden Wasps’ horde, the entire Rootless Black City might just cease to exist.
The seemingly endless jaws coupled with the golden light from the Explosive Golden Wasps’ exploding stingers bombarded the inner Defensive Array like cold wind howling through the broken window. It felt as if it would tear apart at any time and at any point. At this moment, every single person was crazily attacking the Void Explosive Golden Wasps using every method that one could think of while flitting in and out of the Defensive Array.
It was just that the numbers of the Void Explosive Golden Wasps were too high. At the same time, the defensive abilities of the Void Explosive Golden Wasps also were too formidable. For a late-stage Crucible Transformation Cultivator, to kill an Explosive Golden Wasp, they must strike it several times consecutively at full force just to expose its weak point and then use that chance to attack that weak point revealed by the Void Explosive Golden Wasps.
Under such dropping variance, the fighting spirit and the morale of the Rootless Black City started to plummet. At this moment, more and more cultivators were thinking of ways to make their escape once the Void Explosive Golden Wasps breached through to the Rootless Black City. Even Ji Luofei readied herself to rush into the Void to escape with Yi Zhuzhu at a moment’s notice.
“Kacha….” The inner Defensive Array of the Rootless Black City finally could no longer hold it together as it issued a thunderous cracking sound. Followed by a horrifyingly large crack appearing on the inner Defensive Array of the Rootless Black City.
Even Chao Jimeng, who was rushing to the forefront to help, screamed, “Everyone, once the Inner Defensive Array breaks open, pick a random direction to escape. Don’t concentrate in one direction……”
A one of a kind death kneel spread out; every cultivator was now looking and preparing for any chance that presented itself to escape. In any case, all of them knew that in the face of the Explosive Golden Wasps that had surrounded the Rootless Black City like an iron cage, trying to break out of the siege had a high chance of encountering death. Everyone was waiting for that moment of those wasps breaching into the Rootless Black City. The moment it broke open, they could then potentially use that moment to escape.
……
Just when Ning Cheng rushed into the Rootless Black City, the only thing that he could see was the endless horde of Void Explosive Golden Wasps, which caused a cold shiver to run down his spine. The Void Explosive Golden Wasps had already broken through the Outer Defensive Array of the Rootless Black City; even the Inner Defensive Array seemed on the verge of collapse.
His Spiritual Consciousness swept out immediate and quickly located the anxious-looking Ji Luofei, and Yi Zhuzhu standing on the side of Ji Luofei, causing his anxiety-filled heart slowly calm down.
Ning Cheng was the one who had rearranged the Rootless Black City’s Array Formations, as such even if those Void Explosive Golden Wasps had not broken through the Array Formation, it would not impede his Spiritual Consciousness. Now that the Void Explosive Golden Wasps breached the outer Defensive Array Formations, he immediately obtained a more precise picture through his Spiritual Consciousness.
He saw a massive black warship in the middle of the Black City’s Inner Defensive Array and the Outer Defensive Array. It looked as if the Array Flags had completely wrapped covered the warship. Ning Cheng immediately knew at a glance that Wu Yingzhe was the one who arranged those Array Flags. However, with Ning Cheng’s attainments in the Array Formations, he could also make out that the Void Explosive Golden Wasps were not attacking the black warship. It was definitely not due to Wu Yingzhe’s arrangement of Array Flags. Instead, it looked as if this Void Battleship contained an Aura Concealing Array Disc, which was a lot more powerful compared to Wu Yingzhe’s Array Flags.
Since the seemingly infinite Void Explosive Golden Wasps were utterly ignoring the Black Battleship, Ning Cheng immediately understood that it definitely must not be normal.
According to Shen Zimo’s message, this battleship brought these Void Explosive Golden Wasps along. However, this warship actually contained a top-tier Aura Concealment Array Disc, while none of the Explosive Golden Wasps attacked it. Instead, all the Explosive Golden Wasps were collectively attacking the Rootless Black City, how was such a thing normal?
Ning Cheng did not pull back; instead, a red flame shot out. The Void Explosive Golden Wasps besieging the Rootless Black City immediately detected it. However, because Ning Cheng had appeared so suddenly, the sudden burst of flame directly resulted in opening up a huge gap within the dense encirclement of the Explosive Golden Wasps.
Ning Cheng took advantage of this opportunity, rushed in through the gap using his Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds, and soon arrived at the interiors of the Rootless Black City.
Although his Celestial River Flame was incredibly powerful, he still had to unleash his Maximal Flame Spiritual Technique to form that line of fire; however, he only managed to kill a few Explosive Golden Wasps. At least, compared to the seemingly endless Void Explosive Golden Wasps, the amount he killed was merely negligible.
[TL Note – Changing ‘Star River Flame’ to ‘Celestial River Flame’ from now.]
Only after rushing into the Rootless Black City did Ning Cheng suck in a breath of cold air. He realised that wanting to rely on his Celestial River Flame to kill off the dense cluster of Void Explosive Golden Wasps was something impossible. Just now, he had to use his Maximal Flame Spiritual Technique to force a path inside for himself. Moreover, the True Essence and Spiritual Consciousness consumption for the technique was just too high. If he continued to use this Spiritual Technique, he would not have to wait for the Void Explosive Golden Wasps to come and kill him, since he might just end up exhausting himself to death.
“The City Master is back…..”
“City Master…..”
As Ning Cheng landed in the city, it immediately attracted the attention of all people. Many people knew that Ning Cheng returning by himself might not be able to solve their current predicament; however, since Ning Cheng returned, it provided a lot of stability for the trepidation-filled hearts of the cultivators trapped within the Rootless Black City.
Ji Luofei quickly arrived at Ning Cheng’s side along with Yi Zhuzhu, while her heart also started to calm down.
“City Master, what do we do now?” Shen Zimo also rushed over.
Ning Cheng also saw other people rushing over to his side and quickly spoke up, “Don’t panic, just focus on blocking the Explosive Golden Wasps; as long as you can block them for half an hour, I have a way to solve this problem.”
Initially, the Void Explosive Golden Wasps caused the cultivators to feel a lot of pressure; however, after hearing Ning Cheng’s words, their hearts finally calmed down a bit. If it was just blocking the Void Explosive Golden Wasps, compared to fighting them head-on, it was a lot easier. After all, Ning Cheng could come in from outside the city, and if he genuinely wanted to go out, then supposedly these Void Explosive Golden Wasps should not be able to stop him. Since Ning Cheng decided to stay here, then perhaps there was a way to survive this situation.
Ning Cheng helped Wu Yingzhe by throwing out dozens of Array Flags, patched, and even quickly strengthened the array formations on the Inner Defensive Arrays. After that, he said, “I am going to search for something. When I find it, I should be able to lead them away.”
“Dear…..” Ji Luofei called out in worry.
Ning Cheng patted Ji Luofei’s hand and spoke, “Luofei, don’t worry. I truly have a way to deal with these Void Explosive Golden Wasps. I will lead these Explosive Golden Wasps away, which would allow Wu Yingzhe to quickly bring out his people to repair the rest of the array formations.”
“I’m coming with you.” Ji Luofei quickly spoke up.
Ning Cheng understood Ji Luofei’s intent; Ji Luofei wanted to enter the Miniature World along with Yi Zhuzhu out of concern for his safety. However, he shook his head and spoke, “The grade of my Miniature World Ring is too low and would not remain stable for long within the Void. Once we encounter a Spacial Collapse or a Spacial Squeeze, my Miniature World Ring would quickly collapse. Therefore, neither you nor Zhuzhu can enter. As long as I lead away from the Explosive Golden Wasps, the Rootless Black City would once again return to becoming the safest place. You don’t have to feel worried about me since I’m confident enough to escape from them.”
Ji Luofei was also very clear about Ning Cheng’s meaning. Moreover, she knew that Ning Cheng’s Miniature World Ring’s grade was too low and was not stable enough to support life inside it for long within the Void. If one was not alive, then how could one use a ring? Even if one managed to survive, the Spacial Laws of the Miniature World Ring would turn even more unstable. Moreover, to keep them shielded Ning Cheng would also have to focus a majority of his strength to maintain the stability of the Miniature World Ring.
“Ok, Zhuzhu and I will stay here and wait for you.” Ji Luofei finally accented, agreeing to Ning Cheng’s arrangements.
“Zimo, during the time I was not within the Rootless Black City, the cultivator army suffered a lot of losses. While I will personally lead away from the Explosive Golden Wasps, you must bring your people to stabilise the situation within the Rootless Black City. If someone dares to have ideas of fishing in troubled waters, then kill them without any mercy.” Ning Cheng quickly gave out his orders to Shen Zimo who stood by his side awaiting his orders.
In fact, even without Ning Cheng giving his orders, all cultivators within the army felt extremely afraid of this City Master Ning Cheng. With so many Explosive Golden Wasps surrounding the Rootless Black City, none among them possessed the ability to rush out of the Rootless Black City. However, Ning Cheng not only rushed in without suffering any damage, he even managed to kill a large cluster of those seemingly unkillable Explosive Golden Wasps.