Chapter 499: Insect Hive

Chapter 499: The Hive

"The ocean?"

Li Wei and Sheng Xi gazed at the scene before them, their faces filled with astonishment.

Regaining his composure, Li Wei shook his head and said, "This isn't an ocean. This is most likely the stomach of the Ice Emperor. These liquids must be its digestive juices."

"Be careful. These fluids might be extremely dangerous," Li Wei warned.

Sheng Xi nodded gravely. "I understand."

When the Energy Core Star Worm reached the edge of the sea of digestive fluid, it stopped moving forward.

Just as Li Wei was wondering what it was doing, several flat-shaped star worms with peculiar forms appeared in the nearby sea.

The flat star worms approached the edge of the sea, moved in front of the Energy Core Star Worm, and then the Energy Core Star Worm climbed onto their backs with small steps, dragging its heavy stomach along.

A "ship" formed by several flat star worms began carrying the Energy Core Star Worm deeper into the sea.

Li Wei and Sheng Xi exchanged glances, both showing looks of amazement.

"It seems these 'seawaters' are indeed very dangerous. The star worms have even evolved specialized transport units for traveling through the sea," Li Wei murmured.

Sheng Xi replied carelessly, "That's no problem. We can fly anyway."

"That's true. Let's go, but we should also be cautious that the star worms can fly too."

The two continued to follow the Energy Core Star Worm's progress, searching for the possible hive hidden within the sea of digestive fluid.

Li Wei felt that the hive probably wouldn't be established in such a place—wouldn't that create too many constraints?

Of course, from the perspective of the Ice Emperor, having the hive appear in the sea of digestive fluid would actually be beneficial, as it could maximally restrict the reproduction of the star worms.

If it really was here, it might be the Ice Emperor's act of resistance.

Anything was possible.

While flying, Sheng Xi suddenly looked up and said, "Li Wei, something seems to be falling from above?"

Li Wei raised his head and focused his gaze upward. Soon, his expression changed, and he quickly activated his invisibility armor shield to envelop both of them.

A light drizzle began falling from overhead, lasting for several minutes before stopping.

Li Wei only deactivated the shield after the rain had passed.

"Acid rain, highly corrosive," Li Wei said with a grave expression.

To withstand that brief acid rain, Li Wei had consumed one-tenth of his magical power.

One-tenth of his current magical power was enough to cast a large-scale sixth-tier area attack spell.

This showed just how terrifying the acid rain was.

This wasn't ordinary acid rain from the outside world, but super gastric acid secreted from within the Ice Emperor's body.

It could easily melt and corrode even metal and jade.

Magical shields would also suffer corrosion.

Li Wei glanced down at the acidic liquid sea below. If the acid rain was this terrifying, actually falling into it would probably mean not even bones could be recovered.

He scanned the surroundings and said, "Let's move quickly. Don't lose track."

After realizing this, Li Wei hurriedly urged Sheng Xi onward.

The two quickly chased after the direction where the Energy Core Star Worm had disappeared.

During the few minutes they spent defending against the acid rain, the Energy Core Star Worm had vanished from their sight.

Now Li Wei understood why, despite only needing one flat star worm to transport the Energy Core Star Worm, several still acted together.

It turned out they also needed to resist the acid rain falling from the air.

Fortunately, the star worms moved slowly through the acidic liquid sea, so Li Wei and Sheng Xi quickly caught up with the previously lost Energy Core Star Worm.

Proceeding through the incredibly dangerous acidic liquid sea, enduring multiple bouts of acid rain from the heavens, Li Wei finally saw the destination of the Energy Core Star Worm. It was a black island floating on the acidic liquid sea, over five hundred meters long and wide. Many uneven pits and holes could be seen on the island, with star worms occasionally crawling in and out.

After climbing down from the back of the flat star worm, the Energy Core Star Worm crawled along a larger opening and entered, disappearing from Li Wei's view.

Looking at the black island not far away, Li Wei was ninety percent certain this was the star worms' nest.

Sheng Xi stared at the distant massive black island that seemed almost alive, writhing and deforming, and asked softly, "What do we do now?"

Li Wei said, "To be safe, we need to first confirm whether the star worm queen is inside. If she is, we'll directly use magic to completely destroy her."

Sheng Xi glanced at Li Wei and asked doubtfully, "Can your spell that summons meteors from outer space work here?"

Li Wei paused slightly, stroked his chin in thought, and said, "That is indeed a problem. Inside the Ice Emperor's body, I most likely won't be able to use the Meteor Fireball Technique. Then we'll have to think of other methods."

Sheng Xi's lips curved upward. She patted her chest confidently and said, "Leave it to me then. I've been tired of these disgusting bugs for a long time."

"Just watch me breathe dragon fire and burn these disgusting insects to death."

Li Wei didn't doubt that Sheng Xi had this capability.

However, he still restrained Sheng Xi's impulse.

"Calm down. Don't alert the enemy. If we let the queen escape this time, it will be difficult to find the star worm queen again."

"Let me first check whether the queen is actually here."

Li Wei concentrated and looked down at the black island below, attempting to use psychic perception to explore the star worm nest.

He discovered that the star worm nest had some ability to block perception.

After strengthening the intensity of his psychic perception, his mental energy was able to penetrate the star worm nest.

Buzz buzz buzz!

The star worm nest underwent a transformation, with numerous winged star worms rushing out from within the nest, charging toward Li Wei and Sheng Xi's direction.

With one glance, Li Wei knew they had been discovered by the star worms due to the enhanced psychic perception.

Seeing this, he didn't hesitate at all, directly unleashing his psychic perception to its maximum.

In an instant, his mental energy became like X-rays piercing through the star worm nest, mapping all the internal structures and movements of the star worm nest into Li Wei's mind.

The vast interior of the star worm nest appeared in Li Wei's consciousness.

Soon, his mental energy perceived an individual with enormous energy—the energy intensity was hundreds of times that of ordinary star worms.

If nothing unexpected happened, this must be the star worm queen.

There was only one such exceptionally powerful individual within the entire star worm nest.

Without hesitation, Li Wei shouted, "Sheng Xi, full attack!"

"Aaarrgh!"

Sheng Xi roared, transforming into a sacred dragon, her body radiating holy light that illuminated the dim acidic liquid sea.

Her massive wings flapped once, striking the air and producing a tremendous sonic boom.

The next moment, Sheng Xi became a golden meteor streaking toward the swarm of approaching star worms.

She was like a golden holy sword directly piercing through the star worm swarm, her powerful sacred force annihilating all the star worms without a trace.

The surviving star worms that were affected by the attack but not killed began rapidly changing their forms, attempting to evolve shapes capable of resisting the sacred force.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the end, all the star worms exploded in midair.

They were unable to evolve into that form.

Levi sheathed his blade of judgment and let a faint smile cross his lips. "It seems I won't need to intervene after all."

Saint Ci surged toward the airspace above the star worm nest, opened her massive jaws wide, and began gathering golden draconic breath within her mouth.

(End of Chapter)