"Quick, quick, quick! Keep infusing energy!"
Someone immediately shouted.
Others also snapped back to reality, desperately channeling spiritual energy into the crystal.
Outside the defense circle, the powerful killing force exhibited by Yadun instantly attracted most of the insectsâ attacks. More Desert Worms swarmed towards him, immediately surrounding him with a sea of insects.
Even with the protection of a spiritual shield, Yadun still suffered great damage when faced with so many insects.
The shield blocked some of the Scythe Insectsâ slashes, but part of the attacks successfully tore through its defenses.
Yadunâs body was covered with scars, and the spiritual shield was broken time and again, only for him to repeatedly activate it again.
At this moment, Yadun was completely holding on by sheer willpower. He didnât know how much time had passed, or if his companions were dead, feeling as though the whole world was nothing but endless swarms of black insects, while he was a small boat in the fierce winds and waves, ready to capsize at any moment.
"Yadun! Come over quickly! The first level of the crystalâs teleportation has been activated! Letâs retreat!"
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out, as if from afar, yet also close by.
Yadun woke up with a start, his mind suddenly snapping out of its previous numb state.
He knew it was the voice of his friend Zeroda.
Yadun looked up to see that in the rear camp, the transmission crystal was already emitting a bright, crystal-clear blue glow.
"Did it work!?"
Yadun understood that this glow indicated that the first level of the transmission crystalâs teleportation was ready, and they could use this teleportation ability to leave this place and warp to other areas on the planet.
Although they still couldnât escape the planet, at least for now they could avoid the current crisis, which was enough for everyone.
Yadun felt as though he had come back to life, a power he couldnât even imagine erupted from within him, a powerful burst of spiritual energy pushed back the swarming insects around him.
"Ugh..."
After using this power, he suddenly felt dizzy, nearly toppling over.
Fortunately, his friend Zeroda arrived just in time, grabbing his arm and pulling him up, quickly leading him back to the crystal.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
The next second, countless lights enveloped the nearby Phantom Spirits, and everyone disappeared in that light, arriving in another region of the planet.
A moment later, the previously chaotic camp was now completely devoid of any trace of the Phantom Spirits, leaving only a group of Desert Worms roaring in frustration.
Zhang Xiaoman arrived in the air over this area just in time to witness this scene, feeling somewhat surprised by the crystals they used, not expecting that the Phantom Spirit Clan, which had just encountered Dark Spiritual Power, would have such an efficient method of teleportation.
"Interesting."
He looked at the transmission crystal below, his face showing an expression of interest.
"Take care of those insects, letâs bring up the crystal and have a look."
Zhang Xiaoman issued an order.
The Hail spaceship had long since stored up its energy, and immediately upon receiving Zhang Xiaomanâs command, it launched an attack.
Countless energy beams shot out from the spaceship, falling like a torrential downpour onto the insects below.
These insects were just a small swarm, perhaps they seemed numerous to the Phantom Spirit Clan, but in the eyes of Zhang Xiaoman and his team, they were no more than a nest of ants that could be crushed at any time.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!"
A series of explosions resonated on the ground, with the insect swarm instantly blasted to pieces.
The Insect Queen was barely shielded by several Black Scale Armor Guards from the attack.
Zhang Xiaomanâs figure flickered and disappeared from the command room.
The next second, he appeared in front of the Insect Queen.
Several large Black Scale Armor Guards quickly surrounded, trying to kill this suddenly appearing intruder.
However, Zhang Xiaoman merely waved his hand lightly, and all the Black Scale Armor Guardsâ bodies burst to pieces, the armor that was hard enough to resist shipborne weapons unable to withstand even a second under his Dark Energy Shock, all slain on the spot.
The Insect Queen stood upright, its tentacle-like limbs sweeping towards Zhang Xiaoman, yet the latter didnât even move, several air-formed blades severing its tentacles cleanly.
Moreover, the Insect Queenâs other limbs were also cut apart, causing it to lose the ability to move, only able to resist using a peculiar spiritual attack, trying to crush the enemy before it.
Yet Zhang Xiaoman, whose spiritual power far surpassed the opponentâs, and with the Spirit Star Ringâs spiritual power attack immunity passive, was entirely unaffected.
With a simple spiritual counter, he crushed the opponent, then began memory reading to gather intelligence from the Insect Queen.
"Desert Worms... Star Domain... Occupation... I see..."
A look of realization appeared on Zhang Xiaomanâs face.
Compared to ordinary Scythe Insects, an Insect Queen evidently knew much more information.
Zhang Xiaoman learned from this Insect Queen about the current situation in the Phantom Spirit Star System, and as he previously speculated, the core area here had been occupied by the Desert Worm Clan, intending to establish an Insect Domain to consolidate their territory in this universe.
This intelligence was not voluntarily offered by the Insect Queen, but Zhang Xiaoman speculated from the location of higher-order Insect Queens tracked within the opponentâs spiritual memories.
This Insect Queen was merely a low-level one, with limited knowledge, and Zhang Xiaoman could only trace it to the next level middle-order Insect Queen and its nest on the planet, unable to discover much more information.
Nonetheless, this was fine, as with his memory reading ability, paired with the Lord of Lightâs passive, as long as he captured an Insect Queen, he neednât worry about gathering new intelligence.
Exploring layer by layer upward like this, Zhang Xiaoman believed it wouldnât be long before he uncovered the core units within the swarm.
...
Elsewhere, on the far side of the planet, over a desert wasteland.
Bright flashes of blue light appeared abruptly, a group of blue-skinned people in tattered armor emerging from the light in disarray.
"Thud!"
Yadun, appearing only to collapse heavily to the ground due to his severe injuries.
His friend Zeroda hurried over, checking his wounds.
"Heâs badly hurt! He needs healing!"
Zeroda turned around, shouting to the companions behind.
By this time, those companions had also recovered from the discomfort of teleportation, but upon seeing Zerodaâs call, remained silent.
"You bastards! Have you forgotten who saved you just now!?"
Seeing no response from them, Zeroda couldnât help but roar in anger.
Silence fell over everyone.
The light in Yadunâs eyes dimmed.
A moment later, a female Phantom Spirit person walked over, a gentle silver-white light extending from her hand, saying:
"Let me try, Iâm a healer, I should be able to help him heal his wounds..."
"Sarah..."
A Holy Temple Knight stepped forward, seemingly wanting to stop her, but faltering in words.
The female Phantom Spirit named Rasha glanced back at her other companions, then turned back, determinedly approaching the fallen Yadun.
"Yadun, without you, we wouldâve all been dead by now... Youâre right, thereâs no such thing as deities in this world, we canât place our hopes in legends, we need to rely on our own strength to survive..."