Zhuo Yijian knew exactly what was going on.

These worms—each one was at least on par with a Peak Qi Refining Stage cultivator. Some were equivalent to Foundation Establishment, and every single one of them had shells tough as iron—not even fire could burn them, spiritual artifacts couldn't pierce them!

They had surrounded them from every direction, making escape seem impossible—a real headache.

The only option was for all the cultivators to strike with everything they had, open up a breach, and get the hell out. That was the best plan now.

"This is the only way."

Tu Yunfei spoke in a somber tone.

Mu Yunfeng, Yu Lingfei, Gao Ziyue, Jianghai, and over a dozen other cultivators all nodded, faces taut with wariness and shock.

"Such fierce insects!"

Lin Chang'sheng stared at the swarm blotting out the sky, surging forward like an avalanche. His pupils shrank; his mind raced—a thousand thoughts in a heartbeat. If all else failed, he could only use Xiaobai's Thousand-Mile Instant Teleportation to make his escape.

At the same time—

Lin Chang'sheng's powerful divine sense spread out in a boom.

Ever since he'd broken through to Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer, his divine sense could cover nearly eight hundred miles. Now, Lin Chang'sheng's divine sense reached deep into the earth beneath Iron Mountain.

"What... is that?"

Lin Chang'sheng, scanning a thousand feet below ground with his divine sense, saw something that looked like a lump of crystalline white jade, over ten yards long, and a look of horror flashed across his eyes.

This thing looked like half a Heaven-Devouring Worm!

Except—it was completely crystalline!

Like a Heaven-Devouring Worm magnified ten thousand times and then split cleanly with a sword, leaving half its body lying still, unmoving.

By this half-worm's side, swarms of Heaven-Devouring Worms crawled about. Among them were quite a few nearly half a yard long—apparently some minor bosses.

"Insect King!"

Lin Chang'sheng's divine sense swept farther underground; about ten yards down, he spotted a Heaven-Devouring Worm half a yard long, body pitch black and gleaming—clearly the brains behind the swarm attacking Lin Chang'sheng and company.

It crouched in a den three yards wide, underground, waving sickle-like horns. Twin eyes emitted ripples of black light.

"Could I... use Divine Soul Contract Technique on this thing?"

Lin Chang'sheng eyed the black worm ten yards beneath him, a thought flickering in his heart.

Divine Soul Contract Technique was all about using one's divine sense to invade the target's sea of consciousness, forcibly branding it and gaining control.

Moreover, with the contract technique, you could communicate with the target, gauge its thoughts and intentions—and kill it with nothing but a thought.

Thinking all this—

Lin Chang'sheng's powerful consciousness instantly invaded the brain of the Heaven-Devouring Worm, ten yards below ground.

"Screeeee! Screeeee!"

As Lin Chang'sheng's divine sense broke into the worm's consciousness, the bug suddenly went berserk, waving its huge scythe-horns in a frenzy.

That great scythe was sharper than anything—the iron walls of the underground den were sliced apart like tofu under its blade.

"This one's a Heaven-Devouring Worm leader! Its raw strength matches early Golden Core!"

Lin Chang'sheng's consciousness pressed into the worm's mind and planted his own Divine Soul Mark.

He sensed that, while its physical strength was as fierce as a Golden Core Early Stage cultivator, its divine soul wasn't up to par—it was only at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

Lin Chang'sheng's divine sense was already at Middle Stage Golden Core. Enslaving a Foundation Establishment middle stage Heaven-Devouring Worm with the Divine Soul Contract Technique—easy. Complete superiority.

Plus, his contract technique was already perfected. In just a few breaths, he'd succeeded in planting the mark.

At the same time—

Lin Chang'sheng learned new details about this Golden Core Early Stage Heaven-Devouring Worm.

That crystalline worm corpse underground? That was the Heaven-Devouring Worm King—it hailed from the distant Immortal Realm and was now sealed by the Void Hall, yet to awaken.

All these leaders down here were direct descendants of the Worm King!

"Command the worms surrounding me to retreat a thousand yards!"

Seeing that Zhuo Yijian, Yu Lingfei, Mu Yunfeng, and the rest were ready to blast a path out, Lin Chang'sheng sent a divine sense instruction to his new leader-servant: open up a passage.

"Screeee!"

Instantly upon Lin Chang'sheng's telepathic command, the leader worm let out a shrill cry.

With that, the dense swarm encircling Zhuo Yijian, Yu Lingfei, Tu Yunfei, Mu Yunfeng, Gao Ziyue, and the rest split apart and retreated a thousand yards, floating motionless in the sky.

The insect cloud that once blotted out the sun rolled aside—Zhuo Yijian and the others suddenly felt the world go bright.

"What the—how did that happen? The bugs backed off on their own?"

"Doesn't matter! Let's get out while we can!"

"........"

Seeing the Heaven-Devouring Worms suddenly making way, Zhuo Yijian, Tu Yunfei, Mu Yunfeng, and the others flashed suspicious looks, but wasted no time, darting through the gap and speeding off into the distance.

"Daoist! The bugs have split—let's move!"

"Daoist, hurry!"

"....."

Just then, Lin Chang'sheng's ears caught two crisp voices. His divine sense swept out—it was Gao Ziyue and Yu Lingfei, both on flying swords, shouting to him.

Jianghai and Xin Yun'Er also called out from the side.

"Thanks! I know!"

Lin Chang'sheng nodded to Yu Lingfei and Gao Ziyue and the others.

He definitely wasn't leaving yet—plenty more Heaven-Devouring Worm leaders remained, and the Worm King too. He had to get control of a few more before making his move!

Gao Ziyue, Yu Lingfei, Zhuo Yijian, Tu Yunfei and the others saw Lin Chang'sheng refusing to go. Helpless, they dashed off.

With everyone else gone, Lin Chang'sheng floated mid-air, gazing down at Iron Mountain.

Down below, inside Iron Mountain—

Out from a cavern ten yards wide burst a black, half-yard-long Heaven-Devouring Worm, which shot up to Lin Chang'sheng's feet and lifted him into the air.

"Hmm, this Divine Soul Contract Technique is seriously handy!"

Lin Chang'sheng looked down at the captive Heaven-Devouring Insect King now serving as his steed, satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

The contract technique let him force his divine sense into the target's sea of consciousness, planting both a mark and a restriction.

The affected target instinctively feared and revered the caster, and if it showed any rebellion, the caster could wipe it out instantly with a thought!

Controlling this worm leader meant controlling an entire swarm around here!

With these worms at his command, he had a major trump card!

"Time to catch two more worm leaders!"

"Can't let this opportunity go to waste!"

Lin Chang'sheng made up his mind secretly. All these worms had at least Peak Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment strength—the more, the deadlier.

He had to tame a bunch!

Right now—

Zhuo Yijian, Yu Lingfei, Mu Yunfeng, Tu Yunfei and the others had already gotten dozens of miles away from Iron Mountain before halting.

"Daoist Wei didn't come out—why not?"

Tu Yunfei looked back toward Iron Mountain, brows creased deep. Daoist Wei was the one he'd recruited to the team, but now, refusing to leave, it made no sense.

"Tu Daoist, when we left, Daoist Wei seemed to be standing on the back of a giant Heaven-Devouring Worm—when I shouted, he didn't budge."

Jianghai took a step forward and said in a grave tone.

He'd called out, but Lin Chang'sheng hadn't followed—still, survival came first.

"Man, with so many Heaven-Devouring Worms around, Daoist Wei probably didn't make it. No clue why he wouldn't escape with us."

Tu Yunfei sighed aloud.

The group lapsed into silence. The bug swarm had been overwhelming—simply too much.

"Let's go."

Tu Yunfei gazed toward Iron Mountain, silent for a long time, then waved his hand to the group.

"A shame Daoist Wei wouldn't come... but I swear, his eyes looked a little familiar..."

Yu Lingfei turned, glancing toward Iron Mountain, frowning, which was exactly why she'd called out to Daoist Wei before.

She couldn't shake the feeling she'd seen Daoist Wei somewhere before.

"Why do I feel uneasy? Why am I worrying about Daoist Wei?"

Gao Ziyue stood beside Yu Lingfei, peering toward the bug swarm, a look of puzzlement in her bright eyes. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like she'd seen that gaze before—somewhere.

But, for the life of her, she couldn't remember where she'd met Daoist Wei.

"Junior Sister Gao, let's go!"

Just then, a female cultivator at Peak Foundation Establishment approached and spoke to Gao Ziyue.

She was sent by Ji Ruyan, their master, to protect her junior sister Gao Ziyue.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.