Chapter 52: A Rich Harvest Of Crystal Cores
Confronted with six blade locust officers at once would have even a hardiest refiner at the nature level quaking in his boots.
A blade locust officer was more powerful, in both speed and strength, than the average blade locust. However, it was the venomous thorns that were the most frightening.
In the desert, there was a scorpion whose deadly sting killed any creature that was stung, instantly, and, in the forest, there was a ghostlike butterfly whose powder was so toxic that it would make the area desolate for miles around.
However, refiners at the nature level weren't usually frightened of those creatures, given that their life vitality could prohibit toxins from entering their bodies. Simply put, it was more difficult for toxins to affect their bodies.
Differing from those two deadly creatures, the venom that the blade locust officers possessed wasn't fatal. Instead, the toxin severely paralyzed the victim and could break through the life vitality barrier to penetrate the human body. Even those who reached the nature level were unable to move once infected.
Thus, when it came to fighting the blade locust officers, everyone needed to be on guard. After all, once paralyzed, one was nothing but food for blade locusts.
Others feared the blade locust officer's poison, but not Zen.
Considering his body was a mysterious weapon, there wasn't any poison that could harm him.
Therefore, although it seemed foolhardy of him to rush at the blade locust officers alone, in actuality, he was quite prepared.
As he leaped through the air, he slipped a ring on one finger, while the other was steadfast on the broken flying knife. They were the pair of copper rings with the invisible chain linking them that Master Su gave him.
Six blade locust leaders spread out around Zen, closing in on him while shrieking. Suddenly, purple thorns shot from their bodies at Zen.
Facing an onslaught from stings that everyone else was desperate to avoid, Zen didn't duck and instead let them pierce his skin. At that moment, he threw the broken flying knife.
“Slash!”
As the flying knife flew through the air, Zen waved the hand he had the ring on controlling the invisible chain, and immediately, the broken flying knife circled him.
The razor edge knife sliced deeply into each blade locust officer's head as it made its way around Zen. With that, Zen's strength was sapped, and he slumped to the ground.
In midair, the heads of the six blade locust officers remained intact for a few seconds before separating awkwardly from their bodies, falling from the sky and slamming into the ground hard.
The six officers were dead in a flash.
“Wow! That was awesome! Zen, that was fantastic!” shouted Tank and others in amazement.
Martin's eyes were filled with astonishment as well. As a centurion who fought blade locusts all year round, Martin should be the one who knew them best. He was well aware of how difficult it was to deal with the blade locust officers, especially their venomous stings.
His skin was stabbed once by a thorn that a blade officer shot. The result was that he was immediately paralyzed and laid in bed recovering for a week before his ability to move was restored!
But, Zen was pierced by multiple stings just now!
The spines had rained down on Zen in a downpour that even an elephant couldn't withstand, let alone a man.
Remarkably, Zen was alive and kicking, without any ill effects.
“Is he even human?” murmured Martin in disbelief.
Roger stood his ground, clasping his sword. Although he figured that Zen had made the first move because he was sure of being able to kill those blade locust officers, Zen's performance exceeded his expectations.
“I took the assignment because it was boring at the Cloud Sect. I never expected meeting such an interesting guy on my trip,” muttered Roger under his breath as his eyes lit up in surprise. 'Talents like his are encouraging. As long as he doesn't die young, he's bound to be a hegemon, ' he thought.
'Although there's no need to draw him over to my side, perhaps, I can give him a hand if he's in trouble in the future, ' he decided as he drew his sword from its sheath and faced the next wave of blade locusts.
At this point, an unusually large number of blade locusts swarmed them, and a new round of shooting began.
Enveloped in purple light from head to toe, Zen became bolder and bolder.
A crystal core from a blade locust officer would earn him one point, and he had just beheaded six in one fell swoop, which was equivalent to six points he had gained. Fighting like this would earn him points much quicker than he could by killing ordinary blade locusts.
But, blade locust officers differed from the common ones.
They were intelligent, which meant they weren't prone to daredevil tactics like the average blade locusts.
When the remaining officers saw that Zen had killed six of their cohorts in a single strike, they scattered and avoided him, while commanding more common ones to attack him.
Zen kept swinging his arm. Under the strong outward force, the broken flying knife whirled violently around him.
“Whirl, whoosh...”
Dozens of blade locusts charged Zen, but Zen adjusted his position, and they were sliced in half by the flying knife. Their remains were littering the ground. To Zen, the blade locusts were as defenseless as ants, even though others freaked out at the mere mention of them.
Soon blade locust carcasses were piled up like a hill, and among them were the heads of several purple blade locust officers.
There were many more of blade locusts than there had been in the previous waves, but thanks to the presence of Zen “the Windmill,” they were destroyed more quickly than before. After the dozens of blade locust officers were slaughtered, the remaining blade locusts withdrew.
Since there was a heap of blade locust corpses on the ground waiting for Zen to pick through, gathering the spoils, he didn't give chase to the retreating blade locusts.
Martin was puzzled at the sight of the blade locusts retreating, a thought flashed, and his face darkened at the possibility that came to his mind.
“No! Impossible! Retreat! Everyone, fall back!” shouted Martin in an urgent tone.
Hearing Martin shouting, Zen stopped plucking crystal cores from within the blade locust officers' chests with his knife, and asked in bewilderment, “What? Why?”
“When ordinary blade locusts retreat, it means... It means that there must be...” Martin's face was white, and his fear gripped him, making him unable to finish his sentence.
“What? There must be what?” Seeing the fear on Martin's face made Zen realize how dangerous the situation must be.
“Queen... blade locust!” stammered Martin with a guttural grunt.
He had been at the Dragon Fort for many years and knew the habits of the blade locusts, and that both the officers and the average blade locusts were under the orders of a queen blade locust. The blade locust officers could think independently, but the real commander of the army was the queen.
Without independent thought, each common blade locust was a daredevil. No matter how formidable the enemy was, they wouldn't hesitate to attack, so, in general, they didn't have the concept of fleeing or retreating.
In this aspect, they were natural warriors.
On the other hand, since they were retreating, there must be a queen blade locust near, calling them.
The queen was the sovereign mother of blade locusts. Once met, even refiners at the nature level needed to flee in haste, and only stronger refiners were able to battle her.
If a queen appeared here, everyone present would surely perish.
This was why Martin was so scared. In addition, he was confused about something.
The daily tasks assigned to the imperial army by the Dragon Fort should not be this risky.
Although the queens were frightening, there were also numerous powerful cultivators at the Dragon Fort, such as the well-known Flying Dragon General who had personally killed several blade locust queens.
The imperial army did an excellent job of surveillance, and usually wouldn't assign such a dangerous task to the Green Haze Group.
Therefore, it was not reasonable for the Green Haze Group to be sent to such a dangerous area. 'Unless someone is using this opportunity to destroy the Green Haze Group!' thought Martin, appalled.
He did not share his concerns. At the moment he just wanted to get his Green Haze Group back to the fort as fast as possible.
At Martin's command, everyone stopped digging out crystal cores and headed to the fort immediately.
However, just as they turned in the direction of the fort and safety, they felt a tremor in the ground.
“Boom!”
“Thud!”
“Boom!”
A massive creature was clomping closer.
The noise got louder, and the ground shook more violently, telling them that the immense creature was approaching them rapidly.
Hearts sank, and many soldiers and refiners alike gulped as they breathed. As predicted by Martin, a queen blade locust was indeed nearby.
Everyone wanted to survive and clambered to escape, fleeing like madmen.
Zen ran at a consistent speed behind Roger, while the four disciples from the Cloud Sect complained secretly.
In such a large area outside the Dragon Fort, the probability of meeting a queen blade locust was very small. Even if a queen left her nest once in a while, she would likely be beheaded by the mighty cultivators at the Dragon Fort, but unfortunately, they encountered one now...
Just as the group was running through the jungle, a large red blade appeared in front of them.
The trees that the blade passed through were leveled, and so were the dozen soldiers in front.
“Aaahh...”
The soldiers were cut in half and quickly devoured by ordinary blade locusts hiding as they shrieked.
Zen and the Green Haze Group rushed to a halt. In front of them stood a queen blade locust over twenty feet high blocking their way. She was a bright red color, with two large blades grinding against each other, and substantial compound eyes locked firmly in her enemies.
Being stared by such an enormous beast, Zen felt a chill of horror run down his spine. At that moment, he had only one thought, 'Run!'
Even in this crisis, Martin didn't raise the white flag. “To the sides, as many as possible!” he roared. “Everyone, run!” The superior qualities Martin possessed as a member of the imperial army were evident at this life and death moment.
The words were hardly out of Martin's mouth when the queen blade locust moved again. She was huge, but she moved incredibly fast. She deftly blocked the road to the side, her two giant blades cutting across the crowd again.
At this crucial moment, Zen leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding the blade that was coming at him and rolled over it.
Others were not as fortunate. Eight more men were cut down by the blades of the queen.
Standing behind the soldiers, Tank saw the giant blades bearing down on him, and it was too late for him to dodge. With a desperate yet determined look on his face, he gathered his strength and at the last moment, his entire body shimmered with a golden light.
As a cultivator half-step into the nature level, he let loose a burst of remarkable power while he hung on by a thread.
“Ka-Blam!”
Tank focused his golden aura from within his body to a single point, and shot it at the giant blades.
In a tragic scene, Tank's fierce power stopped the queen blade locust momentarily before her blades sliced him in two, mercilessly.