Chapter 508: Return of the Worm
Roar!
"You again?"
Having just entered the underground cave network, Xuan Hao was taken aback upon suddenly encountering the giant roaring worm that he had met back when he had first arrived at the underground cave network located below the primeval jungle.
Rumble~ Crack!
Roar! Roar! Roar!
About to rush over to kill the Domain Lord Realm worm before it had a chance to escape again, Xuan Hao was suddenly caught off-guard, as several new worms suddenly burst out from the ground around the first giant worm before joining in and starting to roar threateningly at him.
In total, there was seven worms, all of which had reached the Domain Lord Realm. To be honest, it was really not something Xuan Hao wanted to deal with at the moment. Especially given the fact that he was trying to leave the primeval jungle before he would end up getting dragged into the trouble caused by the group of unknown Domain Lords that he had encountered back at the mountain...
ROAR!
Almost like the fear it had felt upon their first short clash had disappeared over the past few hours, the giant worm roared arrogantly before charging towards Xuan Hao together with the other six giant worms at the Domain Lord Realm. Not planning to give him a chance to escape.
"Hah... I really don't have time for this..."
Letting out a reluctant sigh as he watched oversized worms slither towards him at a speed that would put an ordinary Domain Lord to shame, Xuan Hao waved his hand, causing the silver sword he had been gifted by Yi Min to appear once again.
Ching~
"Hm?"
Unsheathing the silver sword just in time to meet the angry giant worm he had wounded earlier in the day; Xuan Hao showed a slightly surprised upon noticing that he didn't pierce through the thick skin of the worm like he had done only a few hours ago.
Roar!
Seeing that Xuan Hao could not cut into it's skin like it had before, the giant worm became excited.
Not feeling nervous after having realized that he for some reason could not pierce through the skin of the giant worm by just using his sword domain and sword together, Xuan Hao decided to try out one of the first sword attack from the Heaven Splitting Sword Art. Earth Splitting!
"Think I can't pierce through you skin- Why are they here!?"
Retreating rapidly before the other worms managed to catch up and launch a combined attack together with the giant worm, Xuan Hao was just about to test out the Heaven Splitting Sword Art, when a group of five familiar looking Domain Lords suddenly came running out of the same tunnel that he had used to enter the underground cave network.
Roar?
Rooooar roaar?
Even the group of worms were confused over the sudden appearances of a small group of human Domain Lords. Stopping in their charge towards Xuan Hao, as they began communicating with each other about what to do now that even more humans had showed up.
The group of human Domain Lords were no better, as they also came to a stop upon discovering that the cave was not empty like they had expected.
"""..."""
Suddenly, everything inside the cave became silent, as the three parties began inspecting each other. Not knowing what to do in their current situation.
Rumble~
Before any of them even said a single word, a loud rumbling sound came from the tunnel behind the group of human Domain Lords, causing a terrified expression to appear on all their faces, as they began desperately escaping towards the tunnel leading to another cave. Not paying any attention to the worms and Xuan Hao along the way.
The rumbling sound should be from the powerful demon beast chasing after them! For them to be that terrified even with someone at the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm around... It might be a Soul Ascension Realm demon beast chasing them!
Realizing that it was best for him to leave, Xuan Hao was not one to pointlessly stay and fight the worms, as he quickly entered the tunnel leading to the next cave before the group of human Domain Lords.
Whoosh~!
"W-what in the world?!"
"Who was that...?"
"So fast, he should at least be someone at the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm. Maybe even someone who is half a step into the Soul Ascension Realm!"
Unaware of the impression that he had left on the Human Domain Lords, Xuan Hao rapidly rushed towards the location of the ancient teleportation formation, there was no way he was confident in facing something like a Soul Ascension Realm demon beast!
Especially given the fact that the group of more than a dozen human Domain Lords and a Peak Domain Lord had already failed. Leaving only five of them alive!
For now, all he had to focus on, was getting to the ancient teleportation formation and getting out of the primeval jun-
Skitter Skitter~
Before he could even make it through to the other side of the tunnel, Xuan Hao found his path forward blocked off by a large red ant.
"A red ant?"
Not thinking too much about the sudden appearance of a red ant, Xuan Hao swung his sword towards a large red ant that had suddenly appeared in front of him. Intending to kill it quickly before moving on.
After all, the ant was only in the Nascent Soul Realm, so a casual swing was more than enough for him to deal with it with his current strength!
Swish~
Effortlessly cutting it in half before it even had the time to react, Xuan Hao rushed past its dead body.
"More ants...?"
Only to realize, that there were even more of the red ants behind the one he just killed...
"Looks like they are only in the Core Formation Realm."
Muttering this to himself as he stopped for a short moment to observe the red ants, Xuan Hao thrust his sword forward after realizing that they were only in the Core Formation Realm.
Fwoosh!
Along the blade of the sword, a silver-coloured sword light was formed before it shot out towards the red ants. Instantly sweeping through the red ants before they had any time to respond. Killing all of them!
The sword light formed by his sword domain was indeed quite useful when it came to dealing with a bunch of weaker opponents. Especially so in a place where the range of both his divine sense and domain had been limited...
Arriving at the other side of the tunnel only a few seconds after having killed off the red ants blocking his path, Xuan Hao suddenly froze on the spot.
"This... Is quite troublesome..."
Staring at the seemingly endless sea of red spiders covering the entire cave in front of him, Xuan Hao could not help shivering at the sheer number of red ants crawling around in front of him.
Even if the strongest one among them had only reached the early stages of the Domain Lord Realm and was of no real threat to him, it did not lessen the fear brought along by the sight of the seemingly endless sea of ants that covered everything inside the cave.
Not to mention, the red ants had the advantage of numbers. Fighting them did not really seem like a good idea...
Whoosh~!
Hiding before the red ants managed to spot him, Xuan Hao could not help feeling thankful for the fact that the area around the tunnel entrance was one of the only places inside the cave that the red ants had yet to cover up.
Is there going to be more ants in the other caves? What about the teleportation formation? Have any of the ants entered it and begun attacking the Half Spirit town?
With these questions swirling through his mind, Xuan Hao suddenly felt the presence of the five human Domain Lords coming towards him from the other side of the tunnel.
"Stop!"
Stepping forward before the group could rush into the ant covered cave, Xuan Hao felt relieved upon seeing the person in front coming to a stop upon hearing what he said.
"Everyone, stop"
Along with the words of the person in the front, the group of Domain Lords quickly came to a stop.
If they ignored him and charged forward, they would have ended up being spotted by the red ants on the other side.
"Might I ask why you stopped us? As you should have realized by now, we are currently in the process of esca- That!? Primeval Fire Ants!? Don't tell me... Did we perhaps walk into a primeval fire ant nest...?"
Before the leader of the group of Domain Lords even had the time to finish his sentence, he quickly discovered the red ants covering the entire cave in front of them.
Hm... So, they are called primeval fire ants...
"Indeed, quite a troublesome situation all of us have found ourselves in. Might I ask what demon beast was chasing after you and your group? From the looks of it, it should be a quite powerful one..."
Noting down the name of the red ants, Xuan Hao didn't show the slightest bit of nervousness on his face. Calmly asking the leader currently looking like he was about to break down after seeing the seemingly endless sea of ants blocking their path forward.