Chapter 112: Chapter 112 Tang Family
The Vermilion Bird Ring, this magical artifact, originally belonged to Lei Yajing of the Hengyue Sect.
After killing this female cultivator, the Vermilion Bird Ring became Lu Zhiwei’s personal spiritual artifact.
This was the first time she used it in actual combat.
The effect was excellent.
As expected, the Vermilion Bird Ring emitted a red radiance, resembling a solar halo, instantly enveloping the Locust King, swiftly binding it.
The moment the Locust King was captured by the Vermilion Bird Ring, it lost its ability to move; even fluttering its wings became impossible, and its massive body plummeted downwards.
Clang!
Lu Zhiwei mobilized the magical power in her dantian, wielding the Zhaoyun Sword horizontally on her chest.
Buzz!
She once again performed the Heavenly Line technique from the Taiyi Celestial Ruins Sword Technique.
The Zhaoyun Sword emitted a distant sword humming sound and instantly shot forward like an arrow from a bow, transforming into a silvery light that slashed towards the Locust King.
The Locust King was already like a turtle in a jar, without anywhere to escape; instinctive fears and evasive actions were futile.
The Zhaoyun Sword’s speed was at its peak, visible to the naked eye like a slender silver gleam as it sliced into the Locust King’s body.
Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation against Eighth-Layer Qi Cultivation, combined with the Tier Two Spiritual Artifact Zhaoyun Sword, alongside the might of the Taiyi Celestial Ruins Sword Technique.
The power of this sword, even Zhu Taiyuan of Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation dared not confront head-on.
One slash of the sword, and the result was immediate.
The Locust King emitted a scream and howl as its body was sliced open from head to tail with a single sword stroke.
Even though it had a hard shell for protection, it still couldn’t withstand the extreme sharpness of the Zhaoyun Sword.
Back when dealing with the three cultivators from the Hengyue Sect at Wei River, Lu Zhiwei fully wielded the Zhaoyun Sword and performed the Taiyi Celestial Ruins Sword Technique, even breaking through the Tier One Spiritual Artifacts of Wei River and others with a single sword stroke.
Let alone the mere shell of the Locust King.
"Such a fierce sword technique!"
Witnessing Lu Zhiwei’s single sword slaying the Locust King, Zhu Taiyuan’s gaze sharpened, and he couldn’t help but praise, casting a wary look towards Lu Zhiwei.
Could this be the reason Yuan Lang drew closer to Lu Zhiwei?
Someone complimented her nearby, but Lu Zhiwei remained silent.
With a graceful gesture of her hand, she summoned the Vermilion Bird Ring back to her wrist, then casually opened her storage bag and stored the Locust King’s corpse within.
As the leader of the locust swarm, this Locust King indeed held value.
Its shell, compound eyes, and other parts were all excellent materials for artifact refining.
Being an artifact refiner and having personally slain the Locust King, its corpse naturally became her spoils of war.
With the Locust King slain, the swarm immediately lost control and fell into chaos, flying haphazardly in the air.
A few stronger locusts, at the Third and Fourth-Layer Qi Cultivation, began to mutually attack, vying for leadership of the swarm.
With the mindset to eliminate evil thoroughly, exploiting the insect swarm’s leadership contest, no one showed any mercy.
These locusts were quite large and posed some danger to cultivators, and would be unstoppable devastation against ordinary mortals.
Eradicating the swarm was crucial.
Zhu Taiyuan and Sun Jinxiu quickly moved, instructing their disciples to swiftly take action.
Before a new Locust King could emerge, they aimed to annihilate the swarm entirely.
The swarm had already become disorganized due to the leadership contest.
Next, they were no match for Zhu Taiyuan and the cultivators.
In less than half an hour, under the wide-range attacks with various fire techniques, the entire swarm was completely eradicated.
All locusts were thoroughly slaughtered, not one survived.
The ground was piled with locust corpses, forming heaps upon heaps.
Wherever the locust swarm had passed, the area was stripped bare, desolate, not even dried branches and leaves remained.
With such destructive power, if they really flooded into Zhurong County, the aftermath would surely resemble this scene.
"So far, this was just the first round of locust swarm attack, but luckily we cooperated well and successfully held this swarm outside Zhurong County, completely eliminating them."
Zhu Taiyuan exhaled slowly, surveying the locust corpses.
Sun Jinxiu nodded in agreement, saying, "In the coming days, we should remain stationed here to fend off the locust swarms that may continue to arrive."
"This time, Lu Daoist, your slaying of that Demon Locust threw the swarm into chaos. This greatly reduced the difficulty of eliminating the Locust King."
"Your ring and sword move was brilliantly executed,"
Sun Jinxiu praised.
"The extermination of this swarm was the result of everyone’s united strength. I just managed to assist a little."
Lu Zhiwei responded briefly, then fell silent.
Looking at the tens of thousands of locust corpses on the ground, the group discussed and decided to incinerate them on the spot.
These locust carcasses had dry, unpleasant taste, unpalatable for consumption, and unsuitable, posing health risks.
To save time and prevent these hundreds of thousands of locust corpses from serving as food to bolster future swarms during the fight against locust plagues, quick disposal was the best solution.
After spending over an hour and performing multiple Fireball Techniques, they thoroughly cleared the towering piles of locust corpses, and everyone began resting and recuperating, restoring their magical power.
This round of combat, resisting the swarm, had exhausted a considerable amount of magical power, leaving everyone physically and mentally fatigued.
The locusts were overwhelming in number; once the battle began, there was no time for rest, leading some disciples of the Heaven-Facing Sect and Shenxiao Palace, more than seven to eight tenths of their magical power consumed while clearing locusts, to become bloodthirsty; now they must calm their minds and recover quickly.
After spending about half an hour, everyone had mostly recovered.
At this time, Sun Jinxiu stood atop the city wall, gazing at the distant plains with a worried expression.
After a long silence, she sighed slightly, addressing everyone:
"This time, I fear it will be hard work for all of us. To stop the locust plague from spreading into Zhurong County, we can only hold fast here, trying to ensure minimal loss of magical power and defend the swarm in the best condition."
This was currently the best way to resist the locust plague, simply by waiting in ambush.
The locust swarm’s path was fixed, and the Locust King’s keen sense of smell could detect the scent of farmland crops from a thousand miles away.
Zhurong County was adjacent to Pingyuan County.
After the swarm finished devouring Pingyuan County, the next target would naturally be Zhurong County, closest for consumption.
If the distance were too far, the swarm would lose numbers during the journey.
These locusts have insatiable appetites and become quickly hungry.
Once they become ravenous, they will begin cannibalizing each other.
In circumstances when it cannot be helped, the Locust King won’t allow the swarm to cannibalize.
Thus, waiting in ambush for the locust swarm to arrive was a very viable plan.
In the following days, Lu Zhiwei’s group stayed in Zhurong County to assist Shenxiao Palace and Heaven-Facing Sect in combating the locust plague.
For six days of guarding, nearly every day brought two waves of the Locust King crossing over. The swarm numbers were generally around ten thousand.
The most numerous swarm reached eighteen thousand.
Fortunately, during this period, other local forces and cultivation clans arrived at Zhurong County, joining Lu Zhiwei’s group in clearing the locust plague and protecting Zhurong County.
Among them, notably, was the Tang Family, a local cultivation clan from Lushan County.