Chapter 2231

Without the arc assistance of these hundreds of towers, the city's killing power against the insect swarm dropped by nearly half in an instant, and more and more insects fell layer upon layer into the black light curtain, causing the restriction to hum and begin fading rapidly at a visible speed.

"We must take action to defend this city!" Han Li frowned and suddenly said this.

Yin Yue nodded in understanding upon hearing this.

"Brother Xie, in order to quickly resolve this trouble, I'm afraid you'll also need to lend a hand shortly." Han Li turned his head and said this to the Crab Daoist.

"No problem." The Crab Daoist calmly agreed.

Upon hearing this, Han Li smiled, then shook his sleeve, and instantly a scroll of spiritual light unfurled from his sleeve, and the three miniature Extreme Mountains flashed into view before him once again.

Then he suddenly made a hand seal with one hand, and after releasing the golden light from behind him, he manifested the three-headed, six-armed Brahma Saint Dharma Aspect.

As his dharma formula was activated, the three heads and six eyes of the dharma aspect opened wide, and from his mouth came a long, dragon-like roar.

The roar thundered and shook the heavens, rushing straight to the clouds beyond the nine heavens, and in an instant it transformed into an invisible, transparent sound wave that rolled toward the distant sea of insects.

I don't know what kind of strange supernatural power was displayed by manifesting the Brahma Saint Dharma Aspect in this roar, but upon hearing the roar, the demon race of Black Gourd City were first startled, and before they could even begin to search for the source of the sound, they suddenly discovered that the insects originally frenziedly attacking the light curtain either exploded in large numbers on their own, or fell en masse from the high sky without any prior sign.

In the blink of an eye, the insect swarm was reduced by nearly half.

And the remaining insects began to buzz loudly, falling into utter chaos.

At this moment, a disturbance arose in the high heavens, and three towering peaks of ten thousand zhang in height flashed into view above the insect sea.

With a thunderous roar, the great peaks simultaneously descended downward.

In the next instant, waves of radiant light, streaks of sword qi, and rings of luminous halos erupted wildly within the insect swarm.

Vast numbers of insects, offering no resistance whatsoever, were swept away by the three mountain peaks, leaving only some giant mutant insects clearly stronger than ordinary ones, which could barely resist for a moment and hurriedly fled toward the edges in panic.

But just then, a thunderclap rang out in the high heavens, and a thick silver arc suddenly flashed into view, and with a single leap, it darted past more than a dozen giant insects.

After these giant insects let out a mournful cry, they, along with nearly a thousand ordinary insects nearby, turned to ashes.

When the silver arc had finished coiling and dispersing, a young man in a Daoist robe appeared in the void—none other than the Crab Daoist.

After the Crab Daoist swept his gaze toward those distant giant insects, a flash of electric light appeared on his body surface, and without a word, he instantly transformed once more into a darting arc of electricity.

Wherever the thunderclap passed, countless gray mutant insects were utterly exterminated.

With a tremendous "Boom!" that shook heaven and earth, in the void on the other side of the insect sea, a giant phantom several thousand zhang high flickered into view amid a tremor.

It was precisely the three-headed, six-armed Brahma Saint Dharma Aspect.

Han Li's true self stood with his hands clasped behind his back at the center of the dharma aspect, gazing at the nearby mutant insects, his face showing no expression whatsoever.

However, at this moment, this giant-like dharma aspect had countless purple runes appear all over its body, and as the six arms moved slightly, clusters of silver fireballs densely shot out in all directions.

The silver flames fell downward, instantly turning into vast seas of fire each covering several mu, completely engulfing layer after layer of insects.

Whether ordinary insects or those larger giant insects, the moment their bodies touched the silver flame, they let out piercing screams and struggled desperately, but in an instant they vanished into nothing.

With Han Li and the Crab Daoist taking action in succession, the seemingly endless sea of insects was being slaughtered at an astonishing speed.

Yet those ordinary insects were truly fearless of death; after abandoning their attack on the demon city's restriction, they nearly rushed toward Han Li and the Crab Daoist in a suicidal manner.

Even though Han Li and the Crab Daoist successively displayed several supernatural powers, it was only after the time it takes to eat a meal that they managed to clear the nearby void completely, but some giant insects, sensing danger, had already fled early.

Han Li naturally had no interest in continuing the pursuit; after beckoning to the Crab Daoist, he headed straight down toward Black Gourd City and descended slowly.

At this time, Yin Yue also flew over from a distance without haste, and after a few flashes, she arrived beside Han Li, and they descended together slowly.

The countless demons in Black Gourd City had long been stunned by Han Li and the Crab Daoist's earlier actions, and upon seeing that Han Li had, with just the two of them, actually swept the insect sea clean, they instantly burst into earth-shaking cheers.

And when the three descended into the city, without Han Li needing to speak, several high-ranking demons immediately rushed forward, after scolding the nearby demons, they obediently opened a crack in the light curtain and respectfully welcomed Han Li and the two others inside.

"Paying respects to the Holy Ancestor, my lord, thank you two predecessors for your assistance, saving the tens of millions of mouths in our entire city. May I ask your esteemed names, predecessors? The entire Black Gourd City will forever remember your great kindness and never forget it."

A middle-aged man in black robes, appearing to be at the early stage of Body Integration, bowed deeply to Han Li and the Crab Daoist before speaking with a face full of gratitude.

As for the other ordinary demons nearby, from the moment Han Li entered the city, they had all lined up in neat rows, prostrating themselves on the ground, too afraid to even look up at Han Li and the Crab Daoist.

Clearly, in the eyes of ordinary demons, the existence of the Holy Ancestor is akin to that of a divine being; now that two Holy Ancestors have appeared here at once, the demons in the city are overjoyed beyond measure.

"As for our names, you don't need to know them. Instead, where is your city lord? Let him come see me." Han Li said calmly.

"Reporting to my predecessors, the city lord, my lord, exhausted a great amount of vital energy while earlier resisting the Heavy Painting, and is now resting in the city lord's mansion. But I have already sent people to notify him beforehand, so he should arrive shortly to pay his respects to you, predecessors." The middle-aged demon replied cautiously.

"If that's the case, I'll wait here for a while. As for the others, do what you need to do—there's no need to wait here." Han Li nodded, then spoke bluntly.

"Yes, I'll have them retreat first, so as not to disturb the predecessors."

The middle-aged demon, startled, hurriedly bowed and agreed, then issued an order to the other demons on his left and right,

whereupon the nearby ordinary demons trembled as they rose, gave a salute to Han Li and the three in the air, and then scattered in all directions.

In an instant, aside from the few demon men nearby, there were no other idle persons left.

Han Li and the two others remained in the void, quietly waiting.

After only the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, a streak of dark, murky escape light rose from a tall building in the city, circled once, and then shot straight toward Han Li.

When the black light retracted, a gaunt old man in a black robe appeared before Han Li, more than ten zhang away.

After the old man swept his divine sense roughly over Han Li and the three others, he immediately bowed in fear and trepidation:

"I am Hu Yan, junior, paying respects to the two Holy Ancestors, my lords. Thanks only to your gracious presence in our humble city have we received your favor and managed to escape this present calamity."

"Are you the lord of Black Gourd City?" Han Li glanced at the old man twice, his expression unchanged, and asked.

This old man indeed had the cultivation of mid-stage Body Integration, and his strength among the demon lords was by no means weak.

"I have served as the lord of Black Gourd City for over a thousand years. If my predecessors have any matters, just give the orders." The old man replied with a face full of apologetic smiles.

"Well, you few step aside for now—I wish to speak privately with this Daoist friend Hu for a moment." Seeing the Black Gourd City lord behave so sensibly, Han Li showed a hint of satisfaction and nodded, but then immediately turned to the other few demons and gave a cold order.

"Yes, we juniors will take our leave first." The demon man's heart trembled, not daring to defy in the slightest, and he immediately agreed.

After a moment, only Hu Yan and the others remained here.

The old man, alone facing two Nascent Soul-level existences, was naturally extremely anxious in his heart, but dared not show it on his face; he simply stood with his hands bound at his original spot, a picture of utmost reverence.

"Just now, the insects were able to form such a vast insect sea—this could not have been accomplished in a short time. When did they begin besieging your Black Gourd City?" Han Li asked calmly.

"Reporting to my predecessors, these insects first appeared in the region several years ago. I, in my younger days, repeatedly led people to exterminate the insect swarms over a hundred times, but we could never truly wipe them out completely. Yet today, they were able to form such a terrifying insect sea all at once, and began their surprise attack on our city two days ago—this is also completely beyond my expectations." The gaunt old man replied, filled with fear and trepidation.

"They appeared two days ago. It seems these insect swarms, though lacking much spiritual intelligence, still follow some pattern in their movements." Han Li stroked his chin, replying thoughtfully.

"Senior, please understand! These insect swarms cannot be killed off, and they actively merge and gather together, causing the swarm to grow larger and larger. Otherwise, the Holy Realm would not frequently hear horrifying rumors of cities being directly slaughtered by insect seas." The thin old man hurriedly explained in reply.

"Let's not discuss this for now; I have another question." Han Li thought for a moment, then spoke again without changing his expression.

"Senior, please ask!" The old man bowed and replied.

"I and this fellow Daoist beside me have only recently been reborn, and I did not expect the Holy Realm to fall into such chaos due to the insect swarms. I ask you: where are the Six Extremes of Yuan Meng and the other Holy Ancestors and fellow Daoists? Why have they not appeared to exterminate these insect swarms? I heard that when the insect swarms appeared, they mostly vanished mysteriously. What exactly is going on?" Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly and asked slowly.

"Ah, so the two Holy Ancestor seniors are recluses who have been in seclusion for many years—no wonder they would appear here, and the junior feels quite unfamiliar with the two seniors. As for the whereabouts of the Primordial Ancestor and the other Holy Ancestor seniors..." Upon hearing this, the thin old man's heart startled, but his face showed a hint of hesitation.

"Are Yuan Meng's Six Extremes currently dealing with that mother of the insect swarms, and have they ordered this news not to be easily leaked?" Seeing this, Han Li gave a slight smile and stared at the old man, speaking slowly. To be continued