Eternal Heavenly Emperor-Chapter 467 - 457: Capture the King First to Capture the Worms
The temperature here was extremely high; the air formed visible ripples due to the heat wave, forcing many people to deploy Star Force shields. Without them, the moisture on one’s body would evaporate instantly, or even the person themselves could be burnt to ashes.
However, there were several individuals who had also cultivated Body Techniques and could block these heat waves with their Physique alone, unaffected in the slightest.
Chu Hao’s gaze swept over them. There were indeed quite a few who practiced Star-Body Dual Cultivation. It was clear that the Gu Clan had a profound heritage capable of nurturing such geniuses.
But the higher one’s Realm, the more resources Body Cultivation consumed. It was sustainable below the War Venerate level, but what about stepping into the Upper Three Realms? That would be impossible, even if an entire clan pooled its resources.
Unless one had an extraordinary stroke of luck, one would have to return to gather resources after becoming a War God. With the power of a War God, it was possible to enter many forbidden areas. Although there were still dangers, at least there was hope.
They approached closer; the cliff was as if cut by a knife, covered in caves, with the lowest one just over two or three meters above them.
"Shall we go in to scout the way?" someone asked.
"Of course, why else are we here?"
Shh shh shh, but before they could start, countless strange sounds arose, followed by a rush of fire-red creatures that quickly crawled out from the caves.
These were... cockroaches with a shell of flames, robust in size, as big as a pig, making each detail on their bodies disturbingly clear and utterly disgusting.
The cockroaches swarmed out like a tide, surrounding Chu Hao and his group, turning the area into a sea of red in an instant.
"What now?" everyone asked.
Chu Hao turned to Fat Cat and said, "How about it, can you communicate with them to let us pass?"
Fat Cat immediately shook its head, saying, "No, these ferocious creatures’ minds are filled with slaughter, evil, and darkness; communication is simply impossible."
Just then, countless fire cockroaches opened their mouths, and each extended a red tube about half a foot long. Thump, thump, thump, the tubes pulsed as if something was about to gush out.
Phew, a burst of red light sprayed out from one of the fire cockroaches’ mouthparts first, soon followed by countless others that bombarded Chu Hao and his team like a deluge.
"Defend!" The four War Venerates swiftly took action, opening up Star Force shields that protected all twenty of them.
Boom, boom, boom, the red orbs hit the Star Force shields but didn’t disperse immediately; instead, they stuck to the shields like a liquid. The Star Force began to melt away rapidly, as if ice and snow faced boiling water.
This sight caused everyone’s color to change.
These were shields formed by War Venerate, considered the strongest defense in this Minor World, but the "saliva" sprayed by the fire cockroaches was terrifying enough to damage even War Venerate-level defenses.
And that was just the power of one fire cockroach.
Phew phew phew, more and more "saliva" sprayed onto the Star Force shields, corroding them at an alarming rate.
"Let’s go!" Even the four War Venerates looked grim; they hurriedly led the way, two in front and two in the rear, making their way back along the path they came.
Fortunately, they hadn’t ventured too deep alone, and everyone in the team had at least War King-level combat power. Naturally, they were unstoppable, quickly slashing a bloody path and leaving behind a trail of cockroach corpses.
The fire cockroaches pursued them relentlessly until they were ten thousand miles away before they stopped and turned back.
The crowd sat down, finally over their shock, and began discussing.
"These fire cockroaches are all at the War General level, with no stronger or weaker among them, and their numbers are at least in the hundreds of thousands."
"They aren’t afraid of death; the deaths of their kin don’t seem to instill any fear in them."
"It’s as if they live only for slaughter!"
"To get through the Land of Flames, we must go through those caves, and inside the caves, it becomes even more difficult to avoid their attacks."
"So, we must fight outside and completely eliminate them."
"However, with tens of thousands of fire cockroaches spitting at the same time, the casualties will be extremely severe."
All four War Venerates frowned; their concern wasn’t just about winning a battle, but also about the direction of the entire military campaign. Each soldier was a clansman or even a descendant; how could they not worry?
Chu Hao and his people weren’t troubled by this because although they were outsiders, many didn’t know each other well enough to form friendships; nobody would grieve a death.
"We’ll return to the clan first and report the situation to the High Priest."
They rushed back to their base.
Hearing about the fearsomeness of the fire cockroaches, the atmosphere in the entire army became very heavy.
While the level of these ferocious beasts wasn’t particularly high, their numbers were simply too great. Moreover, their spitting attack was so terrifying that it could corrode even War Venerate-level defenses. So what about War Kings and War Generals? How long could they withstand?
Tens of thousands of fire cockroaches spewed simultaneously, under that spray, it was feared that even a War King would have been instantly turned into rotting liquid.
Chu Hao couldn’t help but lament the missed opportunity. If Xiaocao were here, with her Innate Poison Body, she might have had some unique way to solve the problem without bloodshed.
In the following days, the High Priest issued orders, promising massive military merits to whoever could come up with a good strategy to conquer Flame Mountain.
With the promise of a rich reward, many would be willing to brave danger, and as the saying goes, "three cobblers with their wits combined may match the wisdom of Zhu Ge Liang." Many suggestions and strategies were proposed, some at least seemed feasible, while others were completely nonsensical.
— Someone suggested digging a canal, creating a tributary to divert the waters of Blackwater River towards Flame Mountain to counteract fire with water.
But apart from the distance between the two places, considering that Flame Mountain’s terrain is high, to divert water there, the riverbed would have to be dug extremely deep. How long would it take even a War Venerate to dig such a distance of tens of thousands of miles?
Another issue, even if the water was diverted there, how would they pour the water onto the mountain?
This river water is no ordinary water; known to sink all things, its killing power is no less formidable than that of Flame Mountain.
Some proposed forming an alliance again with the golden centipede, creating a large army of humans and beasts, which could greatly reduce the tribal side’s losses. But what reason would ferocious beasts have to ally with humankind?
Previously, everyone had a common goal, and now? Humans and ferocious beasts have always been mortal enemies, it’s the norm to eat each other - they’re not friendly enough to help one another.
Naturally, this proposal was also rejected.
For a while, the Copper Valley Tribe was at a loss, seemingly with no other option but to mount a direct assault, sacrificing countless lives to forge a path of survival.
"Is there really no other way?" Chu Hao furrowed his brows, not wanting to witness a scene strewn with corpses, even if most of the people were strangers to him.
"It’s not completely hopeless." Fat Cat lay sprawled on the table, devoid of the elegance a feline of its kind should possess, hence its corpulence, "Fire cockroaches are like bees, with a Queen commanding and governing them. If we can control this Queen, everything else becomes manageable."
"First capture the king if you want to catch the thieves!" Chu Hao’s eyes lit up.
"Easier said than done. Those caves crisscross in every direction; how will you find that Queen?" Fat Cat retorted. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
This was a problem. Flame Mountain wasn’t particularly tall, but it stretched for tens of thousands of miles, and the underground could continuously expand, forming a vast subterranean space. Searching for a specific fire cockroach in such a vast area was no different from finding a needle in a haystack.
"However, finding that Queen might not be so difficult," Fat Cat countered Chu Hao’s previous disappointment with a renewed proposal.
Chu Hao didn’t directly ask how but rather used his wits, saying, "Since these fire cockroaches are like a swarm of bees, then the Fire Cockroach Queen must only be responsible for eating and laying eggs, which is a significant drain and would require many fire cockroaches to feed her constantly."
"That is to say, the busiest route in this massive nest must lead to the Fire Cockroach Queen!"
Fat Cat immediately clapped its paws, but with its paw pads muffling the sound, the act was as silent as if it were a mime. It nodded and said, "There’s still a problem, though. The nest is not undefended; how will you find that route?"
That was an issue, considering they couldn’t exactly dig open the mountain range for a clear view.
A thought struck Chu Hao, and he took out the golden pupil eye.
This Divine Beast Eye could penetrate obstacles, pierce through the Origin of the world, its power seemingly boundless.
"Not bad; you’re really lucky, which is an essential trait for becoming a strong warrior!" Fat Cat nodded, "The history of martial arts is too long. During this time, countless geniuses emerged, but why have only a limited few reached the summit?"
"Nothing else, just luck!"
After considering for a moment, Chu Hao nodded his agreement. Some geniuses hadn’t made a name for themselves and met with fatal disasters, which could be attributed to bad luck. Two geniuses went looking for Spiritual Medicine, one found it, the other did not; that was also a matter of luck.
"I’ll go and speak with the High Priest. Even if we capture the Fire Cockroach Queen, it won’t work without cooperation from both inside and outside," he said, standing up to seek an audience with the High Priest.
The High Priest held him in high regard and immediately summoned him upon receiving his request.
Once Chu Hao laid out his plan, the High Priest instantly agreed. In fact, many people had thought of this idea, but the problem was they didn’t have the golden pupil eye and thus couldn’t possibly locate the Fire Cockroach Queen.
"Since you have such a treasure, I will assign Tu Dong and Tu Xi to accompany you. Once the Fire Cockroach Queen is found, they will capture her!" The High Priest decided on the spot. Tu Dong and Tu Xi were both War Venerates, one Third Tier and the other Fourth Tier. Though not among the elite, presumably the Fire Cockroach Queen was only at the War King Realm, and the two War Venerates working together should be able to capture the Queen instantly.
That night, Chu Hao set out with the two War Venerates. Hoisted by Tu Xi, they both burst forth at their top speed, and in just one day and night, they arrived at Flame Mountain again.
This time they were even more cautious, not making a single sound.
Chu Hao took out the golden pupil eye, looking towards Flame Mountain.
Suddenly, the world appeared in a form of pure energy.
The Fire Element was incredibly active here, and each fire cockroach turned into red dots, crawling in the enormous underground space. Because it was a three-dimensional space stretching for thousands of miles, it naturally wasn’t possible to see every inch in a short amount of time. Therefore, after searching for an hour, Chu Hao handed the golden pupil eye over to Tu Dong to continue the search.
After four full days, they finally made a discovery. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
