Chapter 1056: Insect Nest

At that moment, a yellow light flashed on the ground, and with a "whoosh," a yellow figure emerged from underground—it was the bearded man.

His stone armor was now riddled with holes, but he himself was unharmed, only panting heavily, clearly finding travel underground not easy.

"This place is not safe for long. The ice wall Shi and I set up won't hold the Fire-Year Fireflies outside for long. Let's go deeper!" Su Qianxi cast a deep glance at Han Li, then turned and walked into the cave.

The others immediately reacted and hurriedly followed.

Han Li followed closely behind, but his gaze turned outward, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.

The swarm outside had suddenly become so agitated—there must be a reason. Unfortunately, he knew little about Fire-Year Fireflies and couldn't guess the cause.

The cave was filled with a rather peculiar restrictive force that limited the spread of divine sense. Moreover, it was pitch black, and visibility was limited.

But with the firefly army behind them possibly catching up at any moment, no one dared to pause. They moved forward in silence, with Su Qianxi and Han Li leading the way, casting spells to fend off the occasional small groups of Fire-Year Fireflies, but not daring to go too fast.

Fortunately, the deeper they went, the fewer insect holes on the walls and the fewer Fire-Year Fireflies around, which eased their burden considerably.

After traveling some distance, they arrived at a huge cavern space.

The Fire-Year Fireflies that had been chasing them suddenly stopped at this point, circling outside the cave but not setting foot inside.

Seeing this, the group was startled at first, then breathed sighs of relief.

Han Li glanced at the swarm outside, then quickly withdrew his gaze and looked around.

This cavern was thousands of feet wide. Half of it was a crimson lava lake, constantly churning with fiery bubbles, filled with terrifying heat, and waves of hot air rushed toward them.

The red flames from the lava illuminated the entire cave, turning it into a world of crimson.

Above the lava lake was a red platform, at the end of which connected to another passage, also pitch black, with faint dark red light seeping through.

The other half of the cavern was an open space, with sharp red stone pillars standing like stalagmites.

After sweeping their eyes over the cave, the group simultaneously looked at those stone pillars.

Because on the three largest stone pillars hung three dark red beehives, each several zhang tall, glowing with flame-like light and emitting fluctuations of the Law of Time.

These three surges of time law power were extremely vast but not condensed; instead, they were chaotic, surging within the cavern.

The red flames in the lava undulated with the fluctuations of the three time law powers, and the entire void hummed rhythmically.

Han Li stared at the three beehives from afar, his pupils slightly constricted.

If he wasn't mistaken, these three beehives were likely the birthplace of the Fire-Year Fireflies outside. The fireflies outside dared not approach, perhaps due to some rule, treating this place as a sacred site they dared not near.

Such a "sacred site" might seem calm, but it certainly wouldn't be undefended.

Moreover, the time power emanating from these three beehives, combined with their long dormancy here, had turned them into extremely rare time spirit objects.

While Han Li examined the three beehives, Su Qianxi, Jin Liu, and the others, like Han Li, cautiously observed their surroundings. Most eyes held a hint of greed, but no one dared act rashly.

However, in the face of such treasures, there were never lacking those eager for quick gains.

With three whooshing sounds, three figures shot out almost simultaneously, each diving toward one of the beehives.

One was a gray-haired young man, another a black-robed young woman—both from the loose cultivator group—and the third was the bearded man.

"Brother Lu, Fellow Daoist Qi, don't be reckless!" The golden-haired young man from the loose cultivator group shouted, but it was too late.

The gray-haired young man and the black-robed young woman had already reached the beehives, each sending out a beam of light to envelop a beehive and lift it upward.

Meanwhile, the bearded man flew to another beehive, landed about ten zhang away, and stomped his foot on the ground.

A yellow light flashed on the ground near the beehive, and a stone man formed of red rock emerged, over ten zhang tall. Its rocky hand grabbed the beehive and pulled upward.

Unexpectedly, all three beehives were lifted without any difficulty.

The bearded man and the other two were momentarily stunned, then overjoyed. They formed hand seals to collect the beehives.

But at that moment, a sudden change occurred!

The red light on the three beehives flared up intensely. The time law power that had filled the entire cave abruptly withdrew and converged around the three beehives.

In an instant, centered on the three beehives, a vortex formed from dark red light and shadow appeared in the void within dozens of zhang, enveloping the three.

The three had clearly prepared for this and were about to use their defenses, but their movements froze, as if stuck in mud, slowed by more than tenfold.

To Han Li and the others, the three seemed to be moving in slow motion within the dark red vortex, eerily strange.

At that moment, a seemingly ordinary spot on the cave ceiling suddenly flashed with light, outlining a millstone-sized shape.

Han Li was startled, and Su Qianxi and the others also gasped.

That millstone-sized thing was a giant firefly, its body structure roughly the same as the Fire-Year Fireflies outside, except it had a flame-shaped pattern on its carapace.

This insect had been lurking here as if merged with this small world, revealing no trace to anyone, including Han Li.

The giant firefly opened its mouth, and three beams of red fire shot down like lightning, leaving afterimages, striking at the three with incredible speed.

The gray-haired young man and the black-robed young woman had no time to react; their bodies were pierced by the red fire, instantly turning into two human torches, burning fiercely with crimson flames.

Their bodies melted rapidly, turning to ash in moments.

The bearded man was stronger than the other two. With a burst of yellow light, he erected a small domain half a zhang in diameter, barely managing to retreat backward under the time law power.

But the red fire was too fast; he didn't dodge completely, and his left arm was still pierced.

A ball of red flame appeared on his arm, burning fiercely, and half of his arm turned to ash.

The red flame spread upward rapidly, about to reach his body.

The bearded man's face changed drastically. He stepped back and formed a blade with his other hand to chop at his shoulder.

But he was still within the beehive's dark red light, moving slowly, clearly a step behind. Panic set in.

At that moment, a golden sword shadow arrived like lightning, "piercing" through the air, and chopped off the bearded man's left arm at the shoulder.

As soon as the arm left his body, it was engulfed by the red flame with a "whoosh" and quickly turned to ash.

Hundreds of zhang away, Han Li silently withdrew his finger.

The bearded man breathed a sigh of relief. With another flash of yellow light, his retreat speed increased sharply, and he flew out of the beehive's light range. He nodded gratefully at Han Li, then took out a red-yellow pill and swallowed it.

In an instant, blood light and flesh buds intertwined at the severed arm, and a new arm emerged.

The giant firefly glared at Han Li, let out an angry cry, and dropped straight down from the ceiling, landing on the head of the stone man summoned by the bearded man.

A red light flashed on its claws, and it waved lightly.

Several crescent-shaped red blades flew from its claws, each emitting strong time law fluctuations, easily slicing the stone man's body into several pieces.

The stone man's body collapsed with a crash, turning into a pile of rubble.

The three beehives, with a flicker of light, returned to their original positions.

The giant firefly crouched on a rock, staring at Han Li and the others, its eyes gleaming with ferocity.

"This should be the Fire-Year Queen. It can skillfully manipulate the Law of Time and is countless times more powerful than ordinary Fire-Year Fireflies!" Su Qianxi narrowed her beautiful eyes and called out in warning.

The Fire-Year Queen suddenly turned to Su Qianxi, as if understanding her words. Then it moved, turning into a red blur and charging at her like lightning.

Its two front claws waved, and two crescent-shaped red beams shot out with incredible speed, one aimed at Su Qianxi and the other at Han Li beside her.

The crescent-shaped red beams moved at an unimaginable speed, appearing before the two in a flash.

Han Li swayed left and right, then vanished from his spot, reappearing over a hundred zhang away, stunning the Fire-Year Queen.

Although Su Qianxi's cultivation was high, she lacked Han Li's ghostly speed. She tapped her foot, swiftly retreating, barely creating some distance, and waved her jade hand.

With a splash, a patch of blue water light appeared before her, spinning rapidly into a blue vortex, pulling the surrounding void along.

The red blade struck the blue vortex, was briefly blocked, but then broke through, tearing the vortex apart with a "rip" and continuing forward.

However, the red blade was slightly deflected by the vortex, grazing past Su Qianxi's body, and with a "thud," cut into the ground, leaving a blade-shaped black hole of unknown depth.

Seeing this, the others scattered in panic, fleeing far from the Fire-Year Queen.

"Everyone attack together! Don't give it a chance to breathe!" Su Qianxi shouted, a few cold sweat beads on her smooth forehead.

Everyone present was highly cultivated. With pursuers behind and an enemy ahead, they naturally understood their situation. Before Su Qianxi's words faded, a barrage of immortal artifacts flew in, transforming into various attacks, all converging on the Fire-Year Queen.