Chapter 556: Caught Off Guard

"Blood leeches!" Nuo Qinglin's pupils contracted, and the others also changed color.

"This insect dissolves upon entering blood, merges with the host, and is nearly impossible to separate. It devours the host's essence blood to form blood tumors, then triggers a self-detonation-like attack, making it very troublesome. Because it is extremely tiny and fast, it is hard to guard against. However, it is very difficult to cultivate, so the insect race should not have many." Seeing Han Li's puzzled expression, Nuo Yifan explained.

Han Li nodded upon hearing this and was about to say something when his expression suddenly changed. He grabbed Nuo Yifan beside him and transformed into a cyan rainbow, shooting out from the black platform.

Nuo Qinglin and the others were startled, then their faces also changed abruptly. Light burst from their bodies as they shot out in all directions.

The next moment, the ground beneath the black platform split open, and a bloody giant mouth shot out from within like lightning. The mouth was full of white, sharp teeth, and it swallowed the entire black platform in one gulp. It was precisely the giant sand beast that had just appeared.

Most of the people, including Nuo Qinglin, narrowly escaped, but several True Immortal realm clan leaders on the platform failed to flee in time and were swallowed along with the black platform.

The giant sand beast chewed with its huge mouth, and several screams came from within before fading into silence.

This scene threw the tribes of those clan leaders into chaos, but fortunately, these tribes made up only a small portion of the entire beast race army.

Over a dozen miles away in midair, a cyan light flashed, and the figures of Han Li and Nuo Yifan appeared.

Han Li's expression was solemn, his brows slightly furrowed.

Nuo Yifan's pretty face was pale, and she quickly thanked Han Li beside her.

The observation platform was destroyed by the sneak attack. Nuo Qinglin and the others who had safely escaped steadied themselves in the distant midair, their expressions ugly. They all looked at the giant sand beast that had emerged from the ground without warning and were about to join forces to strike.

But the giant sand beast paid no attention to Nuo Qinglin and the others. Its massive body emerged from underground, turned into a blurry phantom, and pounced straight toward Han Li and the others.

Seeing this, Han Li grabbed Nuo Yifan, and golden lightning flashed on his body.

With a thunderous crash, the two transformed into a bolt of golden lightning and shot into the distance.

The lightning escape technique was known for its speed. Although Han Li was carrying someone, he was still much faster than the giant sand beast.

The sand beast roared angrily, and yellow light burst from its body. Countless yellow runes rolled within it like clouds and mist.

Its massive body suddenly shrank by nearly half, but its speed increased by a third as it chased after Han Li and the others.

"Yifan..." A father's heart was connected to his daughter. Seeing this, Nuo Qinglin became extremely anxious and was about to give chase.

"Clan Leader Nuo, with that human cultivator present, your daughter should be safe for now. The battle is more important." Beside him, Wulu reached out to stop him, looking downward.

Nuo Qinglin looked down upon hearing this, and his expression changed slightly.

Among the insect race army, several giant centipedes, each as large as the gray-skinned giants, had appeared at some unknown time. Though still somewhat inferior to the giant sand worm, they darted through the battlefield, extremely conspicuous.

These centipedes were entirely silver-white, each segment of their bodies bright and ferocious. The claws on their sides were exceptionally sharp, glinting with cold light. They charged straight into the beast race army, continuously spewing yellow poisonous mist from their mouths.

As soon as beast race warriors touched the yellow mist, their bodies rapidly rotted. Those with lower cultivation had their bones and flesh directly dissolve into a pool of pus. The ground also turned black, hissing and sizzling.

The insect race army's morale surged. Led by the several giant centipedes, they pressed forward.

Though the beast race warriors fought desperately, they began to show signs of decline.

As for Nuo Qinglin and the others, except for a scar-faced man from the Youchen tribe who seemed ordered to approach Han Li, the rest, after a brief moment of shock, regrouped above the beast race army.

The beast race army was being forced back repeatedly. With the black platform destroyed and no leader, they were both shocked and fearful, their formation somewhat chaotic. But upon seeing Nuo Qinglin and the others appear, the various beast race tribes regained their backbone, and morale soared.

At the same time, three beast race Golden Immortals, led by a veiled young woman, stepped out from the ranks. They each offered up a bone-white small drum, a bone flute, and a white bone small flag, which spun in the void before them.

The three chanted incantations, and the three treasures simultaneously emitted a layer of eerie white light.

The next moment, the ground beneath their feet rumbled and shook. The earth suddenly split open, and white light flickered in the crevices as thick beast bones emerged.

These beast bones were hundreds of zhang tall, numbering over a thousand, neatly arranged in a row like a beast bone fence, blocking the path of the insect race army.

The beast bones were covered with various runes. Unlike ordinary array patterns, these runes were composed of various beast-shaped designs, giving a rough feeling, but the spiritual power fluctuations they emitted were exceptionally strong.

The veiled young woman suddenly let out a soft cry, changed her hand seals, and a black light flashed above her head as a black token flew out.

This object was not refined, uneven, and looked as if it were carved from a beast's skull.

The surface of the token was engraved with a relief beast head pattern, with narrow eyes and a pointed nose, quite peculiar.

The veiled young woman opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which merged into the black token.

A layer of black light immediately appeared on the surface of the black token, and an inexplicable aura surged out from within. Then, a sharp hissing sound arose as countless black beams shot out from the token and into the giant beast bones.

The spiritual patterns on these beast bones shone brightly, writhing rapidly, causing the bones themselves to tremble as if they had come alive.

Suddenly, spherical bulges appeared on all the beast bones. Then, a sharp whistling sound arose as countless sharp white bone spears shot out from within, like countless crossbow bolts, raining down into the insect race army.

All of this was complicated to describe, but it happened in the blink of an eye.

The warriors at the very front of the insect horde were instantly riddled with holes, blood flowing everywhere.

The few giant centipedes were given special treatment, as countless bone spears rained down upon them.

Sparks flew in all directions; the outer shells of the giant centipedes were extremely hard, and even these sharp bone spears could not harm them, leaving only white marks on their surfaces.

Although the bone spears could not injure these giant centipedes, being struck by them was clearly not pleasant for the centipedes, which screeched incessantly and writhed backward.

At that moment, four streaks of light flew out from the insect horde, darting forward like lightning.

Each streak of light emanated a powerful aura, clearly belonging to four Golden Immortal-level beings.

Seeing this, the veiled young woman narrowed her eyes and immediately waved her hand, sending a spell seal into the bone-white drum above her head.

The surface of the bone-white drum flickered with light, and as the thunderous drumming sounded, streams of viscous white light shot out from it, once again sinking into all the beast bones below.

A bizarre scene appeared!

A series of cracking sounds rang out.

All the beast bones simultaneously shattered, transforming into large patches of bone-white liquid-like spiritual light, which rapidly merged together to form a massive white light barrier that connected heaven and earth, blocking the front of the beast horde.

Various beast-shaped patterns faintly appeared on the white light barrier, with white light flowing like babbling streams. Though it did not seem very thick, it gave an indestructible feeling.

At that moment, the streaks of light from the four Golden Immortal insect cultivators arrived before the light barrier. The light converged, revealing four figures.

An old man in a yellow robe, a bald burly man, and two cold-faced women in golden robes who looked very similar, as if they were sisters.

The four were clearly not expecting the white barrier to be completed so quickly and were momentarily stunned.

But then, the yellow-robed old man waved his hand, and three golden beams shot out, appearing before the white light barrier in a flash and striking down fiercely.

Bang!

Where the golden light struck, ripples spread across the white light barrier, but it soon calmed down.

The golden light of the three beams quickly dimmed, revealing three blade-shaped strange insects.

These insects were entirely golden and dazzling, emitting a sharp aura, like three indestructible golden swords.

Seeing this, the yellow-robed old man's expression darkened. He then looked at the three bone-white treasures above the trio and sneered, "I have long heard that the Youchen Clan possesses three rare treasures: the Heaven-Destroying Demon Spirit Drum, the Three-Talent Primordial Bone Flute, and the Sky-Covering White Bone Banner. They are refined from the bones of three Taiyi-level true spirits, collectively known as the 'Three Bone Treasures,' with endless wonders. Today, I shall experience them."

After speaking, he raised his hand and waved again.

Dozens of golden strange insects flew out, spinning in midair and quickly gathering in one place.

The three golden insects also flew over, converging together, and in an instant formed a glittering golden flying sword.

The yellow-robed old man spat out a mouthful of blood, which sank into the golden flying sword.

The golden flying sword gently squirmed, erupting with dazzling golden light, then condensed into a hundred-zhang-sized giant golden sword, exuding a terrifying sharp aura. It then slashed at the white light barrier with a force that seemed to split heaven and earth.

A thunderous roar shook the air!

A long gash was cut into the white light barrier, but it was not deep.

The veiled young woman and the other two remained expressionless, chanting low, ancient incantations while continuously forming hand seals.

The white drum immediately swelled slightly and began to boom, the bone-white flute emitted a mournful sound, and the small bone-white banner spun in the air, radiating white light.

At this moment, the corpses of both races that had fallen on the battlefield seemed to be summoned, twitching and shaking violently.

The flesh on the corpses quickly separated, revealing bloody skeletons.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

All these skeletons shot out, merging into the bone-white light barrier.

White light flickered on the barrier, and the cracks rapidly healed.

The four Golden Immortal insect cultivators' expressions changed at this sight.

"Hmph!"

The yellow-robed old man snorted coldly, and the golden flying sword struck down again.

At the same time, the other three Golden Immortal insect cultivators also made their moves.

The bald burly man raised his hand and waved, and a dazzling white light appeared before him.

Through the white light, one could see a white object inside, like a lump of white mud, constantly writhing, giving off a creepy and eerie feeling.