Ou Yangming looked like he was moved. After hearing what Xia Zizhen said, he knew that little insects were harmless so far, or the man would not have openly talked about the danger.

Poisonous Saber Gentleman's face changed, and he questioned fiercely, "They're really ahead?"

"Yes." Xia Zizhen sighed and added, "I can sense that they're on a large scale, so we might not be able to get around them even if we continue to make detours." He continued after a pause, "Brother Ou, if I'm guessing this right, countless little insects are lying in ambush ahead. Now, we have 2 choices—one is to charge ahead directly while the other is to give up on this area."

Ou Yangming blinked and asked with a smile, "Are there also poisonous pills and spiritual herbs in the other areas?"

Xia Zizhen smiled bitterly. "We didn't enter this spirit realm for a long time during our last visit, so I'm not too sure. That said, I believe that this realm isn't that simple, so there are probably more important areas."

The young fellow looked around him. He could sense that the voice that was calling out to him was still further ahead, but there were also things in the area that produced poisonous pills and spiritual herbs that attracted him. Although they could not be mentioned on equal terms with the calling in the distance, since he and his companions had come across them, there was no way they should miss the opportunity.

"Brother Gentleman, what's your plan?" Ou Yangming raised another question while grinning with his eyes narrowed.

A fierce look was seen in Poisonous Saber Gentleman's eyes. "I got this treasure saber smithed for today. Heh, I honestly won't be resigned if we simply leave without trying."

Xia Zizhen sighed and remarked, "Gentleman, you asked me not to be stubborn, but aren't you the same?"

Poisonous Saber Gentleman was stunned. He flushed and responded, "Zizhen, Brother Ou, if you think there's no need to enter the area, let's change our direction."

He wanted very badly to advance with his saber, but he still considered his companions' thoughts and was unwilling to bring them into a dangerous place.

"Brother Gentleman, since you won't be resigned, let's go over there." Ou Yangming smiled and added, "I'd also like to see what exactly is so detestable."

Xia Zizhen shook his head and smiled bitterly, but since his 2 other companions had made their decisions, he could not object to the idea even if he was quite worried.

Besides, as said by Poisonous Saber Gentleman, they were prepared this time, hence it would not be too much if they took the risk.

This time, Poisonous Saber Gentleman led the way. He was highly-spirited as he moved forward with his chin up and chest out while putting his hand on the saber on his waist.

The ground in front of him suddenly shook after 15 minutes. Though Xia Zizhen knew he was on guard, he could not help but shout, "Watch out!"

"Pow." The ground split open as a fingernail-sized insect jumped out from the soil and sprung on Poisonous Saber Gentleman.

Poisonous Saber Gentleman simply sneered. Before one could catch his moves, a flash of light emerged from his waist and instantly slashed the insect into 2.

The insect was incredibly tenacious. Even though its body was already split, its limbs kept shaking as though it was still alive.

Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows. The little insect was not noteworthy at all, by which it was far from the insects outside the Ni family's secret realm in the lower realm. Therefore, he was puzzled about the reason the 2 Spiritualists were extremely afraid of the little insects.

Fat Antelope's eyes lit up. It went forward and approached the insect all of a sudden.

While the others looked strangely at it, it lowered its head and stuck out its tongue to eat the insect.

Poisonous Saber Gentleman and Xia Zizhen were dumbfounded and in disbelief.

'Where did this bald antelope come from? Isn't its food range too wide?'

Fat Antelope devoured the insect and even stuck out its tongue again to lick its mouth as if it was asking if there were more insects to be eaten.

Xia Zizhen forced a smile and glanced at Ou Yangming as he thought, 'I'm afraid that only a weird caster like Ou Yangming can keep a similarly odd spirit beast.'

"They're here…" Poisonous Saber Gentleman turned his head abruptly and uttered.

Sure enough, spots on the ground in the distance suddenly split open one after another. Following that, little black things emerged from underground. Ou Yangming was not bothered at first, but he looked grave after a brief moment.

This was because there were eventually too many little insects that came into view, and they were so densely packed that it was quite a frightening sight. If any of them here had trypophobia, they would probably be scared to their deaths.

Fat Antelope cheered without warning and charged at the swarm of insects.

'Food! Food! They're all mine!'

"Be careful, quickly come back!" Xia Zizhen's face changed, and he yelled fiercely.

Fat Antelope was a spirit beast that could eat insects, but Xia Zizhen knew very well how fearsome the insects were. If the fat antelope attacked the swarm of insects alone, it would likely suffer a horrible fate.

Who knew, what happened next caused Xia Zizhen and Poisonous Saber Gentleman to be in disbelief.

The instant Fat Antelope dashed into the swarm of insects, the troublesome little insects did not attack it at all. Instead, they escaped in all directions as though they saw a terrifying ancient beast.

Nonetheless, the insects were not as fast as Fat Antelope. As such, the fat antelope immediately caught up to the bunch of insects in front of it and widened its mouth to suck them in with all its might!

Fat Antelope's mouth turned into a bottomless pit at once as plenty of insects tumbled into its mouth. Subsequently, it shut its mouth tight and munched the insects before it swallowed them. At this point, not a single insect could be seen within roughly 30 meters from it.

The faces of Xia Zizhen and Poisonous Saber Gentleman twitched. If they knew this would happen, would it not be better to simply bring Fat Antelope into the secret realm instead of a powerful army?

It was true that the insects feared Fat Antelope, but they were not afraid of Ou Yangming and the others. The other humans and beasts were delicious food to them, and it would be such a pity if they did not eat them up.

With that, the insects that were driven away by Fat Antelope turned around to swarm toward Ou Yangming and the others.

Owing to the overwhelming numbers, the swarm of insects looked like a black wave from afar, and it made one's scalp tingle.

Poisonous Saber Gentleman scoffed and said, "I've been waiting for you for a long time!" He later withdrew his treasure saber and shook his wrist to activate the Skill Runes.

Exceptionally obscure energy was released from the saber's handle right away, and it kept spreading in all directions.

At the same time, Ou Yangming noticed mysterious powers rippling around the bodies of him and his companions. The powers resonated with each other and connected them into a unit. Inside the unit, magic arts or skills that were released by any of them would be relieved.

This was the power of the Concentric Knots, which was marvelous indeed.

The threat from the swarm of insects in the distance was real, but Ou Yangming was still attracted to the Concentric Knots' unique ability at the moment.

"Woosh…"

An invisible energy fluctuation, which carried a hint of the poisonous pill's special properties, expanded.

As soon as the swarm of insects entered a range of about 10 meters from Poisonous Saber Gentleman, they slowed down. They eventually decelerated even more until they only lay on the ground.

When Poisonous Saber Gentleman pulled out his saber to slash their bodies into 2, instead of dying on the spot, they struggled for some time.

This time, as the poisonous gas spread discreetly and was inhaled by the insects, they perished just like that.

The swarm of insects moved tremendously fast, where piles of carcasses were already seen outside the 10-meters range in a split second. Even so, the late-comers were still fearless; they zoomed forward and shoved past the piles, then they moved closer toward Ou Yangming and his companions.

Ou Yangming's face changed after he observed for some time. "This isn't right—let's retreat!"

Xia Zizhen and Poisonous Saber Gentleman were struck dumb. As they looked around them and into the distance, they had chills as well.

Unbeknownst to them, the swarm of insects had gushed in all directions to encircle them.

If the insects succeeded, Ou Yangming and his companions would end up being killed by them despite being protected by the poisonous saber.

After all, there was only 1 poisonous pill. As potent as Poisonous Saber Gentleman was, he could not eliminate all of the insects by releasing the poisonous gas.

Everyone quickly flashed and retreated.

Next, Fat Antelope got out of the swarm as well. No matter where it went, the insects fled as if it was their natural enemy.

Fat Antelope approached Ou Yangming and asked, "Why are you leaving? There's so much food here, and they'll be enough to feed us for the rest of our lives!"

Ou Yangming glared at it and noted, "You can stay here forever!"

The fat antelope shrunk its neck. It dared not say another word as it sensed Ou Yangming's anger.

It was indeed a wonderful temptation to stay with its food source but being a formidable spirit beast, food was no longer its first choice.

'If I really stay here for the rest of my life…' The thought of it made Fat Antelope feel crazy.

Ou Yangming and his companions backed away bit by bit. As long as they stayed a distance away and had the poisonous saber and Fat Antelope with them, their safety was guaranteed.

Having said that, they were surprised because no matter how many insects were killed, new swarms that appeared did not seem to have reduced at all. It seemed like there were endless insects indeed.

Struck with a thought, Ou Yangming expressed in a deep voice, "Brother Xia, Gentleman, there's something strange about these insects. I'm sure they have an insect king."

Xia Zizhen's eyes gleamed. "Yes, you're right, Brother Ou. We should find the insect king and kill it, or it'll be difficult for us to get rid of the little insects."

Poisonous Saber Gentleman questioned with a bitter smile, "How are we going to find… Oh no!" His face changed as he cried, "I used up too much of my poisonous pill's power. It's going to lose effect soon!"