Chapter 330: A Shifting Tide

Chapter 330: A Shifting Tide

January 16th, 2025

The Xige Plane, the Wanxi Plains.

In previous years, by June, the Wanxi Plains would be adorned with blooming flowers, lush greenery, and herds of wild buffaloes, full of life and vitality.

However, this year, the entire Wanxi Plains is shrouded in smoke and bloodshed.

Millions of troops from the Star Alliance and the Ancient Insect Swarm clash in a life-or-death battle.

The clash of energies, the dazzling display of spells, the billowing black smoke, the rumbling of golems, and the shrill cries of the insects have reduced the Wanxi Plains to a desolate wasteland, devoid of its former beauty.

More than half of the Wanxi Plains has turned into a charred wasteland. After years of battles, the surface has been bombarded countless times, leaving it pockmarked and cratered, resembling a wilderness struck by meteorites. It's nearly impossible to find an intact area.

As far as the eye can see, across thousands of square kilometers, only a few blades of grass stubbornly poke through the scorched earth, serving as a reminder that this was once a beautiful grassland.

At this very moment, in the center of the Wanxi Plains, a fierce battle rages on.

Hordes of hideous insects surge forward like a tidal wave, their piercing shrieks filling the entire plain.

Standing in their path is a battle formation composed of countless golem puppets.

Like immovable reefs, they withstand the onslaught of the insect tide, unyielding in the face of the relentless assault.

High above, thousands of flying warships protect dozens of star fortresses and three wizard towers, unleashing a relentless barrage of firepower upon the insect swarm without reservation.

Hordes of flying insects with fluttering wings rush towards them, attempting to destroy these war constructs that pose a significant threat to the swarm. However, they are swiftly eliminated before even reaching the outermost defense of the flying warship array.

A thunderous roar suddenly reverberates through the air, distinct even amidst the chaos of the battlefield.

Two cavalry legions abruptly charge into the fray from the left and right flanks, slicing through the insect swarm like sharp blades.

The construct knights, clad in exquisite armor and adorned with dark magic patterns on their faces, ride atop wyverns and blackrock panthers, charging into the insect swarm like tigers amidst a flock of sheep, instantly creating a bloodbath.

The insect swarm, already struggling under the onslaught of the Star Alliance's war constructs, now faces further setbacks as the Magic Pattern Knights join the battle, pushing them back inch by inch, and their defeat seems imminent.

Just then, an invisible wave, akin to a storm, sweeps across the entire battlefield in an instant.

In that moment, the piercing shrieks rise to a whole new level of intensity.

The remaining Ancient Insects on the battlefield suddenly become frenzied, charging fearlessly towards the Star Alliance forces.

At the same time, more Ancient Insects emerge from the rear and underground, reinforcing the swarm, stabilizing their previously faltering position, and even launching a counteroffensive.

Inside the wizard tower, Sherman, Arthur, and Cole observe this development with a sense of relief rather than surprise.

"It's the Ancient Insects' psychic wave. The Queen Mother Insect has finally revealed herself!"

"After all this time, we've finally forced her to show herself."

"After all, this is the last army of the Ancient Insects. If she didn't come out now, she would have missed her chance."

The war in the Xige Plane has been raging for over a decade, with the Ancient Insect invasion numbering in the millions.

Upon realizing that such a massive swarm must be commanded by a Queen Mother Insect, the Star Alliance swiftly deployed a substantial force to counter them. After countless battles, countless Ancient Insects have been eliminated, and today, they have finally forced the Queen Mother Insect to reveal herself.

As the commander of the Xige Plane's war efforts, Sherman had anticipated this situation and promptly issued new orders.

In the next instant, a deafening dragon's roar echoes from the distance.

A group of dragons take to the skies, their wings stirring up a fierce wind as they swiftly approach the battlefield.

After thousands of years of cultivation and development, the Star Alliance's dragon legion has become a formidable force, boasting over six thousand dragons.

Among them, there are hundreds of second-tier dragons.

The dragon force that suddenly appears on the battlefield is just a fraction of the entire dragon legion, numbering around a thousand.

With the dragons' intervention, the insect swarm's counteroffensive is swiftly suppressed, and countless Ancient Insects perish under the dragons' scorching breath.

Boom!

Just then, from the depths of the insect swarm's rear, a loud explosion reverberates, followed by a piercing shriek that seems to tear through eardrums and a thunderous roar.

In that instant, all the Ancient Insects on the battlefield halt abruptly, then turn without hesitation, exposing their backs to the enemy as they frantically charge towards the source of the sound.

Witnessing this scene, Xieman's expression brightened.

"Yin Long has succeeded!"

A smile graced Atier's face as she said, "Indeed, such a task is best suited for Yin Long."

As the Star Alliance's leader, Sunan's magical pet and the only Level 3 dragon in the alliance, Yin Long was consistently ranked within the top 30 elite combat forces within the Star Alliance.

Especially its ability to shift between reality and illusion was a formidable and unpredictable killing move on the battlefield, often effortlessly breaching the enemy's defenses and reaching their commanders, implementing a decapitation strategy.

This time was no exception.

The Nest Mother Bug had been hiding without revealing itself, but now that it had appeared, no matter how well it hid, Yin Long quickly located it.

For a creature like the Nest Mother Bug, which had little combat power of its own, once Yin Long got close, its fate was sealed.

As expected, not long after, the distant screeching abruptly ceased.

At the same time, the remaining Ancient Bug formation fell into chaos, filled with panic, like headless flies scattering in all directions.

The Star Alliance army seized the opportunity to intensify their offensive, exterminating the bug swarm.

"It's over," Xieman said, a faint smile appearing on his face.

With the conclusion of the war here, the bug swarm in the Xige Plane was almost completely eradicated, leaving behind only insignificant remnants.

"With this, the bug swarm in the Star Alliance's territory has been mostly wiped out," Atier added, a glint of joy flashing in her eyes.

Unbeknownst to them, the Ancient Bug Plague had persisted for over a thousand and two hundred years.

The entire Multiverse had suffered greatly from this plague, with countless factions perishing beneath the bug hordes.

Even major Wizard Factions, as powerful as they were, suffered significant losses during the Ancient Bug Plague.

Among them, the Shadow Throne suffered the most.

Over a third of their territory had fallen, and they still hadn't been able to turn the tide.

Among the various factions, the Star Alliance's performance was particularly outstanding.

On the one hand, the Star Alliance had made thorough preparations, stockpiling an abundance of resources.

On the other hand, although the Star Alliance was a top-tier secondary Wizard Faction, the number of planes under their control was relatively small, even fewer than secondary Wizard Factions like the Thousandbird Tower.

Consequently, they didn't need to disperse their forces to defend numerous planes, allowing them to concentrate their defensive strength.

Throughout the millennia-long war, the Star Alliance's losses were minimal.

On the contrary, the intense warfare caused the Star Alliance's power to multiply.

Numerous Wizard Apprentices and Wizards successfully achieved breakthroughs after being tempered by the war.

While other Wizard Factions lost many Wizards due to the war, the Star Alliance's Wizard numbers not only didn't decrease but increased, surpassing five thousand.

The number of Level 2 Wizards had even surpassed three hundred.

There were also seven Level 3 Wizards.

The leader, Lizai, was currently in seclusion, striving for a breakthrough, and it was estimated that she would soon advance to become a True Spirit Wizard.

At that time, the Star Alliance would gain another Level 4 combat power in addition to Sunan and the three Divine Golem Bodies.

With this shift in power, the Star Alliance's strength had quietly grown to rival that of the Shadow Throne.

"With the war in the Xige Plane concluded, we can now return to the Starlight Continent," Xieman breathed a sigh of relief.

Atier glanced at him and smiled, "Your third Talent Crystal is almost filled, right? Are you planning to seclude yourself after we return?"

Xieman nodded with a smile.

As the commander overseeing the Xige Plane's war, he had earned substantial contribution points this time, enough to exchange for a vast amount of resources and advance to Level 3 Wizard through seclusion.

"Don't just talk about me; you two are almost there as well," Xieman said.

Atier shook her head, "Kora is almost there, but I still have a long way to go."

Her talent was inferior to Xieman and Kora's, and she had taken much longer to advance to Wizard than the two of them. She had just constructed her third Talent Crystal and would need at least a few hundred years to fill it with mental power.

Kora merely nodded slightly without speaking.

"Roar!"

A dragon's roar resounded.

Yin Long's massive figure slowly materialized outside the Wizard Tower, its right claw grasping a bloated, fat bug beast with an unusually large head.

It was undoubtedly the Nest Mother Bug, the commanding leader of the bug swarm.

Upon seeing this, Xieman and the other two stopped chatting and left the remaining tasks to their subordinate Wizards. Then, they took the Nest Mother Bug and returned to Starlight City.

The Nest Mother Bug was a bug beast specifically requested by their teacher, and they had to deliver its corpse to the teacher's laboratory as soon as possible.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end