In the final analysis, it came down to the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals misjudging the number of Dao-One Worms that could possibly exist beneath Shilin Province.
The subterranean caverns wound and twisted through thousands of turns, not only covering an area nearly equal to the entirety of Shilin Province, but also constantly expanding deeper underground.
Even Li Fan, who now commanded the entire swarm, had not yet figured out just how vast the Baishi Grotto-Heaven beneath Shilin Province truly was.
Thanks to such an expansive breeding ground, the Dao-One Worms had been able to multiply with such astonishing speed, requiring less than a month to devour every scrap of spiritual energy across an entire province.
"A single sheet of paper is thin and easily pierced with a flick of a finger, but stack enough of them together, and they can withstand an army of thousands!"
"With just you alone, how could you ever kill them all?"
Sensing how the Dao-One Worm swarm continued to grow rather than dwindle even under Golden Sword Immortal Venerable's slaughter, Li Fan smiled an inscrutable smile.
...
"Hoo... hoo..."
Gazing at yet another cleared subterranean cavern, Golden Sword Immortal Venerable finally felt a twinge of exhaustion.
Over this period, he had not rested for a single moment. Myriads of golden swords crisscrossed the darkness, illuminating cavern after cavern and leaving behind floors blanketed in black insect carcasses.
How many of these black insects had he slaughtered by now?
A billion? Ten billion?
Even with the spiritual energy reserves of a Dao Integration Immortal Venerable, he was now nearly drained dry.
Yet perhaps because he was so deep underground and the insects were so numerous, the spiritual energy here was exceptionally thin, making it impossible to absorb anything to replenish himself.
Left with no alternative, Golden Sword Immortal Venerable could only rely on absorbing the spirit stones stored in his possession to slowly recover.
"It has been many years since I was last reduced to such a sorry state," Golden Sword Immortal Venerable sighed as he sat on the ground.
Memories surfaced in his mind—back when he was still a Foundation Establishment cultivator, exploring ancient sect ruins with his companions.
Suddenly, he pushed himself to his feet, his expression turning solemn.
He had finally realized what that strange sensation in his heart had been ever since he entered the Baishi Grotto-Heaven: it was an intuitive warning from his spiritual perception, something he had not felt in an age.
Three hundred years ago, it was precisely thanks to this keen instinct that he had become the sole survivor of that exploration party.
After surviving that disaster, his path had been smooth and unobstructed, free of major calamity, causing him to all but forget this sense of impending crisis.
Until today. After all these years, that intuitive warning had returned!
"This..."
Golden Sword Immortal Venerable's heart pounded uncontrollably against his ribs.
His thoughts raced, and he reached a decision in an instant.
He could no longer spare any thought for resting. His form dissolved into a streak of golden light that surged wildly into the depths of the underground caverns.
He had to see for himself just how vast this Baishi Grotto-Heaven truly was!
Three days later.
Golden Sword Immortal Venerable's face was deathly pale.
With his flying speed, three days was enough to circle the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' entire territory several times over.
Yet he still had not reached the end of the Baishi Grotto-Heaven.
It was like an abyss, vast as an ocean and bottomless, seeming to have no end at all.
Golden Sword Immortal Venerable shuddered. A terrifying vision surfaced in his mind: dense swarms of black insects packing the caverns, spilling outward into the world like a surging deluge.
"Disaster... this is a catastrophe!"
"No, I must report this to Alliance Headquarters immediately."
Golden Sword Immortal Venerable hurriedly pulled out a communication talisman to establish contact with Alliance Headquarters, but perhaps because he was too deep underground, the connection could not be established.
The foreboding premonition in Golden Sword Immortal Venerable's heart grew even heavier.
Pushing his speed to the absolute limit, he raced to escape the subterranean caverns.
Yet for reasons unknown, the black insects that had previously clung quietly to the rocks feeding on spiritual energy suddenly surged toward him like mad, attempting to halt his advance.
At this moment, Golden Sword Immortal Venerable finally understood what it meant to struggle for every single step.
Holding nothing back, every golden sword he had refined into his body unsheathed at once, swirling around him and grinding every black insect blocking his path to dust.
Carrying an indomitable momentum, Golden Sword Immortal Venerable sped back toward the surface.
The drastic shift in the black insects' behavior made him all the more certain that a conspiracy lurked behind this.
If this was not halted quickly, the devastation would not be limited to Shilin Province alone. The entire Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals—and perhaps even the Xuanhuang Realm itself—would suffer a crushing blow!
"Who could possibly be plotting such an outrageous crime?!"
Shocked and furious, Golden Sword Immortal Venerable accelerated even further.
When he finally broke through the layers of black insects and saw the light of day once more, he prepared to send an urgent report to Alliance Headquarters. But suddenly, a strange intuition seized him, and he froze where he stood.
Golden Sword Immortal Venerable looked up and reached out his left hand toward the sky.
"The wind... is rising?"
A gentle breeze inexplicably stirred between heaven and earth.
Then the breeze grew stronger, swelling with rising fury.
The howling of the wind rumbled like thunder.
What had been a clear, sunlit sky was swallowed in the blink of an eye by dense, churning dark clouds.
Beneath the looming shadows, every cultivator in Shilin Province felt the dread of an imminent catastrophe take root in their heart.
"Hoo!"
A sinister gale swept past. Its force was so violent that it briefly shook Golden Sword Immortal Venerable's stance.
Although the eerie gust vanished in an instant, what it signified turned the Dao Integration Immortal Venerable's blood cold.
Faint, dense rushing sounds seemed to buzz in his ears, yet he could sense no actual trace of wind.
Just as he stood baffled, countless flying insects surged abruptly from below like a colossal black wave.
Riding the updrafts, they boiled out from the Baishi Caverns.
Soaring into the highest heavens like apocalyptic clouds of doom, they spread unstoppably across the various provinces of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Before this immeasurable oceanic tide of black insects, Golden Sword's protective spiritual energy teetered like a fragile sapling in a violent tempest.
Overcome with horror, Golden Sword Immortal Venerable no longer harbored any thought of stopping the disaster; he struggled merely to preserve his own life.
The black insects emerging from the underground caverns seemed endless. Everywhere Golden Sword looked, nothing else was visible.
Plunged into the nightmare of the black tide, moving or even breathing became impossible fantasies.
Even though he was not the swarm's deliberate target—merely an obstacle casually crushed along their migration route—the boundless tide of black insects still swept over him, slowly stripping away his consciousness.
"It's over..."
In the instant before slipping into unconsciousness, the first thought that rose in Golden Sword Immortal Venerable's mind was not concern for his own survival, but rather the interrogation and accountability that the Alliance would inevitably bring down upon him once the calamity was resolved.
"Damn it... If I'd known, I wouldn't have agreed to this godforsaken job for the world..."
His body slowly faded, ultimately transforming into a long golden sword seemingly composed of countless miniature blades, which clattered to the ground with a loud clang.
Indeed, the black insects' strength was at most enough to exhaust a Dao Integration cultivator and render him briefly unconscious; it was not quite enough to slay one outright.
However...
Li Fan's figure emerged from the black tide.
He picked up the golden sword, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.
Then, with a casual wave of his hand, he cast tens of thousands of array restrictions upon it.
Chapter 1065