Ten minutes later, the Pegasus wasps were completely wiped out.
The carcasses of the Pegasus wasps on the ground were all diligently cleaned up by Little Huangquan.
The three women returned to the bus. Niman stretched lazily and said with a smile, "It's been so long since I fought. Getting some exercise once in a while really feels great."
"Niman-jie, you didn't even move," Little Nora deadpanned.
Niman laughed. "Little Nora, you don't understand. Channeling my power counts as exercise too."
Her strength grew alongside Yu Xian and Nora. As their guardian god, she didn't need to cultivate at all, so stirring the energy within her body once in a while truly did count as exercise.
"All right, let's head to the next stop," Yu Xian said with a smile, taking out the Miraculous As-You-Wish Card.
Zhang Buyao spoke up then. "Wait, I found something fun. Give me another minute, and I'll be able to pinpoint its location."
"There's something else on this island? A wasp queen?" Yu Xian asked in surprise.
Since there were so many Pegasus wasps, there ought to be a queen. A wasp queen was the only thing he could think of.
Zhang Buyao shook her head. "Not a queen. It should be some kind of mutated creature, but its mutation is very distinctive. Maybe we could catch it to play with."
"Then let's go check it out," Yu Xian smiled immediately.
For a creature to catch Zhang Buyao's eye as distinctive, it certainly wouldn't be ordinary.
Everyone's interest was piqued, so they decided to check it out together, getting off the bus one after another to follow Zhang Buyao.
Since Fengsuo Island had just endured a bombing, the ground was still radiating intense heat. Though none of them feared it, they didn't enjoy the feeling either. Wherever they walked, the temperature plummeted, and ice even formed around their perimeter.
"What a pity. Such a beautiful island, ruined like this," Niman sighed upon seeing the remains of some transcendent creatures.
Ordinary creatures hadn't even left behind ashes; only some powerful transcendent creatures could leave remains in the wake of a nuclear blast.
Unfortunately, that was as far as it went. Anyone whose strength hadn't reached the Star Rank would find it nearly impossible to withstand a nuclear strike—especially with so many nuclear warheads detonating at once. Unless one possessed exceptionally unique abilities, death was certain below the Star Rank.
"This debt should be placed squarely on Peng Zuen. Later, scattering his ashes across this island can be considered his contribution to it," Yu Xian said with a beaming smile.
Zhang Buyao rolled her eyes at him. "In that case, you might as well not cremate him. Just bury his corpse on this island. As far as I know, in quite a few worlds, when a Mighty One died on a planet, the entire planet flourished because of it, turning from a dead world into a beautiful, thriving one."
"Don't Mighty Ones turn into the Abyss when they die?" Little Nora asked with a face full of surprise.
Zhang Buyao shook her head. "Not all Mighty Ones turn into the Abyss upon death. Only Mighty Ones who fail transcendence turn into the Abyss when they die. When an ordinary Mighty One falls, although the repercussions are still immense, the destructive force isn't nearly that devastating."
"I feel like my brain just got crammed with a bunch of utterly useless trivia, even if it sounds pretty impressive," Yu Xian quipped.
Zhang Buyao smacked Yu Xian on the arm and grumbled, "No appreciation for good intentions."
"I know that one! The next line is 'like a dog biting Lü Dongbin'!" Little Nora raised a hand happily.
Yu Xian tapped Little Nora on the head and kneaded its little chubby cheeks with both hands, chuckling, "Little Nora, you know too much."
"Big Brother, I was wrong! I was wrong!" Little Nora surrendered at once.
In truth, it knew too little. Leaving out the second half would have been fine, but saying it out loud practically amounted to calling Yu Xian a dog.
Amid their playful banter, the group arrived before a cavern beneath the collapsed mountain range. Gazing into the pitch-black cave, everyone turned to look at Zhang Buyao.
"Yep, that little thing is inside the cave," Zhang Buyao confirmed.
Controlling the energy in his body, Yu Xian produced a glowing bubble and walked ahead, smiling. "Cave adventure time! Everyone stick close and don't get lost."
"Yeah!"
Little Nora, Xiao Sensen, and Little Huangquan chimed in immediately, looks of excitement on their faces, raring to go.
Together, they ventured down into the subterranean cavern. It was colossal—conservatively estimated to hold thousands of people. Even the passage leading down was spacious. When it rained, plenty of rainwater must have poured down here.
The light source Yu Xian created was intensely bright, illuminating the entire cavern. Dead bats littered the ground everywhere, along with rubble, shattered timber, and other debris blasted inside by the shockwaves.
The entire cave was sweltering, but as Yu Xian and the others moved in, the temperature dropped rapidly.
"The fallout from the nuclear blast was too severe. All the animals in this cave are dead," Niman murmured.
Yu Xian smiled. "There should be animals farther down that weren't affected, and the transcendent creatures originally native to these depths should have survived."
"Indeed. I can sense the presence of quite a few living creatures," Nora affirmed.
The group ambled down with ease. Following the winding tunnel, they reached several hundred meters underground in the blink of an eye, and creatures gradually grew more numerous.
For instance, a transcendent bat known as the Sonic Hunting Bat unleashed sonic attacks the moment the group entered, while simultaneously attempting to flee upward.
However, Nora drew her gun the instant they attacked. Without any suspense, the bats were wiped out entirely.
Once you understood the myriad worlds of the heavens, notions like wildlife conservation practically ceased to exist, for in the face of infinity, the numbers of any species were infinite.
You could never kill them all—it was impossible.
Even if a species were exterminated at one point in time, the very same species could still appear at another.
A few minutes later, the group descended to a depth of one thousand meters. At last, the Pegasus wasps' nest came into view: dense, colossal hives built against the rock face, looking like immense white brains.
Detecting the intruders, countless Pegasus wasps began vibrating their wings, producing intimidating buzzing to drive Yu Xian and the others back.
These were normal Pegasus wasps. The fearless puppet wasps from before hadn't looked or acted like genuine Pegasus wasps at all, their behavior having diverged wildly from the norm.
"Yaoyao, where's that creature you mentioned?" Yu Xian swept his gaze over the surrounding Pegasus wasps, ignoring the little pests completely as he asked Zhang Buyao.
Zhang Buyao chuckled. "Wait here, I'll go grab it."
With that, she soared straight up toward one of the hives on the rock wall. Seeing her approach, the Pegasus wasps attacked immediately, countless wasps unsheathing their stingers and firing them like bullets.
Gunfire rang out.
Pistol in hand, Nora rapidly pulled the trigger, sending dense showers of Pegasus wasps tumbling down.
Covered by Nora's fire, Zhang Buyao slipped effortlessly into one of the hives. These hives were enormous, their entrances wide enough for a human to step right in.
In the blink of an eye, Zhang Buyao emerged again, dangling a wingless Pegasus wasp in her hand. Without wings, the thing actually resembled a dog.
Wait.
Yu Xian suddenly sensed something was off. Examining the thing in Zhang Buyao's grip more closely, he realized... this didn't seem to be a Pegasus wasp at all!
Chapter 402