This plan had already been confirmed by everyone before setting out, so now that the moment had arrived, the Mahayana elders naturally had no further objections.
In a short while, the demon army hovering above the Desolate Valley let out a thunderous rumble, then split into several columns and rolled off in the same direction.
Only tens of thousands of the most elite demon guards remained on the spot, along with the Mahayana cultivators.
An hour later, the remaining elite demons stirred, boarded a number of massive vessels, and likewise departed from the Desolate Valley.
Seven days later, above a barren plateau where not a single blade of grass grew, a demon army numbering over a hundred thousand armored warriors was fighting desperately amid the sea of insects.
This demon army advanced and retreated in disciplined order, using several hundred massive vessels as anchor points to form an elaborate circular formation in the high sky, layered with seven or eight defensive light barriers.
Thick pillars of light and dense volleys of black Qi and dark beams poured ceaselessly from behind the barriers, and with almost every passing moment, great swathes of insect carcasses rained down from above.
But there were simply too many Moth Insects in this sea!
No matter how many fell, more swarmed in immediately, hurling themselves against the grand formation with suicidal ferocity.
The demon column, which had been slowly pressing forward, was forced to a standstill by the relentless obstruction — though the attacks pouring out from the circular formation only intensified, slaughtering countless Moth Insects nearby and easing the pressure somewhat.
However, three Body Integration stage demons standing on one of the massive vessels within the formation watched the scene with grim expressions, not a trace of a smile on any of them.
"Deploying our reserves this early is hardly wise," muttered a hulking demon in crimson armor. "Whatever time we can afford to stall below is going to be cut drastically shorter."
"Hmph — if we hadn't deployed them, the entire formation would have collapsed just now," countered a gaunt, aged demon with a cold snort. "What good is worrying about later if we can't even survive what's right in front of us?"
"But the orders the Holy Ancestors gave us were to hold out in the sea of insects for at least half a day. Only a few hours have passed. If we actually want to make it back alive, we need to hold some reserves in reserve. Otherwise, once everyone is completely exhausted, how are the few of us supposed to cut our way out?" The crimson-armored demon pressed back with a frown.
"Without committing everything we have, we're on the verge of destruction right now — there's no point talking about cutting our way out. At worst, we can all activate secret arts to unleash our hidden potential at the end. That might well be enough to escape unscathed." The gaunt elder shrugged with apparent indifference.
"Unleash our potential! Easy for you to say — the slightest miscalculation and we'll still end up torn apart and devoured by the Moth Insects." The crimson giant's voice turned icy.
"I think it's perfectly manageable as long as we plan carefully and seize the right opportunity," the gaunt elder retorted with an eye-roll.
The crimson giant flared with anger and was about to retort further when the third member of their group — a middle-aged female demon — cut in flatly.
"What time do you two think this is, still squabbling like children? If you really have that kind of spare energy, save it until we've left this place safely. Until then, the three of us need to work together. Every last fighter has already been committed — there's no use regretting it now. We'd do better to think about whether there's any way out of this sea of insects other than burning our hidden potential." The woman, who was reasonably attractive by demon standards, spoke without the slightest change in expression.
"Lady Tianmiao speaks sense," the crimson-armored demon said after a brief play of shadow and light across his face. He suppressed his displeasure with visible effort and forced a thin smile. "We should put our heads together and see if we can find another solution."
"Indeed — I hadn't expected the Moth Insects in this place to be far more vicious than the swarms outside. We should be cooperating wholeheartedly right now." The gaunt elder gave a dry cough, his expression softening as well.
And so the three Demon Sovereigns began to discuss escape strategies aboard their vessel in earnest.
At the same time, several other demon armies found themselves besieged by seas of insects in various other locations, each led by their own Demon Sovereigns commanding their forces to ward off wave after wave of Moth Insect attacks — all of them looking as though they were barely holding on.
Meanwhile, however,
But by this point the surrounding Moth Insect swarms had finally caught on, and they too were engulfed from every direction — hemmed in so tightly that not a single gap remained, plunged into the same endless sea of insects as the other demon armies.
But unlike those armies!
Though Han Li, Bao, and the other Mahayana elders had yet to strike personally, the tens of elite demons and the nearly one thousand retainers and disciples of the Mahayana cultivators fighting alongside them were more than ordinary Moth Insects could withstand.
In an instant, countless sword lights and blade arcs surged forward at the head of the column, and the Moth Insects blocking their path were reduced to a spray of blood and gore, utterly unable to slow the advance by so much as a fraction.
Shrouded in rolling demonic Qi, the demon column pressed onward without the slightest pause, hurtling forward at astonishing speed. Even a few particularly powerful Moth Insects that attempted to bar the way were instantly shredded by a storm of demonic artifacts.
In less than half an hour, the column had surged forward a million li, slaying untold numbers of Moth Insects along the way.
Then, from within the insect sea ahead, a strange hissing erupted. The swarm parted abruptly, and an enormous cluster of giant insects, their bodies gleaming jade-green, surged into view.
Each one was over thirty feet long, their forelimbs shaped like serrated pincers, their gaping maws lined with razor-sharp fangs — a sight of pure, nightmarish menace.