Lin San watched with terror as the drilling worm suddenly appeared before him.
A foul stench assailed him, its monstrous maw inches away.
*This is it,* was Lin San's only thought.
Suddenly, he saw a flash of lightning shoot from the city wall.
*Boom!*
With a cold gleam, the drilling worm that had touched him was cleaved in two by the newcomer's sword, its headless corpse writhing on the ground.
"Who could cleave a drilling worm over a meter thick in half with a single sword strike?"
Lin San turned to follow the streak of lightning, looking to his right.
A sharp sword energy swept past, and another drilling worm was cut in two.
Could these worms be all show and no substance?
Lin San suddenly had the illusion that the drilling worms were weak.
Otherwise, how could that person have killed them so easily?
He tentatively drew his long saber and slashed at the corpse of a drilling worm not far ahead.
*Clang!*
It sounded like striking hard dark iron, a metallic clang, yet it left not a single mark.
Lin San's face showed surprise; he never imagined the carapace of a dead drilling worm could be so hard.
Though not a master, he possessed a Bronze Seven-Star cultivation, yet he couldn't even break the defense of a dead drilling worm.
It was clear that it wasn't that the drilling worms were weak, but that the person just now was too strong.
He looked around again.
The indistinct phantom figure continued to flicker, effortlessly slaying drilling worms, as if chopping vegetables.
Lin San's gaze suddenly fell upon his boss, a Silver Five-Star powerhouse, being forced to retreat under the attack of a drilling worm.
Under the drilling worm's assault, his boss could barely counterattack, and seemed on the verge of death at any moment.
*Bang bang bang!*
Several evolved individuals who had stepped forward to help surround the drilling worm were swept away with a single tail lash upon their first contact. They lay motionless for a long time; it was unknown if they were dead.
Lin San was incredibly fortunate to have escaped death earlier and was equally stunned by Qin Shilei's strength.
Many survivors around Lin San shared the same thought, all staring in shock at the two rapidly flashing figures.
"Stop gawking and kill the worms! And seal up the tunnels they made."
Qin Shilei killed the last drilling worm with a sword strike but found the surrounding evolved individuals seemed stunned, not tending to the tunnels the drilling worms had created.
At that moment, countless clawed beasts were emerging through the tunnels, about to enter the city.
"Earth ability users, step forward and prepare to seal the wormholes," Feng Yuxin shouted loudly.
However, many clawed beasts had already jumped out of the wormholes and were frantically attacking the surrounding evolved individuals. The earth ability users couldn't get close enough to seal them.
Everyone worked together to kill the clawed beasts near the wormholes. Then, the earth ability users stepped forward, causing a cave-in that collapsed the soil around the wormholes, sealing them.
*Boom!*
But before everyone could leave, the newly sealed wormholes suddenly exploded from the inside out.
More clawed beasts swarmed out from within.
The clawed beasts were not weak, and the earth ability users could only seal the first three or four meters of the wormholes, unable to stop the creatures.
"Sect Master Feng, simply sealing the entrance of the wormholes won't work," Wen Zhiyuan said with a worried expression. "Let the Silver-ranked earth ability users try."
Soon, several Silver-ranked earth ability users were found.
These ability users were indeed extraordinary. With a single strike, they caused over ten meters of the wormholes to collapse, and for a long time, no more worms emerged from underground.
After half an hour, the earth ability users were exhausted, but they had finally sealed dozens of wormholes.
Due to the appearance of the drilling worms, Bei'an City suffered its first major casualties after the insect siege.
Nearly a thousand people died in the insect attack.
Everyone turned their gaze towards the couple standing on the city wall.
If not for them, this number would have been tens of times higher.
Dozens of drilling worms, each Silver Five-Star or above, would have led to heavy losses for Bei'an City, even if they were eventually annihilated.
Countless survivors were awestruck by Qin Shilei and An Qian's strength, casting looks of adoration towards them.
Feng Yuxin and Wen Zhiyuan exchanged glances, their worry deepening.
They hadn't expected Qin Shilei to show off again. If this continued, his popularity in Bei'an City would only grow.
Then, with a single call to arms, he could rally a large number of evolved individuals who admired his strength.
"Very strong. Even working together, you might not be able to stop him," Feng Yuxin frowned.
"His wife is also terrifyingly strong," Wen Zhiyuan narrowed his eyes, looking at the couple on the city wall.
They had also fought the drilling worms earlier. Although they could kill them, it took some effort.
Compared to Qin Shilei's instant kills, they both knew there was a significant gap in their strength.
However, despite their shock, they remained composed, clearly possessing hidden trump cards.
Just as everyone was catching their breath, someone pointed at the ground and exclaimed, "They're here again."
The ground bulged slightly, as if something was about to emerge.
But after waiting cautiously for a while, no drilling worm appeared.
"This area is also moving."
Not far away, someone else discovered that the wormholes, just sealed, were being pushed upwards by drilling worms underground.
Still, no drilling worms were seen emerging.
Then, similar movements occurred in dozens of locations.
"Such cunning insects," Qin Shilei exclaimed in surprise. "These drilling worms are likely paving underground passages for other insects."
An Qian pointed outside the city. "Many insects are rushing into the passages made by the drilling worms. They'll likely appear inside the city immediately."
*Bang!*
The wormholes, just sealed, suddenly exploded. Countless worms and clawed beasts poured out from the tunnels.
It was as if a bug king was directing them from the shadows.
The insects in the tunnels simultaneously broke through the thin layer of soil at the entrance, launching an attack on the surrounding survivors.
The tunnels had already been widened considerably by the drilling worms, making it easier for the insects to pass.
A chaotic battle erupted once more.
Screams and shrieks echoed continuously.
Every second, someone or some insect died.
Qin Shilei and An Qian stood guard at two tunnel exits, slaughtering the insects emerging from them.
The evolved individuals of Bei'an City were also continuously killing insects and trying to reseal the underground passages.
However, as soon as one wormhole was sealed, a drilling worm would create another exit.
And those cunning drilling worms only dug passages about half a meter below the surface, never revealing themselves.
The evolved individuals knew they had to kill the drilling worms first but were helpless.
The number of tunnel exits grew from dozens to nearly two hundred.
The tall city walls stood firm but offered no resistance to the insects.
Facing the torrent of insects surging from the tunnels, a sense of foreboding arose in everyone's hearts.
If this continued, it was possible that all the insects outside the city would break in.
Would Bei'an City be destroyed by insects just like this?