The next morning, at the Jin family residence.
As Qin Shilei and An Qian stepped out of their room, Jin Qiaoqiao's voice called out.
"Mr. Qin, Mrs. Qin, breakfast is ready. Will you be dining now?"
Qin Shilei smiled and replied, "Good, thank you."
He was becoming increasingly satisfied with the Jin father and daughter, and even entertained the idea of taking over the Cang Lei Gang.
However, there was no rush, he would consider it later.
After breakfast, Qin Shilei and the others returned to the city walls north of Bei'an City.
On the walls, Wen Zhiyuan and others were looking out expectantly.
Although the Earth Boring Worm King was dead, the swarm of insects outside the city had not retreated.
"Mr. Qin, Mrs. Qin, you're here," everyone greeted them.
Qin Shilei looked at them with a half-smile, but did not reply.
"We should address you as City Lord," Yuan Yuhang, the leader of the Heavenly Wolf Gang, was the first to react. "Good morning, City Lord!"
"Good morning, City Lord!" everyone quickly followed suit, changing their address.
Wen Zhiyuan and Tan Anguo frowned, but finally spoke, "Good morning, City Lord Qin!"
Qin Shilei smiled, then turned and pointed to An Qian, saying, "An Qian is my wife, with a cultivation of Gold Two Stars, her strength is comparable to mine. How about her as the City Lord of Bei'an City?"
He had discussed this with An Qian the previous night.
Bei'an City was too important, and they had no foundation here. If they were to leave again, just like in Junhai City, after a while, people might not recognize him as the City Lord.
Therefore, they decided that An Qian would be in charge of Bei'an City from now on.
The others exchanged glances, and finally agreed to Qin Shilei's suggestion, saying, "Good morning, City Lord An!"
An Qian was not only Qin Shilei's wife but also one of the only two Gold-level experts on Blue Star, making her qualified for the position of City Lord.
The inauguration ceremony for An Qian could be held later; the priority now was to deal with the insects outside the city.
Qin Shilei asked, "Have the people sent to investigate the insect situation returned?"
Wen Zhiyuan shook his head. "They haven't returned, it's very likely they have met with misfortune."
Tan Anguo added, "There's also bad news. In another day, Bei'an City will be completely surrounded by insects, and we'll be trapped like turtles in a jar, unable to escape."
Qin Shilei frowned. "Only by finding out where the insects are coming from and how many there are can we formulate a better strategy."
He paused, then turned to An Qian and said, "An Qian, you stay here and guard the city. I'll go ahead and investigate."
An Qian wished she could accompany Qin Shilei, but for the sake of Bei'an City, she nodded in response, "Okay, be careful."
Qin Shilei mounted Xiao Qiang and sped north like a fighter jet.
After flying for over a hundred kilometers, he finally discovered an anomaly in a small town.
The town not only had a larger number of insects but also insects continuously scattering outwards.
There must be a spatial rift here as well.
As Xiao Qiang flew lower, Qin Shilei indeed found a spatial rift in a ruined residential building.
This spatial rift was four to five meters wide.
Just as he was about to fly in to examine it, countless giant butterflies suddenly flew out of the rift.
These giant butterflies had wingspans of over a meter, were brilliantly colored, mainly yellow, red, and purple.
Name: Feng Mei
Description: Silver Three Stars, skilled in wind attribute abilities, fears lightning attacks.
This group of Feng Mei were mostly Bronze Seven to Eight Stars, with a few in the Silver realm.
As soon as they spotted Qin Shilei and Xiao Qiang, they shrieked and charged at them.
Over a thousand Feng Mei flew upwards with bared teeth. With the flapping of their wings, countless wind blades were generated out of thin air, striking Qin Shilei with incredible speed.
"Seeking death!"
You fear lightning, yet dare to attack me? Then let's test the power of the Heavenly Thunder.
Devouring Thunder!
Furious lightning rained down like a torrential storm. Before the Feng Mei could even react, they were blasted into charcoal.
In less than a minute, all thousand-plus Feng Mei met their demise. Even hundreds of Claw Beasts and worms on the ground were annihilated.
Qin Shilei quickly circled around to collect the spoils of war, then plunged into the spatial rift below.
As he emerged from the spatial rift, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't fixed the "no-flight" attribute on the city-protecting monument in Bei'an City.
"It should be fine, I haven't encountered any flying beasts along the way. I'll do a quick scout of the vicinity and then return, it shouldn't be a problem."
Qin Shilei pondered, but decided to finish exploring this spatial rift before returning.
He appeared in a canyon.
Currently, countless Claw Beasts and worms were moving from the canyon exit towards the canyon, likely intending to travel to Blue Star through this spatial rift.
Upon spotting Qin Shilei, they roared and charged at him.
Qin Shilei pushed off hard, flying into the air, not bothering to engage with these insects.
However, the insects continued to roar upwards.
Qin Shilei thought for a moment, then took out the concealment array and activated it to hide his form.
Once the insects realized Qin Shilei had disappeared, they slowly stopped roaring.
Qin Shilei flew towards the direction the insects were coming from for more than half an hour.
Suddenly, he spotted a Gold Three Star Claw Beast.
"If I can capture this Claw Beast and have An Qian contract it, can it resolve the crisis of Bei'an City being surrounded by insects?"
Qin Shilei suddenly recalled the Golden Armored Beetles he had left near the spatial rift outside Hope City.
Before making a move, he cautiously flew to mid-air to carefully observe his surroundings, but found no other Gold-level insect.
This King Claw Beast was twice the size of an ordinary Claw Beast. Around it were dozens of Silver-level Claw Beasts and over a thousand Bronze-level Claw Beasts.
Qin Shilei first removed his Dragon Scale Armor, then flew near the King Claw Beast.
The King Claw Beast seemed to have a premonition, it turned its head and glanced in Qin Shilei's direction.
Devouring Thunder!
Furious Heavenly Thunder slammed down from above with Qin Shilei at its center!
Screams immediately rang out, and countless Claw Beasts were instantly blasted to the ground.
Qin Shilei, whose form was revealed by the use of his ultimate skill, also appeared before the King Claw Beast.
The King Claw Beast's first thought was not to flee, but to angrily charge at Qin Shilei.
"Good."
Qin Shilei halted the Devouring Thunder, then activated Dharma Aspect Heaven and Earth, transforming into a small giant five to six meters tall, and summoned Vajra.
Facing two enemies stronger than itself, the King Claw Beast finally felt fear and turned to flee into the distance.
"Beat it to a pulp, but don't kill it."
Qin Shilei called out, then clenched his fist and charged towards the King Claw Beast.
Within a minute, the man and the beast had beaten the King Claw Beast to the brink of death.
As for its subordinates, they were all slaughtered.
Just as Qin Shilei was about to instruct Vajra to carry the King Claw Beast back,
Suddenly, a grey shadow shot rapidly from afar towards Vajra.
Boom!
Vajra, which was as large as a small mountain, was blasted tens of meters away by the phantom figure.