175 An Itch Beyond Relief (1/2)

The dangers posed to a Divine Armament cultivator were not great. However, the stress on their technical capabilities was great and the volume of work substantial. This was especially true for Wang Baole, who was in charge of ten Fire God Cannons. He could not spend too much time on a single platform.

After each inspection, he had to hurry to the next platform. He had to keep a sharp eye out at the same time for any Fire God Cannons that might be experiencing malfunctions; any problems would have to be attended to immediately. In the event that the malfunction was something that he could not manage, he would need to shout for Chen Yutong's urgent help.

Time would be needlessly wasted if he returned to the stronghold before heading to the next platform. Wang Baole retrieved his cruiser and flew it around the grounds outside the stronghold, weaving his way among the ten platforms. He managed to catch a breather then and called out his mosquitoes. He was just about to search for a test subject for them.

It was then that one of the Fire God Cannons started shaking and experiencing instability. Wang Baole set aside his attempt at controlling the mosquitoes and raced to the platform where the unstable Fire God Cannon was. He gave a simple order to the mosquitoes to sting True Breath realm beasts; there was no time to tend to them for the time being.

The nine mosquitoes made their way rapidly through the battlefield, hunting for prey.

They soon locked onto a target. It was a beast in the form of a leopard. It had surpassed the Ancient Martial realm, the aura exuding from its body that of the True Breath realm. Its fearsome form moved swiftly through the battlefield.

The beast was extremely cunning. It avoided the attacks from the Combat cultivators of the four Dao Colleges and instead sought out Ancient Martial realm warriors. With a leap, it would surge forward, rip the throats of these warriors out, and slip away in a blink of an eye.

At present, the leopard carried a cold glint in its eyes as it dodged another attack from the Combat cultivators from the four Dao Colleges and licked its lips. Its eyes narrowed and locked onto the throat of a muscular, middle-aged warrior. The man was in a fierce battle with an Ancient Martial realm beast.

As it dashed out, suddenly, nine mosquitoes appeared in the vicinity. They landed on the beast without it noticing. Its proboscis whose length originally seemed unable to penetrate furry skin suddenly grew in length, piercing through the furry skin and straight into the leopard's body. The nine mosquitoes drank, and the next moment, they flew off.

As they flew further away, a harsh bright light exploded. The leopard that had been charging the middle-aged strongman suddenly widened its eyes. Its body spasmed mid-leap, and a pained howl tore itself out from its throat. The lunging form trembled and, without rhyme or reason, suddenly changed course and charged headfirst into the ground!

The leopard hit the ground and started howling madly. Its body wriggled on the ground ceaselessly, its paws trying to scratch itself; it was as if it had been hit by an uncontrollable itch all over. It was an extraordinary itch that seemed to sink through the bones to the depths of the soul. That left a leopard that rivaled a True Breath realm cultivator shrieking in agony. Its battle prowess was drained away almost entirely. It was as if there were countless insects biting it, inside and outside its body. Its eyes screamed fear.

The beast tried to get on to its feet but failed. The itch was indescribable. It could only howl madly. Its screams did not travel far; the beast's strange behavior caught the attention of a Combat cultivator from one of the four Dao Colleges. He approached speedily and drove his sword straight through the leopard's forehead!

”What's the situation!” Upon seeing how the leopard did not attempt to dodge the attack, allowing itself to be killed instantly, the Combat cultivator froze. He could not spare further thought on this though as he immediately retreated and attacked another beast.

The episode was akin to a small wave in the huge ocean, drawing little attention. Even Wang Baole, busy with inspecting the malfunctioning Fire God Cannon, had no energy to meld with the mosquitoes. The nine mosquitoes continued their flight through the battlefield.

Violence permeated the battlefield; the smell of blood rose heavy in the air while howls of rage resounded through the battleground. Injuries and death abound. However, the nine mosquitoes were not only agile but small. Be it cultivators, warriors, or even the beasts, barely anyone noticed them.

With such stealth, the nine mosquitoes accomplished Wang Baole's order perfectly without drawing attention. They began to frantically sting the True Breath realm beasts that appeared before them, one after another.

Gradually, a string of strange phenomena took place on the battlefield. Many True Breath realm beasts, which had appeared fine and had been engaged in fearsome battles with great prowess a moment before, suddenly widened their eyes and fell to the ground with an agonizing cry, wriggling uncontrollably as if trying to scratch an itch.

Those who could reach the itch started scratching at the indescribable itch, as if practicing self-mutilation, until their skin broke and flesh tore.

Those who could not ease the itch flew into a mad frenzy; in their howling madness, they did not differentiate ally from foe, charging blindly at and tearing into the beasts around them.

An isolated scene started repeating itself, quickly and in large numbers. It was like a plague and caught the attention and surprise of many people.

”What's going on?”

”These beasts, have they gone mad? What are they doing? Scratching an itch?”

”Are my eyes deceiving me?”

Warriors and cultivators alike exclaimed in surprise as more and more of such strange beast behavior occurred. This was especially so for the warriors on the Fire God Cannon platforms—their elevated positions gave them a grander view. Every one of them was stunned beyond belief.

They had lived through countless battles with beasts, fought beasts all year round, but never had they seen such a sight before.