"Ancient insect-eaters?" Hearing the murmurs of Gu Qingyang and the others, Xiao Yan also paused slightly. "These were small mythical beasts that lived in ancient times. Though individually small in size, they were countless in number. As their name suggests, they could consume everything around them and continuously secrete pure energy. Such creatures should have gone extinct long ago—yet here we are, encountering them..." Xun lightly explained. "This luminous screen—should be the creation of these ancient insect-eaters. Unexpectedly, we've stumbled into their lair. If they all awaken, every single person here will be reduced to nothing within moments." Gu Qingyang's expression grew serious, clearly also surprised by the encounter with these ancient creatures. "Perhaps not only this light screen, but perhaps even much of the energy within this Heavenly Tomb was created by them..." Gu Zhen crouched down, touched the ground, and then spoke slowly. "Gu Qingyang, aren't you planning to kill us all here?" Houn Cliffs coldly scoffed. "I brought you all into this place—ensured that you were alive until now. If you hadn't come, you would have perished in the energy storm earlier." Gu Qingyang glanced at him coldly, then scanned the group, and said firmly, "Now is not the time to discuss these matters. The crystalline walls on both sides are gradually closing in. We must quickly breach the passage, or else..." Upon hearing this, everyone nodded slightly. What else could they say now? The energy storm outside raged fiercely—either way, exiting meant death, staying meant death. The only way to survive was to breach the passage! "From now on, everyone should stop conserving their strength. Of course, if any of you wish to die, I won't stand in your way..." Gu Qingyang said firmly, then raised his hand. "Go!" "Understood." Seeing this, the group nodded again and quickly stepped forward, their qi surging forth without reservation. At once, the booming sounds within the passage grew significantly more intense. "Boom! Boom!" Under the relentless barrage from the group, the rate at which the crystal wall was being cleared accelerated dramatically. Crystalline fragments flew in all directions, piling up thickly on the ground. As the group worked hard to break through, the crystal walls on either side began to tremble and slowly shift. Eventually, the walls were visibly drawing closer to each other, inch by inch, as one could see with the naked eye. "More and more ancient insect predators are gathering..." Gu Zhen's expression grew serious. Now, a continuous flow of energy liquid was seeping out from the crystal walls, rapidly coalescing into tangible form. If this trend continued, they might not even reach the point of fully打通 the crystal walls before the passage closed up. "This won't do," Xiao Yan slowly shook his head, speaking firmly. "We can't do anything else—unless we're willing to stay and face certain death. We have to make a stand." Gu Qingyang frowned, clearly troubled. They hadn't expected such a troublesome situation from the very beginning. The sheer number of insect forms behind the crystal walls, visible from the sides, was overwhelming—so dense and numerous that it sent a chill down one's spine. "We must slow down the closing of the crystal walls!" "He shook his head," Gu Qingyang said, "It's useless. Any attack will be absorbed by these ancient insect devourers. The more we strike haphazardly, the more energy they secrete." As he spoke, he swept his sleeve, and a powerful qi wave slammed against the crystalline walls on either side. Indeed, upon touching the walls, the qi vanished instantly, and from where it had struck, streams of energy liquid flowed out even more rapidly. Seeing this, Xiao Yan's eyes suddenly widened with astonishment. Though these insects appeared unremarkable, they seemed to possess an extraordinary ability when gathered together. "These insect devourers hide behind the crystal walls—our attacks are thus ineffective. Then, they must have gathered in front of us..." As he thought this through, a sudden chill surged through Xiao Yan's heart. If that were the case, they would be completely sealed in here, cut off from escape. Seeing Xiao Yan's suddenly pale face, Gu Qingshang was also slightly taken aback, then suddenly remembered something, and quickly turned his gaze toward the crystalline wall ahead—there, faint shadows were rapidly gathering. "Boom!" A powerful fist, brimming with strong wind pressure, slammed into the crystalline wall before him. Yet instead of the expected shower of crystal fragments, only a shallow depression about half a foot in depth appeared at the point of impact. Even as this depression formed, a steady flow of liquid energy seeped out from within, swiftly repairing it. "The ancient insect-eating creatures have moved forward!" Everyone's expressions darkened upon witnessing this unexpected development—some even showed clear signs of panic. This truly seemed to be a dead end. "Thud! Thud!" Some determined individuals continued their attacks, striking twice more with renewed force, but still achieved little. "What should we do now?" The group exchanged glances, their eyes eventually converging on Gu Qingshang. But when they saw him too furrowed in concentration, a sense of weight settled in their hearts. "Hey, Gu Qingshang, you've got some real skill there..." The already pale hue of his face now grew even paler, his voice tinged with a cold, eerie aura. "I'll give it a try," Xiao Yan said, his brow slightly furrowed as he took two steps forward. "It's useless," Gu Qingshang sighed. The ancient insect-eating creature's devouring power was simply too overwhelming—no matter how capable they were, they simply couldn't break through this dire situation. Unmoved by his sigh, Xiao Yan merely clenched his hands, not summoning any qi, but instead drawing forth a strange flame—deep purple-brown with a hint of pale silver. As the flame appeared, the temperature within the corridor rose noticeably. "Go," Xiao Yan said, flicking his finger. The flame shot out and gently settled upon the crystalline wall. "Sssss!" As soon as the two entities made contact, a sharp, piercing screech erupted from within the crystal wall. Instantly, the crowd was astonished to see a deep crater—over a foot and a half in depth—form where the flame had landed. The residual intense heat instantly turned countless ancient insect-like creatures into ash. "It seems we haven't reached our final destination yet. These ancient insectoids cannot fully consume the strange fire," said Xiao Yan, exhaling a sigh of relief and smiling warmly at the group. The others, too, quietly breathed a collective sigh of relief—after all, hope had finally reemerged. "Xiao Yan, act quickly and clear the passage!" A gleam of optimism flashed in the Elder's eyes, and he urged urgently. As for Houni Cliffs, Xiao Yan had paid no attention, instead turning his gaze toward the red-robed woman from the Inflame Clan and the man from the Medicine Clan, saying, "Both of you, I can handle the task of establishing the passage. However, I hope you employ your unique flames to attack the two sides, thereby slowing down the convergence of the crystal walls. This should not be difficult for either of you." "Among the Inflame Clan, the woman is named Huo Zhi, who possesses the Red Lotus Flame ranked eighth on the Unique Flame List. The man from the Medicine Clan is named Yao Xingji, known within his clan as the 'Human Medicine Son,' renowned for his exceptional skill in medicine crafting." Xun'er whispered this to Xiao Yan in a voice only the two could hear. "What is the Red Lotus Flame?" Xiao Yan's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this—though he had never encountered a unique flame ranked so highly before. Upon hearing Xiao Yan's words, Huo Zhi promptly nodded without hesitation, while Yao Xingji furrowed his brow, yet ultimately nodded in agreement, considering the current circumstances. "By the way..." Seeing both of them nod, Xiao Yan smiled and slowly said, "Everyone should understand how immense the effort it is to breach the crystalline barrier, and how significant the consumption is when channeling the hetero-fire. Relying on me alone would certainly not be sustainable. Therefore, besides Fu and Huo, I need energy cores from others." Seeing Lei Clan's two members leading the way, the others soon followed, each producing several cloth bags containing energy cores and throwing them toward Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan smiled, gathering all the bags neatly, then turned his gaze to the two from Hun Cliffs, speaking calmly, "You two?" "Xiao Yan, you've collected so many energy cores—shouldn't that be enough?" Hun Cliff's expression grew cold as he didn't manage to evade the question. "Whether or not it's enough, I still need to receive payment from you," Xiao Yan said with a cheerful smile, for the idea of having them work for him free of charge was nothing short of fanciful. By the side, Xun smiled gently, clearly seeing that Xiao Yan had made up his mind to thoroughly charge these two. "Of course," she added, "if you're not willing, I won't insist—just turn around and walk back." Upon seeing Xiao Yan make the gesture of invitation, the faces of Hun Cliffs and Hun Li turned pale. But now with so many people on Xiao Yan's side, they would surely suffer if they engaged in a fight. Thus, the two exchanged a glance and, with a reluctant sigh, firmly extracted a cloth bag from their robes, hurling it hard at Xiao Yan. "Take it! Act now!" Hearing their angry voices, the smile on Xiao Yan's face grew even more vibrant.