All Things Are Contracts

Inside the castle, powerful enemies still stood guard. Zhanyue and the Desert Worm Clan member bypassed the guards, heading straight for the depths of the castle. Thanks to the worm’s thorough preparation, at least the outer areas were well-explored.

“Beyond here is the area previously guarded by the disaster beast. It should be where our Clan’s matriarch is imprisoned. I’ve never reached that place before,” the Desert Worm Clan member said.

“Doesn’t your matriarch have the ability to burrow underground?” Zhanyue asked, puzzled. The sand worm before him could burrow, so how could the strongest of their Clan not have this innate ability?

“No, that’s why we need your help to rescue the matriarch from above ground,” the worm explained. “Although we present ourselves as a single race to outsiders, in reality, the Desert Worm Clan is an alliance of insect Clans. Insect Clans typically have vast power disparities, but each Clan’s overall strength is limited. Without an alliance, it’s hard to establish a foothold. Our Desert Worm Clan is an alliance of all insect Clans in this desert, and the matriarch, as the leader of this alliance, is the most powerful existence.”

“I see. Now that the disaster beast has left, you can’t use your burrowing ability.”

“Yes, so I’ll have to rely on you, Young Master Zhanyue,” the worm said before burrowing back underground.

Zhanyue smiled, thinking this big worm was quite polite. Then, he stealthily moved deeper into the castle, avoiding all unnecessary battles.

There weren’t many guards inside the castle, perhaps because the Sand Dune King was very confident in his own strength and that of the disaster beast.

Soon, Zhanyue found a small house with two Sand Dune Clan members guarding the door. Like the others, they had black spiders crawling on their faces.

Zhanyue moved with extreme speed. Before the two could react, the spiders on their faces were killed. Zhanyue looked at the Thunder God’s Whip in his hand and the electrocuted insects on the ground, thinking this treasure was quite useful. The two Sand Dune Clan members were paralyzed and fell to the ground. They were freed from the soul-devouring spiders’ control but hadn’t fully regained their senses.

Entering the small house, he found a long ladder leading underground.

Soon after, Zhanyue arrived in the dungeon. The underground passage was long and exceptionally quiet. Suddenly, he heard a woman’s agonized scream. His expression changed, and he rushed towards the sound.

When he arrived, he witnessed a shocking scene. A huge red spider was chained in a cage. The spider had a woman-like face on its back, looking very eerie. This giant red spider was the Desert Worm Clan’s matriarch. What shocked Zhanyue wasn’t the appearance of the Desert Worm Clan leader, but the fact that the worm who came to rescue her was now on her back, devouring the giant spider’s flesh bite by bite.

“What… what’s going on? Wasn’t that big worm here to save its matriarch?” Zhanyue asked, confused.

“Don’t look at me like that. The matriarch is almost gone. Even if we rescue her, what’s the point? Besides my earth-burrowing ability, I have another talent – devouring. I can evolve by consuming other insect Clans. The matriarch’s dying body is the best supplement. Don’t worry, after I complete my transformation, I’ll help you kill the Sand Dune King,” the worm said happily. “I forgot to introduce myself. You can call me Lulu the Sand Worm.”

Such an innocent name coupled with his current actions made Zhanyue’s scalp tingle. He could sense that the Desert Worm matriarch was already lifeless, and it was too late to stop this.

Soon after, Lulu had completely devoured the matriarch, who was much larger than him. Then his body lit up with a white glow. After the light faded, Zhanyue saw that Lulu, who was previously like a caterpillar, had grown four limbs. The human face in his chrysanthemum-like mouth had become larger and more real, with a terrifyingly ugly appearance that could only be described as horrific.

“You never intended to save your matriarch, did you?” Zhanyue hated being manipulated the most. Now it seemed that Lulu’s plan from the beginning was to have them distract the Sand Dune King’s attention, while he came to the dungeon to devour his own matriarch and complete his evolution. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“Don’t say that. Although I don’t know your intentions, we have a common enemy. I just want to take control of the Sand Worm Clan. The Sand Dune King and that disaster beast are our common enemies,” Lulu smiled. “Let’s go. The soul-devouring spiders’ secret technique has been lifted with the matriarch’s death. It’s probably chaos outside now.”

“You’re quite capable,” Zhanyue sighed, realizing he had underestimated this big worm’s strength.

Outside, all the black spiders on people’s faces automatically fell to the ground, lying dead. On the tower and throughout the oasis, everyone regained their rationality, no longer puppets.

“How… how have we been living these days? My son, my daughter, they’re all dead, worked to death!” On the tower, a Sand-Armored Giant Clan member knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly.

“Am I… am I still alive? Our ancestor, how could he become like that? We’re all Sand Dune Clan members, how could he treat us this way? What’s the point of this damned tower?” A Sand Dune Clan member who had just regained consciousness took his tool and chopped at a nearby pillar, something he never dared to do before.

“The soul-devouring spiders are all dead. Is the matriarch dead? Damn the Sand Dune King to hell! We, the Desert Worm Clan, will never forgive you!” A Desert Worm Clan expert came to his senses, instantly understanding everything. He couldn’t believe their Clan’s matriarch was dead, not knowing she wasn’t killed by the Sand Dune King.

“Revenge! We must have revenge! Blood for blood!”

At this moment, all the enslaved beings from various Clans raised the banner of rebellion.

The Sand Dune King looked towards the castle, his face extremely grim. To control so many laborers to build for him, he had to use the Desert Worm Clan’s control methods. How could the Desert Worm Clan matriarch be dead? Although she was weak, she was far from dying. How could she suddenly die?

“Damn you all! You all deserve to die!” The Sand Dune King raged, the golden scepter in his hand blazing with light.

Outside the Heavenly Book world, Thunder Lord and Alchemy Daoist watched the arena with disbelief. Liu Zhaoran, who had been through the Heavenly Book trial and received Thunder Lord’s careful guidance, had lost. He lost so decisively that he didn’t even last ten breaths.

The Bird Clan young master had a ball of cyan flame floating in his hand, dancing with incredible agility. Looking at Liu Zhaoran lying on the ground, he sneered, “I hadn’t even warmed up, and you’re already down. Human prodigies? Nothing special.”

“Tianxian! Mind your words,” the Grand Elder warned from the side, then turned to Thunder Lord and Alchemy Daoist with an apologetic smile. “This boy rarely goes out and doesn’t understand human etiquette. Please forgive him, respected elders.”

Thunder Lord and Alchemy Daoist both wore solemn expressions. It seemed the Bird Clan ancestor’s emergence from seclusion had given the third-ranked race the confidence to challenge the first-ranked race.

“Young and arrogant, indeed. If I’m not mistaken, young master has mastered the legendary Cyan Lotus Heavenly Fire?” Alchemy Daoist asked.

“That’s right. It was quite difficult for me to refine it. Do you humans have any more experts? I’m not satisfied yet.”

As they were speaking, the second person to fail the Heavenly Book trial emerged. It was the free-spirited Feng Bulang. At this moment, Feng Bulang hadn’t realized how unlucky he was.

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