All eyes turned to Wu Yuan. How could they confront this worm devil? Was there any hope for victory? These were the real questions.
"The worm devil’s lifecycle is divided into incubation, juvenile, and adult stages," Wu Yuan said in a deep voice, "The worm devil is a representation of extreme strength and extreme weakness."
"Extreme strength, because its soul and reproduction abilities are extremely strong. Like a queen bee or queen ant, it constantly lays a large number of eggs which hatch into devil soldiers. These soldiers all contain a trace of its soul, and countless devil soldiers guard the devil soil where the worm devil’s main body resides. The devilish beasts you saw during Daoist Sang Gu’s presentation are these devil soldiers."
"Extreme weakness, because a juvenile worm devil has little combat strength. Even if it can raise Shambhala devil soldiers, a single Golden Core expert can kill its main body! When the worm devil’s main body dies, all its devil soldiers perish alongside it." Wu Yuan said seriously.
These words sparked a glimmer of hope in the Heavenly Rankers. Shambhala devil soldiers? From what they saw on the light screen, those devil soldiers might be strong, but most were only at the Communion phase. From their estimation, any of the Heavenly Rankers present had the ability to kill the worm devil’s main body.
"Your guesses are not wrong, the worm devil’s main body is indeed weak. At the current moment, a single arcane art from any Qi Sea phase cultivator could kill it," Wu Yuan shook his head. "However, the worm devil naturally understands this vulnerability. It has likely bred an extensive legion of devil soldiers within its lair, serving as its guards.”
"The wingless black-scaled creatures which are only dozens of meters in length are considered juvenile devil soldiers, and are still below the Communion phase." Wu Yuan explained. "Only those which have reached the Communion phase are considered true devil soldiers."
"Similar to body refiners, devil soldiers possess incredible strength and a seemingly inexhaustible vitality," Wu Yuan continued. "However, their resemblance ends there. Devil soldiers only harbor a fragment of the worm devil's soul, resulting in limited intelligence and a primal desire for bloodshed. They are incapable of reproduction and lack refined martial skills, rendering them unable to cultivate ether arts or wield artifacts."
"That is why I mentioned earlier that the strongest devil soldier you saw on the projection is not at the Spiritual Body phase," Wu Yuan clarified, causing a collective sigh of relief among the Heavenly Rankers.
If every devil soldier was on par with a true cultivator, that would be truly outrageous. After all, there were only a handful of Heavenly Rankers in the entire Middle Land, while the devil soldiers, though originating from a single worm devil, numbered in the thousands, resembling an entire nation.
"However, based solely on its physique, the strongest devil soldier should have already reached the first or second stages of the Spiritual Body phase in terms of raw strength," Wu Yuan’s words immediately clamped down on their optimism.
"Devil soldiers are created in two ways. The first is through direct breeding by the worm devil. The stronger the devil soldier, the more arduous and time-consuming it is for the worm devil to breed one. The possibility of this Spiritual Body devil soldier being bred directly by the worm devil is very low," Wu Yuan said grimly.
"The second way is by having the devil soldier consume its own kind. By devouring other devil soldiers, it grows stronger. Countless weak devil soldiers are sacrificed to create a single powerful one."
Wu Yuan's voice grew somber. "You’d better pray that this Spiritual Body devil soldier is the only one of its kind. If there are three or four of them, the difficulty of exterminating the worm devil will grow exponentially."
A sense of apprehension filled the air as the Heavenly Rankers exchanged worried glances. One devil soldier at the initial stages of the Spiritual Body phase was something the Middle Land could handle if they united against it. But more of them?
"Senior Wan Liu, perhaps we can negotiate with the worm devil? What if we propose a non-aggression pact?" someone suggested.
"Na?ve," Wu Yuan curtly responded, shaking his head. "How long do you think it takes a worm devil to mature and amass an army of devil soldiers solely through the absorption of spiritual qi? The quickest way for it to grow is to devour all forms of life—whether it be plants, animals, or even the bodies of cultivators."
"The worm devil is able to digest any living matter through its devil soil. The more it consumes, the faster it grows. Based on my understanding, a devil is nothing more than an agent of slaughter. From the moment of its birth, its instinct is to kill. It continues to grow, feeding on the world, until it reaches adulthood, at which point its frenzied spree of devouring and slaughtering will finally cease. At that stage, a worm devil will have amassed an army of countless devil soldiers, flooding a portion of the world and annihilating all life within its grasp," Wu Yuan explained.
"Do not entertain thoughts of escape. Even now, this worm devil has the ability to raise devil soldiers at the Spiritual Body phase. However, it accomplished this, it only serves to highlight the alarming speed of its growth, and it will only accelerate further. Even if you were to flee from the Middle Land to the Xin Continent, in 50 years' time, the devil soldiers will inundate the Middle Land, and within a few centuries at most, they will conquer the entirety of the Summerpeak World,'' Wu Yuan stated coldly.
"The skies, the earth, the oceans—all territories will be cleansed by the relentless tide of devil soldiers. By then, even the Amethyst Cradle and the Shambhala cultivators will face only one path: annihilation by the devil soldiers."
Within the Conference Hall, the Heavenly Rankers were left in shock at the doomsday scenario described by Wu Yuan. Was there no hope for the world's salvation?
Haiz! Wu Yuan sighed inwardly.
This knowledge was only briefly mentioned within the eight immortal scrolls and wasn’t explained in detail. Even the realm master could not have anticipated the appearance of a worm devil in the Summerpeak World.
Worm devils were a scarce breed even among the hell devils, and were incredibly rare even in the expansive Greenridge Macrocosm. Yet, against all odds, a worm devil had actually appeared here.
Everything I said to these Heavenly Rankers, is also a warning to myself. Wu Yuan sighed inwardly. He had no confidence in facing the worm devil. After all, it was an entity naturally destined to surpass the Amethyst Cradle phase within a few centuries.
Emperor Dong Pan spoke up, “Senior Wan Liu, we are grateful for your explanation of what worm devils are, but how can we deal with this looming danger? With Senior’s extensive knowledge of worm devils, you must know a way to save our Middle Land. We implore Senior to guide us and save the Middle Land."
"We implore Senior to guide us and save our Middle Land." Daoist Wan Xing stood up.
"We implore Senior to guide us..." the Arctic King rose to his feet.
"We implore Senior to guide us..." Niu Hao stood up.
"We implore..." In a matter of moments, almost all the Heavenly Rankers in the Conference Hall rose to their feet, facing the central figure cloaked in black robes with utmost respect. Despite their personal grudges and conflicts, these Heavenly Rankers were willing to set aside their differences in the face of this impending catastrophe.
Feeling their urgent, feverish gazes on him, Wu Yuan murmured, his voice barely above a whisper, "Killing the worm devil is an extremely difficult feat, and the chances of success are low. If you are to grasp even the faintest glimmer of hope, three crucial conditions must be met."