I Was Forced to Marry a “Trash” Cultivator, But She Turned Out to Be a Reborn Empress!

Chapter 227: The Caravan’s Despair, Instant Kill with One Sword

The Six-Eyed Ghost Mosquito never hunted alone.

A scourge of the wastelands, each insect possessed compound eyes capable of emitting low-level psychic interference, dragging prey into a mire of hallucinations. Worse, their needle-like mouthparts dripped with a venom potent enough to dissolve protective Qi like boiling water through snow.

Individually, they were barely comparable to a Qi Refining cultivator. But in the wild, numbers were their own quality.

And right now, the sky was black with them.

The caravan members stared up at the blotting cloud of wings and chitin, a collective shudder running through the ranks. It wasn’t just fear; it was a primal, skin-crawling dread that made the scalp tingle.

Xu Tian’s face went the color of old ash. He cursed his rotten luck. Demon Beasts were common enough in the Black Rhinoceros Wasteland, but a beast tide of this magnitude was a once-in-a-decade calamity.

“Form the Formation!” Xu Tian roared, his voice cracking with urgency. “Guard the nodes! Do not let them breach the line!”

The guards scrambled into position. Their Magical Artifacts flared to life, weaving a pale golden barrier over the wagons. But the grim set of their jaws betrayed their thoughts: this shell would hold for ten minutes, perhaps fifteen.

Unless a miracle occurred, today would be their funeral.

Buzzzzzz—

The sound hit them first—a drone so deep and heavy it vibrated in the chest like muffled thunder. Millions of crimson compound eyes flickered in unison, casting a dizzying, strobe-like glare that nauseated the soul.

Weaker guards swayed on their feet, their eyes glazing over as the psychic interference took hold. Their movements turned sluggish, leaving them open to the venomous needles raining down.

Shen Xian and Qiu Ruoli stood apart from the panic, their expressions unreadable.

To them, a swarm of this caliber was hardly worth drawing a weapon. They watched, waiting to see if the caravan had the teeth to survive on its own.

“Steady your minds!”

Xu Tian bellowed, crushing a talisman in his fist.

Bang!

A wave of cool, clarifying energy washed over the camp, shattering the mental fog.

Xu Tian didn’t stop there. His aura exploded outward, and he slapped a second talisman—this one blood-red—into the air.

A pillar of crimson fire erupted, sweeping the vanguard of the mosquito swarm into ash.

But it was like trying to empty the ocean with a cup. The gap filled instantly, the swarm hammering against the golden barrier with the sound of torrential rain.

Crack!

A spiderweb fracture appeared on the dome.

The barrier shattered.

The swarm poured in, a torrent of greed and hunger. Venomous needles flashed, aiming for the exposed throats of the guards.

“Mystic Light Mirror!”

Xu Tian’s scream was desperate. He threw out an Ancient Bronze Mirror, his heart bleeding at the cost.

The mirror hovered, unleashing a blinding beam of pure destruction. It swept across the sky like a scythe, vaporizing hundreds of mosquitoes in a single pass. This was his trump card, his life-saving resort, but saving it for later meant dying now.

“Kill them!”

Seeing their leader go all out, the guards found their courage. They bit their tongues, spitting essences blood onto their artifacts to forcefully ignite their potential.

It was do or die.

Su Ling’er stepped forward, her face pale but determined. She drew three talismans and activated them simultaneously. Three roaring fire dragons tore through the air, incinerating a swathe of insects and buying the caravan precious breathing room.

For a Foundation Establishment cultivator, her power was impressive.

The battle raged for half an hour.

When the final Six-Eyed Ghost Mosquito was cut down, the silence that followed was deafening. The guards collapsed where they stood, gasping for air, chests heaving. They looked at each other, grinning wildly with the euphoria of survival.

But the relief lasted only seconds.

From the distant horizon came a sound that froze the blood in their veins. It wasn’t the dull drone of the swarm; it was a high-pitched, piercing shriek that vibrated against the skull.

Heads snapped up in horror.

A monstrosity approached. It was the size of a small hill, propelled by six pairs of translucent, razor-thin wings. It moved with terrifying speed, a blur of chitin and malice.

Xu Tian’s pupils contracted to pinpricks. His hands shook so violently that the Ancient Bronze Mirror slipped from his grasp and clattered against the stone.

He knew this nightmare. It existed only in the darkest warnings of the merchant association’s archives.

The Six-Winged Ghost Mosquito Emperor.

A Nascent Soul Realm horror.

“It’s over…” Xu Tian whispered, his lips bloodless. “We’re dead.”

The guards, just moments ago celebrating their survival, now wore expressions of grotesque despair. The drop from hope to doom was too steep; their minds broke. Weapons fell from numb fingers. Legs turned to lead.

Against the swarm, they had a chance. Against a Nascent Soul beast? Running was a joke.

Su Ling’er staggered back, clutching her chest. She opened her mouth to speak, but only the taste of iron filled her throat. The sheer Pressure radiating from the beast was crushing her internal organs before it had even arrived.

“Blood food…” a young guard mumbled, falling to his knees, eyes vacant. “We’re just… blood food.”

The caravan was paralyzed. They watched death approach, unable to even scream.

The Mosquito Emperor arrived. Its wings vibrated, emitting a sonic screech that ruptured eardrums. Its abdomen pulsed, swelling hideously before spraying a cloud of ink-green mist.

The poison descended. Below, rocks hissed and dissolved into honeycomb structures. Ancient trees withered instantly.

Xu Tian closed his eyes. This toxicity would eat through his Golden Core defenses in seconds. They would melt into puddles of pus.

The mist rolled in to claim them.

Zheng!

A single, resonant sword cry sliced through the despair.

It was clear, melodious, and impossibly sharp.

High above the caravan, a figure stood suspended in the air. Shen Xian held the Traceless Sword, the blade alive with a terrifying tri-colored radiance.

Bone-chilling frost wrapped the edge. Crimson flames danced along the spine. Purple lightning crackled at the tip.

Shen Xian swung.

The slash was a work of art.

The frost flash-froze the descending poison mist, turning the deadly cloud into harmless snow. The flames roared forward, incinerating the Emperor’s six delicate wings in a heartbeat. The purple lightning leaped like a judgment from the heavens, drilling through all six of the beast’s compound eyes.

SCREEEEE—!

The Six-Winged Ghost Mosquito Emperor let out a sound that wasn’t of this world.

It was a perfect dismantling. Blinded, flightless, and shattered. The massive carcass convulsed in mid-air before plummeting like a meteor.

BOOM!

The ground shook as the mountain of flesh slammed into the earth, kicking up a mushroom cloud of dust.

Silence returned to the wasteland.

Xu Tian’s jaw hung loose. He stared at the figure in the sky, his brain refusing to process what he had just seen.

Nascent Soul… he’s a Nascent Soul powerhouse!

Xu Tian had seen Nascent Soul cultivators fight before. But he had never seen one dispatch a peer-level Demon Beast with such casual, surgical precision. Ice, Fire, Lightning—three opposing elements woven together seamlessly. It was unheard of.

The guards rubbed their eyes, wondering if the poison had made them hallucinate. A Foundation Establishment junior? Impossible.

Su Ling’er leaned heavily against the wagon, her legs trembling. She stared up at Shen Xian’s silhouette, her heart hammering against her ribs like a war drum. The gentle, unassuming young master… was a monster.

Shen Xian descended slowly, his feet touching the earth as light as a feather. The Traceless Sword had already vanished back into his Blood Jade Ring.

He flicked an invisible speck of dust from his sleeve, his expression bored. It was the look of a man who had just swatted a fly.

“Let’s continue,” Shen Xian said, his voice calm.

If he didn’t need this caravan to reach the city and gather intel, he wouldn’t have bothered lifting a finger.

The caravan members looked at him. The fear was gone, replaced by a complex mix of awe, terror, and fanatical worship.