Achieving physical sainthood begins with the Iron Shirt technique!

Li Laosi wiped the rain off his face and roared in his loud voice.

"Pile all the firewood at the front!"

"Hurry up! Form a semi-circle! Light the fire!"

The more than one hundred miners dared not delay. They frantically grabbed the withered branches and leaves they had painstakingly collected from the edge of the rock wall and threw them desperately towards the front of the cave entrance. Many of them had their hands cut and bleeding from the thorny vines, but they didn't utter a sound. The torrential rain was still pouring down outside, and the poisonous miasma was being swept in by the wind.

A few rough tinderboxes were quickly blew into light and tossed into the woodpile.

A muffled "whoosh" sounded.

The dry firewood ignited instantly. A semi-circular, orange-red wall of fire rose from the ground, completely blocking the entrance to the cave. The extremely high temperature distorted the humid air, and the firelight illuminated the mud-covered faces of these lowly laborers.

The swarming black insects outside knew nothing of fear; they only had the primal instinct to devour the blood of the living.

Thousands upon thousands of venomous centipedes with barbs on their backs trudged through the mud and charged madly toward the wall of fire.

The crackling and popping sounds of burning flesh exploded densely around the perimeter of the cave.

The first batch of poisonous insects were instantly burned, writhing and convulsing, their hard shells shattering and bursting out clumps of green sap. A pungent, nauseating yellow-green toxic mist followed, shooting into the sky. The smell was mixed with the stench of burning hair, making people's eyes water and their throats burn with a fiery pain.

"Cover your mouths and noses with rags! Don't inhale it!"

As Li Laosi shouted, he gripped the nicked pig-slaughtering knife in his hand tightly, his two big feet firmly planted on the ground.

The firewall was simply no match for this enormous number.

The poisonous centipede, layer upon layer, stepped on the charred remains of its companions, and forcefully pressed down on the piles of burning firewood.

The flames grew smaller and smaller, and the light grew dimmer and dimmer.

In just a few breaths, the once continuous wall of fire was crushed by the massive pile of insect corpses, leaving a wide, gaping breach in the middle. The stench of burning completely masked the smoke from the firewood, and the defensive line was ripped apart.

As soon as the breach opened, dozens of black-armored venomous centipedes, each over half a foot long, took advantage of the momentum and opened their sharp, venomous maws, frantically rushing towards the row of miners standing at the front.

"kill!"

The small blood furnace at the very center of Li Laosi's chest emitted a deafening, violent roar.

He didn't retreat a single step, but instead picked up the butcher knife that was still stained with his own blood.

Alone, he faced the gaping hole and fought his way through it.

A venomous centipede leaped up with the momentum of its charge and bit through Li Laosi's calf.

The corrosive venom seeped into the flesh through the wound, causing excruciating pain.

Li Laosi didn't even glance down, completely abandoning all defensive actions.

The veins on his thick arms bulged out, and the muscles swelled and stretched, tearing the tattered strips of cloth binding his arms.

The butcher's knife danced wildly in mid-air, slashing and hacking, accompanied by a whistling sound as it smashed into the swarm of insects.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

The foul-smelling blood of the insects sprayed everywhere. The half-foot-long poisonous centipedes were cleaved in two by this brute force, and the severed insect corpses writhed wildly on the ground.

Li Laosi transformed into a tireless meat grinder, blocking the gap so tightly that not a single poisonous insect could slip past his feet.

The miners standing at the back watched this scene.

Seeing that butcher covered in blood standing alone at the front, risking his life to protect his benefactor behind him.

Their lingering fear of the ferocious creatures of the Great Wilderness was utterly crushed by an extremely fanatical rage.

"Kill these disgusting things!"

"Our benefactor gave us a way to survive; anyone who backs down today is a spineless coward!"

More than a hundred emaciated men roared hysterically.

They raised sharpened wooden sticks and iron hooks, and rushed forward like madmen, relentlessly stabbing and smashing the poisonous creatures that had crossed the fire line.

A mining pickaxe smashed the poisonous insect's hard shell, splattering green blood all over the miner's head and face.

The battle instantly escalated into its most intense and brutal phase.

In the extreme battle, Li Laosi recklessly and frantically squeezed out the potential of his body.

The blood furnace in his chest was operating at the point of near explosion, and the sound of his heart pounding could be heard even by the miners next to him.

A layer of dark red blood mist seeped out from his pores, covering his body surface, and turned into large plumes of white smoke when it encountered cold air.

He single-handedly used his body, which was breaking through its limits, to block the most concentrated core charge of the insect swarm, and the insect corpses under his feet piled up to his calves.

The defensive lines on the side weren't as solid. After all, stamina was limited.

"ah--!"

Several miners let out a piercing scream and collapsed to the ground.

Three or four poisonous insects crawled onto their chests, their mouthparts biting deep into their flesh, tearing large chunks of blood and flesh.

Those who fell to the ground did not cry for help, nor did they struggle to break free, nor did they crawl backward.

They rolled over and clung tightly to the poisonous insects with their thin arms.

"Stab it! Don't worry about me!"

A fallen miner opened his mouth and used his yellow teeth to crush the carapace on the back of a poisonous insect. Green venom poured into his mouth, burning his tongue, but he still refused to let go.

His companion, his eyes red, pierced the head of the poisonous insect with an iron hook, which also smashed the shoulder of the miner below.

This suicidal fighting style is a way of repaying a debt of gratitude with their lives. They would rather be devoured by insects than not create an opportunity for their brothers behind them to deliver the final blow.

Just when this line of flesh and blood was about to be completely overwhelmed by the swarm of insects.

The muddy ground behind the swarm of insects suddenly exploded violently. Large areas of the soil collapsed.

A venomous centipede leader, the size of a water buffalo and covered with purple venomous markings on its back, emerged.

"hiss--!!!"

The Insect King raised its head and let out an extremely sharp screech that pierced everyone's eardrums. The sound waves echoed in the cave, causing many miners to bleed from their ears and lose their balance.

The terrifying pressure of the second-tier great demon instantly enveloped the entire perimeter of the cave, even extinguishing the remaining sparks of the fire wall on a large scale by this airflow.

The second-tier insect king opened its enormous mandibles, from which yellowish-green slime flowed, and its massive body charged forward. It paid no heed to the lives of its minions, crushing them directly into the swarm of insects.

"Bang bang bang!"

The three miners blocking its path were thrown away by an irresistible force, coughing up blood in mid-air before crashing heavily against the stone wall and falling still, their sternums completely caved in.

The Insect King completely ignored these people; its compound eyes were fixed on the deepest part of the cave.

It smelled the aroma of potent medicine and pure yang energy, which are highly nourishing substances.

The enormous insect body crushed the rubble blocking its path and violently charged towards Lu Chen, who was cultivating at the very core of the area.

"Want to get over there? No way!"

Li Laosi watched as the Insect King rushed into the depths, his eyes flashing with a terrifying, blood-red light.

A poisonous centipede seized the opportunity and pounced on his face.

He swiftly reached out with his left hand and seized the poisonous insect in mid-air.

Without any hesitation, Li Laosi stuffed the still-wriggling poisonous insect into his mouth.

With a powerful snap of its upper and lower teeth, it bit the poisonous insect to pieces.

The bitter, foul-smelling poisonous blood poured down his throat and into his stomach.

Driven by the extremely brutal stimulation of flesh and blood, he forcibly pushed the Extreme Blood Furnace within his body into a state of complete frenzy.

His bones and muscles crackled and popped, and his thick thigh muscles suddenly contracted and expanded. This extremely brutal survival method completely shattered his shackles.

Li Laosi stomped his feet hard on the ground, crushing several poisonous insect corpses beneath him into dust, which then burst into large clumps of green liquid.

Using this enormous reaction force, he leaped high into the air, facing the giant water buffalo worm king.

He gripped the nicked butcher knife tightly with both hands, the handle soaked with blood from his palms, making a sticky, wet sound.

With a fierce, death-defying aura, he swung his arms wide in mid-air and slashed down at the insect king's head.

"Die, you son of a bitch!"

The blunted butcher knife, carrying all its power, slammed into the hardest purple-veined carapace on the Insect King's back.

"clang--!"

A deafening metallic clang suddenly erupted, drowning out the sound of heavy rain outside the cave.

Extremely bright sparks burst forth in the dimly lit cave.

The butcher knife could no longer withstand such a terrifying collision and shattered into more than ten pieces of scrap metal, which flew everywhere. One piece even grazed Li Laosi's own cheek, leaving a bloody mark.

The enormous recoil surged upwards along the hilt of the knife, tearing the tiger's mouth of both of Li Laosi's hands apart completely, causing blood to gush out, and the bones in his arms to crack under the strain.

But this reckless strike also managed to carve a terrifyingly deep gash into the carapace that this second-tier insect king was most proud of.

Green insect blood gushed wildly from the deep wound, splattering onto the rocks and burning countless pits.

The Insect King, in pain, went completely berserk. Its authority as the overlord of the Great Wilderness had been challenged.

Its thick, powerful front jaw suddenly swung upwards, slamming into Li Laosi's chest.

Li Laosi coughed up a mouthful of blood, large patches of flesh torn from his chest. His entire body flew backward uncontrollably, crashing straight into the incredibly hard rock wall of the cave.

If that impact had landed squarely, his spine would have broken into several pieces, turning him into a pile of minced meat on the spot.

At this critical moment.

A broad, powerful, thick hand with a dark black background suddenly reached out from behind.

The hand landed firmly on Li Laosi's back. A surge of pure yang energy, as hot as a furnace, emanated from the palm, instantly neutralizing the terrifying force that sent him flying backward.

Lu Chen's Great Circulation of Qi was completely finished, and the Demon God descended!