Battle Against the Emerald Cicada Queen

//Last Updated on June 22, 2024

A few hours into the journey, another wave of Emerald Cicadas emerged in front of them.

Similarly as before the trio sprang into action and quickly dispatched the majority of them. Liu Feng collected the dao points once more and placed the clean cicadas into his waggon.

They took a break for the day after battling two more waves. It was already afternoon, and they were all exhausted from their long day. They decided to make up camp nearby after eating some meals. Liu Feng agreed to continue their trek the next day.

After a short rest, Liu Feng began meditating and concentrating on improving his cultivation. Zhang Yan began practising his claw movements as usual, but Mei Lin was nowhere to be seen.

Liu Feng was not too concerned and concentrated on his cultivation instead. He had a lot of new information today. The battle with the cicadas opened his eyes. Individual cicadas were not particularly powerful, but their numbers and flying skills were amazing.

Despite not using any of his offensive techniques, Liu Feng reinforced himself by channelling his Qi around his body evenly, enhancing his combat prowess. Their exoskeleton was tougher than usual and the weaponry he was utilising did not appear to last long.

He began circulating his cultivation technique and soon fell into a deep meditative state.

***

When Liu Feng awoke, he was in the middle of the night. He examined his cultivation progress right away and was pleasantly astonished to find that he had made great progress.

[Cultivation Technique(s): The Eight Trigram Dao Convergence Scripture (Intermediate)]

[Cultivation: Qi Condensation Stage 2(7%)]

'So, the cultivation proficiency increased to the intermediate state. I guess this makes sense after seeing the progress in my cultivation level.'

Liu Feng was excited to see his improvement and investigated the changes. His internal Qi flow felt smoother and more refined than previously.

'But is using the sabre any good? I have one attacking technique for claws and one for a whip but…. Well, I guess beggars cannot be choosers.'

'Using the sabre looks cool but I am not making any progress in my techniques.', he was conflicted.

Liu Feng realised he had no choice but to make do with what he had.

'We'll be dealing with those disgusting insects again tomorrow.... huuuh...I suppose I'll use the whip for the time being. With that technique, I can also use fire qi and going by the logic the insects should be weaker against the fire I guess.'

He was fully prepared to face the emerald cicadas the next day. He resolved to use the whip to make some progress in his techniques tomorrow.

***

The group started their journey the following morning. They had defeated one wave of cicadas and were feeling confident, but they had no clue that a tough task would soon await them.

As they were travelling through the dense forest, they heard a loud scream that echoed through the trees. The trio quickly followed the sound, and what they saw left them speechless.

A group of people was being attacked by a massive swarm of cicadas that were far more ferocious than the ones the trio had previously encountered.

A towering figure stood in the back of the swarm, a gigantic emerald cicada at least seven to eight feet tall. Its body was a brilliant green, and its eyes gleamed like diamonds. It had a huge wingspan and beat its wings quickly, causing a forceful rush of wind that threatened to knock everyone off their feet.

Liu Feng and company hurried towards the group of individuals who were rushing and fighting off the smaller cicadas.

Liu Feng swiftly grasped the situation after observing the atmosphere and deciding that it was the moment to act.

"Listen up everyone, I need you to handle the smaller ones! We'll go after the bigger one!" Liu Feng shouted filled with determination and authority.

Mei Lin nodded in agreement, "That seems like the emerald cicada queen. We need to take it down first, it's the source of all this chaos."

Zhang Yan added, "If it is the one controlling all these cicadas, we need to take her out."

Liu Feng was about to charge forward when he heard someone disagreeing.

"Hold on a minute!" a young man probably in his mid-twenties, who seemed to be the leader of the people objected.

Never in his lifetime did Liu Feng expect to face such idiotic behaviour in real life.

'F*ck you...Can't you see the danger here? Are you blind or something!!!', Liu Feng knew he'd be wasting his time if he said anything else.

Liu Feng took a dominating stride forward, making the man take a step backwards.

The man hesitated, "Who are you to give me orders? I don't take orders from just anyone."

"I understand your concern," Liu Feng replied calmly, "But I assure you, I have the experience and skills necessary to defeat this thing on the other hand you guys don't seem like you can put up anything against it. You and your group can handle the smaller ones, while we defeat the queen."

The leader appeared unsure, but the dread in his companions' eyes swayed him. "Fine," he conceded. "We'll do whatever you say."

"What about us?" one of the people in the group asked. "How do we deal with these small cicadas?"

"Use whatever you have to defend yourself," Liu Feng responded. "We'll be back as soon as possible."

The cries of the battle could be heard around them as the trio made their way towards the queen against many cicadas. The group was doing everything they could to keep the smaller cicadas at bay.

As they approached the queen, it stood tall over them, her eyes flashing emerald and emitting a hypnotic hum.

Liu Feng, Mei Lin, and Zhang Yan all evaded the assault by scattering around it resulting in them being enveloped by a swarm of cicadas once more.

Zhang Yan wielded two claws as his weapons and launched vicious attacks left and right. This surprised Liu Feng because the Queen Cicada's sudden attack was unexpected and this quick thinking impressed him.

Although you shouldn't expect anything to go your way against an unknown enemy, you can still depend on your natural instinct and ability. Your strength is the only certainty you have in a battle.

Mei Lin swiftly avoided the strike and engaged in close-quarter combat using her twin draggers.

The duo tried their hardest to protect themselves as the queen cicada advanced. They defended themselves using their weapons, but they were no match for the queen's speed and power. Liu Feng was the only one who could stand up to the queen, and he knew he had to act quickly.

Liu Feng took a step forward, his whip in hand. "I'll take the lead. Follow my lead and attack the smaller ones to make way for me."

Liu Feng began to whirl his whip around, unleashing the fire qi, causing a huge number of cicadas to fall back and burn.

Everyone in the area was impressed by this scene. Mei Lin was surprised as well, but she quickly regained her composure.

"We need to be careful, it also possesses a poisonous breath and its regeneration powers are outstanding," Mei Lin exclaimed as if recalling something.

The queen's hum had the ability to hypnotise its prey, and the queen could also heal any injuries it sustained. To make matters even more difficult, it had a poison breath skill that could poison anyone in its path and paralyse them.

The trio and the other persons under attack quickly knew they were up against an extremely formidable opponent.

Liu Feng went into action, attacking the queen with his [Beast God's Whip Art] skill.

He charged forward, striking at the queen's eyes with his whip. The queen attempted to avoid Liu Feng's surprise strike, but his whip hit the queen in the eye.

The queen rapidly recovered some distance, but the injury began to heal at a noticeable rate. It was Liu Feng's first time viewing this miracle of regeneration power, yet contrary to his expectations, this irritated him even more.

To begin with, the poison and the hypnotic humming made it a difficult opponent. There was also the irritating pair of wings and the power to regenerate on top of that, but Liu Feng was relentless.

He unleashed attack after attack, using his whip technique and fire Qi to wound the queen, but the queen dodged it multiple times, resulting in the death of several smaller cicadas at a time, and its damaged parts were rapidly healed as it recovered.

However, the queen was too cunning, and when given the opportunity, she quickly knocked Liu Feng to the ground. Liu Feng was still using his qi to reinforce his body, so he took no damage, but his opponent's flying and healing abilities irritated him.

When Zhang Yan saw this, he realised he had a chance to attack the queen while it was distracted, so he jumped towards it, but it was in vain.