Martial arts duels are nothing compared to the danger of real battlefield combat. Out there, it’s all about brute force and working together. So when martial artists who’ve never seen war join the fight, they don’t know how to cooperate—they just do their own thing, and that’s why casualties run high. It’s just how it goes.
Still, among these martial artists, a handful of truly formidable people have emerged.
There was even a time when the bugs stormed a section of the city wall and it looked bad, but those martial artists charged up and wiped out every last one of them—barely a scratch on themselves.
According to Third Young Master Ma, out of the three hundred thousand martial artists, there are more than ten squads that stand out as the best.
These squads range in size—some have three to five hundred members, while the smallest have just a dozen or so.
The squad acknowledged as the strongest is the Xingtian Squad.
The Xingtian Squad has twenty-one members, reportedly from the Xingtian Lineage of the War-God Sect.
The War-God Sect isn’t local to the Mystic Sun Domain—it’s a top-tier power from the Tianyang Domain. They’ve got nine lineages, each led by a law-phase master, and the sect leader’s on a whole other level beyond that.
Leading the squad is Hector Xingtian, a Sun-Soul peak powerhouse.
Among the twenty squad members, two are early Sun-Soul Realm cultivators, and the rest are all at the peak of the Sigilforge Realm.
They’ve only been in Blackrock City for seven or eight days, but the number of insects they’ve killed is over fifty million—their combat power is absolutely terrifying. (Note: Meta commentary about the author’s update schedule is omitted from translation.)
So, the Military Council gave them their own manor in the city, only calling them up for the really dire emergencies.
To be clear, any martial artist with real strength gets their own residence in the city. Only the average ones are housed together in the main camp.
Right below the Xingtian Squad is the Thousand Blossoms Squad.
The Thousand Blossoms Squad is made up of disciples from Myriad Flower Valley.
Their leader is a Sun-Soul Realm elder from Myriad Flower Valley, and the squad itself consists of over a hundred Sigilforge Realm disciples.
The folks from Myriad Flower Valley aren’t the strongest fighters, but they’ve got a secret pollen technique—when they use it, it gives off a strange scent that makes the bugs slow and clumsy.
That’s how the Thousand Blossoms Squad managed to rack up over forty million bug kills in several battles—second only to the Xingtian Squad.
The squad ranked third is called the Immortal Sword Squad.
The Immortal Sword Squad is entirely made up of disciples from the Immortal Sword Sect, all trained in sword arts. Their flying swords can attack at a range of up to five kilometers, and with more than three hundred members, they make up for the military’s lack of long-range firepower and greatly reduce the consumption of Cloudburst Arrows.
Ranked fourth is the Radiant Faith Squad.
This squad isn’t especially strong in combat, but their reputation is the highest.
Hannah Chen: "Captain, that name is just... way too out there!"
Because of that, both soldiers and martial artists have a lot less to worry about.
As long as you don’t die on the spot, you’ll recover.
Ranked fifth is the Five Lakes Squad, made up entirely of unaffiliated martial artists. There are more than five hundred members, including two Sun-Soul Realm cultivators, most are Sigilforge Realm, and the rest are peak Origin Core Stage.
Ranked sixth is the Skywolf Squad, and seventh is...
After hearing about all these squads, the young elites from Dragonfang City were itching to prove themselves—they wanted to become the number one squad.
Even with Ian’s explanation, everyone still thought Pest Squad was just a super goofy name.
"We’re all from Dragonfang City, so why not call ourselves the Dragonfang Squad?" blurted out Zhuge Jiancheng.
"That name’s not fierce enough. How about Godslayer Squad!" Wenren Junjie suggested.
"Godslayer? We’re here to kill bugs, not gods! I think we should be called the Exterminator Squad!" Brian Zhang scoffed at Wenren Junjie’s idea before giving his own.
"Why not the Fragrant Squad? It’s poetic!" Hannah Chen squinted and teased.
"No way, that name’s got no punch. How about Heavenbreaker Squad!"
"Or we could just be the Strongest Squad!"
"We want to be number one, so let’s just call ourselves Number One Squad!"
For a while, everyone argued heatedly about the team name.
In the end, no one could convince anyone else.
"Captain, why don’t you pick a name for us?" Wang Bo looked at Ian.
"Yeah, Captain, you decide!" Hannah Chen nodded.
Ian thought for a moment, then announced a name.
When everyone heard Ian’s choice, they were all stunned.
Hannah Chen: "Captain, that name is just... way too weird!"
Wang Bo: "Captain, maybe you should think of another one."
Right away, he called out, "Alright, brothers—let's hit the wall!"
Ji Mingyue: "Captain, if we call ourselves the Pest Squad, doesn’t that make us the pests?"
That’s right—Ian named the squad the Pest Squad.
"Enough!" Ian waved his hand. "Pest Squad means we’re the pests the Insect Horde fears most. So it’s a great name. That’s settled!"
Even with Ian’s explanation, everyone still thought Pest Squad sounded super weird.
Inside the military camp.
His armor was splattered with all kinds of red and green fluids, and his beard was scruffy—Chu Lei sat dazed on a round stone, looking utterly worn out. It had been almost two months since the Insect Horde invaded, and he’d retreated all the way from the border town to Blackrock City.
During that time, he’d fought in dozens of battles—of the warriors who escaped the border town, fewer than five hundred were still alive. Three days ago, the deputy general Long Xing, who’d led them out, had died.
"I wonder if I’ll ever make it back to Fenghua Town!"
At that thought, Chu Lei couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
Just then, a dull drumbeat sounded.
When Chu Lei heard the drums, his expression barely changed. It was the signal for another insect attack—he’d heard it countless times over the past weeks. He was used to it, maybe even numb. He grabbed his saber and called his twenty-some subordinates to head for the city wall.
His original men from the border town were long dead—these twenty-some were all new recruits.
At the wall, Chu Lei instinctively glanced down. Seeing the endless, swarming Insect Horde, he remembered the first attack on the border town and looked up at the sky.
Just as he expected, hundreds of black clouds appeared on the horizon.
Each cloud was made up of at least five million flying beetles—hundreds of clouds meant how many beetles?
It had to be at least a billion flying beetles.
A billion flying beetles!
Just thinking about it made not only Chu Lei, but all the warriors on the wall turn pale. How were they supposed to deal with so many flying beetles? The Cloudburst Arrows were almost gone—could a few hundred from the Immortal Sword Squad really handle it?
In the martialists’ camp, Ian looked up at the city wall when he heard the drums.
The next moment, he called out, "Brothers, follow me to the wall!"