After that string of stunts, every local race hated the Mantis Lord, Caiyi, to the bone.
...
Caiyi suddenly felt a chill.
She couldn't help but shiver, her stout body trembling.
"The leaves haven't even yellowed yet. Why am I so cold?"
"But whenever I think of that muscular Lu Qing, I burn hot inside!"
"Just hold on a little longer. In two days, my Female Pheromone will peak! When that happens, I'll only need to release a fraction of my charm, and that cross-species deviant Lu Qing will obediently let me play him to death!"
"Just thinking about it thrills me!"
Right as she was lost in her fantasies, the ground beneath her feet shuddered violently.
Her nest was built high in a tree; only the massive trunk itself shaking could cause such a tremor.Caiyi immediately flew out of the nest.
The moment she saw what was outside, she froze in shock.
"Lord, what... what is happening?"
The mantises that followed her out were trembling.
A Sabertooth Pig was frantically ramming the tree.
That was the source of the tremors.
The Sabertooth Pig was roughly a meter long, armed primarily with two thick, dagger-like fangs.
Its black hide was caked in tree resin and gravel, granting it an incredibly tough defense.
Although petite for its kind, this Sabertooth Pig was an absolute powerhouse within a ten-li radius.
Thanks to its innate monstrous strength, boundless stamina, sharp fangs, and stone armor, it ranked among the top ten strongest beasts within those ten li.
Since it was the only Sabertooth Pig to claim this ten-li territory, it possessed a fearsome reputation and went by the name Brown Tail.
That brown tail was exceptionally beautiful.
Caiyi looked at the Sabertooth Pig's rear, only to find the tail severed entirely; the raw flesh and bloody remnants were clearly visible.
The massive tree trembled even more violently. Under the Sabertooth Pig's relentless ramming, a huge chunk of bark and wood had already been gouged from the trunk.
"Lord, we didn't even provoke it. Why is this pig going crazy?"
Caiyi was just as baffled.
This Sabertooth Pig was equal to her in size and strength, but on the ground, three of her wouldn't be enough to defeat it.
Because of that, they had always given it a wide berth whenever their paths crossed, never once provoking it.
So why was it suddenly ramming their lair like a maniac today?
As the Lord, Caiyi obviously couldn't just let it destroy their home. "Brother Brown Tail," she asked, "why are you doing this?"
A deep, furious snort answered her.
"Snort! You know exactly why!"
Caiyi was dumbfounded.
I don't know shit.
"Brother Brown Tail, our races have no past grudges and no recent quarrels... I truly have no idea how we offended you."
The Sabertooth Pig let out a heavy grunt. "Snort! Keep playing dumb! Do you really think I don't know you did it?"
Caiyi felt incredibly wronged. "What did I even do...?"
The Sabertooth Pig huffed heavily, blowing thick plumes of air from its snout in absolute fury.
"Snort! My proudest feature, my beautiful brown tail, was sliced off in a sneak attack! If I don't destroy your lair and wipe out your Mantis Race today, I swear I will never rest!"
It went right back to furiously battering the thick tree trunk.
Caiyi hovered in place, completely stunned.
No wonder the pig is missing its tail, she thought. It was sliced right off.
But what the hell does that have to do with me?!
That tail swats its own ass all day! It must smell rancid. Does it really think my tastes are that foul?!
"It's a misunderstanding! A massive misunderstanding! I would absolutely never dare provoke you. Everyone knows you're the reigning powerhouse within ten li! With my strength, I couldn't possibly pull that off..."
"Snort! Couldn't pull it off? Nice excuse! You waited until I ate some Poppy Grass and got high out of my mind before making your move... Look at what the fuck is hanging on your own branch!"
Branch...?
As the Mantis Race's lair, every inch of the ancient tree had been utilized.
Uneaten prey was hung from the branches as trophies. This was a tradition of the Mantis Race.
Dumbfounded, Caiyi turned to look.
Right there, suspended by a vine from a branch full of bones, dangled a brown tail.
Compared to the other trophies, it stood out glaringly.
Caught in the gentle breeze, that sexy tail fluttered.
It seemed to proudly flaunt the Mantis Race's spoils to the entire world.
Caiyi instantly went stiff.
Her first thought wasn't that they had been framed; instead, she genuinely assumed one of her subordinates had done it.
Who... who on earth was brave enough to slice off Brother Pig's tail?!
"Snort! If I knew how to climb trees, I'd slaughter every last one of you right now!"
The Sabertooth Pig lowered its head and kept battering the tree, venting its hatred.
Caiyi quickly composed herself.
The Sabertooth Pig was a nightmare to fight, but it couldn't climb or fly. Even if it managed to knock the tree down, they would just move to another lair.
Besides, it would take the pig at least a month or two to topple an ancient tree this massive.
If it wants to ram the tree, let it ram!
Caiyi was just about to offer a few more words of appeasement when one of her mantises, unable to resist the temptation, yanked the pig tail down and stuffed it into its mouth.
The mantis even complained as it chewed.
"Why does it smell so foul? But whatever, I actually like this flavor."
The Sabertooth Pig went absolutely berserk.
Eating its tail right in front of it while throwing out sarcastic remarks?! This was bullying a pig too far!
The Sabertooth Pig charged back and forth like a maniac, slamming into the tree over and over.
The tree's violent shaking intensified.
But Caiyi still wasn't panicking.
Right at that moment, another wave of trouble arrived.
A flock of Arrow Sparrows suddenly materialized like a volley of sharp arrows, launching a vicious, blindingly fast ambush.
Arrow Sparrows held a natural species advantage over mantises. Even at the same grade and tier, the mantises couldn't withstand such a sudden, overwhelming strike.
In the blink of an eye, three female mantises had their heads pecked open and fell dead to the ground.
Caiyi was a Lord, however. Her tremendous strength allowed her to shrug off their innate species suppression, and with a sweep of her Scythe, she struck one down.
"Don't Arrow Sparrows hunt alone? Why have you attacked us in a flock?"
Two Arrow Sparrows roared back, gnashing their beaks. "It was bad enough that you humiliated us personally, but you dared humiliate our entire race, and now you have the nerve to ask why?!"
"Huh?"
Caiyi was completely dumbfounded.
Never mind the Giant Strength Ants—just today, first it was the Sabertooth Pig, and now the Arrow Sparrows... when did she make so many enemies?
Something... something isn't right here!
She had only just realized something was wrong.
But it was already too late.
Just as the Arrow Sparrows prepared to launch another wave of attacks, a flock of Iron-Beaked Birds flew over.
The leading bird had a wingspan of nearly two meters.
Its strength was around the Seventh Grade!
"That's them! Tieyu died at the hands of these mantises!"
Iron-Beaked Birds were a mantis's natural predator, but for them to mobilize such a massive force to attack her lair left Caiyi utterly bewildered.
How did I offend them?!
Across the way, a Second Grade giant green caterpillar crawled out from a large tree.
The giant caterpillar roared, "You thousand-cut mantises! I swear I'll fight you to the bitter end!"
Even a giant green caterpillar—a creature that belonged on their menu—had jumped out?
Am I really this good at causing trouble?
Do I possess some sort of Innate Trouble-Causing Holy Body?!
"Everyone, there has to be a misunderstanding here..."
"Misunderstanding my ass! We'll slaughter your Mantis Race first, and talk later!"
"Exactly! Only tearing your corpses to pieces will satisfy our hatred!"
"Stop wasting breath! Let's wipe out these damned mantises together!"
These races, which rarely interacted with one another, had shockingly united against a common enemy.