Chapter 12: Chapter 12: The Exotic Insect’s Mutation

"Fellow Daoist Shen, thank you for coming to warn me."

Jiang Xu handed the Ancient Scroll back to Shen Ji, his expression grateful.

"It’s nothing. Didn’t you also go out of your way to warn me? Let’s just call it even."

"By the way, the Mother Insect will probably advance to a Tier One Spirit Insect in the next two days. When that happens, the newly promoted Sub-Insects will go out to hunt. If they can’t catch enough food, they might attack the Spirit Rice or even humans. You have to be careful."

"So soon? But I guess that makes sense. With all the Spirit Fields in this area, it’s more than enough for that Exotic Insect to raise its Realm quickly. We Cultivators will be fine; the main thing is to protect the Spirit Fields."

"From what I’ve seen, those insects are incredibly fast and their carapaces are extremely tough. Even a Cultivator would have a lot of trouble dealing with them."

Jiang Xu had the confidence to face the Sub-Insects because he had the Concealing Breath Spell and the Light Body Spell, and his own Cultivation had reached the Qi Cultivation Third Layer.

But for a Junior Cultivator like Shen Ji, who was only at the Qi Cultivation Second Layer, even a single Sub-Insect would be a handful.

"You’re forgetting we still have our Spiritual Hoes. The Sharpness Technique on them is pretty powerful. Besides, I know a bit of Magic myself. Self-preservation is definitely not a problem!"

Only then did it dawn on Jiang Xu.

Other people weren’t like the body’s previous owner, giving away their hard-earned Spirit Stones for nothing. They spent them on themselves.

At the very least, they would have long since prepared some Magic and Talismans for self-defense.

Thinking of this, Jiang Xu couldn’t help but feel the urge to complain again.

Sigh~

’Life is so hard!’

...

"ACHOO!"

Huddled in her grotto, Nie Mengyun sneezed for no apparent reason.

"Who’s thinking about me?"

Nie Mengyun thought:

’It can’t be Jiang Xu. That guy is just too heartless. It’s been so many days, and he hasn’t even sent me a single voice transmission. It seems he’s really planning to cut all ties with me.’

She had been very worried these past few days.

But Jiang Xu wasn’t the only source of her worries.

Besides worrying about who she would find to provide her with Spirit Stones now that she had lost Jiang Xu, she was also troubled by Qin Mo’s recent, constant advances.

In fact, it was precisely because of Qin Mo’s harassment that she hadn’t looked for Jiang Xu these past few days.

As for accepting Qin Mo’s advances, Nie Mengyun had never once considered it.

All she wanted was a guy who was easy to control, someone who would provide her with Spirit Stones for her Cultivation for free.

She had no desire to become someone’s Furnace Cauldron. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Besides, that Qin Mo was too ugly, and he cultivated some strange and bizarre things.

Nie Mengyun wanted nothing to do with that kind of person.

’That’s strange. Speaking of which, that guy hasn’t come to harass me since yesterday afternoon. That’s never happened in the past few days.

Hmph, just stay away from me. It’d be best if you never showed your face again for the rest of your life!’

...

At the foot of a mountain range seven or eight li from the servant area where Jiang Xu lived, there was a hidden cave.

The cave was obscured by dense trees and bushes, impossible to find without a careful search.

Deep inside the cave.

Qin Mo’s gaze burned hot enough to ignite flames as he stared intently at the "Silver Ball" before him.

Before him was none other than the Mother-Child Spirit-Devouring Insect.

But at this moment, the Ancient Exotic Insect was undergoing a shocking transformation.

All the Sub-Insects in the swarm had flown one by one onto their Mother Insect, pressing tightly against it.

They didn’t stop, even after the Mother Insect’s entire body was covered in Sub-Insects.

The remaining Sub-Insects continued to attach themselves, layer upon overlapping layer, until they finally formed the half-man-high silver sphere made of Spirit-Devouring Insects that Qin Mo now saw.

’To think that this unknown, dried-up little bug I happened to find in some dilapidated ruin in my youth could actually be revived by the Insect Control Scripture, and now it’s even about to become stronger...’

At this thought, Qin Mo couldn’t help but feel a fresh surge of excitement.

He had always considered himself very lucky.

Years ago, before he had entered the Sect, he had found a copy of the Insect Control Scripture in some old ruins, along with an unknown, desiccated little insect that had been placed on top of it.

It was by relying on this Insect Control Scripture that he, with his so-called "trash-tier" impure Five Spirit Roots, had managed to cultivate to the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer.

However, the Spirit Insects he bound were not the dried-up one he had found, but others.

For years, he had consulted all sorts of texts and visited the Scripture Pavilion many times, but he had never found any information about this dried-up insect.

He had entertained the thought of asking the Elder at the Scripture Pavilion, but he quickly cast the idea aside.

Qin Mo felt that this little insect was by no means ordinary. Although it had been desiccated for who knows how many years, it still showed signs of life. It was undoubtedly no common creature.

He was afraid the Elders would kill him to seize his treasure.

Just as he himself had done many times.

In recent years, as Qin Mo saw the sixty-year-old mark drawing ever closer, he knew that if his Cultivation didn’t advance, he would likely never have a chance at Foundation Establishment in his lifetime.

So, Qin Mo took a huge risk and decided to study the little insect himself.

Unexpectedly, he managed to revive the insect using the insect-rearing section of the Insect Control Scripture, and in just one year, it had multiplied to its current scale.

"Hahaha!

The heavens truly haven’t abandoned me!

Who says having Five Spirit Roots makes you trash? I refuse to accept it!

The wheel of fortune turns; so what if you have a Celestial Spirit Root? With this Spirit Insect, I will defy fate and change my destiny! I’ll slaughter every last person who ever looked down on me!"

Qin Mo laughed boisterously. Just as he was fantasizing about his smooth future path of cultivation, he saw the "Silver Ball" in front of him begin to change.

The entire silver sphere began to emit a profound glow, a light like the dawn rising from an abyss, illuminating everything around it.

As time passed, the silver on the outermost layer of Sub-Insects gradually lost its color in the light. Faint silver streams of light could be seen emerging from the Sub-Insects, heading toward the very center of the sphere.

This continued until all the silver had faded from the outermost Sub-Insects. Only then did the now-desiccated Sub-Insects fall off, followed immediately by the next layer, which began to lose its color.

The whole process accelerated. At first, it took several minutes for a layer of Sub-Insects to fade, but by the end, several layers of Sub-Insects were falling off dead almost every second.

BUZZ—!

When the last of the Sub-Insects fell from the Mother Insect’s body, the fist-sized Mother Insect was revealed before Qin Mo.

Its body was long and streamlined, covered in a silver carapace filled with strange, complex patterns, each line representing a Sub-Insect that had sacrificed itself for the Mother Insect.

The Mother-Child Spirit-Devouring Insect had now successfully advanced to a Tier One Spirit Insect!

"Excellent, excellent, excellent!"

Overjoyed, Qin Mo paid no mind to the tens of thousands of desiccated Sub-Insect husks on the ground as he strode quickly toward the Mother Insect.

At the same time, he silently chanted the Insect Control Technique in his mind to activate the mark he had long ago planted inside the Mother Insect.

But what Qin Mo never could have expected was that no matter how many times he chanted the Insect Control Technique, he could no longer sense the mark he had left inside the Mother Insect.

"How can this be!"

His face fell in shock. In disbelief, he repeated the chant dozens of times, but there was still no reaction.

"This...!"

Qin Mo looked up at the Mother Insect before him. Its compound eyes were deep and bright, glittering with a bloodthirsty silver light.

He thought he was going mad.

Because he could actually see mockery in the Mother Insect’s eyes.

"How... could this happen?"