Mutant Insect King

"These guys really are everywhere!"

Inside the passageways of Yue Qiluo’s lair, Gu Sheng, who had concealed all his aura and made himself seem like a dead thing, walked through the familiar tunnels. Unlike yesterday’s dead silence, he discovered that the beetles from the other passages had already settled here, with terrifying clouds of black insects flying and circling through the darkness.

Gu Sheng carried the Mercury Lamp and slowly paced forward with his aura concealed. Although this method kept the beetles from detecting him, it consumed a great deal of energy and had many restrictions. Even walking too quickly might reveal his aura. It could be said to be an extremely impractical secret technique.

As Gu Sheng walked, he passed through the long, spacious passageway. He had not chosen to turn on the Mercury Lamp here. Its battery was limited, and this remote wilderness was hardly a place where he could recharge it, so he had few opportunities to use it. Good steel had to be used on the edge of the blade; he had to make sure it achieved the greatest possible effect.

"There!"

Jiang Shaofeng passed through the corridor and entered the stone chamber. The wide, unobstructed area where the Soul Locking Array was located made his eyes light up. He quickly walked to a relatively high platform and set down the Mercury Lamp. Crimson light began to surface across his body.

A crimson True Essence shield, resembling a huge lightbulb, stood out incomparably in the pitch-black cavern chamber.

"Buzz buzz buzz buzz~~~"

The sounds of countless flying insects came from all directions. Streams of black vapor surged over madly, and the entire stone chamber was instantly surrounded by a sea of black.

"Spit spit~ spit spit~~"

Gu Sheng’s True Essence shield automatically protected his body. Countless insects that attacked without knowing their own limits were shaken to death and annihilated, but even more beetles came forward one after another. Acting purely on instinct, they were completely unafraid of death and kept burrowing toward Gu Sheng. They were no longer attacking from just three hundred and sixty degrees; they were charging from every direction, leaving no blind spot anywhere on his body.

"Come on! Who’s afraid of whom?"

Gu Sheng sneered. With two clicks, he operated the Mercury Lamp. A few breaths later, scorching light radiated outward in all directions from Gu Sheng as its center.

"Spit spit~ spit spit spit spit~~~~"

It was as if a flashbang had exploded inside the secret chamber. A blazing sphere of light continuously expanded, swallowing the "darkness" in all directions with unstoppable force. The insects in the front ranks held out for a moment before turning into pus, while the beetles behind them had no time to escape. The sizzling sounds rose and fell without pause.

Constant streams of pungent odors flooded Gu Sheng’s nostrils, while the dripping of water made the scene especially eerie. After one minute, every corner of the secret chamber had been exposed beneath the lamp’s blazing light.

Gu Sheng looked around. Yellow-green slime covered every surface, and even from the ceiling, drops continued to fall one after another. Combined with the stench, the scene was enough to make anyone vomit.

"Click!"

After carefully checking and confirming that no insects had escaped, Gu Sheng switched off the dazzling Mercury Lamp. This thing was useful, but its light was too intense—harmful to people rather than beneficial. It heated mercury, a poisonous substance, and although it was well sealed, there was still some odor. Naturally, it was not ideal.

"Ugh!"

Gu Sheng entered through another stone door and walked toward the platform where he had obtained the cultivation technique. In one corner of the platform, part of the stone wall had become a passageway, and a disgusting stench rushed into his nose.

This place was Yue Qiluo’s handiwork. She had discovered the Gold Mine back then, but had also noticed the black-vapor insect cloud. After testing it and finding that she had no way to deal with the creatures, she discovered that they only attacked living things. She had therefore used these "things of Samsara" to conceal her aura, then sealed the stone wall to prevent them from breaking in.

When Gu Sheng had broken through to the Connate realm earlier, the commotion had been too great. While testing his moves, he had failed to hold back and shattered these things, allowing some of a living person’s aura to leak through. That was what had attracted the beetles’ attack. Of course, he knew nothing about any of this.

"Huh! These things can mutate too?"

After walking a few steps, Gu Sheng suddenly crouched down and reached out to pick up an insect that had not yet completely died. This one was different from the one he had caught earlier.

It had a black body, a very thick shell, and large, sharp teeth. It somewhat resembled a cockroach, but its wings and body were considerably larger. Wisps of black vapor also seeped from its body, making it look extremely strange.

"This aura… an evil creature?"

Gu Sheng’s expression turned peculiar. The smaller insects did not seem to qualify as evil creatures, but this thing, which appeared to be an evolved form, resembled the Gu insects of legend. It could be considered a type of evil creature.

"Could it be that these things have a mother insect? The mother insect, or Insect King, might be a Sorcerer’s Gu insect—or perhaps some unknown Ancient Strange Insect from antiquity. After reproducing, the evil energy within their bodies gradually dispersed, so they could no longer be considered evil creatures.

"That would explain why these insects could transform their bodies into black vapor, and why their biting and gnawing strength was far greater than that of ordinary insects, while they still could not be considered evil creatures."

Gu Sheng formed a conjecture, but before seeing the actual creature, he did not dare confirm whether that was truly the case.

"Who cares! This Gold Mine belongs to me now. Even if this swarm of insects refuses to yield, it will have to!"

Gu Sheng sneered. He casually tossed down the cold insect corpse, then leaped forward. With several light steps, he crossed the disgusting stone chamber and entered the Gold Mine tunnel.

This was an extremely long mine tunnel. Some decayed mining tools could be seen scattered across the ground. Someone must have triggered the insect cloud while mining back then, and after escaping by luck, had never dared touch this Gold Mine again.

"Let’s see what kinds of demons and monsters are inside."

Gu Sheng carried the Mercury Lamp and strode forward along the buzzing sounds. Along the way, black vapor constantly flew out from the branching passages and attacked him, but beneath the Mercury Lamp’s full power, the insects dropped to the ground like dumplings falling from a pot.

After walking deeper into the mine tunnel for an unknown length of time, Gu Sheng finally reached the last mass of insects. The black swarm was an intimidating sight. A colossal creature seemed to have been enraged by the Mercury Lamp and charged out with an angry roar.

What kind of monster was this? Its lower body was long and shaped like a centipede, with countless lateral limbs spreading across both sides. Its upper body stood upright like a human’s, narrow and sharp, while its head resembled that of a mosquito—yet it possessed a pair of enormous pincers.

It was gigantic. Even its upright half was no shorter than Gu Sheng. It moved incredibly fast, and countless black-cloud beetles were crushed into meat paste beneath its feet before they could dodge. Carrying a foul, fishy wind, it smashed its pair of pincers toward Gu Sheng, who was holding the Mercury Lamp.

"Bang~"

Gu Sheng twisted aside to evade the attack and rapidly retreated along the mine tunnel. This place was far too narrow and was unfavorable for combat.

"I didn’t expect my guess to be right. It really is an Ancient Strange Insect. Since it’s a wild insect, maybe I can make some plans for it."

As Gu Sheng retreated at high speed, his thoughts began to stir. He had comprehended quite a few things from the three Blood Demon Bones he possessed. Those three bones should have been part of a complete inheritance. Absorbing essence and energy to refine an Imperishable Nascent Soul was its primary content, but it also contained other strange skills.

One of them was Gu Crafting. It seemed particularly suitable for use here!