Under the sweep of an invisible and terrifying fluctuation, three insects with distinctly different auras remained completely unharmed. The moment they appeared, the guards outside the tavern, as well as the Seventh Prince and the strikingly handsome yet eerie man seated in the carriage, couldn’t help but shudder, overwhelmed by a sense of fear and reverence.
Among these three insects, one flickered in and out of visibility, resembling a semi-transparent silver venomous creature.
Another was a black insect, appearing the most ordinary.
The last was the one that instilled terror in the surrounding cultivators—a deep green insect emitting a horrifying mist. Naturally, this mist first enveloped Dongbo Xueying and his attendant, the demonic dragon, who were closest.
“Not good.”
“Such terrifying venomous insects!”
The handsome yet eerie man’s expression changed drastically. Across the Heart Realm Continent, the art of breeding insect beasts had once produced an unrivaled figure known as the ‘World-Devouring Emperor.’ This emperor had even carved out a unique realm, enlisting numerous subordinates and bestowing powerful venomous insects upon them. These insects fused with their hosts, instantly elevating weaker subordinates to the ranks of supreme experts.
This was during the era before the first Great War of the Ancient Kingdoms, when the Heart Realm Continent was in utter chaos, with countless experts scattered across the land. Historical records from that time are vague, but the World-Devouring Emperor was a true peerless existence, comparable to even Patriarch Fan. Thus, numerous accounts of him remain—legends, biographies, and tales abound. To this day, countless cultivators search for remnants of his legacy.
Indeed.
The World-Devouring Emperor perished long before the first Great War of the Ancient Kingdoms! The circumstances of his death remain unclear, though shadows of the Allworlds Ancient Kingdom loom in the background. The supreme art he created for breeding and controlling insect beasts, the *World-Devouring Scripture*, now rests in the hands of the ‘Beast King,’ one of the Five Supreme Ancestors of the Allworlds Ancient Kingdom. Today, nearly all who excel in manipulating venomous insects trace their lineage back to this kingdom.
“An expert from the Allworlds Ancient Kingdom? Targeting Ying Shan Xueying of the Southcloud Sacred Sect?” The handsome yet eerie man felt a chill in his heart. These two powerhouses were figures he wished to distance himself from as much as possible.
Yet the battle erupted too quickly. The venomous mist spread rapidly, and the surrounding space had long been sealed. There was no time to flee.
…
“Venomous insects? From the Allworlds Ancient Kingdom?”
Dongbo Xueying remained seated, but a short rod appeared in his hand. With a casual flick, the rod struck out.
Though he hadn’t moved from his spot, the tip of the rod mysteriously appeared at each insect’s location, tapping them lightly.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
Three seemingly effortless strikes, yet each carried a trace of an elusive aura. Of the three venomous insects, only the deep green one emitting the mist shattered into dust. The other two were sent tumbling but remained unharmed.
“Oh?” Dongbo Xueying was astonished.
Though his strikes appeared casual, he had actually employed *Piercing the Firmament*, one of the twelve secret techniques of the Southcloud Sacred Sect.
This was an overwhelmingly powerful and brutal move.
Combined with the ‘Crimson Cloud Domain,’ it bypassed the usual weakness of direct attacks being easily blocked, manifesting directly at the enemy’s location to unleash its full force. Yet it had only managed to kill a single venomous insect.
“These insects possess astonishingly resilient bodies. The path of insect beasts is truly fearsome,” Dongbo Xueying mused silently. Unlike cultivators, who must temper their bodies with extreme caution—lest they damage their souls and perish—insect beasts are bred in vast numbers. While raising venomous insects to such terrifying levels is rare, their loss is merely the forfeiture of external tools.
Thus, the path of insect beasts allows for relentless experimentation, breeding venomous creatures with diverse specialties.
“*Piercing the Firmament* can even shatter the Firmament Cage, yet I only managed to destroy one of three insects. The *World-Devouring Scripture* is indeed formidable,” Dongbo Xueying reflected. Each of the Five Supreme Ancestors of the Allworlds Ancient Kingdom was terrifying in their own right. Even the mighty Xiawind Ancient Kingdom seemed subtly overshadowed by them.
“Die.”
Dongbo Xueying swung the rod again.
The two insects, still dazed from the earlier strikes, were pierced by the rod once more. Though the weapon appeared ordinary, it was actually the transformed Crimson Cloud Divine Spear. Against such creatures, close combat was unnecessary.
*Pfft. Pfft.*
The rod struck twice more.
The flickering silver insect trembled but remained unscathed.
The black insect, however, convulsed violently, blood seeping from its mouth and nostrils. Its aura weakened significantly.
“Even the tenth-layer *Piercing the Void*—my first time using it in battle—struggles against mere insects,” Dongbo Xueying remarked, though his eyes gleamed with interest.
*Piercing the Void* was the most ruthless and elusive killing technique of the *Crimson Cloud Combat Arts*. Even battle formations were useless against it, and defensive treasures could be bypassed, allowing the attack to penetrate the body directly.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
Dongbo Xueying’s rod became a blur, striking the black insect nineteen times in an instant until it finally exploded.
The silver insect, however, was only struck twice—enough to keep it at bay but unable to escape.
“Such a peculiar creature,” Dongbo Xueying murmured, his eyes fixed on the flickering silver insect as it futilely attempted to attack.
With a wave of his hand, space itself flattened into a painting, trapping the silver insect within. Yet the canvas shattered moments later, and the insect emerged unscathed.
“Indestructible and uncapturable. Must I resort to illusion techniques?” Dongbo Xueying pondered. He knew the insect’s master could observe the battle through it. Using illusions would expose his abilities—just as he had against Changsu King, though the latter had been slain instantly, leaving no witnesses.
But since he had already revealed his hand once, he cared little now. With his mastery of the *Doppelganger Art*, secrecy was no longer paramount.
“For such a unique insect, exposing my illusion techniques is a small price,” Dongbo Xueying decided. With a thought, an intangible illusion swept over the silver insect.
No matter how extraordinary, the insect’s will was no match for his illusions. It froze mid-air, then began to plummet.
With a casual reach, Dongbo Xueying caught the now-mindless silver insect.
“Fascinating,” he murmured, examining it closely. Through his mastery of the Void, the insect’s flickering form expanded in his vision, revealing countless natural patterns etched into its body—patterns that harmonized with the fundamental particles of the Void’s black mist.
Though not quite reaching the pinnacle of ‘Voidform,’ this insect could dissipate roughly 98% of the force from even *Piercing the Void*, leaving its already formidable body to endure the remnants effortlessly.
“Such an extraordinary affinity with the Void’s essence,” Dongbo Xueying marveled. For years, he had struggled to comprehend the ‘True Form’ of the *Five-Phase Seal Art*. Now, encountering a creature that could manipulate the black mist particles, he couldn’t resist capturing it.
Cultivation was miraculous, but so was the source world. In the Chaos Void, beings like General Mogu of the Annihilation Demons were born with innate mastery over Voidform.
Here in the Heart Realm Continent, the art of breeding insect beasts could produce such terrifying creatures!
Yet achieving such power through cultivation alone was incomparably harder.
“Let’s return,” Dongbo Xueying said, rising. With the silver insect secured, he had no appetite left for the feast—only an eagerness to retreat and study the Void’s mysteries.
“As you command,” his demonic dragon attendant replied.
Though the battle seemed prolonged, in truth, Dongbo Xueying had remained seated throughout. First, an invisible force annihilated the three controlled guards. Then, with a few precise strikes of his rod, he dealt with the three venomous insects—two destroyed, one captured. The lingering venomous mist was effortlessly relocated millions of miles into the sky by his Void Domain, where it dissipated harmlessly without its source.
The onlookers outside the tavern watched in awe as the white-robed youth departed with his attendant, their reverence palpable.
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