Chapter 64

Such leisurely days came to an end a few days after they set out. In the secret realm, flight techniques were unusable; only lightness skills could be employed, so their pace was not fast. Yet the deeper they ventured, the more uneasy they felt.

After yet another incident of being spied upon without catching a trace of the culprit, Xia Ru’an grew restless. In places like this, the unknown enemy was the greatest taboo. The few of them were all at the Nascent Soul stage—considered among the top even within the Qingshan Secret Realm—yet they’d been watched for days without finding the perpetrator. It was a blow to both their pride and their peace of mind.

Wei Qingtong’s brow was furrowed as well. Unlike the others, he had his Dao companion with him, making him constantly vigilant. Though he was only at the middle Nascent Soul stage, his spiritual sense was boundless, nearly reaching the great perfection realm, making him especially sensitive to the omnipresent gaze. Yet he found nothing, and the frustration gnawed at him.

That night, Li Mengze lay inside the tent, unable to calm her mind in meditation or find sleep. An inexplicable anxiety filled her, as if something was about to happen.

She finally got up and stepped outside. Wei Qingtong, who happened to be on night watch, beckoned her over to sit by his side.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. This girl usually loved her sleep; even as a Golden Core cultivator, if she didn’t nap each day, she’d feel listless. Now was supposed to be her prime time for restful slumber.

She sat down and leaned against his shoulder. “I don’t know why, but I feel especially uneasy, like something’s about to happen.”

He swept the perimeter with his spiritual sense, finding nothing amiss. “Maybe everyone’s been tense lately and you haven’t rested well?”

Li Mengze shook her head. She had a carefree nature and, though the others had been on edge, she hadn’t picked up on their paranoia, so she was largely unaffected.

Suddenly, Wei Qingtong’s expression tightened, and the others emerged from their tents as well. Now Li Mengze sensed something was wrong. She noticed movement of air within their formation—a clear sign the array had been breached.

Examining the formation with her spiritual sense, she detected tiny black dots, no larger than fingernails, at several critical points, gnawing away at the wards.

She had seen these creatures before in the Hundred Insect Compendium: Spirit-Eating Bugs, sharp-toothed and voracious, feeding on anything imbued with spiritual energy. The flesh and blood of cultivators was their favorite delicacy. Worst of all, they lived in swarms. These few were likely scouts; soon, a horde would follow. Even Golden Core cultivators would be hard pressed to withstand such numbers.

Before entering the secret realm, the sect’s notifications had made no mention of Spirit-Eating Bugs. Whether they were deemed insignificant or had never appeared before was unclear—most likely the latter.

She quickly activated her defensive artifacts, slapped on several Diamond Talismans, and only then felt herself steady.

Xia Ru’an let out a cry. The distant rumbling grew louder, a droning buzz that made everyone’s skin crawl. Now, with the naked eye, they could see an endless, dense swarm of insects approaching. Leading the charge was a Spirit-Eating Bug as large as a fist, clearly their commander, followed by four slightly smaller guardians. The faces of the group darkened.

This was no trifling matter. Even a single bug could be fatal. Wei Qingtong shielded Li Mengze, saying, “Let’s split up and rendezvous at Blackwind Ridge in three days.” Once divided, their targets would be smaller, and even close brothers had their secrets; each possessed their own methods. Alone, they could exert their full abilities, at least ensuring their own safety.

After a nod, he took Li Mengze westward. In a glance back, she saw the others vanish in a flash, leaving only shadows. She couldn’t help but marvel: Nascent Soul cultivators were indeed swift—even in the restricted forest, their speed far outstripped hers as a Golden Core, explaining why people said a Nascent Soul cultivator could easily defeat ten Golden Core masters. It was no exaggeration.

When the Spirit-Eating Bugs lost sight of their targets, the swarm abruptly halted, buzzing more fiercely, as if deliberating. Then, the army divided swiftly into several groups. The leader took a small contingent after Wei Qingtong, while four others split off, each commanding a squad in different directions.

Though they didn’t witness this scene, the buzzing behind them soon diminished in volume but remained persistent, driving them to desperate flight.

The bug pursuing Wei Qingtong was nearing the eighth jade stage—a critical moment for its advancement. Had they not been such high-level cultivators, it wouldn’t have risked hunting them now. Spirit-Eating Bugs could use anything with spiritual energy as nourishment; despite their size, the energy within their bodies was a great tonic, making them prized by beast tamers. Many high-level monsters in the forest demanded periodic offerings from the bug clans, so these insects often kept a low profile. This time, the king was desperate enough to appear with the secret realm’s opening; ordinarily, they would only prey on low-level beasts at the periphery.

Wei Qingtong and Li Mengze were a bit slower, so the pursuers caught up quickly. The lead bug was pitch black, gleaming as if armored, its bean-sized eyes staring fixedly—a chilling sight.

Wei Qingtong raised his hand, sending a streak of violet-red flame, dotted with starlight, straight ahead. Li Mengze, born with a fire spirit constitution, had absorbed strange fire and undergone tempering by lightning tribulation, transforming her flame into one imbued with thunder. Though the attack vanquished many bugs, the remaining ones seemed only more enraged, pursuing them with greater determination.

Wei Qingtong glanced back; the gap was narrowing. In open terrain, they’d be fine, but among the thorns, the two were at a disadvantage. He stopped, pulling Li Mengze behind him. The Spirit-Eating Bug King was nearly at the eighth stage, likely capable of shapeshifting, but its recent breakthrough left its spiritual energy unstable. Though his wife’s strange fire could harm it, the disparity in level was clear.

A flash in his hand revealed a black-and-red flying sword. With a casual swipe, he struck forward—a movement that, to outsiders, seemed effortless and weak.

Yet when the sword appeared, spiritual energy in the air surged violently, suffused with murderous intent.

Sensing danger, the Bug King halted with its troops nearby, the two sides locked in a standoff.

It was stuck at a bottleneck in its advancement, which led it to hunt. Unexpectedly, it encountered a sword cultivator of the demon clan; Wei Qingtong’s flying sword marked him as such, for only demon cultivators wielded such ominous blades.

Were it in peak condition, even if Wei Qingtong escaped, he would pay a price. The problem was, it had underestimated its opponent. With a single strike, many of its brood were wiped out. Each member of the Spirit-Eating Bug family was precious; only by expanding their numbers could they survive the secret realm. Now, losing so many at once, its pain was palpable. Its once-black eyes now glowed red—clearly a fight to the death.

In Li Mengze’s hand appeared a fiery red flying sword. The moment it materialized, the air crackled—not due to corrosion, but because the sword, enveloped in fire spirit energy, burned the moisture in the air, producing the sound.

She moved nimbly, undeterred by the thorns below. Even amid the swarm of Spirit-Eating Bugs, she was unharmed, leaping lightly among them. This was the advantage of battling such bugs: though they consumed spiritual energy, cultivators could also absorb the spiritual energy released when they died, replenishing themselves. She didn’t personally absorb the energy, but her flying sword feasted well.

She felt herself growing stronger with each battle, but Wei Qingtong’s situation was less relaxed. Though he faced only one bug, its small size and cunning made it difficult to target; even locking onto it with spiritual sense left blind spots, increasing the challenge.

That was not the main issue. The real concern was the rarity of the Spirit-Eating Bug King—not only valuable for alchemy, but also for crafting. He hoped to capture it intact.

At some point, Li Mengze noticed the bugs around her dwindling, until suddenly they were all gone. She stared at the Bug King, now trapped in a black, transparent barrier, and understood: with their leader captured, the lesser bugs had retreated to choose a new chief.

Curious, she glanced at Wei Qingtong, wondering why he had sealed the creature.

Aside from a significant depletion of spiritual energy, Wei Qingtong was unscathed. The Bug King had troubled him, but its destruction was not an issue.

He cradled the sealed sphere and stored it in his ring, finally explaining: “This Spirit-Eating Bug not only consumes spiritual energy, but in its absence, will devour its own kind to grow. This one has reached the peak of the seventh stage, just shy of the eighth. When used in crafting defensive artifacts, it can make them sturdier and capable of automatically absorbing ambient spiritual energy—very rare. When we return, I can forge you a set of robes.” Having caught the bug, he already had plans for it.

Li Mengze wasn’t sure whether to accept or refuse clothes crafted from this bug. Would that mean her robe would always house a bug?

With the immediate threat resolved, the two finally surveyed their surroundings. Though their escape had not lasted long, the instant movement possible for Nascent Soul cultivators had put significant distance between their location and where they’d begun.