Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 205 - 198: Insect People Part 2

Chapter 205: Chapter 198: Insect People Part 2

No one noticed that the corpses of the bugs that were killed were rapidly absorbed by the surface of the trunk. The corpses of the cultivators possessed by the bugs also quickly shriveled.

Everyone thought it was because of the bugs and paid no attention, but only Lin Xin understood that it was Yin Mantuo inside the trunk, stretching out sucker-like tendrils to suck dry the bugs and corpses.

As for the corpses, that could be overlooked, but the essence of those bugs was shockingly substantial.

"...fruit...fruit..." Yin Mantuo continuously sent urgent signals, seemingly even more eager to obtain the two giant fruits hanging not far away.

"Go...if you can make it." Lin Xin transmitted his thought.

As the thought was transmitted, the bark under Lin Xin’s feet suddenly bulged slightly, moving rapidly towards the hanging giant fruits.

Lin Xin squinted slightly, his gaze flicking towards several Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Noticing that no one saw him, he suppressed a trace of worry in his heart.

"Be careful!"

Suddenly, Hua Yunu’s voice came from a distance.

Lin Xin looked in that direction, only to see a Foundation Establishment Cultivator being choked single-handedly by a bug-man, his face reddening as he struggled continuously, about to lose his life.

"I’ll do it!" Dugu Lin said in haste, discarding his broken sword, and his fingertips shot out a segment of bright Sword Qi, transforming into the shape of a longsword.

"Let me!" Hua Yunu was even quicker. His gaze turned cold, and golden glimmers suddenly condensed around him, transforming into a fierce golden dragon head with stag antlers, roaring violently at the bug-man.

An immense invisible force instantly spanned the distance and struck the bug-man directly.

Bang!!

The huge impact sound made everyone’s eardrums ring.

The bug-man was hit so hard that the bugs on his chest burst open, and he flew backward.

Roar!

It roared furiously, its body suddenly exploding into numerous flying saucer-like rapidly spinning bug meat discs, dozens of them covering the sky and heading towards several Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Each meat disc had a gaping maw at its center with densely packed fierce teeth.

"Watch me!" A Foundation Establishment stage Cultivator attempted to show off in front of people like Hua Yunu, tossing out a bit of white light that shot up into the sky, releasing strands of silver brilliance, radiating outward, surprisingly forming a circular handkerchief studded with numerous tiny gems resembling pearls.

"My Hundred Treasures Kerchief, after thirty-six years of sacrificial refinement, costing me much effort, can only be refined once a month. I want to see just how tough this creature is, whether it can withstand it or not." The Foundation Establishment Cultivator said proudly.

"Let’s see Daoist Sun’s skill," Hua Yunu said with a smile.

At this moment, the meat discs transformed by the bug-man were already surrounded by the brilliance emitted from the handkerchief, unable to break through the silver light regardless of how they dashed left or right.

All meat discs quickly merged together, re-forming into a complete bug-man, who roared anxiously, his body bursting with a large amount of yellow fluid as if being constantly attacked by some sharp weapon.

As soon as the fluid flowed out, it was quickly evaporated by the brilliance, and the cultivators outside saw that the bug-man was trapped. They slowly began to feel relieved. The number of bugs on the ground ceased emerging and dwindled, and some frenzied possessed cultivators were knocked unconscious and handed over to specialists for treatment.

Hua Yunu floated in mid-air at the forefront, dissipating the golden dragon head in front of him. He looked down at the large bug-man continuously ramming below.

He mused, "This mission is to encircle and suppress the bug-master, and now that we have startled the snake by hitting the grass, we must quickly enter the bug-master’s nest, otherwise it would be troublesome if it escapes."

He looked down at a group of cultivators below.

"Only these lower cultivators are holding us back, really slowing down our pace. Could it be he is certain that the bug-master won’t easily escape?"

He felt something strange in his heart. On this trip, he wasn’t just tasked with surrounding and suppressing the bug-master; he was also observing which seeds within the Sect had not yet been unearthed.

Thinking this, he focused his mind, carefully observing the Sect members who performed exceptionally around him.

He silently noted down a list in his heart.

"Don’t waste any more time, lest the bug-master escapes," Dugu Lin said impatiently. "If this bug-man were let loose, ordinary Foundation Establishment stages wouldn’t necessarily be its match. If it weren’t for us, this might really have been troublesome."

"Such a demonic beast must contain a lot of evil Qi. Now the question is, how to split it up after it’s killed?" Su Wan said lightly with a smile on the side.

"Split? You didn’t make a move, and still want a share?" Dugu Lin did not know why he always found Su Wan disagreeable.

Su Wan was not angry, merely smiling and floating in mid-air, not speaking further.

"Why should the two fairies argue? Inside that giant fruit must be the bug-master’s nest. Once we enter, are we still worried about not finding spoils of war?" A Foundation Establishment Cultivator said with a laugh.

These methodically rising Foundation Establishment Cultivators were completely different from talent-filled, astonishingly powerful cultivators like Su Wan and Dugu Lin. The foundation of their path determined how much farther they could go in their future achievements.

They had reached their end, but Dugu Lin and Su Wan’s journey was still long. Therefore, his tone carried a faint sense of resigned contentment.

"That’s well said. Since we’ve suffered losses, there must be something valuable in the nest to compensate," Dugu Lin said unapologetically.

She remembered her broken sword blade and a look of displeasure appeared on her face.

"Let’s resolve this quickly then," Hua Yunu said, not wasting words. He raised his hand, and a golden small sword appeared in it, engraved with intricate designs of flowers, birds, insects, and fish, with a strange figure at the center with only one eye, howling skyward.

"Is this the famed ’Wandering Fish Sword’ that Brother Hua has been refining for many years?" Dugu Lin also noticed the magic artifact Hua Yunu had summoned.

"It is rumored that this sword is particularly effective against breaking demonic evil; I wonder if that is true?"

Hua Yunu couldn’t help but chuckle.

"There are many artifacts claiming to break demonic evil, even first and second grade magic artifacts dare to claim they have anti-evil properties. My sword, of course, is not so simple. Just watch."

With that, he gently shook it.

The small sword immediately emitted a golden light, transforming into a blurred golden carp, which swam around Hua Yunu in midair before diving towards the insect-like creature below.

No sooner had the golden carp flown a short distance than it began to rapidly swell and enlarge. In just a few breaths, it grew from the size of a palm to a massive beast, as large as a small house. Its huge golden mouth fiercely opened, sucking in the insect-like creature.

Hiss...

Numerous currents of air violently entered the mouth of the fish. The insect-like creature, controlled by a sliver of light from a handkerchief, tumbled along with the light into the giant carp’s mouth and was swallowed.

The golden carp flicked its tail, quickly shrank back to its original size, and flew back to Hua Yunu, transforming into golden light and returning to the small golden sword. The Hundred Treasures Kerchief was also retrieved by another person.

"Brother Hua’s divine skills are impressive!" Su Wan applauded. But recalling the golden carp from just moments before, a hint of wariness flashed in her eyes.

"Not as formidable as Sister Su’s Heart-Swapping Godly Palm," Hua Yunu modestly replied.

The group handled the insect-like creature with ease, especially after confirming there was no other threat nearby, the three experts all relaxed.

Such insect-like creatures had the strength of the Foundation Establishment Stage, and usually, insect-masters would not casually sacrifice them. The only explanation for sending them now was that their rear forces were depleted.

"Let’s go in," Hua Yunu gestured, and immediately, a large number of golden specks scattered, drifting around, while an immense tide-like surge of spiritual energy burst forth from him, killing and vaporizing all the insects among them in an instant.

In front of Lin Xin, dozens of insects, which had been struggling a moment ago, were touched by the falling golden specks and started to burn. The golden flames flashed by, and the insects were instantly vaporized and disappeared.

A chill also ran through his heart, as he clearly felt a threat from the golden flames.

"Truly a top-tier expert capable of contending against Golden Core cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage!"

He looked at Hua Yunu again, becoming even more cautious about concealing his own spiritual energy. If it was discovered that his spiritual energy was the same blood-red color as that of the Demonic Path Cultivators, there would be no way to clear his name if questioned.

After dealing with the insect-like creatures and tending to the wounded, the group divided some people to take care of the injured and others to protect Lin Xin and other Formation Talisman experts as they headed towards the giant fruit.

Blending in with the crowd, Lin Xin saw Hua Yunu and the others try to attack the giant fruit and look for an entrance first, finding it ineffective, they then turned to face himself and the others.

"We’ll need to rely on everyone here," Hua Yunu said amiably.

"Brother Hua is too polite." All the Formation Talisman experts quickly responded with a salute.

Lin Xin approached the giant fruit, carefully observed the faint symbols and signs on it, and heard Hua Yunu begin to instruct the others to set up camp nearby, planning to stay here for the long haul. Orders were distributed, and Hua Yunu’s arrangements were orderly and well-thought-out, considering every aspect thoroughly and analyzing the possibility of the insect-masters hiding and escaping quite accurately.

But Lin Xin’s heart already understood—if there was only one insect-master here, then the one Dongyue encountered, who had already been gravely injured, couldn’t possibly come back here. Dongyue must have already told her about this place.

The previous attack by the insect-like creatures must have been a prepared move for later.

Thinking this, his heart temporarily quieted as he carefully examined the formation on the giant fruit. It was a three-dimensional Second Grade nested formation, with no other defensive function. Its only effect was to draw the entire power of the Blackwind Tree together to form an incredibly hard defensive layer on the surface of the giant fruit.

The function of the formation was merely to draw the power from the tree.

Lin Xin carefully observed this. The power of the giant tree was unclear to him; its nature was somewhat cold and yet contained a hint of vitality, seemingly sentient and capable of moving on its own.

"If I try to lure it with Wood Attribute Spiritual Power..." He tried to use a trace of Wood Attribute Spiritual Power to melt and stir the power of the giant tree, but it only slightly moved and then showed no reaction.

"Then I’ll try with Water Spiritual Power..." He changed to another kind of spiritual power, gently touching the power of the giant tree.

Yet no sooner had he made contact than he felt his Water Spiritual Power instantly absorbed by it.

"Truly overbearing."

He took a slight sharp intake of breath. However, on second thought, this power was not from the formation but from the entire Blackwind Tree itself. What he had just touched was the vast power of the entire tree, naturally unparalleled.

He continued to experiment with touching the tree’s power with other types of spiritual power and freely combining different spiritual powers to stir and pull at the power of the giant tree. He also observed the overall structure of the formation as the flow of power within the formation changed. (To be continued. If you liked this work, I invite you to cast recommendation votes and monthly votes at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)