Chapter 581: God-Slaying Insects
There were also some ancient trees in the swamp, sparse and scattered, but they towered into the clouds, casting large patches of shade. The place was very damp and heavy with yin energy.
A lotus platform shimmered with strange colors, pure white like jade, translucent and radiant. The woman seated cross-legged upon it was dressed in spotless white, her black hair like clouds, chanting Buddhist sutras, transcendent and otherworldly.
Old Blind Man stood beside the lotus platform, vigorously waving this way. His raspy voice carried great penetrating power, and everyone here heard him, yet they all hesitated and did not move.
Duan De squinted at him, muttering, "What background does this old fellow have? He looks like an old scoundrel at first glance, not like a proper person at all."
"Can he be more of a scoundrel and less trustworthy than you? The Immortal Burial Map was sold by him," Ye Fan said quietly. In his view, Old Blind Man was still a bit more honest than Duan De.
Dongfang Ye was very surprised, saying, "He sold the Immortal Burial Map?"
"Friends, how about we travel together? More people mean more strength. We'll split the ancient scriptures evenly, and the saint weapons will go to whoever finds them by fate." Old Blind Man waved, beckoning the three of them.
In the end, Ye Fan, Dongfang Ye, and Duan De walked forward together to join the other two. But as soon as they got close, they were greatly shocked.
They had already seen strange insects lingering here, but they hadn't expected them to be so terrifying. Each insect was like it was clad in golden armor, all as long as a finger, and they could actually devour divine power.
Although the young woman had refined dozens of the insects, there were still thirty left, gnawing away a large patch of Buddhist light. The light barrier around Old Blind Man was also pitted and scarred from the bites.
"What kind of insects are these?" The Barbarian was greatly startled. Even though he lived year-round in the wild primeval forests, he had never seen anything like them.
"Could these be... that kind of divine insect from ancient legends?" Duan De was horrified, retreating several large steps.
"That's right, these are God-Slaying Insects. But their bloodline isn't pure, so they're not as terrifying as the legends say." Old Blind Man called out to the others, asking them to help refine them.
God-Slaying Insects, according to legend, could devour even gods. Almost nothing could stop them; they could bite through anything and eat anything.
"These are legendary world-shaking spiritual creatures, their value no less than an ancient scripture. If you cultivate them for a few thousand years, you might actually be able to birth a true God-Slaying Insect." Old Blind Man urged the others to make a move and catch a few to tame.
"Old bastard, you're really not being honest. Unless these insects are raised from eggs, they will definitely turn on you, and there's no good outcome," Duan De said through gritted teeth.
"Old crook!" Dongfang Ye, upon hearing this, wanted to punch him.
For the first time, Ye Fan felt that this old swindler was even worse than Duan De. He was also someone who deserved a beating, the kind of bastard that even a dog would bite and a goose would peck.
"What I mean is, hurry up and help us refine these divine insects, then we'll look for the insect nest together," Old Blind Man said, rolling his eyes and looking very innocent.
"Clang!"
The Barbarian slammed his wolf-fang club down, hitting a God-Slaying Insect. It didn't break at all, instead emitting a metallic ringing sound, showing just how hard it was.
These insects were all as big as a thumb, covered in tiny golden scales, shaped like a small flood dragon, except without horns.
"This kind of thing can't be broken; it can only be refined with magical power. Otherwise, why would it be called a God-Slaying Insect?" the old swindler reminded them.
The divine insects had thin ancestral bloodlines, nearly severed. They were currently in a primitive state, unenlightened and without much intelligence, yet they still possessed this kind of power, enough to show how terrifying they were.
"If a few ancestral insects were born..." Duan De's eyes lit up, and he kept rubbing his hands together, looking very excited.
If he could cultivate a few true God-Slaying Insects, he could walk sideways between heaven and earth. Unfortunately, he could only dream about it; no one had ever succeeded.
According to legend, in ancient times, only one sage had successfully raised a few half-divine insects. Together with them, he had killed and dismembered an awakened ancient king until he died.
"I don't believe they're this hard!" The Barbarian's stubborn streak flared up. He threw aside his wolf-fang club, reached out with one hand, pinched a golden insect between his fingers, and squeezed hard.
"Wild boy, don't mess around!" The old swindler was startled and quickly shouted for him to let it go.
"A Great Power's flesh can be bitten through. Don't do anything reckless," Duan De also said in alarm.
"Creak, creak, creak..." The Barbarian squeezed hard, and the golden divine insect made a grating sound between his fingers.
"Pfft!"
In the end, he actually crushed a God-Slaying Insect with his bare hands. Golden light scattered, and blood splattered, startling Old Blind Man so much that his eyes rolled back.
"You freak!" Duan De muttered.
The old swindler said, "Hurry up and help us refine them. We don't have time to waste here. Even if we can't find the ancient scripture, as long as we can find the God-Slaying Insect nest, it'll still be a great harvest."
Duan De made his move, starting to help them refine the insects. Dongfang Ye simply grabbed them with his hands, finding it very difficult but slowly making progress.
Ye Fan also pinched one and, inside his sleeve, "pfft" crushed it. But in the end, the others still saw it, and everyone stared at him as if they'd seen a ghost.
"Uh, I was just trying it out."
"When are we going to spar?" The Barbarian's eyes lit up, burning with intensity. With his unmatched physical body, he had never found an opponent.
"I only know how to shoot arrows. If you be the target, I'll shoot, no problem at all," Ye Fan said with a smile.
Dongfang Ye: "..."
In the end, dozens of God-Slaying Insects were all eliminated. They searched carefully through this swamp, but found no trace of the insect nest at all.
"It's probably in the Immortal Burial Ground. I have a feeling, and it's not good. Could a pure-blooded ancestral insect really have been born? If so, even a sage's bones would be gnawed to pieces!" Duan De muttered.
"I can see that you're full of yin energy, meaning you frequent tombs. Is that the case?" the old swindler asked, rolling his eyes.
"Old bastard, you talk too much!" Duan De showed no respect for his elders at all.
"Buddha be merciful. Thank you, benefactors, for your help." On the translucent, radiant lotus platform, the white-robed woman spoke with a light smile.
She had an aura of transcending the Three Realms. Even a Buddha holding a flower and smiling would be no more than this. She seemed not to belong to this mortal world, ethereal yet vivid.
On her brow was a golden lotus flower, shining brightly against her skin, which was like mutton-fat jade. Her figure was slender and graceful, her black hair like clouds, possessing a kind of fresh and moving beauty.
"Are you 'Jue Youqing' from the Western Desert?" Dongfang Ye asked.
Jue Youqing—this was a very strange name, but in the Western Desert Buddhist sect, it carried great significance. Since ancient times, few had dared to take such a name.
It was another meaning of Bodhisattva, encompassing both self-enlightenment and enlightening others. It referred to one who was awakened and took it upon themselves to awaken others, being both sentient and enlightened.
It had long been rumored that Jue Youqing would one day attain enlightenment and become a Bodhisattva. She was one of the few people in the Western Desert since ancient times who was close to Buddhahood and would achieve the Great Dao.
Jue Youqing put away her lotus platform and stood in the swamp. Her white robes fluttered, and her body was as pure as seven-colored glazed glass, emitting Buddhist light, dreamlike and illusory.
She did not say much, maintaining a kind of Buddha-nature, peaceful and tranquil. She nodded and smiled at the others, saying nothing more.
"Ah..."
Distant screams rang out. That fish-dragon crocodile, two hundred zhang long, moved mysteriously through the swamp, cutting down dozens of experts. It was even more terrifying than a peak Saint Lord.
"Croak!"
Over a dozen li away, that hundred-zhang-tall toad shook the mountains and rivers with its roar, swallowing over a hundred experts. It was even more bloody, shaking the entire swamp.
"This won't do. Two fierce spirits are guarding this place; there's no way around them," Ye Fan frowned.
"It's fine. We just wait here. When the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up." The old swindler was completely at ease, saying that this place could avoid the two ancient ferocious beasts and was very safe.
"Boom!"
Mud splashed, surging into the high heavens. A Sovereign Lord and a peak Great Power made their move against the fish-dragon crocodile. A great cauldron descended from the sky, pressing down to suppress it.
"Roar..."
The fish-dragon crocodile roared, shaking the clouds in the sky apart. Its two-hundred-zhang-long body slammed violently, sending the great cauldron flying, crashing into a distant mountain range.
"Boom!"
Dust shot into the sky, and rocks pierced the air. Seven or eight peaks in that mountain range were smashed, and the great cauldron fell to the ground.
"Good beast!"
A great seal descended from the sky, pressing down. It transformed into a green jade mountain, covered with lush vegetation, silver waterfalls cascading down, birds and beasts roaming—extremely vivid and grand.
"Thud!"
The green jade seal, transformed into a great mountain, pressed down onto the fish-dragon crocodile. The entire swamp sank, but then a fierce, murderous aura suddenly shot up to the heavens.
"Bam!"
The fish-dragon crocodile rammed the seal hard, sending it flying as well, smashing a mountain ridge in the distance, turning it into a barren wasteland.
"This ancient ferocious fish-dragon crocodile is too terrifying!"
Ye Fan and the others were shocked. A Sovereign Lord and a Great Power joined forces but couldn't suppress it. Soon, another Saint Lord flew over, sacrificing a dragon-scalp shears to help suppress it.
"Clang!" "Zheng!"...
Sparks flew in all directions, and mud surged into the sky. Three peak-level figures fought the fish-dragon crocodile, battling until the sky went dark and the earth turned upside down, a fierce and brutal struggle.
On the other side, three supreme Sect Leader-rank figures were working together to suppress the toad. It was also terrifying, carrying nine golden lines on its back, shooting out nine divine arrows that nearly pierced through one of the sect leaders.
"This Immortal Burial Ground is truly terrifying. Saint Lord-rank ancient beast kings guard all four sides. Just this swamp alone has two ancient ferocious beasts. Who knows what we'll see once we go inside!"
"Now's our chance. Let's go!" The old swindler called out to the others, the first to rush toward the heaven-piercing land.
Here, except for peak Great Powers, no one else could fly; they could only travel on foot.
This time, they encountered no strange beasts and arrived safely at the heaven-piercing land. Stretches of immortal cliffs, vast and boundless, steamed with purple qi.
There were few plants here, but it wasn't lacking in vitality. The vegetation that grew was either orchids, dragon grass, or strange trees—not a single ordinary plant.
On the cliff faces, ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs bloomed, emitting faint fragrances. In front of ancient caves, divine vines coiled around, their flowers crystal clear, covered in strange fruits.
Many cultivators had already rushed in, searching everywhere for the Great Emperor's ancient scripture. In this land filled with purple qi, there was a mysterious Dao resonance, but it was shattered by the crowd.
"Ah..."
Conflicts broke out among the human cultivators. Someone had discovered a cave dwelling, and a crowd swarmed in, fighting fiercely. In an instant, over a dozen people had died.
"See? Who knows how many will die today. It's just a sword technique. If a Great Emperor's ancient scripture were to appear, even peerless Sovereign Lords would be fighting to the death," Old Blind Man said.
"Have you found anything?" Ye Fan nudged Duan De. This guy, a lifelong tomb raider, would definitely have a unique insight into this place.
Fatty Duan was very calm, hands clasped behind his back, pacing back and forth among the immortal cliffs, measuring, carefully calculating and deducing.
After a long time, he sighed and said, "This place is too big. The cliffs are endless, and the spiritual energy is too abundant. If I were to deduce everything one by one, it would take at least half a year."
"Let me take a look at the overall terrain," Ye Fan said to himself. Using his Source Heaven Divine Art, he observed the entire Immortal Burial Ground from an overall perspective. His divine eyes shot out lightning, scanning in all directions.
In just a moment, his heart was shaken. This place was mysterious and profound, as if an immortal was lying on his side, sleeping here—strange and uncanny.
Ye Fan carved on the ground, marking the places where the heaven-earth momentum and spiritual energy were strongest, while also pointing out a few certain-death dragon caves.
"Impressive. You can see such heaven-earth momentum. If we cooperate, there's no ancient tomb we can't enter. Even a Great Emperor's place of passing could be ventured into." Duan De's eyes gleamed with divine light.
However, there were still too many places to choose from. They couldn't decide easily.
"Let me try a divination." Old Blind Man grabbed several dozen ancient tortoise shells, muttered an incantation, and then threw them on the ground.
"What? A Nine-Absolute Land, certain death!" After seeing the divination result on the ground, Old Blind Man's body trembled.
"What does that mean?" the Barbarian asked.
"The divination shows that this place cuts off heaven, cuts off earth, cuts off humans, cuts off ghosts, cuts off immortals... In other words, anything that comes in will be utterly destroyed," Old Blind Man said, his voice unnatural.
"Isn't this the place where an ancient Great Emperor passed away? How did it become a Nine-Absolute Land?" Duan De was suspicious and confused.
Ye Fan stood up and used his Source Heaven Divine Art to look again. The more he looked, the more shocked he became. This stretch of immortal cliffs indeed looked like an immortal lying on his side, stretched out here.
But upon closer inspection, his heart was filled with terror. This immortal wasn't sleeping; it seemed to have been chained here and buried.
"This is truly a fitting name—Immortal Burial Ground..." he muttered, drawing this diagram on the ground. The others were also astonished.
Old Blind Man put away the dozens of tortoise shells, shook them constantly, and cast a second divination. With a clatter, they scattered all over the ground, this time landing right on top of the Immortal Burial diagram Ye Fan had drawn.
"There are immortal treasures here, most likely an ancient Great Emperor's saint weapon, or even his remains. But it's a Nine-Absolute Land," Old Blind Man said, deducing the divination result once more.
"Is your calculation accurate?" Dongfang Ye seriously doubted this old crook, feeling he wasn't a good person.
Old Blind Man said, "No mistake. It's definitely a burial immortal absolute land. But there is also a thread of life. If we find the Great Emperor's saint weapon or ancient scripture, the path to life will most likely manifest."
"Ah..." Screams came from afar from time to time.
The vast cliffs, one after another, steamed with purple qi, clouds and mists swirling. Who knew how many cultivators had entered? They fought over ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs, and died fighting over cave dwellings inscribed with text.
It had only just begun, and already sixty or seventy people had lost their lives, staining the cliff walls with blood.
"Let's go. The divination shows that the only thread of life is in this direction. Let's advance toward the immortal treasure!" Old Blind Man said, pointing in a direction.
Although their hearts were tense, none of them retreated. They chose to advance. As soon as they passed a few stone cliffs, they saw many bloodstains and corpses.
In this direction, many people were moving about, including some peak-level figures. However, they hadn't started a massacre.
"Damn it!" At that moment, the hairs on Duan De's entire body stood on end. He stared at the corner of the cliff ahead and said, "Did you see anything just now?"
"It seemed like a person flashed by and disappeared," Dongfang Ye also stared at that spot.
"That's not a person. I never thought such a thing really existed in this world. In my twenty-plus years of entering various ancient tombs, I've never encountered one. I didn't expect to run into one here today." Duan De's face turned pale.