txolops Chapter 348 The Power of the Golden Mirror
Chapter 348 The Power of the Golden Mirror
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Luo Ming's powerful divine sense, like invisible tentacles, quietly spread towards the direction from which the intense battle was emanating. Soon, a scene was clearly reflected in his "mind".
In the distance, low in the sky, blood mist churned, and at its core, a tall, stern-faced man with a striking hooked nose was surrounded by a vast, dark red "cloud of insects"—the swarm of bloodthirsty mosquitoes that had flown out earlier.
The tall, thin man was not emanating the spiritual energy of a human cultivator, but rather a strong, fierce, and tyrannical demonic aura!
On its face and neck, faint crimson feather-like patterns could be seen. Without a doubt, this was a great demon in the transformation stage, or some kind of powerful bird-like demon beast in human form.
At this moment, the demon cultivator in human form was enveloped in a layer of solidified, blazing crimson flames. The flames were extremely hot, radiating terrifying heat waves that scorched the surrounding blood-red mosquitoes, causing them to hiss and fall to the ground.
However, the tall, thin demon cultivator showed no sign of relief. He keenly sensed that although these strange, bloodthirsty mosquitoes were easily incinerated by his natal demonic fire, they were still alive.
But they were able to forcibly absorb and devour an extremely tiny trace of the essence within the flames! Although each one absorbed almost negligible amounts, the sheer number of them was simply too great!
If this continues endlessly, he'll probably lose nearly half the power of his painstakingly cultivated pure demonic fire before he even finds the core of this secret realm! This is an unacceptable loss for him.
"Hmph!" The tall, thin demon cultivator snorted heavily, his voice filled with suppressed anger and a hint of frustration. "This damned place has a fragile spatial structure, making it difficult to unleash my full power. What a nuisance!"
He had clearly sensed the instability of the space here and dared not unleash his full power, lest he trigger a spatial backlash.
Seeing that the swarm of insects was relentless and constantly depleting his own demonic fire, the tall, thin demon cultivator no longer hesitated.
Suddenly, the crimson fiery cloud around him contracted inward, becoming even more solid. Then, he transformed into a dazzling crimson streak of light, ignoring the bloodthirsty mosquitoes swarming around him, and increased his speed to the maximum allowed by the current environment.
Like a red-hot iron slicing through butter, it forcefully tore a path through the boundless sea of insects, heading into the distance without looking back! It actually intended to directly cross this territory of bloodthirsty mosquitoes and penetrate deep into the lake area!
"As expected of a great demon in the Transformation stage, he is indeed confident and decisive in his actions." Luo Ming, who was hiding in the distance, "saw" all of this and made a silent evaluation in his heart.
While their decision to force their way in was certainly reckless, it also suggests that there might indeed be something worth the risk for a demon cultivator in human form deep within this lake.
"With this powerful 'senior' scouting ahead and drawing fire, it will help me figure out more of the dangers and weaknesses in the lake." Luo Ming's eyes flashed, and he instantly made a plan.
Luo Ming waited until the tall, thin demon cultivator had completely disappeared into the thick blood mist on the lake, and about half an incense stick's time had passed before he quietly emerged from his hiding place.
He seemed to transform into a faint, almost invisible shadow, skimming along the lake's surface and silently creeping into its depths.
However, after flying only a few hundred feet into the lake, Luo Ming's brows furrowed tightly.
"The crimson mist here is indeed strange; it not only blocks divine sense, but also seems unusually sensitive to fluctuations in spiritual energy..."
He sensed that his concealment light, which was almost integrated with the environment, was still leaving extremely subtle traces of spiritual energy, like an ink droplet in water, even under the dense blood mist.
What's more troublesome is that he can vaguely sense that deep within the blood mist, there are countless faint but greedy "gazes" that are secretly locking onto his escape light, this uninvited guest, through the mist.
"Even though my escape light has been suppressed and concealed to this extent, it still cannot completely avoid the senses of these bloodthirsty mosquitoes... It seems that these ghostly things have some kind of innate special ability to detect the blood and spiritual energy fluctuations of living beings."
Luo Ming had a bad feeling. He had originally planned to rely on the wonders of the Wind Shadow Escape to sneak into the center of the lake unnoticed, but now it seemed that his plan was going to fail.
Without demonstrating real skill to eliminate these annoying "eyes" and potential threats, it won't be easy to penetrate smoothly.
"Buzzing—!"
From within the distant blood mist, a familiar, chilling, and dense swarm of wings suddenly resounded! The sound grew louder and louder as it approached, as if countless unseen swarms of insects were closing in from all directions!
Since keeping a low profile isn't working, let's forge our own path!
He suddenly flicked his right sleeve!
"Buzz—!"
Large, dazzling golden "clouds," like a flood bursting its banks, surged forth from his sleeves! In the blink of an eye, a massive golden "insect ball," over ten feet in diameter and constantly churning, formed around Luo Ming's body, completely enveloping him at its core!
It was a swarm of tens of thousands of gold-eating insects with gold and silver spots on their backs, ferocious mouthparts, and shiny carapaces!
The moment the Gold-Eating Insects appeared, sensing the bloodthirsty mosquito aura and the intense bloody scent permeating the air, they instantly boiled over as if a spark had been thrown into boiling oil! A terrifying, ferocious red light erupted from the compound eyes of each Gold-Eating Insect, emitting a sharp, piercing screech.
Without Luo Ming's prompting, they were like ferocious beasts released from their cages after countless years of hunger, frantically attacking the low-level bloodthirsty mosquito swarm that emerged from the blood mist and surged forward like a crimson wave!
"Snap! Sizzle!"
The Gold-Eating Insect and the Bloodthirsty Mosquito collided instantly! There was no dazzling magical exchange, only the most primal and cruel biting and devouring! The Gold-Eating Insect's mouthparts were incredibly sharp, and its carapace was harder than iron.
Although the low-level bloodthirsty mosquitoes were numerous and had sharp mouthparts, they were like eggs hitting a rock when faced with the Gold-Eating Insects, which had amazing defenses.
Their mouthparts pierce the carapace of the gold-eating beetle, often leaving only a white spot or producing a tooth-grinding friction sound, making it difficult to penetrate its defenses.
The Gold-Eating Insects' counterattack is simple and brutal; with a single bite, they can crush and devour the bloodthirsty mosquitoes that have no carapace defense! In particular, the abundant blood energy contained in the bloodthirsty mosquitoes is like a great tonic for the Gold-Eating Insects, making them even more frenzied.
In an instant, a golden vortex of slaughter formed around Luo Ming.
Countless bloodthirsty mosquitoes rushed in like moths to a flame, only to be harvested in droves like waves of wheat. Limbs and broken wings, mixed with the drained corpses of the insects, fell like rain of blood into the dark red lake below.
"They're here!" Luo Ming said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Just as the low-level bloodthirsty mosquitoes on the periphery were being slaughtered by the gold-devouring insects, suffering heavy casualties, several cold and swift silver phantoms in the depths of the blood mist could no longer hold back and, like venomous snakes that had been lurking for a long time, suddenly launched an attack!
Their target wasn't the gold-devouring insects on the periphery, but Luo Ming at the center of the insect sphere! Clearly, these silver bloodthirsty mosquitoes, possessing higher intelligence, realized who the real core threat was.
However, these were exactly what Luo Ming had been waiting for; he had already prepared a grand gift!
Just as the silver, bloodthirsty mosquito appeared and locked onto its aura, the Eight Gates Golden Light Mirror hovering in front of Luo Ming suddenly shone brightly!
"Buzz!"
A condensed and dazzling golden beam of light arrived faster than the silver bloodthirsty mosquito, instantly traversing a distance of a hundred feet and precisely covering the silver bloodthirsty mosquito that had just emerged from the blood mist!
"hiss--!"
The silver bloodthirsty mosquito let out a sharp, angry screech. It felt the space around it freeze instantly, and a terrifying, binding force, heavy as a mountain and blazing as molten gold, held it firmly in mid-air!
Its prized, ghostly speed was completely rendered useless by the golden light! The silver carapace on its body sizzled and burned upon contact with the golden light, emitting wisps of blue smoke.
Before it could struggle, and before other silvery, bloodthirsty mosquitoes could come to its rescue—
"Clang!"
A sword light, only a foot long, condensed to the point of being substantial, and flowing with crimson-gold light, left a pale golden afterimage in the air. In the next instant, it had already swept across the slender neck of the imprisoned silver bloodthirsty mosquito!
"puff!"
A faint, almost inaudible cutting sound rang out. The silver, bloodthirsty mosquito's hideous head was instantly separated from its body! The cut was as smooth as a mirror. In its scarlet compound eyes, an incredulous terror still lingered.
The headless insect corpse was swept up by the golden light and thrown down into the swarm of gold-devouring insects. It was instantly overwhelmed and devoured by the swarming golden beetles. The sharp silver mandible was also snatched up by the gold-devouring insects and began to gnaw on it with a crunching sound.
"Haha! These eight golden light mirrors can imprison and trap enemies from a distance, while the Xuan Yuan Sword can strike with lightning speed when the opportunity arises. The combination is indeed smooth and the effect is surprisingly good!"
Seeing this, Luo Ming smiled with satisfaction. This tactic was simple and efficient, making full use of the characteristics of the two magical treasures.
It wasn't that the silver, bloodthirsty mosquito wasn't strong enough. Its speed was ghostly, and its proboscis was as sharp as a top-tier flying needle magic weapon. If an ordinary Core Formation cultivator encountered it, they would have a great headache even in a one-on-one fight, let alone deal with its sneak attacks amidst a swarm of insects.
Unfortunately, it encountered Luo Ming, a "freak" with powerful spiritual sense and sharp magical artifacts.
Faced with the binding divine light of the Eight Gates Golden Mirror, its speed advantage vanished; and under the sharpness of the Xuan Yuan Sword, its defense proved weak. It was instantly killed before it could even unleash its true power.
The remaining silver bloodthirsty mosquitoes, which had attacked from different directions, finally showed a human-like look of fear in their cold compound eyes when they saw their companions being killed so easily.
"Trying to leave? Too late!" Luo Ming's eyes turned cold; he wasn't about to let these potential threats get away.
In just ten breaths, these few silver bloodthirsty mosquitoes, which were quite powerful, followed in the footsteps of the first one and were all killed on the spot, their remains becoming nourishment for the gold-devouring insect swarm.
"These silver mouthparts are made of a special material and are incredibly sharp. If they fall into the hands of a cultivator skilled in weapon crafting, they might be able to be forged into some decent flying needle-type magic weapons," Luo Ming said happily.