A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

Chapter 399 The Gold-Eating Insect Appears

"Hiss hiss hiss—!"

The pale ghost fire collided with the pitch-black ghost claws and crimson fire clouds in mid-air. There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a tooth-grinding sound of corrosion and annihilation!

The Soul Shatterer's "Netherworld Ghost Claw" was like encountering its nemesis, quickly being eroded and melted by the pale flames. The Yin Soul power contained within was ignited, causing a backlash of excruciating pain!

The "True Fire of Blazing Sun" fire cloud of Master Lieyang was also quickly neutralized and suppressed by the extreme cold and death intent contained in the pale ghost fire, and its light dimmed rapidly!

The two were determined to win their combined attack, but it was easily blocked by the Ghost King's "Netherworld Ghost Fire," which neutralized most of its power!

At this moment, the Ghost King had completely stepped out of the ghost realm. It let out an excited roar, and its huge body, carrying rolling pale ghost fire and overwhelming yin energy, took the initiative to pounce on the Soul Shattering True Man and Blazing Sun Venerable who were in the air with surprise and uncertainty!

The enormous demonic claw tore through the air, carrying a chill that could freeze the soul and a pale flame that could burn everything, before slamming down!

Luo Ming stood quietly beneath the hundred-foot-long black banner, his body shrouded in dense yin energy, his face still blurred.

"Gentlemen, do you find my 'Ten Thousand Souls Banner' and this 'Netherworld Ghost King' acceptable?" Luo Ming's hoarse yet calm voice, piercing through the swirling yin energy and ghostly howls, clearly reached the ears of Suihun and Lieyang, carrying a hint of mockery.

The Nascent Soul stage ghost king, which Luo Ming was able to suppress with his powerful divine sense and was empowered by the massive amount of pure Yin energy stored in the Myriad Soul Banner, was now exuding a terrifying aura, almost reaching the peak level of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator!

In addition, its innate divine power "Netherworld Ghost Fire" has a strange characteristic that is specifically effective against souls and filthy magical treasures, so the actual combat power that this ghost king is showing at this moment is no weaker than that of an ordinary mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator!

Faced with the Ghost King's powerful claw attack, burning with pale flames, neither Shattered Soul True Man nor Blazing Sun Venerable had any intention of taking it head-on. Although they were confident in their profound cultivation, they were in poor condition at the moment and were extremely wary of this "Netherworld Ghost Fire".

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The two of them flashed with spiritual light almost simultaneously, unleashing their exquisite movement and escape techniques.

With a twist of his body, the Soul Shatterer transformed into a faint, almost imperceptible ghostly shadow, narrowly slid away from the edge of the Ghost King's giant claw. Meanwhile, the Blazing Sun Immortal's feet burst into flames as he rapidly shifted sideways, leaving a crimson afterimage in his wake, his true form already appearing dozens of feet away.

Having successfully dodged the Ghost King's fierce attack, the two felt slightly relieved, but their expressions became even more grave. The Ghost King was far more troublesome than they had expected.

Master Lieyang glanced at Luo Ming, who was still standing under the hundred-foot-tall black banner, his face blurred, and who had not yet made a move. His mind raced, and he immediately transmitted his thoughts to True Person Shattered Soul not far away:

"Fellow Daoist Shattered Soul, this person's magic weapon is strange, and the Ghost King is difficult to deal with. Fighting him head-on is not the best strategy. I can sense that the four banner bearers of my sect are rushing here. They will arrive in no more than a quarter of an hour!"

"All we need to do is keep this man occupied and prevent him from escaping easily! Once reinforcements arrive, the combined strength of the six of us, along with the 'Ten Thousand Demon Soul-Devouring Array,' will be enough to ensure he doesn't escape this calamity, no matter how powerful he is!"

His plan was to buy time and wait for reinforcements. With the four banner bearers working together, along with the "Thousand Demon Banner" formation, they could greatly restrain or even trap the ghost king. At that time, he and the Soul Shattering True Man could free up their hands to deal with the mysterious cultivator's true form.

Upon hearing this, the Soul Shattering Immortal's eyes flashed with a dark light, and he nodded slightly, clearly agreeing that this was the safest strategy at present. He moved his lips slightly, about to respond to the Blazing Sun Immortal telepathically to discuss the specific details of their cooperation.

"Buzzing..."

A faint yet chilling buzzing sound of wings suddenly came from behind the two of them, from beneath the scorched earth that had been plowed by the aftershocks of the Sunbird's self-destruction and was still emitting blue smoke!

The Soul Shatterer True Person, with the most acute divine sense, was the first to notice, and suddenly turned his head to look, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

On the scorched earth, a dozen deep, dark holes had silently appeared.

At this moment, from each hole, a cloud of strange beetles, about the size of a millstone, was gushing out. These beetles were composed of countless thumb-sized, dark gold-colored insects with fine gold spots on their backs and wings that flapped so frequently that they almost became a blurry golden shadow.

As soon as the dozen or so "insect clouds" appeared, they quickly rose into the air, approached each other, and converged, forming in the blink of an eye a huge "golden sea of ​​insects" that covered the sky for hundreds of feet in all directions, blotting out the sun and making a deafening buzzing sound!

"What... kind of spirit insect is this?" Shattered Soul True Person's pupils shrank slightly, his face showing surprise and a hint of confusion.

With his knowledge, he couldn't immediately recognize what kind of spirit insect it was, but his intuition told him that these beetles were anything but simple. The ferocious aura they exuded even made him, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, feel a strange sense of unease.

However, the reaction of the Venerable Lieyang on the other side was completely different the moment he saw the golden beetle!

He was stunned at first, as if he couldn't believe his eyes, staring intently at the approaching sea of ​​golden insects, especially the fine golden spots on the backs of the beetles that still reflected a cold metallic luster in the dim light.

The next moment, his face turned deathly pale, completely bloodless, and his eyes were filled with extreme shock, horror, and even... a trace of unconcealable fear!

"Gold-devouring insects? And nearly tens of thousands of them! How... how is this possible! These ancient ferocious insects were rumored to have become extinct in the great calamity ten thousand years ago, so how could they appear here! And have been cultivated into such a terrifying number!" Master Lieyang exclaimed in shock.

As the peak master of the Blazing Sun Peak of the Spirit Control Sect, he specializes in controlling beasts and birds, and he is thoroughly familiar with the classic texts on various strange insects and beasts in the cultivation world.

He knew all too well the infamous reputation and characteristics of the "Gold-Eating Insect"! This insect feeds on metals and rare minerals, has amazing defensive capabilities, and once mature, it can devour almost anything. Once it reaches a certain size, even Nascent Soul cultivators will have to give it a wide berth!

It was one of the most fearsome insects in ancient times! He never imagined that he would see this legendary, extinct insect in this place, and in such a terrifying number!

At this moment, the plan of "delaying time and waiting for reinforcements" in the mind of the blazing sun master vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling sense of crisis and an even more insane thought - he must escape from this place immediately!

And the news that this person possesses the "Gold-Eating Insect" must be relayed back to the sect at all costs and as quickly as possible! This person must not be allowed to live! The entire sect must be mobilized to nip him in the bud before he fully matures or before he cultivates the Gold-Eating Insect to full maturity! Otherwise, the consequences will be dire!

Although True Immortal Shattered Soul was unaware of the specifics of the "Gold-Eating Insects," seeing the terrified reaction of Venerable Blazing Sun as if he had seen a ghost, and combined with the overwhelming and ferocious golden sea of ​​insects before him, how could he not understand the seriousness of the situation? These golden beetles were definitely a more terrifying and troublesome weapon than the "Netherworld Ghost King"!

"Walk!"

Without hesitation, the Soul Shattering Master made a decisive move, not daring to hesitate for a moment. He didn't even bother to say hello. His ghostly aura suddenly erupted, transforming into a solid black beam of light. He was about to use his escape technique to flee in the opposite direction from the sea of ​​insects!

"Hmph, thinking of escaping now? Too late!"

Luo Ming, who had been observing the situation with a cold eye and in control of the entire operation, finally let out a cold snort upon seeing this. His face was slightly pale; clearly, simultaneously controlling the "Ten Thousand Soul Banner," the "Netherworld Ghost King," and the massive number of "Gold-Eating Insects" was a tremendous burden on his powerful divine sense. However, his eyes remained sharp as knives, and his hand seals suddenly changed!

The enormous black banner, hundreds of feet tall, that hovered behind the Ghost King suddenly shone brightly and emitted a deep hum! Then, the banner vanished into thin air and, in the next instant, appeared above the head of the Soul Shattering True Person, who was about to flee!

"Splash—!"

The giant banner unfurled, like a black curtain covering the sky. Endless pure Yin energy poured down from the banner like a flood bursting its banks, instantly engulfing and shrouding the Soul Shattering True Man and the black escape light surrounding him!

The yin energy surged and ghostly howls echoed. The ferocious phantom of the "Netherworld Ghost King" could be vaguely seen, merging into the yin energy and launching an even more ferocious attack on the trapped Soul Shattering True Person!

Without even glancing at the Soul Shattering True Person trapped by the "Ten Thousand Soul Banner" and the Ghost King, Luo Ming moved swiftly and appeared on the other side, near the battleground that was heavily surrounded by a sea of ​​golden insects and raging flames.

At this moment, the Venerable Lieyang was already surrounded. He was in the center of a crimson sea of ​​fire formed from his own "True Fire of the Blazing Sun," attempting to use the flames to resist and burn these legendary ferocious insects. However, the result chilled him to the bone.

Those dark golden Gold-Eating Insects, facing the blazing True Fire of the Sun, powerful enough to melt metal, fearlessly charged into the sea of ​​flames one after another! Although each Gold-Eating Insect that rushed into the fire could only survive for less than ten breaths before being burned to charcoal and falling to the ground, there were simply too many of them! They were practically inexhaustible!

Even more terrifying, Master Lieyang clearly felt that the spiritual power of the "True Fire of the Blazing Sun" he maintained outside his body was being devoured and consumed by these Gold-Eating Insects at an alarming rate!

These ferocious insects can even devour pure fire-attribute spiritual energy! At this rate, it probably won't be long before his magic power is exhausted and the sea of ​​fire dissipates, at which point he will be completely submerged and devoured by this endless sea of ​​insects!

"Fully activating this newly advanced Gold-Eating Insect is indeed a terrifying drain on my divine sense... In addition, I also have to be distracted by controlling the Myriad Soul Banner and the Ghost King. With my current level of divine sense, I can't hold on for much longer."

Luo Ming, who was on the outer edge of the sea of ​​insects, felt his divine sense power rapidly flowing away in his sea of ​​consciousness. His brows furrowed and his face paled even more. "We must finish this quickly and decisively. We can't drag it out."

Within the swarm of insects, Venerable Lieyang's face was ashen, veins bulging on his forehead. He had tried several powerful fire-based magical abilities, even using two treasured fire-type magical treasures to self-destruct. Although he had killed quite a few Gold-Eating Insects, it was only a drop in the ocean compared to the total number of insects. Meanwhile, the encirclement of the insect swarm was steadily shrinking.

"No! We can't keep dragging this out! We must break through immediately!" Master Lieyang finally made up his mind, a hint of pain and determination flashing in his eyes.

He suddenly formed several hand seals, his blood and qi surged, and a faint blood-red light emanated from beneath his skin.