Chapter 72: Mutated Soul-Eating Insect

Jiuyou returned to Soul Wraith Island quickly.

On the way, he tried on the Heavenly Wind Robe he had obtained from Gu Xuanzhou. The relic was indeed extraordinary, increasing his escape speed by more than double. In just three hours, he had raced from Tianhai Island back to Soul Wraith Island.

However, the Heavenly Wind Robe also increased magical energy consumption. Compared to the Hundred-Mile Inch Hairpin’s explosive drain, though, it was far gentler and more enduring, suitable for routine travel or chasing down enemies.

By this time, news of the Lingchuan continent had already spread like wildfire among all cultivators in the Tianyuan Sea.

Especially that truth: the human inhabitants of the entire Tianyuan Sea were actually descendants of abandoned guardians.

For tens of thousands of years, their ancestors had stayed behind to guard the seal, passing down the duty from generation to generation, suffering year after year. The people on the continent above had long since forgotten them.

Once that truth came out, the whole population erupted.

Popular anger surged like a tide, and the will to fight soared.

Jiuyou couldn’t be bothered with any of it.

He quietly put his things away, summoned his disciples, prepared a massive black spirit boat, and flew toward Tianhai Island.

The disciples of Soul Wraith Island totaled just over two thousand.

To outsiders, it was astonishing that a sect led by a Mid-Nascent Soul powerhouse would have so few disciples.

But when they learned these were all disciples of Grand Ancestor Jiuyou of Soul Wraith Island, understanding flickered across their faces.

The battlefront was shrinking, and the matter of the continent had been decided. Human leadership chose to abandon the Tianyuan Sea and migrate the entire population. Naturally, Jiuyou no longer needed to guard those defenses.

This was the preparation phase.

The entire Tianyuan Sea human community had been mobilized.

Compared with when the defenses were first erected, preparations were more active and intense. After all, the rumored continent was so fertile and beautiful—who would not yearn for it?

Moreover, once they reached the continent, they would no longer have to fight those berserk beasts day and night, nor fear being swallowed by spreading blood mist.

Countless fringe islands and forces, large and small, were organizing their people.

One spirit boat after another converged from all directions, slowly flying toward Tianhai Island.

These spirit boats came from the three major alliances, from every sea region, from every island.

Old grudges and hostilities vanished before the immense interest of the continent.

Above Tianhai Island, spirit boats blotting out the sky.

Dense, countless, stretching as far as the eye could not see.

Countless cultivators flew between the boats, visiting and trading, creating tremendous bustle.

Lights of various spiritual hues intertwined, pressure of spirit sweeping the scene, solemn and grand, magnificently imposing.

Nearly all human cultivators in the Tianyuan Sea, whether sect disciples or lone practitioners, numbering in the millions, had gathered.

In ten thousand years, the Tianyuan Sea human race had never seen such activity, never such unity.

...

Within the Soul Wraith spirit boat, deep in the main hall.

A swarm of Soul-Eating Insects hovered and circled, forming a vortex that spread into every corner of the hall.

At the swarm’s center, a young-looking man in a dark robe stood calmly.

Jiuyou had just removed the Appearance-Changing Art and returned to his youthful form.

He stood with hands behind his back, features refined as if carved from jade, yet his eyes held a cold, faint gleam.

With a casual toss, he sent a section of thousand-year Soul-Nourishing Wood flying, suspended in midair.

The Soul-Eating Insect swarm smelled the wood and immediately grew excited, buzzing their wings. The swarm turned in the air, wrapped the piece of Soul-Nourishing Wood completely, and the sound of their gnawing—crunching and tearing—came forth.

Within only a few breaths, the aroma of the Soul-Nourishing Wood vanished completely. The swarm dispersed, and the piece of spirit wood had disappeared without a trace.

“These little things have an even bigger appetite now,” Jiuyou said, his voice no longer hoarse but slightly deep, carrying a chill.

A faint sinister smile flashed across his youthful face.

He raised his hand and extended a finger.

The Soul-Eating Insect swarm gradually returned to him. The Insect Queen fluttered to Jiuyou’s smooth index finger, its antennae swaying gently as if being playful.

Jiuyou lifted a brow.

A flash of azure light twinkled in his eyes as his Divine Sense examined the Insect Queen.

What he found made his heart jolt.

The Insect Queen’s body was larger than when it was newly hatched, its entire form a gloomy purple, and fine golden lines had begun to show on its shell, like some ancient rune.

Even stranger, its two eyes had turned pure black, and within the depths of the pupils a streak of black light slowly flowed, as if something was contained there.

Jiuyou’s mind trembled.

He had cultivated for nearly a thousand years — what spirit insects had he not seen or heard of? Yet he had never encountered a Soul-Eating Insect that looked like this.

Suppressing his inner ripples, he probed repeatedly with Divine Sense.

The Insect Queen’s aura had grown far stronger than before. The soul-power fluctuations it emitted were thick and refined.

All records about Soul-Eating Insects flickered through his mind.

In ancient texts, descriptions of Soul-Eating Insects were exceedingly rare.

After all, these spirit insects originally came from the continent; the Tianyuan Sea had none.

Yet no book had ever mentioned a Soul-Eating Insect with black pupils.

“Could it… be mutated?”

Once the thought surfaced, Jiuyou could no longer restrain himself.

A mutated spirit insect!

Like mutated spirit beasts—rare and unpredictable. Mutated spirit beasts usually required special mutation techniques to be cultivated from infancy. He did not possess such a method, so this insect having mutated on its own was peculiar.

Moreover, a mutated spirit pet, once born, became the monarch among its kind, its potential far beyond normal ones.

A barely hidden joy passed across his eyes.

Recently, he had been feeding them only thousand-year Soul-Nourishing Wood, along with pure soul force extracted from Nether Capital Gate. Their soul-devouring energy had been abundant to the extreme; mutation was indeed possible.

“Good, good, good!”

Jiuyou repeated “good” three times, a rare excitement in his voice.

He cradled the Insect Queen in his palm, his gaze burning.

“Mutated Soul-Eating Insect.”

Sensing its master’s emotion, the Insect Queen’s antennae trembled and it emitted a faint hum that carried a hint of affection.

Jiuyou drew in a long breath and suppressed the surge in his chest.

He calculated quickly in his mind.

Mutated spirit insects are encountered once in ten thousand years. One mutated Insect Queen could be worth a hundred ordinary Soul-Eating Insects. If carefully nurtured, when it matured, even Nascent Soul cultivators would show restraint in its presence.

And he had the Little Green Bottle, allowing him to continuously grow thousand-year-grade Soul-Nourishing Wood, and even other spirit materials of the same attribute.

“If one has mutated, what about the others?”

Jiuyou narrowed his eyes and scanned the swarm with Divine Sense, probing each insect.

After a moment, he shook his head slightly.

Although the other Soul-Eating Insects had grown considerably since birth—their shells glossy, a hefty aura—they showed no signs of mutation.

“One is enough.”

Jiuyou set aside his regret and smiled.

“With this mutated Insect Queen as a start, and by feeding them thousand-year Soul-Nourishing Wood, the others’ mutation is only a matter of time.”

He placed the Insect Queen back into the swarm. It fluttered into the group, and the other Soul-Eating Insects parted, unwilling to approach.

That was the aura of a king.

Jiuyou took it all in with satisfaction.

“I’ll have to find a chance later to properly test the abilities of these little treasures,” he thought, planning.

Suddenly, the Three Alliance Council’s communication jade token at his waist flickered.

Jiuyou probed into it with Divine Sense.

A moment later, he lifted his eyelids and a slow smile curved his lips.

The jade token’s message was brief but stirred the spirit.

“Everyone prepare, proceed to the Ancient Teleportation Array.”

Jiuyou put away the jade token, folding his hands behind his back, his gaze passing through the spirit boat’s lattice window toward the distance.

At the horizon, spiritual lights interwove, ten thousand boats converging.