Chapter 57 - 56: Fungal Mat’s Evolutionary Direction, Underwater Combat

Chapter 57: Chapter 56: Fungal Mat’s Evolutionary Direction, Underwater Combat

Five Black Thorn Eagles descended from the sky, each grasping two Blood Shadow Pythons in their talons as they flew toward the lake in Snake Valley.

Why would Qin Yu go to the trouble of breeding the Blood Shadow Pythons at the No. 3 Scorpion Demon Mountain base and airlifting them all the way here, rather than using the No. 4 Insect Valley base?

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to; it was because the No. 4 Snake Valley Insect Nest lacked Blood Poison Ore.

The Insect Nests could transfer energy between each other through a special telepathy, but physical resources like Profound Iron Ore and Purple Poison Ore could not be transported this way. Unless, of course, the four Insect Nests were connected by the Fungal Mat to act as a bridge for material transport. But Qin Yu had no intention of doing that just yet.

First, there was the issue of energy. Second, covering hundreds of kilometers in the Fungal Mat would turn the land and mountains an eerie purple. Wherever the Fungal Mat spread, all other life went extinct, leaving only the Insect Swarm to survive. Such a scene would be far too terrifying.

Because of this, Qin Yu had deliberately restricted the Fungal Mat’s expansion. If it was too small, it couldn’t absorb much energy; but if it grew too large, it would easily attract unnecessary trouble.

In a world where supreme power belonged to individuals—a world of Divine Demons—Qin Yu didn’t dare let his still-weak Insect Swarm blatantly blanket hundreds of kilometers of mountain ranges. If the swarm were to be classified as a Demon’s Nest, it still wouldn’t be considered strong.

Rather than making a spectacle, Qin Yu preferred camouflage. He wanted the Fungal Mat to disguise itself as native flora. For instance, he could respawn the vegetation it had devoured, maintaining the vibrant, colorful landscape while secretly replacing everything with Insect Swarm flora. These plants would absorb sunlight, Spiritual Qi from the heavens and earth, and energy from the ground beneath them, all while developing quietly and inconspicuously.

But this required time!

Having harvested the resources of Snake Valley, Qin Yu had already ordered the Insect Swarm to begin a large-scale analysis of various plant genomes. Starting from the most ordinary flowers and grass, they dissected each one by one. Even though this consumed a considerable amount of resources, he deemed it a necessary sacrifice.

Qin Yu’s goal wasn’t to turn the sprawling Vast Mountains into an eerie purple wasteland devoid of life—which would inevitably provoke the Great Wei Court’s intervention and draw out mighty entities. Instead, he sought perfect, secret control.

The Black Thorn Eagles were incredibly fast. In just a few moments, they landed around the lake with ten Blood Shadow Pythons in tow.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Upon touching the ground, the Blood Shadow Pythons instantly turned into streaks of bloody shadows, darting toward their nearest targets. Through the Insect Swarm’s Mind Network and the shared vision of the Black Thorn Eagles above and other Insect Race units, they had locked onto their prey long ago.

At the edge of the lake, a sounder of wild boars was cautiously drinking water.

When the Blood Shadow Pythons were about thirty meters away, one of them reared up and spat a fist-sized glob of purplish-red venom from its triangular head.

SPLAT!

The venom struck the largest wild boar with pinpoint accuracy. The highly corrosive liquid instantly ate through its flesh, exposing the bone underneath. The boar, which had already evolved into a Demon Fiend, howled in agony and collapsed.

Meanwhile, the other nine Blood Shadow Pythons slithered over at breakneck speed from all directions. They quickly coiled around their targets, their fangs effortlessly piercing through thick hides to inject their venom. The battle ended in an instant. The sheer toxicity of the attack was hair-raising.

Watching this unfold through the Mind Network, Qin Yu nodded slightly. The Blood Shadow Pythons had two methods of attack: a ranged venom spit and a conventional venom injection. Their combat power was on par with the Rapid Insects; both were roughly at the ordinary Bone Forging Realm. However, they were currently the only unit in the Insect Swarm capable of ranged attacks. Although the attack distance wasn’t far—with a maximum range of only about fifty meters—and their venom reserves were only enough for ten spits, Qin Yu was still quite satisfied.

This was because the Blood Shadow Pythons could not only synergize with the Rapid Insects on land but also fight underwater!

After hunting down more than a dozen wild boars, the Blood Shadow Pythons slithered into the lake, diving toward the depths. As serpentine creatures, they naturally possessed amphibious combat capabilities. The only drawback was that their venom-spitting ability would be hampered underwater.

Once submerged, they quickly encountered a large number of fish. However, most were just ordinary varieties like grass carp and silver carp. While these fish would eventually become prey for the Insect Swarm, they clearly weren’t the Blood Shadow Pythons’ targets this time.

Deep within the lake, the swarm had long since discovered numerous ferocious carnivorous fish. These creatures had already awakened their sentience and evolved into Demon Fiends. The Blood Shadow Pythons’ mission was to hunt down these aquatic demons, providing the Insect Swarm with true underwater units rather than just amphibious ones like themselves.

WHOOSH—

As the Blood Shadow Pythons continued to dive, a massive, blurry figure suddenly emerged in the distance. Such incredible speed!

The ten Blood Shadow Pythons instantly locked onto their target. The figure was at least five meters long. While its length was roughly the same as a Blood Shadow Python, its overall bulk was vastly superior. Even all ten pythons combined couldn’t match its sheer mass.

The pythons quickly scattered, moving to surround the dark shadow. Soon, Qin Yu saw exactly what it was. A Six-Bearded Catfish!

It was a notoriously vicious species of fish. Its body was cylindrical, with a grayish-black back and a white underbelly. It had no scales; instead, its skin was coated in a thick layer of mucus. Its head was broad and flat, featuring three pairs of slender barbels.

Realizing it was being ambushed, the Six-Bearded Catfish didn’t retreat in the slightest. Instead, it darted forward. It had decided to treat the Blood Shadow Pythons as its prey.

SPLASH—

As it swam, the Six-Bearded Catfish suddenly opened its massive maw and swept its pectoral fins, whipping up visible underwater whirlpools directly in the pythons’ path. The currents instantly threw the pythons off balance. A tremendous suction force emanated from the gaping jaw, dragging one of the Blood Shadow Pythons inside before crushing it to pieces on the spot.

But in the next moment, the Six-Bearded Catfish spat out the mangled remains of the python. A plume of purplish-red venom drifted out from its mouth, carried by the water. Even diluted, the terrifyingly corrosive liquid caused extensive rot inside the catfish’s oral cavity.

Seizing the opportunity, the remaining nine Blood Shadow Pythons darted forward, swarming the creature from all sides. Their triangular heads latched tightly onto its massive body, pumping venom into its flesh.

The Six-Bearded Catfish thrashed wildly, its massive mouth agape. The violent churning of the water threw the pythons off balance again, and another one was sucked in and ground to pieces. Yet the surviving Blood Shadow Pythons held on for dear life, refusing to let go. Overcome by the lethal venom, the Six-Bearded Catfish quickly went stiff and lost all signs of life.

"A Water Control Ability?" Qin Yu murmured, nodding slightly as he watched the scene.

Although it cost him two Blood Shadow Pythons to take down the Six-Bearded Catfish, it didn’t mean the pythons were weak. Rather, the disparity in size was simply too immense, and they hadn’t known about the catfish’s abilities beforehand. Caught off guard, they had taken a significant hit. Units like the Blood Shadow Pythons weren’t meant for frontal assaults anyway; they were designed for stealth and ambushes.

"Bring the carcass back," Qin Yu ordered through the network. "A unit like the Six-Bearded Catfish is quite impressive. Perhaps it can serve as an underwater combat unit for the Insect Swarm."

Through the vision of the remaining Blood Shadow Pythons, Qin Yu spotted quite a few more massive silhouettes in the distance. Aquatic Demon Fiends were naturally much larger than their terrestrial counterparts. Sending the Blood Shadow Pythons out to fight alone wasn’t cost-effective.

Retracting his gaze, Qin Yu looked toward the No. 1 Insect Nest near the Qin Family Manor. There, three massive behemoths had successfully been spawned. Resembling Flood Dragons, they were completely encased in exoskeletal armor and boasted body lengths exceeding twelve zhang.

These were another type of giant unit! Heavyweight units, much like the Profound Armor Barbarian Bears.