The fighting was getting more bitter than ever. Of course, the casualties on the Sky River Court side far outmatched those of the River-Defying Sect. People were being injured or killed almost every moment, leading to taciturn silence within the Sky River Court itself.

In the very center of the Sky River Court was a tree growing upon the larger tree. At the crown of that smaller tree was a log cabin, outside of which stood an old man in a white robe, who was looking out at the fighting. The booms and screams of battle were clearly audible from his position.

He seemed completely exhausted, and if one were to look closely at him, an aura of death could be detected. He seemed to be on the verge of breathing his last breath.

Next to the old man was a handsome boy with rosy lips and white teeth. He was almost pretty, and even emanated a fragrant aroma. He wore fresh, clean clothes, and almost looked like a celestial creature of some sort. He had his hands clasped behind his back as he studied the battlefield. He seemed particularly interested in Bai Xiaochun.

After a long moment passed, the old man spoke in a voice hoarse from exhaustion. “Fellow Daoist Li, haven’t things gone on long enough?”

The boy smiled and looked over at the old man. “Oh no, not quite yet.” He sighed. “Fellow Daoist Chen, if you had known things would turn out this way, would you have repented of your sins earlier?”

The old man stood there quietly for a moment. Then his eyes went a bit dimmer, and he said, “When will enough be enough? Plenty of people have died already.”

After a moment of thought, the boy smiled and said, “Fine, fine. How about this: produce your Sky River Court reserve power. Once it’s destroyed, we can end the punishment.”

The old man seemed to tire even further. Many people had actually come to assume that he was dead already. However, as the true patriarch of the Sky River Court, this old man was in the Deva Realm, and had numerous means by which to prolong his life, even after receiving a grievous injury. Despite being like an oil lamp about to wink out, he was still able to continue living.

The Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect didn’t want to completely eradicate the Sky River Court. Rather, they wanted this old man to watch it being destroyed. They wanted him to understand that this was his punishment. Only after enough cultivators had died could the remaining disciples have a chance to keep on living.

The old man sighed, and then reached out and tapped the tree trunk next to him.

The tree shivered, and the effect rapidly spread out. In the blink of an eye, the entire Dire Skybanyan was shaking. Then, countless white insects began to crawl out from inside of the tree!

Each insect was only about the size of a finger, but they let out piercing cries, along with powerful auras. As soon as they appeared, they began to fly up into the sky.

This development caused an immediate stir. The fighting stopped momentarily as swarms of the creatures flew up out of the Dire Skybanyan. It only took moments before they blotted out the sky; it was a completely hair-raising sight.

Among the cultivators of the Sky River Court, only a few recognized what those insects were, and when they did, looks of terror appeared on their faces.

The entire sect was filled with white insects, and the droning sound they caused as they flew up. Everyone looked on in shock as the countless bugs flew up, creating a sea of insects.

If a sea of insects were all there were to it, it might not be a big deal. But these bugs were clumping together, and before long, they had created the shape of a vicious, gargantuan beetle!

Upon forming, the beetle wasn’t white, but rather, bright red. It was fully 3,000 meters long, and covered with countless vicious spikes that emanated the black glow of deadly poison.

After forming, the enormous beetle let out a terrifying screech that caused numerous cultivators to cough up mouthfuls of blood. That included cultivators from the Sky River Court as well as the River-Defying Sect.

The terrifyingly ferocious nature of this beetle cast cold shock into the hearts of all present.

Even Bai Xiaochun was trembling at the sight of the beetle. Despite his recent step into Core Formation, the beetle’s aura left him shaking in utter terror!

“A death beetle!!”

“One of the Sky River Court’s two reserve powers! A death beetle!!” The numerous Nascent Soul cultivators of the River-Defying Sect were visibly taken aback. Frigidsect and Master Godwind exchanged a look, and each could see the serious expressions on the others’ faces.

After letting out a powerful roar, the beetle lunged forward, spitting out a huge stream of green fluid that sprayed about like rainwater. Everything it touched began to dissolve, even the ground!

Instantly, miserable cries began to ring out; even the Sky River Court cultivators were being affected.

The corrosive power of the acid raid went far beyond anything Bai Xiaochun had created in his pill concocting. Terrified, he began to back up.

“What is that freakish thing!?!?”

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Even as everyone was reeling in shock, the death beetle burst into motion, sending a shower of spikes out in all directions. Then, it opened its mouth, snatched up a Core Formation cultivator and swallowed him down.

Next, it landed hard on the ground, where it curled up into a ball and began to roll about, crushing everything in its path into a bloody pulp....

Not even attacks from the Nascent Soul cultivators could do anything to hinder its path. Even when some particularly powerful attacks were successful, the huge bug would simply break up into countless smaller white insects, then reform moments later.

Inside the log cabin, the boy began to clap his hands slowly. Smiling, he said, “Ah, a death beetle. An excellent mid-grade spirit treasure!”

The old man didn’t respond.

“This River-Defying Sect has quite a few reserve powers at their disposal, but they’re all mortal-tier spirit treasures. Although, they do have that extraordinary Blood Ancestor of theirs. What a pity that the patriarchs issued orders not to touch it.” The boy shook his head sadly.

“I did hear that their Spirit Stream Division has a very mysterious origin. Perhaps they have a spirit treasure that can broaden our horizons?” The boy was only getting more interested by what was happening.

As he looked out at the battlefield, the death beetle was smashing back and forth, inflicting serious damage on the River-Defying Sect.

If the situation wasn’t resolved, the deaths involved would be serious. The patriarchs of the River-Defying Sect all looked over at Frigidsect.

Master Godwind sounded quite anxious as he said, “Brother Frigidsect, didn’t you say that you would take care of the death beetle?!”

Frigidsect hesitated for a moment. Then he looked at the huge beetle, and gritted his teeth. Without saying a word, he shot through the air toward the Spirit Stream Division’s Heavenspan Battleship out on the river.

After ten breaths of time passed, the death beetle spat out another rain of acid, and sent another wave of spikes shooting out. More screams echoed out, despite how the Nascent Soul cultivators of the River-Defying Sect were doing their best to block the attacks. That was when a shocking aura suddenly rose up from the river, specifically, from the Spirit Stream Division’s Heavenspan Battleship!

In response to the aura, the death beetle shivered. It wasn’t the only one. All cultivators on the battlefield, from the Qi Condensation stage to Nascent Soul, were shaking uncontrollably. Their faces began to fall, and their cultivation bases began to spin out of control.

Even the boy in the log cabin was visibly shocked. Then, a look of unprecedented solemnity appeared on his face as he looked over at the Heavenspan Battleship.

“That’s....”

The old man’s face fell, and a look of complete incredulity appeared on his face.

“A high-grade spirit treasure?!”

Somewhere on the battlefield was Gongsun Wan’er, who moments ago had worn a carefree expression on her face. Suddenly, she stopped in place, and a mysterious gleam rose up in her eyes as she looked over at the Heavenspan Battleship.

The entire battlefield went still. Even the Dire Skybanyan, which up to this moment had been continuously attempting to free itself from the grip of the Blood Ancestor, suddenly stopped moving.

In the Heavenspan Battleship, in a heavily guarded secret chamber, Frigidsect was kneeling down in front of a coffin. Inside of the coffin was the corpse of a baby girl, whose eyes had just opened!

The terrifying aura that had just appeared came in the moment that she opened her eyes.

Trembling, Frigidsect raised his voice and said, “True spirit, please exterminate this death beetle!”

The instant the words left his mouth, the corpse of the baby girl vanished from within the coffin.

When she reappeared, she was in the air above the Heavenspan Battleship, except now, she looked like a young woman!

The baby girl hovered there looking like a young woman, silently looking up into the sky, an expression of confused curiosity in her eyes, almost as if she were thinking about the past. As she floated there silently, all eyes were focused upon her.

Everyone felt their hearts and minds trembling, and were filled with the urge to drop down in worship. As for the boy in the log cabin, he was shaking visibly.

“That’s... that’s....” A look of complete and utter disbelief filled his face.