Chapter 643: Terror of the Ferocious Insect

With everything in place, Qin Sang concealed himself in the shadows and retreated from the stone platform.

He maintained a spiritual connection with the Blood-Winged Ghost-Headed Wasp larvae and manipulated them to probe outward, allowing the aura of the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold to spread as far as possible.

Silently, the aura of the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold began to drift through the cavern. Qin Sang and the flying yaksha lay in wait, fully hidden, watching for the appearance of a spiritual insect.

The cavern sank into utter stillness.

A long time passed without any movement.

Qin Sang remained patient, motionless like withered wood. He held the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions in his hand, prepared to use the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells to assist in capturing the Twilight Stink Bug.

During this period, Qin Sang had never stopped cultivating. His comprehension of the Yan Luo Array of Ten Directions and the Sword Light Division had steadily improved. By now, he could barely manage to use them in actual combat.

The underground river flowed quietly.

Nearly an hour had passed, and still nothing had happened. Qin Sang couldn't help but grow suspicious. By now, the aura of the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold should have spread far and wide.

Spiritual insects were typically extremely sensitive to such extraordinary substances, unless they were asleep or in hibernation.

The temptation of metamorphosis was something no spiritual insect could resist.

Have the Twilight Stink Bugs truly migrated?

Just as this thought passed through Qin Sang’s mind, his expression sharpened slightly. One of the Blood-Winged Ghost-Headed Wasp larvae had suddenly gone out of contact.

He whipped his head around, eyes gleaming, and stared fixedly at a crack in the rock across the river.

The crevice was steeped in darkness, saturated with yin qi.

The larva had vanished without a sound, and he hadn’t sensed a thing?

In that instant, everything changed.

Three larvae positioned along that same line disappeared almost simultaneously.

Something in the darkness was approaching him in total silence, moving with terrifying speed, and had devoured all the larvae smeared with Crimson Fire Gilded Gold before he could react.

"Something’s wrong!"

Qin Sang’s expression changed drastically.

In order to let the aura of the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold spread farther, he had deliberately spaced the larvae apart.

Given how complex and winding the terrain was in the depths of this cavern, even if he used the Sword Qi Thunderclap and rode his sword at full speed, it would have been impossible to cross the distance between the three larvae so quickly and eliminate them in a single instant.

It had to be noted that once Qin Sang activated the Sword Qi Thunderclap, his speed was comparable to a middle-stage Core Formation cultivator.

Too fast!

A second-metamorphosis Twilight Stink Bug could never have such terrifying speed or stealth. There was only one explanation.

This was a third-metamorphosis Twilight Stink Bug.

Had the cultivator who sighted it back then misjudged, or has the Twilight Stink Bug undergone metamorphosis sometime in the intervening years?

Just as that thought flashed through Qin Sang’s mind, he abruptly turned toward the stone platform.

In the corner of his vision, he seemed to catch a fleeting shadow. When he looked directly at the platform, there was nothing there.

The larva bait he had left behind had already disappeared.

Qin Sang instinctively prepared to unleash the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells and pounce toward the platform to catch the Twilight Stink Bug. But in that moment, an intense sense of danger welled up within him, triggering every warning instinct he had.

The sensation came from the flying yaksha lurking beneath the river.

He was spiritually linked with the yaksha and could keenly sense its condition. This wave of danger was incredibly clear.

"This is bad!"

Qin Sang’s heart jolted. Without the slightest hesitation, he abandoned the idea of capturing the Twilight Stink Bug. With a sudden push of his foot against the ground, his figure shot toward the cavern exit like a bolt of lightning.

His ebony sword flew out from between his brows, sword light spiraling around him as the thunderous sound of sword qi echoed through the cavern.

At the same time, the river burst into spray as the yaksha shot into the air.

Splash!

Without even glancing back at the stone platform, the yaksha bolted toward the exit at its highest speed.

Speed had always been the yaksha’s forte, yet when faced with the Twilight Stink Bug hidden in the shadows, it held no advantage at all.

From the darkness, a terrifyingly sharp aura had already locked onto it and was closing in with ease. Before the splashing water droplets could even hit the ground, a ghostly shadow flashed into view, slicing through countless droplets and closing in on the yaksha in an instant.

Qin Sang, startled, turned his head just in time to witness the scene. Alarmed, he hastily commanded the yaksha to dodge sideways.

At the same time, he quickly opened the Corpse Puppet Pouch and flung out several refined corpses, hoping they could buy the yaksha some time.

Unexpectedly, those refined corpses were shredded into chunks of meat the moment they landed beside the yaksha, barely slowing the attacker. Only then could one vaguely make out that the thing which had struck them was a shadowy black sword—long and narrow at both ends like a wooden spindle—formed entirely of yin qi.

The Twilight Stink Bug’s true body was hidden inside that black sword.

Swish!

Two crisscrossing sword shadows burst open across the yaksha’s chest, carving identical wounds deep enough to expose the bone.

Qin Sang drew in a sharp breath.

The yaksha’s body was extraordinarily tough, tempered by Earth Malevolent Qi and even sturdier than the body of an early-stage Core Formation body cultivator.

After reaching the Core Formation Realm, the power of spells far surpassed those of the Foundation Building Realm and were called Dao Techniques. Qin Sang had tested them; the yaksha could take such attacks head-on with its physical body.

Even against low-grade astras, the yaksha could clash head-on by channeling corpse qi.

Just now, Qin Sang had directed all of the yaksha’s corpse qi to reinforce its chest, yet it had been effortlessly torn through by the Twilight Stink Bug, leaving behind two terrifying wounds.

Had he not reacted in time, the yaksha would likely have been cleaved in half.

It was said that high-tier Twilight Stink Bugs possessed the ability to negate spells. This one clearly did.

It was definitely not a freshly metamorphosed specimen.

Qin Sang couldn’t help but feel immense relief. Thankfully, he had not activated the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions or used the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells to try and capture the bug. The moment something felt off, he had chosen to flee. Given the bug’s speed and its power to break spells, there was almost no way to trap it. Qin Sang had no intention of gambling his life for a single insect.

For the time being, his own life was not in danger, but the yaksha was in dire peril.

If the Twilight Stink Bug kept pursuing, the yaksha would be lost.

He could not allow the yaksha to be destroyed here.

This refined corpse had come from a fortunate encounter and was comparable to a true flying yaksha in strength. It was an immense asset, and even if he crafted another one in the future, it would never be quite the same.

"Faster! Faster!"

Qin Sang grew increasingly anxious. He poured all his effort into activating his spiritual consciousness and reached deep into the cavern, finally sensing two of the Blood-Winged Ghost-Headed Wasp larvae.

He had split off threads of spiritual consciousness and hidden them inside the larvae. But because they were placed far away, he could barely sense their location and could not control them freely.

The moment he noticed something was wrong, Qin Sang began focusing his full attention on the larvae’s hidden spiritual threads.

"Detonate!"

Bang!

Deep within the cavern, the two larvae exploded one after the other, and with them, the aura of the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold also vanished completely.

Qin Sang sensed a silent shift around the yaksha. Though he could not see it, he was certain the Twilight Stink Bug had left.

Phew!

Qin Sang exhaled a long breath and dared not remain a moment longer in the cavern. He quickly retrieved the yaksha, leapt onto his sword, and fled at full speed. He did not stop until he had flown far beyond the boundaries of the wasteland.