Meanwhile, Lin Xun who was on the Grand Universe Ark wasn’t the least glad or happy, but rather regretful and bitter.

He had planned to lure the old monster to a remote place and kill him with the No-Nonsense Bow.

But unexpectedly, Withered Vine Old Monster didn’t take the bait. Even in rage, he refused to give up on the opportunity on Fallen Star Peak and chased after him.

“Young Master, you are as intelligent as you are brave. Your skills and abilities are incredible. You really opened my eyes today. I have to say that I am impressed. Please take a bow from me!”

The pig monster donned a solemn expression, bowed and saluted. His eyes were gleaming with admiration.

PA!

Lin Xun slapped him on the back of the head, saying coldly, “Don’t try to flatter me. Do you think that I don’t know you would be happier than anyone else if something happened to me?”

The pig monster grimaced and rubbed the back of his swollen head, looking wronged, “Young Master, you misunderstood. How would I be such a disloyal person?”

“So shameless!”

Even Xia Xiaochong couldn’t stand him any longer and rolled her eyes at him. This guy is so immoral. All he was thinking about before was how to escape.

But the pig monster didn’t feel a hint of shame. Instead, he sighed heartfully. “Ah, it seems that the little lady has misunderstood me, why don’t we talk about it alone?” He looked at Xia Xiaochong hopefully.

Xia Xiaochong jumped back. “I don’t want to chat with a pig alone. That’s too scary.”

This pig monster is so weird and thick-skinned and has no morals. Lin Xun was secretly impressed.

“Xiaochong, there are only three days left before the end of the training. You have to make good use of the remaining time,” Lin Xun reminded her.

Startled, Xia Xiaochong’s innocent face scrunched up and she cried painfully, “Aiya, I don’t want to hunt and kill animals anymore, I’m so tired and I don’t like the smell of blood either...”

The pig monster immediately tried to get on her good side by patting his chest and reassuring unwaveringly, “Little lady, I will stay with you. I can serve you tea, massage your tired shoulders and legs, and do anything for you. I am good at everything. I guarantee that you will be satisfied!”

Is he really a monster-beast of the Cyclic Derivation Stage?

Lin Xun was speechless.

But Xia Xiaochong looked disgusted. “You are a monster-beast cultivator yet not only did you not stop me from hunting for your comrades, but you also encouraged me to do so. You are too shameless!”

A righteous expression came to the pig monster’s face as he tried to explain himself when Lin Xun kicked him out of the cabin. I can’t stand him anymore. He is too shameless!

……

The darkness of night faded into the first light of dawn. A new day had arrived.

The vast Ziniu Mountain took on a glowing golden hue from the rays of the morning sun, and the overlapping peaks gave off a different kind of vitality.

In one of the valleys, Xia Xiaochong was wielding a silver spear and fighting at close quarters with over a dozen of azure-headed fish monster-beasts in a stream.

Not far away, the pig monster was busy starting a fire and boiling water, planning to cook a few of the fish monster-beasts to fill his stomach.

On a low hill next to the valley sat a tall and handsome figure. Lin Xun looked particularly ethereal silhouetted against the morning sun.

Soon, he woke up from meditation, and his brows wrinkled together.

His cultivation had already reached the pinnacle perfect level of the Heaven Ascension Stage and recently, he could barely suppress the urge to break through into the Cyclic Derivation Stage.

He didn’t want that to happen because he walked the absolute apex king path. Even if his cultivation had reached the level of perfection, he still had some shortcomings in his martial arts and comprehension.

For example, he hadn’t quite perfected two secret inheritance arts, the Tribulation Dragon Nine Transformations and the Nine Heavenshaking Destructions Art.

For example, although he had perfected the water dao ripple that he controlled, he had yet to break the barrier and progress into the higher Dao Meaning.

“I must not waste time and hone my martial arts and refine my water dao ripple power…”

He knew very early on that the power of the great dao could only be truly manifested in the Cyclic Derivation Stage.

At that stage, the stronger the great dao power that a cultivator had grasped, the greater the power they could display in combat!

After pondering for a moment, Lin Xun took out a simple and unadorned silvery-white scroll. It was the Astral Insect Command Art, a gift from Shaohao and also a secret art for specially raising and commanding the god-devourer insects.

Thinking of Shaohao, Lin Xun couldn’t help but cast his mind back to his time on the mysterious Fallen Star Peak.

The ancient grand formation imbued with a sacred aura, the Constellation Egg, and the young master of the Astral Imperial Clan housed inside the egg...

All of that was too bizarre to comprehend.

Lin Xun drew a deep breath, quieting his thoughts, and began to explore the Astral Insect Command Art.

Several hours passed while he was unaware.

When noon came, Lin Xun rolled up the secret scroll in his hand, and his black eyes were shining with amazement.

According to the records, the god-devourer insects had an extremely remarkable origin. They were ranked seventh on the Ancient Mysterious Insect List!

Once they transformed into the king stage, they were capable of absorbing the qi of the nine underworlds and devouring the spirits of kings!

In ancient times, a god-devourer insect king had devoured the spirits of countless terrifying creatures across the world. All the powerful experts in the world trembled with fear and blanched with terror at the mere mention of their names.

However, god-devourer insects were extremely rare. They were originally the guardian protectors of the Astral Imperial Clan, but they were almost wiped out in a calamity, and as time passed, they faded into obscurity.

Lin Xun found the nine god-devourer insects from a mysterious and dangerous place called the Treasure Drop Blood Plain.

However, he knew very little about those insects. He had no clue how to raise or use them.

However, he had no doubt that the god-devourer insects were extremely terrifying!

In recent years, they had helped Lin Xun kill many powerful enemies, including Yu Xiaosheng and other saint figures in the Deva Secret Realm.

However, Lin Xun wasn’t the one who commanded them. They acted on their own initiative, so much so that Lin Xun had to seal them and suppress them in his mind-sea because he didn’t know how to use the insects.

Now that he held the Astral Insect Command Art, he would no longer face the same problem.

“God-devourer insects feed on the spirit. They need to undergo five complete transformations before they can reach the Insect King Stage. Furthermore, every time they transform, their power also undergoes a whole new change…”

Lin Xun mulled over the mysteriousness of the Astral Insect Command Art. “It turns out that it is wrong to seal and suppress them all the time. They must be fed with spirits to promote their transformation and growth.”

After a moment, Lin Xun brought out the nine god-devourer insects and folded his hands in a hand seal, forming a strange blood seal to cover them.

It was the Insect Command Seal. Only in this way could he command and use the insects like his own hand!

Buzz!

The nine insects greedily absorbed the secret seal that contained Lin Xun’s blood.

At the same time, a ripple of cryptic energy was born between Lin Xun and the god-devourer insects, forming a mysterious connection between them.

Lin Xun suddenly had a strange feeling. The insects seemed to have become his children. Every hint of their emotions, pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy was reflected in his mind in every detail.

That was the secret of the Insect Command Seal. It helped form a connection between the god-devourer insects and their host and allowed the host to easily summon and use them.

“They are very hungry…”

Quickly, Lin Xun sensed a fluctuation of cold emotion. He raised his brows and took out a piece of intermediate-grade spirit accumulation jade.

The jade belonged to Xia Xiaochong, but Lin Xun decided to borrow it because it was filled with the spirits of savage beasts.

That was the most suitable food for the insects.

Kacha!

It didn’t take long for the nine insects to devour the intermediate-grade spirit accumulation jade. Their black grain-sized bodies glowed like they were emitting a strong life force.

“Sleep…”

Their next fluctuation of emotion caught Lin Xun by surprise, and he couldn’t help smiling. They sleep once they are full. Their needs are not that hard to satisfy.

However, he also knew that the insects’ transformations were unusual, and sleeping was part of the process of growing stronger.

“They are still just larvae now and only in the first stage of transformation. I wonder when they will transform into true insect kings...”

Lin Xun put away the nine god-devourer insects, full of anticipation for the future. If he could cultivate a true god-devourer insect king one day, it would become a powerful weapon that could threaten even the old monsters in the Life Death Stage!

“But there is still a long way to go.”

He shook his head. God-devourer insects fed on spirits, and to transform, they imaginably needed to swallow an immense number of spirits at every transformation.

He started to doubt whether he could meet their needs in the future.

Fortunately, Lin Xun didn’t need to worry about this for now.

……

Two days later.

After several hunting sessions, Xia Xiaochong filled an intermediate-grade spirit accumulation orb and transformed it into a spirit accumulation jade.

During those two days, Lin Xun didn’t just sit around. He patrolled the Ziniu Mountain with Xia Xiaochong, looking for traces of beasts and captured them.

He used that opportunity to also fill up two intermediate-grade spirit accumulation orbs as food for the god-devourer insects.

Additionally, he also found out that spirit accumulation jades were very costly and rare in the major provinces of the West Infinity World, so it was impossible to buy them in bulk.

One day remained until the end of the training. Xia Xiaochong was very glad. She couldn’t wait to return to see her master.

Of course, Lin Xun readily agreed to return ahead of schedule. He wanted to ask for directions to the East Victory World, and he was also curious to see what kind of place the Fire Spirit Province was.

After all, even if he was in the Ancient Wasteland Domain, he had only explored the mountains and ancient forests and hadn’t experienced the cities that belonged to cultivators.

He had heard very early on that the Ancient Wasteland Domain was different from the lower domain world. It was a prosperous world filled with the legacy and atmosphere of ancient times and where thousands of clans and ancient sects coexisted.

His mind drifted off.

He shook his head and without further delay set off to the Fire Spirit Province!