Chapter 240: Fourth-order Insect Master
The three did not loot the entire White Cang Mountain Valley, although they did indeed suppress Old Ancestor Bai Cang.
However, White Cang Mountain Valley had a large number of people, and with just the three of them, it was absolutely impossible to search everywhere.
Moreover, even if they could force the disciples of White Cang Mountain Valley to search on their behalf, they probably wouldn’t find much benefit.
They had no method to master Old Ancestor Bai Cang’s treasures.
The three left Bai Cang Mountain and found another direction to exit the mountains.
After leaving the Bai Cang Mountain Range, they finally stopped briefly. Lan Yunyue and Xia Wan’er headed to Beast King Sect, while Su Yan set off slightly later toward Southern Sky City.
Su Yan rode the Six-Winged Blood Centipede and returned to Southern Sky City in just one day.
Nangong Hong Yue sat in charge at Red Moon Pill Workshop. Over the past few months, Red Moon Pill Workshop and Sacred Insect Merchant Guild had prospered greatly.
Under Nangong Hong Yue’s continuous cultivation of the Five Poisons Heart Casting Gu, her half-step Dan Qiao cultivation became increasingly solid, and her enhanced strength deterred many who coveted them.
Under the leadership of Yang Kun, Yang Lun, and the other three, the Sacred Insect Merchant Guild also continued to develop.
With the help of the Blood Marrow Worm, their cultivation progress was extremely rapid, and all had reached great accomplishment in True Intent Realm.
The five joined forces, and with the stable output of treasure plants and feral beasts from the small secret realm in the Yanwu Mountain Range, the Fire Crow, Black Bear, and Red Fox tribes also reached cooperation with the Sacred Insect Merchant Guild. The volume of traded goods was extremely high, and profits naturally continued to rise.
Especially the Rock Ant Black Crystal produced in Nanyang Mountain, which became a famous forging material in Southern Sky City in a short time.
First-order Rock Ant Black Crystal was even better than first-order spirit ore Black Steel, purer, and with better True Essence conductivity.
Second-order Rock Ant Black Crystal was the main material for forging second-order sharp weapons.
It could be said that the Sacred Insect Merchant Guild could earn overflowing profits just by relying on Rock Ant Black Crystal.
Su Yan only met with Nangong Hong Yue once. After she handed him the profits from the past few months, nearly three hundred thousand first-order Origin Stones,
Su Yan headed directly to the location of Nanyang Mountain and began secluded cultivation there.
Guarding the place was Jiao Yang Sou and Yang Kun, along with many True Intent Realm martial artists from the Sacred Insect Merchant Guild.
The news of Su Yan’s arrival was known only to Yang Kun and a few others.
Once settled, he went directly to the underground nest of the Rock Demon Ant Queen and began secluded cultivation.
“It has bred quite a few Rock Demon Ants.”
The underground ant nest at this time resembled a fortress, extending two to three hundred meters underground, with crisscrossing tunnels dividing the entire ant nest into three areas.
The upper area was excavated by Rock Demon Ants under the planning of Yang Kun and the others, used to devour rock soil and convert it into Rock Ant Black Crystal, which was then mined by Yang Kun and the others.
The middle layer was excavated by the Rock Demon Ants themselves, used for breeding, living, and defense as an underground ant nest. Rock Ant Black Crystal formed the walls of the second and third layers, blocking enemy invasions.
Rock Demon Ant Generals and a small portion of Rock Demon Ants operated on this layer, including the insect eggs of Rock Demon Ants.
The third layer housed only the Rock Demon Ant Queen and four of the strongest Rock Demon Ant Generals; this was the ant queen’s chamber.
The total number of Rock Demon Ants in the entire ant nest had already exceeded three thousand, a number that could not be considered low.
In the third layer of the ant nest, Su Yan sat cross-legged on a stone platform.
He released the Six-Winged Blood Centipede, Flame Armored Scorpion, Heavenly Fiend Mother Locust, Shadow Horn Spider, and Troop Devouring Ghost Moth.
All of them guarded his sides, their bodies shrunk to about ten feet in size.
He took the sealing crystal of the Dragon-Eating Worm in his hand, and a surge of vigorous vitality immediately transmitted from his palm.
“After several days of Insect Yuan feeding, I thought it could recover a bit more cultivation, but third-order is already the limit. Still, it’s good; at least the origin is intact.”
Su Yan pointed with his finger, and True Essence invaded the seal, breaking the formation sealing the Dragon-Eating Worm.
With a cracking sound, the red crystal instantly shattered.
A powerful aura immediately spread out, and the Dragon-Eating Worm burst forth, launching an attack directly at Su Yan.
The powerful aura seemed intent on combat with a Dragon Beast.
“How dare you rebel.”
Su Yan’s gaze was calm as the Rock Demon Ant Queen’s powerful spiritual power pressed down, like a giant hand slamming the Dragon-Eating Worm to the ground.
Thousands of shadow silk threads shot out directly, binding the Dragon-Eating Worm’s body.
The Dragon-Eating Worm struggled continuously, only to see countless weapon phantoms hovering above it.
Poisonous mist rolled on both sides, and demonic fire danced, completely surrounding it.
Su Yan’s gaze was calm as he stared directly at the Dragon-Eating Worm surrounded by the six fierce insects.
“I know you have some intelligence. I’ll give you one last chance. How about it?”
His voice was calm, and upon hearing it, the Dragon-Eating Worm trembled slightly and did not dare to struggle further.
It had only been acting on instinct earlier; if it didn’t know better now, there would be no good end for it.
【Dragon-Eating Worm（can be refined）】
【Born from a dragon cocoon, feeds on dragons, seizes dragon origin, can transform into nine dragons, becoming the sovereign of feral beasts…】
Information on the Dragon-Eating Worm appeared before Su Yan. With a thought, Su Yan commanded: Refine.
Immediately, the Fierce Insect Cauldron in his body shook, shooting a beam of red light from the cauldron into the Dragon-Eating Worm’s body.
The light gradually fused completely with the Dragon-Eating Worm, bit by bit linking it to the Fierce Insect Cauldron.
About an hour later, the refining finally ended.
【Insect Master: 1/10,000】
【Traits: Insect Bone Armor Body, Insect Consciousness Seed, Bloodline Gift】
【Insect Realm Space: 100,000 cubic meters】
【Dragon-Eating Worm: 1/100（Nascent Stage）】
A powerful force immediately surged into his body. From the depths of his bloodline, it resonated like an echo, and Su Yan let out a roaring sound.
“Boom”
True Essence exploded instantly. His body glowed red all over, and just the slightly emitted power had already shattered the entire stone platform.
Not only him, but the seven fierce insects were completely prostrated on the ground. The power of their bloodlines resonated within their bodies, their unique bloodline powers gathering toward Su Yan’s body.
His body continuously grew stronger, but Su Yan’s will remained extremely calm and clear.
Bloodline resonance!
He could feel his bloodline upgrading, fusing the bloodlines of the seven fierce insects, merging into one, and advancing into Insect Lord Bloodline.
‘Can’t suppress it anymore? Then break through.’
Originally, Su Yan wanted to suppress his cultivation at half-step Dan Qiao until his foundation was further solidified before considering breakthrough.
But now, with the emergence of the Insect Lord Bloodline, his foundation was already the most solid possible.
Enduring the intense pain, he sat cross-legged on the rubble.
Rolling True Essence raged like a surging river through his body’s meridians.
Under the scouring of True Essence, Su Yan’s body continuously cracked, blood surging from his skin, but the next moment it was healed by the powerful bloodline force.
He guided the massive True Essence into the Dantian inner landscape, where the lake that had accumulated True Essence now churned with massive waves.
Insect Consciousness Seed stabilizes heaven and earth.
Su Yan’s spirit body stood in the inner landscape, powerful spiritual power spreading out and instantly stabilizing the surging True Essence.
“True Essence to liquid, condense Golden Core.”
He silently recited the key formula for Dan Qiao breakthrough in his mouth. Whether it was Xiang Ge’s breakthrough or the insights from Gu Sanqian and Long Qiushui, they had all pointed to the essentials of breakthrough.
Dan Qiao, Dan Qiao—only with a Golden Core is it called Dan Qiao. This Golden Core is the condensation of essence, qi, and spirit, the ultimate embodiment of a martial artist’s body and spirit tempering from Body Tempering Realm and True Intent Realm.
Those with perfected Artistic Conception and abundant True Essence condense superior-grade Golden Cores.
Those with flawed Artistic Conception and insufficient True Essence struggle to form a core.
The fuller and more perfect the Golden Core, the better it accumulates True Essence, thereby nurturing one’s Dharma Aspect.
Golden Cores are divided into superior and inferior grades. Going further, if True Intent comprehension is solidified to the extreme, forming Dan Patterns, achieving Nine-Revolutions Golden Core, it becomes supreme-grade.
However, to what extent must one’s True Intent be cultivated, and True Essence solidified, to achieve Nine-Revolutions Golden Core?
Each revolution is no less than forming a core once.
Even superior-grade Golden Cores only require three revolutions.
However, Su Yan now had the confidence for this.
“Core formation!”
Su Yan mobilized his power, and the True Essence lake in the inner landscape immediately formed dragon water spouts like a dragon sucking water. Several True Essence tornadoes rose from the ground, gathering before him.
His spirit controlled their surging momentum, continuously compressing and gathering. A speck of golden light appeared at the center, the size of a grain of rice.
As soon as the crystal appeared, it instantly became the center of the vortex, continuously absorbing the infused True Essence.
The crystal grew larger and larger, soon thumb-sized, worthy of being called a Golden Core.
The power surging in Su Yan’s body continued to gather turbulently, as the Insect Lord Bloodline continuously underwent metamorphosis.
In just half an hour, the Golden Core was formed, egg-sized, round and full, with solid True Essence.
At this moment, the Dantian inner landscape, with the Golden Core as its array, became incomparably stable. Su Yan’s spirit body stood within, like a deity, controlling it even more effortlessly.
However, even with the Golden Core in place, the surging True Essence showed no sign of stopping.
“Like this? Then continue.”
Su Yan had no intention of breaking through two levels at once. His understanding and preparation for middle Dantian and upper Dantian were insufficient; rash breakthrough was inappropriate. Better to seek stability than excess; he aimed for Nine-Revolutions Golden Core.
Under Su Yan’s control, the Golden Core in his body suddenly collapsed and shattered. The egg-sized Golden Core shrank violently, becoming fingernail-sized in an instant.
Massive spiritual power compressed frantically, making the entire inner landscape feel like a high-pressure space.
Dragon water spouts reappeared, fully four True Essence tornadoes continuously infusing.
The compressed Golden Core absorbed True Essence again, gradually restoring its full form…
Two hours later, second revolution core formation. True Intent power gathered into a Dan Pattern, along with the fierce insects’ bloodline origins, forming a faint red Dan Pattern.
Second-revolution Golden Core formed, but moments later, Su Yan erupted with spiritual power, directly collapsing the second-turn Golden Core.
Five hours later, third revolution core formation. The Golden Core’s strength was several times that of before, and though the body’s True Essence had decreased significantly, it remained surging.
Five hours later, fourth revolution core formation. The surging state of True Essence had calmed somewhat, but the True Essence lake in the inner landscape was still bottomless. Though True Essence surged in the meridians not like a raging river, it was endlessly flowing.
Fifth revolution, sixth revolution, seventh revolution…
Su Yan stayed in the insect nest for a full three days. At the seventh revolution, the True Essence in his body was finally fully absorbed, and the entire Golden Core trended toward perfection.
The eighth revolution took a full day to condense. He continuously supplemented his body with pills. The Seven Flower Opening Aperture Pills given by Nangong Hong Yue earlier were also swallowed by Su Yan. Plus opening two Star Apertures to mobilize True Essence for aid, he finally achieved core formation.
At this point, even with the Insect Consciousness Seed-enhanced spiritual power, Su Yan felt it somewhat hard to sustain.
Su Yan’s face was slightly pale at this time. The platform ruins below were littered with empty pill bottles everywhere—whether Return Intent Yuan Pills or Dragon Tiger Golden Pills, all pills had been swallowed clean by Su Yan.
True Essence in his body gradually filled, like a calm river.
After adjusting, countless Hundred Poisons Gu Seals suddenly appeared around Su Yan’s body. The Hundred Poisons Gu Seals connected him to the fierce insects, and the Fierce Insect Cauldron also trembled slightly, mobilizing the connection between him and the fierce insects.
“Nine-Revolutions Golden Core.”
With a thought from Su Yan, the Fierce Insect Cauldron seemed to launch an attack. The already extremely hard Golden Core in his body collapsed once more.
True Essence began to gather, surging like a vortex.
At this time, all the demonic essence and Insect Yuan from the fierce insects surged into Su Yan’s body.
The river surged again. Su Yan’s figure swayed slightly, but after steadying his mind, he began continuously condensing the Golden Core.
Three days and three nights—this final ninth revolution lasted a full three days and three nights, drawing in all the spiritual energy from Nanyang Mountain toward the underground ant nest.
Boom
On the day Su Yan broke through, Nanyang Mountain trembled slightly, and all the Rock Demon Ants prostrated on the ground.
Nangong Hong Yue, guarding the camp in the mountains, suddenly opened her eyes. Yang Kun, Yang Lun, and the other three also showed excited expressions.
“Success!”
From Su Yan’s second revolution onward, they had sensed he was breaking through and successively put aside their matters to guard here.
Nearly half a month passed. Such True Essence gatherings, repeated eight times—though they didn’t know what Su Yan was doing, each re-gathering of spiritual energy was far stronger than the last.
Now the ninth time like this meant Su Yan had succeeded.
In the underground ant nest at this time, Su Yan’s aura was like an abyss, far surpassing a Dan Qiao Realm martial artist like Old Ancestor Bai Cang.
He retracted his aura and slowly opened his eyes, his gaze sharp like a long sword with exposed edge.
“Bloodline Gift— no wonder it’s called Bloodline Gift. It transforms all fierce insect bloodlines into one’s own. Though not possessing their full might, at the origin level, it’s a rank higher. It should be called Insect Lord Bloodline.”
Bloodline Gift had two functions. The first used fierce insect bloodlines to elevate the Insect Master’s bloodline foundation to a higher rank. Cultivation, comprehension, bloodline recovery, etc., were several times faster than before, and it would integrate various traits seamlessly.
The second function was even more core: using a certain fierce insect bloodline as prototype, granting it to non-fierce insect creatures, creating bloodlines with Insect Master power.
The closer the connection, the more suppressed by the Insect Lord Bloodline.
This was true Creation Merit, creating bone structure, forging clans.
Su Yan couldn’t stop smiling. Fourth-order Insect Master’s power far exceeded his expectations, and even the Insect Realm Space had expanded a hundredfold to 100,000 cubic meters, equivalent to several soccer fields about two or three meters high.
With such changes, let alone the Spiritual Aperture Illumination Fruit Tree, Su Yan could boldly plant other treasure plants.
“Rhinoceros Tiger.”
Su Yan released the Rhinoceros Tiger. The third-order Tiger Beast, upon seeing Su Yan, immediately lowered its head in utmost submission.
Its heart was filled with shock. It had been less than half a year.
Su Yan had actually broken through to Dan Qiao Realm.
That aura, not yet fully retracted, seemed enough to easily suppress it. Standing before it was not a martial artist, but a great mountain.
“Master.”
Su Yan nodded slightly: “You did well against Old Ancestor Bai Cang. What reward do you want?”
He smiled, but the Rhinoceros Tiger kept its massive head low: “It is my duty.”
“Then I’ll grant you a bloodline.”
He placed his large hand on the Rhinoceros Tiger’s head, activating his third trait—Bloodline Gift.
A gem-like drop of blood fell into the Rhinoceros Tiger’s mouth, instantly fusing into its bloodline.
A tiger roar immediately sounded as hard armor around its body began to mutate.
Its body size surged, simultaneously growing many ridges and spikes. Power and aura climbed steadily, and a trace of demonic essence containing malevolent energy appeared in its body.
The Rhinoceros Tiger transformed greatly, its tiger tail becoming a blood-colored tail hook, its appearance more ferocious and domineering, faintly resembling the Heavenly Fiend Mother Locust.
What it obtained was the bloodline of the Heavenly Fiend Mother Locust.
