Slightly stronger were the Golden Core stage demonic insects, significantly larger than the Foundation Establishment stage ones, spanning fully ten feet. And among them, the strongest thirty or so, measuring several dozen feet long, emanated an aura that was unmistakably that of Nascent Soul stage Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects—each one cold and utterly chilling, their forms hideous and vicious. Lei Dong could hardly believe it; how could the Insect Emperor possess such a multitude of Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects?
One had to know that the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insect was an exceptionally rare species, only occasionally discovered as one or two individuals in the remote corners of the Nine Nethers of the Netherworld Domain. As its name suggested, it dwelled in the Nine Nethers and had a penchant for devouring souls. Lei Dong’s Soul-Devouring Shadow Tiger also enjoyed consuming souls. However, the Shadow Tiger differed vastly from it. The Shadow Tiger typically hunted spectral souls directly, or it would tear apart its prey and devour the residual souls that escaped.
But the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insect was perverse; it preferred to parasitize living creatures, slowly consuming the host’s soul while they were still alive. No matter the size of a Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insect, it possessed incredible contractility, able to shrink itself by more than a hundredfold, burrowing into the enemy’s body through any available orifice before establishing parasitism. Many hosts would suffer unbearable agony, yet remain helpless against the insect, often taking many years before finally succumbing to death.
This was an utterly disgusting type of insect. When Lei Dong was negotiating with the White Bone Demon Venerable back then, he had suggested using Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects as mutual guarantors, an idea that had thoroughly frightened the Demon Venerable himself, illustrating the creature’s vicious and insidious nature—even the White Bone Demon Venerable found it too much to bear.
Of course, when there were no living creatures to parasitize, the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects would also consume scattered spectral souls. Consequently, for the Ghost Clan, the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insect was one of their natural nemeses. Especially when those dozens of Nascent Soul stage Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects appeared, the expressions of the accompanying Ghost King guards instantly shifted to one of extreme terror and shock. Perhaps each of them could barely cope with one or two Nascent Soul stage Soul-Devouring Insects.
“Everyone, do not panic. Get inside my formation,” Xiao You cried out, immediately activating the Nether Black Fiend Formation, causing thick black mist to billow out and envelop an area spanning nearly a li.
“It’s the Nether Black Fiend Formation.” The Ghost King level guards were overjoyed. Having followed the Nether Ghost Emperor for so long, they were acutely aware of how formidable their Emperor’s formation was—it was hailed as the strongest defensive formation in the Netherworld Domain. Forget initial stage Soul Transformation experts; even mid-stage Soul Transformation experts would meet a gruesome end if trapped inside. The Ghost King guards rapidly dove into the protective range of the Nether Black Fiend Formation.
“It’s actually the Nether Black Fiend Formation?” The Insect Emperor paused in surprise, but instead of dismay, joy overtook him, and he let out a cackling roar: “It seems I’ve caught a big fish today. That quiet little Ghost Clan girl who hasn't spoken must be the rumored daughter recently taken in by Old Man Netherworld, the Celestial Spirit Ghost Xiao You, right?”
There are no impenetrable walls in the world, especially since the other three major clans paid extremely close attention to the Nether Ghost Clan. A matter as significant as the Nether Ghost Emperor taking a daughter as his heir could not possibly be kept secret. Moreover, the adopted daughter was a Celestial Spirit Ghost. Forget the other three clans; even the slightly larger races within the Netherworld Domain were now aware of this development.
“Insect Emperor, since you know I am Xiao You, you dare try to kill me?” Xiao You let out a sharp, disdainful (hēng). “My father is accompanying me this time. When he returns, you’ll be sorry.”
“Heh heh heh.” The Insect Emperor smiled sinisterly, utterly unmoved. “You speak of Old Man Netherworld? Hmph. Our three clans are pressing the attack fiercely these days. How dare Old Man Netherworld leave the Netherworld Palace? Hmph hmph. Today, I will kill you, let that old fool die of grief—it would be best if he died of anger. It’s only fitting that your Ghost Clan’s prosperity wanes. Today, I have struck an immense stroke of luck.”
You… Even though Xiao You had devised a counter-plan against the Insect Emperor, she was so enraged she almost cursed out loud. Since the Nether Ghost Emperor adopted her as his daughter, he had been utterly indulgent, doting on her to an extreme degree. Even her most unreasonable demands were met by him. Psychologically, Xiao You had completely come to regard the Nether Ghost Emperor as her true father. Being slandered in such a manner truly filled her with incandescent fury.
At that very moment, Lei Dong’s firm and strong hand clasped her cold, small one. With a composed expression, he transmitted his voice: “Xiao You, why bother getting angry with a man already condemned? I promise you, even if I cannot kill him this time, as long as I, Lei Dong, live one day, I will take his life.”
“Mm.” Under Lei Dong’s soothing words, Xiao You calmed down. Following their plan, she retorted mockingly, “Ugly insect, you only dare to act arrogantly in front of juniors who are far weaker than you. Earlier, when you were with Evil Phoenix, you were practically worshipping her like she was your own mother. Don’t think your current arrogance will last; when you truly face my father, don’t wet yourself from fear. I have deployed the Nether Black Fiend Formation here. This young lady actually wants to see what skill you possess to break the Netherworld Domain’s foremost defensive formation.”
Part of the plan was to provoke the Insect Emperor, to incite him into losing his reason further. As expected, after his sore spot was hit, the Insect Emperor laughed in fury: “Heh heh heh. A mere junior dares to speak so wildly before this Emperor. Very well. Before you die, I will let you experience the pain of being devoured by ten thousand insects. Others might not be able to deal with your Nether Black Fiend Formation, but before me, that formation hailed as the strongest in the Netherworld Domain is nothing more than a dirt wall. Keep your eyes wide open and watch how this Emperor shatters your formation.”
After a fit of maniacal laughter, the Insect Emperor executed a hand seal, and the countless thousands of Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects began swarming toward the formation. The Nether Black Fiend Formation was powerful because it sealed the primordial spirits of nine Soul Transformation stage Netherworld demonic beasts. Where would others dare to force their way in and invite their own doom? However, as those dozens of Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects flew close to the formation, the demonic beast primordial spirits within it began to tremble, as if encountering their natural predator, losing all their usual fierce and violent fighting intent.
Xiao You was truly astonished; it was the first time she had ever seen the primordial spirits within the Nether Black Fiend Formation react this way.
“Little girl, let me teach you a lesson.” The Insect Emperor floated arrogantly and dominantly before the Nether Black Fiend Formation, smirking victoriously. “Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects are the natural enemy of all types of Netherworld demonic beasts. Although the demonic beasts in your Nether Black Fiend Formation were all at the Soul Transformation stage in life, just as there are Insect King beasts at the Soul Transformation stage, there are also Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insect Kings at the Soul Transformation stage. Thus, all Netherworld-aligned demonic beasts inherently possess a natural fear of the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects. Even after many years of death, even if the memories within their primordial spirits have been erased, that trace of instinctive dread cannot be removed.”
“Hmph, so what if they are fearful?” Xiao You scoffed, channeling her True Essence and forcefully driving the formation. Various lashing forces transmitted through the array onto the beast primordial spirits. The sensation of pain instantly overpowered instinct, and they manifested their forms, devouring the lower-level Soul-Devouring Insects one by one.
“And what if they weren’t fearful?” the Insect Emperor snorted upon seeing this. “My Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects are naturally the bane of all forms of soul sprites, and your Ghost Clan is no exception.” Simultaneously, his own divine soul moved rapidly, urging the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects to intensify their assault. Thousands of Soul-Devouring Insects surrounded one demonic beast primordial spirit, frantically consuming it. Although the beast primordial spirit was fiercely aggressive, able to swallow a Golden Core stage Soul-Devouring Insect in one bite, it was still insufficient. With every breath that passed, the dense swarm of Soul-Devouring Insects relentlessly tore off one or two fragments of the primordial spirit from the beast spirit.
It was estimated that within the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, the Nether Black Fiend Formation, hailed as the Netherworld Domain’s strongest defensive formation, would be destroyed by the Insect Emperor’s hand.
“Heh heh heh. Do you think I expended all my effort to gather and nurture so many Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects for nothing?” The Insect Emperor grinned maliciously again. “I won’t hesitate to tell you beings doomed to die: our Corpse Worm Clan, after countless years of research, has preliminarily mastered the propagation methods of the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insect. From this moment forward, it will be the doom of your Ghost Clan. It seems the tables have turned; let’s see how long Old Man Netherworld can remain arrogant.”
With tens of thousands of Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects surrounding the people and the formation, the Insect Emperor was fully confident that once the formation broke, the group of Ghost Kings inside would be nothing more than easy prey, unable to escape the invasion of the Soul-Devouring Insect army. Because of this certainty, he began to grow rather composed, folding his hands behind his back in a pose of grandeur.
Those Soul Transformation stage demonic beasts were suffering increasing damage. Just as the formation was about to be broken, Lei Dong finally seized an opportunity when the Insect Emperor’s attention wavered toward the battle involving Evil Phoenix. He quietly unleashed a massive wave of suicidal ghosts, which flew out of the black mist-filled formation in a swarm like locusts. Concurrently, a continuous series of loud explosions erupted, hong, hong, hong.
Every explosion spanned a range of over a dozen feet. These initial-grade suicidal ghosts were definitely one of Lei Dong’s trump cards—low in cost, yet their detonations were comparable to the full power strike of an initial stage Golden Core cultivator. The Foundation Establishment stage Soul-Devouring Insects were instantly annihilated in the blasts, while the Golden Core stage ones were left heavily scarred and drastically weakened.
The massive contingent of suicidal ghosts ripped open a breach in the encirclement of Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Insects in an instant. At the same time, Lei Dong’s voice rang out with absolute authority: “I say, time stops.”
“Nether God True…” The Insect Emperor’s entire posture instantly stiffened. But in less than half a breath, the two words that left his mouth were: “Word Art.”
“BOOM~” A colossal sound, like ten thousand cannons firing at once. The Great Belly Cannon Ghost Array, already prepared, ignited under Lei Dong’s divine thought, unleashing a deafening roar that threatened to collapse the bottom of the Styx River Valley. Beams of emerald-green light spheres, trailing long fiery tails, sped toward the Insect Emperor in a deadly strike.