Chapter 1506: Ephemeral Clan and Insect Sea

It was a monster as black as ink, with long whiskers on its head and six blade-like limbs.

This monster was nearly as large as the blood-red puppet. Its body was covered in stiff, steel-like bristles. Its two extremely narrow eyes flickered with a chilling red light, and four bird-like wings flapped on its back.

This was also a huge monstrous insect.

At such close proximity to the insect phantom, this insect and the purple-blood puppet were able to withstand the piercing shrieks unharmed. They moved as eerily as specters; streaks of red light seemed to pierce through their bodies, but in reality, they only struck their lingering afterimages.

While dodging, the purple-blood puppet produced a giant axe, from which continuous crescent-shaped axe-lights relentlessly slashed out.

The black giant insect's attacks were even more bizarre. As its six limbs blurred and flickered, streams of sharp, conical black light shot out in dense barrages.

Most of their attacks were swept away and extinguished by the red light beams. A few that passed through the massive net were blocked by an invisible force upon approaching within ten-plus meters of the insect phantom, and exploded into fragments.

"What is this? Could it be a Skyflier-level entity?" the beautiful woman gasped, her face pale, as she got a clear look at the insect phantom.

"Compared to that," Mu Qing murmured, his pupils contracting, "I'm more concerned about Daoist Six-Legs' true form."

"Daoist Mu," the beautiful woman said with a grim expression as she recovered from her shock, "now is not the time to debate this. A Skyflier-level entity is second only to a true spirit among the Mayfly race. If one truly appeared here, none of us would escape its pursuit."

"Sister Lan, calm down. Can't you tell?" Mu Qing said with unusual calmness in his eyes. "What appeared here is merely an avatar projection of a Skyflier-level entity. It seems to have been forcibly summoned by the puppet that Six-Legs and his group were pursuing, using some secret art. Once this phantom exhausts its power, it will immediately vanish. Six-Legs and Earth-Blood must be aware of this, which is why they are constantly stalling for time!"

"A projection!"

The white-haired beautiful woman was startled, then carefully examined the huge, fly-like phantom in the distance. After a long moment, she exhaled slowly and said with relief:

"Indeed, it's just a projection, likely possessing only twenty to thirty percent of a true Skyflier's power. Moreover, only its power is projected, not the main body's divine sense; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to last this long. But even so, its attacks are still somewhat formidable. The puppet and Six-Legs still dare not be hit even once."

"Naturally," Mu Qing said, a slight curve appearing at the corner of his lips, "even if it's just a pure power projection, a Skyflier-level entity is second only to a true spirit in the Mayfly race. How could we possibly handle it!"

Once the two women understood the insect phantom's true nature, they naturally did not rush over. They simply watched the distant battle from where they stood, quietly waiting for the moment the insect phantom's power would be exhausted.

Han Li listened quietly from the side, a few flashes of surprise passing over his face.

Everything happening now was beyond his ability to intervene, so he naturally said nothing.

At this moment, the beautiful woman's gaze swept over the high-level demonic beasts still writhing on the ground. Frowning, she flicked her sleeve downwards.

A wave of black light surged forth, instantly enveloping all the demonic beasts.

Immediately, the demonic beasts' minds cleared, and they finally stopped writhing. However, they remained weak, unable to get up in the slightest.

Seeing this situation, the beautiful woman had no intention of taking further action. She turned her head again to stare at the distant giant insect phantom.

Just as Mu Qing had said! After a period, the seemingly powerful insect phantom erupted with dazzling red light from its surface. Then, with a rumbling sound, it suddenly shattered piece by piece, eventually dissolving into a cluster of crimson light and vanishing without a trace.

The dense crimson light beams also instantly vanished into thin air.

The black monstrous insect and the purple-blood puppet, which had been rapidly dodging the light beams, both breathed a sigh of relief. Their figures solidified, and they remained motionless. The purple light and black glow on their bodies flickered erratically but gradually stabilized. After briefly recovering some of their vital energy, they propelled themselves with escape light towards Mu Qing and the others.

A moment later, the purple-blood puppet and the black monstrous insect arrived before the beautiful woman and the others.

Although they had long believed that the monstrous insect was Six-Legs' true form, Mu Qing and the beautiful woman still stared at it with solemn expressions.

A flash of bloody light emanated from the purple-blood puppet's shoulder, and two blood-robed figures slowly rose from it. It turned out that these two had been hiding inside the puppet all along.

Meanwhile, black light swirled around the black monstrous insect, its body rapidly shrinking. Then, with a flash of spiritual light, it transformed into a human figure.

Dressed in black, it was none other than Six-Legs.

However, at this moment, his black cloak was gone, revealing his true face.

As Han Li looked at him, his heart suddenly skipped a beat...

The lower half of Six-Legs' face was no different from that of an ordinary man. His skin was lustrous and elastic, making him appear very young. However, where his eyes should have been, there were a pair of emerald green compound eyes.

As the green light in his compound eyes swirled, it sent shivers down one's spine.

"It truly is Daoist Six-Legs!" the beautiful woman said, exhaling slowly.

"What's wrong, Daoist Lan? Do you have any doubts about me?" Six-Legs said indifferently from his elevated position, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Brother Six-Legs, you were originally a spirit insect," Mu Qing interjected, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. "But might you have some connection to the Mayfly race?"

"The Mayfly race? I was originally from that race," Six-Legs said with a faint smile, in an understated tone. "I wonder if that answer satisfies you two Daoists!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of both Mu Qing and the white-haired beautiful woman changed drastically.

"So, Brother Six-Legs," the beautiful woman's voice turned cold, "you knew about this place all along and deliberately led us here. And those Mayfly race puppets, are you connected to them in any way?"

"On this point, you two Daoists are truly misunderstanding me!" Six-Legs answered calmly. "Although I knew of the existence of our race's sacred ground, my cultivation was shallow back then, and I never knew its exact location. I have been in the Underdark Abyss for so many years, trapped at my current realm for countless more. If I had known earlier that there was an entrance from the Underdark Abyss to this place, why would I have delayed bringing you all here until now? I truly discovered, by accident, that the Underdark Abyss and the Land of the Styx are interconnected. As for the Mayfly race sending puppets here, I genuinely had no idea. To my knowledge, this sacred ground is usually opened only once every few millennia by our race. It has only been a few hundred years since the last entry. To encounter these puppets under such circumstances, one can only say that our luck is truly terrible. If I were still connected to the Mayfly race, why would I only let these puppets enter this place? I do have some knowledge of your Daoist friends' divine abilities..."

Hearing Six-Legs' words, the beautiful woman and Mu Qing couldn't help but exchange a glance.

Although neither of them could find anything wrong with his answer, both had cultivated for countless years. They naturally knew that some parts of his statement were certainly untrue, but they couldn't find any words to refute him at the moment.

"Daoist Earth-Blood, what do you think?" Mu Qing suddenly turned his head and asked the two blood-robed figures.

Ever since they emerged, the two blood-robed figures had been standing on the puppet's shoulders without uttering a word. Now, hearing Mu Qing's words, a bloody light flashed in their eyes. They exchanged a glance, and then one of them spoke calmly:

"I don't think Brother Six-Legs is lying. You must understand, Brother Six-Legs hasn't been in the Underdark Abyss for the longest time, but certainly not the shortest either. He truly has no need for such petty tricks. Do you two Daoists wish to return now? We have already offended the Mayfly race. If we can't obtain the Styx Divine Milk, will you two truly be content?"

The blood-robed figure's words clearly showed he was entirely on Six-Legs' side.

Seeing the blood-robed figure's stance, Mu Qing and the beautiful woman couldn't help but exchange glances again.

After a long moment, the white-haired beautiful woman's expression softened, and she said with a slight smile:

"Since Daoist Earth-Blood has spoken thus, this old woman and Daoist Mu naturally trust Brother Six-Legs. However, since the Mayfly race knows something is amiss in the sacred ground, why didn't they send more personnel, or even high-level Goldenflier-level entities to descend here personally? If so, wouldn't it be impossible for us to escape?"

"That's easy to explain," Six-Legs said, a strange expression suddenly appearing on his face. "The Mayfly race probably discovered traces of our last intrusion, but they don't know our exact next entry time, so they had to send these things to guard here year-round. Although this is a sacred ground for the Mayfly race, ordinary Mayfly individuals cannot stay here for long. Otherwise, at best, their cultivation would greatly regress; at worst, they would die. If we truly encountered an army of insects... Heh heh, we probably wouldn't even have a speck of bone dust left..."

Upon hearing the words "army of insects," the beautiful woman shivered intensely, then awkwardly laughed and replied with a forced smile:

"Brother Six-Legs, why joke with us like that? Although the Mayfly race is not well-known or even rarely heard of in other parts of the Spirit Realm, their deterrent power for the races in nearby areas is no less than that of the great races in the Spirit Realm. How could they truly mobilize an army of insects just for a few of us?"

"That's right, as far as I know," Mu Qing said, calmly analyzing after a flicker of fear. "Even True Spirits would retreat from an army of insects mobilized by the Mayfly race, and it would deplete over half of their own race's vital energy. They would never easily use it unless it was a matter of life or death. It's not necessary to go that far just to deal with us."

"Heh heh, I didn't expect you two Daoists to know so much about our Mayfly race," Six-Legs said, asking in a deep voice after scanning his gaze around. "You're right, dealing with us would only require a single Skyflier-level entity. There's certainly no need for such excessive measures. All right, let's hurry and make good use of our time. Even if the Mayfly race wants to send more people, opening this place is not easy; it would take at least several months. This time is enough for us to find the divine milk and return the way we came. This time, although we were ambushed by ghostly entities, many high-level ghostly entities in the Land of the Styx were also killed. The rest of the journey will be much easier. Oh, by the way, how many yin soldiers and puppets do you still have available?"