Chapter 1896: Candidate Insect King

The spirit insects, struck by the magic techniques, immediately let out mournful cries and were forced to separate.

Then, the three "Han Lis" chanted incantations as their hand seals changed erratically.

A dozen or so purple-patterned beetles, seemingly controlled by a restriction, reluctantly vibrated their wings and then rushed towards the strands of white silk that had been previously spewed out, devouring them voraciously.

The beetles devoured the silk at an astonishing speed; the originally dense white strands were completely consumed in mere moments.

Seeing this, the "Han Li" with pale green skin suddenly opened his mouth and astonishingly spewed out countless points of silver light.

Each silver light was only the size of a bean, but upon entering the large green cauldron, they transformed into dozens of palm-sized silver giant flowers. Their petals shimmered with silver light and were covered in blood-red patterns, making them appear exceptionally eerie.

As soon as the dozen or so beetles saw these silver flowers, they emitted sounds of joy and lunged forward again, devouring the silver flowers one by one in an instant.

However, each time a silver flower vanished, another would silently appear.

After a short while, these beetles had consumed thousands of silver flowers. With purple patterns shimmering on their bodies, they subtly appeared to have grown a full size larger than before.

At this moment, the resplendent golden "Han Li" suddenly opened his eyes. From his blood-red pupils, clumps of black flames spewed forth, transforming into a sea of black fire after a few flashes, engulfing all dozen or so spirit insects.

An eerie scene unfolded!

With their mouths agape, the spirit insects surprisingly continued to inhale and exhale the black flames.

With each inhalation and exhalation, the black flames diminished. Not long after, all the black flames were surprisingly swallowed by the beetles, leaving not a trace.

At this moment, the last "Han Li" let out a low shout. As he waved both sleeves, two claps of thunder suddenly rang out. Then, with a flash of golden light, two golden arcs, as thick as a bowl's rim, shot forth. In an instant, they transformed into two golden lightning nets that fell one after another, covering all dozen or so beetles.

A booming crackling sound erupted.

The two lightning nets transformed into countless tiny electric arcs, and as the golden electricity flashed, they completely engulfed the beetles.

However, upon closer inspection, it could be seen that the golden spirit insects, despite the erratic flickering of the purple patterns on their bodies under the fierce assault of the electric arcs, stretched out their limbs, seemingly completely at ease as more golden electric arcs struck them.

They remained completely unharmed amidst the electric light.

After an unknown period, as the golden lightning gradually receded and disappeared, the "Han Li" with the constantly rotating golden halo above his head also opened his eyes. Simultaneously, the seventy-two green miniature swords within the halo trembled, surprisingly transforming into countless green threads that shot forward, reaching the dozen or so spirit insects in an instant.

Amidst loud clanging sounds, the green threads struck the beetles as if hitting blocks of refined steel. Although the strikes sent the beetles flying backward repeatedly, the intense green light left no marks on their bodies.

Upon encountering this attack, the dozen or so spirit insects immediately let out piercing screeches and became incredibly furious. Then, with a spread of their wings, their figures surprisingly blurred, flickering in and out of sight above the large cauldron.

Even though the green threads were as fast as lightning, they all missed in the next instant, completely unable to strike these spirit insects whose figures had become incredibly elusive.

However, the "Han Li" who was releasing the green threads from afar frowned. With a single hand seal, he lightly flicked towards the green giant cauldron.

After a muffled sound like a bell's toll, countless runes suddenly appeared on the surface of the giant cauldron, and simultaneously, an immense invisible force surged out from it. The beetles, which had previously turned into wisps of smoke, were forced to reappear in the next moment. And even though their wings emitted dazzling golden light, their flight speed became as slow as a crawling snail.

Furthermore, the green threads, transformed from the green miniature swords, not only maintained their speed under the influence of the giant cauldron's invisible force but also, like fish in water, increased their evasion speed by several points.

With the flashing of the green threads, the entire space above the giant cauldron completely transformed into a curtain of green light.

The dozen or so purple-patterned beetles, trapped in the center of the green light curtain, were struck simultaneously by hundreds of green threads, like stationary targets.

Metallic clanging sounds erupted ceaselessly, like a violent storm!

In an instant, countless dazzling green lights flashed on the bodies of the dozen or so spirit insects, making them impossible to look at directly for a moment. However, the piercing screeches emanating from the green light became extremely loud.

The three Han Lis witnessed this scene with unchanged expressions. Two of them quickly formed hand seals, frantically pouring their magic power into the giant cauldron.

The last Han Li, with a layer of green aura covering his face, frantically urged the green sword threads without ceasing.

For a time, no other sounds could be heard in the secret chamber except for the whooshing and booming crackling noises.

After an unknown period, the Han Li who had been releasing the green sword threads suddenly raised his eyes and beckoned with a finger towards the distant void.

Immediately, the green threads paused and re-transformed into seventy-two green miniature swords, which flashed and shot back.

The golden halo above his head, which had originally been fluctuating, merely gave a gentle spin, and all the flying swords were strangely absorbed and disappeared within it.

Following this, the halo itself disintegrated and vanished with a soft 'pop'.

Simultaneously, the other two Han Lis also changed their hand seals, and with spiritual light flashing on their bodies, they each withdrew their techniques.

Above the giant cauldron, the purple-patterned beetles that had been submerged in the green light naturally reappeared.

After such a long period of refinement by the sword threads, they still appeared angry but showed no signs of mental fatigue or weakness. Without the giant cauldron's restrictive effect, they immediately spread their wings and shot off towards the three Han Lis in different directions.

"Still!"

The three Han Lis, seeing this, showed no signs of panic. They uttered a spell word! In an instant, upon hearing the command, the dozen or so spirit insects surprisingly swayed their wings, unable to maintain balance as they reeled precariously in mid-air.

Almost simultaneously, the large green cauldron hummed, and a stream of white mist shot out. With a flash, it swept all the purple-patterned beetles into it.

Although the spirit insects were extremely unwilling, they were still obediently pulled into the giant cauldron under the influence of the white mist.

Seeing this, the "Han Li" who had just released the flying swords let out a soft sigh, his expression relaxing, and he murmured:

"They are becoming increasingly difficult to control. It seems the secret technique was right. Once they grow to this extent, the original control methods are indeed insufficient. I must perform another master-recognition ritual. However, having cultivated them to this degree, the spirit insects' strength is now almost equal, making further mutual consumption very difficult. It seems quite unlikely I can cultivate an Insect King."

After murmuring to himself, Han Li frowned slightly and fell into contemplation for a moment.

Since leaving the Underworld River territory, he had been cultivating while collecting various rare materials encountered along the way. After more than a hundred years, he finally returned to the Human Race territories.

As soon as he returned to the clan, knowing that there wasn't much time left before the demon tribulation erupted, he immediately summoned his three disciples, gave them instructions, and then went into secluded cultivation again, setting up multiple layers of restrictions.

This period of seclusion had two objectives: one was to cultivate diligently, using the power of the Underworld River's Milk to improve his physique, striving to advance his magic power to the perfected mid-stage realm as soon as possible, and then attempt to break through the late-stage bottleneck.

The other objective was naturally to use the Mayfly Insect Rearing Secret Art, which he had recently acquired, to try and cultivate an Insect King. If he could truly cultivate a Gold-Devouring Insect King before the demon tribulation erupted, he wouldn't necessarily be able to sweep through the entire demon race, but at the very least, he would no longer be in danger of falling.

Therefore, even though he knew there must have been some issues with the Mayfly clan's Grand Elder handing him this art so easily, he still unhesitatingly decided to try it.

During the hundred-plus years he spent returning to the Human Race, he had already studied and comprehended this newly acquired insect rearing art countless times. Combining it with his previous experience in insect rearing and some unique inherent advantages he possessed, he had indeed devised his own method for cultivating an Insect King.

Most of this method was the same as the Mayfly clan's secret art, but a small part of it was distinctly different. For example, in the Mayfly clan's secret art, certain spiritual medicines were meant to be fed, but only used rarely due to their extreme scarcity. However, Han Li, confident in the mysterious small bottle he possessed, naturally fed these spiritual medicines to his Gold-Devouring Insects every few days without hesitation, as long as he believed they were truly effective.

Additionally, because Han Li possessed the Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder, he unhesitatingly used it to replace several other types of lightning power mentioned in the Mayfly clan's secret art for tempering insect bodies.

Of course, whether these modifications to the insect rearing art were truly effective was something only heaven knew. But at least from Han Li's own perspective, the efficiency should be vastly superior to the Mayfly clan's method.

And as expected, in just two hundred years, Han Li, besides keeping nearly ten thousand unmutated, original mature Gold-Devouring Insects as backup, gathered all other mutated Gold-Devouring Insects and used special methods to encourage them to devour each other once more.

To control these new Gold-Devouring Insects, whose abilities had greatly increased due to mutual consumption, Han Li even had to pay a huge price to have his disciples acquire the strange treasure: the large green cauldron before him.

This cauldron might be insignificant in combat, but after being re-refined, it could greatly enhance his control over the Gold-Devouring Insects.

So, after making a hundred and twenty percent thorough preparations and spending over two hundred years meticulously cultivating, he finally allowed tens of thousands of mutated Gold-Devouring Insects to consume each other until only the last thirteen purple-patterned Gold-Devouring Insects remained in the cauldron.

These new Gold-Devouring Insects, as candidates for the Insect King, each possessed extraordinary divine abilities and, when combined, could even withstand an ordinary mid-stage Body Integration cultivator. However, when Han Li joyfully tried to make these thirteen spirit insects undergo further mutual consumption, he immediately encountered an unsolvable problem. Despite his attempts to stimulate them with various methods, none could prevail over any of the others due to their equal strength.