Chapter 396: 育虫

A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality, Volumes 3 and 4: Winds Rise in the Outer Seas.

Although the "Gold Devouring Beetles" rank high on the List of Exotic Insects, according to the spirit-manipulating jade slip, their individual capabilities are very limited. They rely entirely on sheer numbers to achieve victory. If there are only a dozen or a few dozen, they won't be very useful even after reaching maturity. Only when their numbers reach hundreds of thousands can they truly live up to their ranking on the List of Exotic Insects.

The thought of countless beetles swarming and attacking in the sky, an endless tide of destruction, made Han Li shiver. Therefore, the immediate task was to quickly mature these Gold Devouring Beetles and then have them reproduce as soon as possible, allowing their numbers to multiply exponentially.

However, easier said than done! As exotic insects that existed since ancient times, Gold Devouring Beetles had long been extinct in the cultivating world of Tiannan. The specific methods for their breeding and cultivation had also been lost for countless generations. The jade slip on insect rearing, left by the Spirit Control Sect cultivator, only compiled some of the beetles' habits based on ancient texts; it contained no detailed instructions for their training. This greatly frustrated Han Li.

In fact, it wasn't just the twelfth-ranked "Gold Devouring Beetles"; nearly all of the top thirty exotic insects were insect-type demonic beasts that had been extinct in the cultivating world for many years. The Spirit Control Sect cultivator was originally an insect enthusiast who, after collecting and analyzing various ancient materials, compiled these ancient insects into the List of Exotic Insects. Whether the higher rankings on this list were reliable was anyone's guess!

Han Li's acquisition of these supposedly extinct Gold Devouring Beetles was also a stroke of luck. For reasons unknown, these Gold Devouring Beetles, still in their larval stage, had been in a state of suspended animation deep underground on Xiao Huan Island since ancient times. Ordinarily, even landslides or tumultuous seas wouldn't easily rouse these exotic insects. However, Han Li had gathered and fed numerous other exotic insects in his cave dwelling on Xiao Huan Island. The scent of these insects gradually permeated underground, miraculously awakening the Gold Devouring Beetles en masse due to their feeding instincts.

They should have launched a feeding frenzy long ago. However, among Han Li's exotic insects were "Blood Jade Spiders," which were their natural predators. Out of instinctive fear, the Gold Devouring Beetles dared not approach Han Li's cave dwelling too closely. Consequently, they lay dormant underground on Xiao Huan Island, while relentlessly watching Han Li's cave dwelling.

Then, Han Li's shopping trip, during which he took the Blood Jade Spiders with him, provided the Gold Devouring Beetles with their opportunity. Just as Han Li had witnessed, these Gold Devouring Beetles devoured all the exotic insects he had been raising and settled in the cave dwelling's herb garden, making it their new lair. However, Han Li, who had secretly returned, caught them all in one fell swoop.

Now, since Han Li lacked the old insect-rearing cultivation methods, he had no choice but to gradually figure things out on his own. First, Han Li tried putting various types of insect food into the insect chamber. Regardless of the type, the hundreds of Gold Devouring Beetles devoured it all, showing no pickiness whatsoever.