Chapter 2331: Abnormal Mutation

Hong Tong, the Second Elder of the Dan Niao Clan, was utterly distraught.

Ever since he was drawn into the Insect Tomb, he had encountered the vestiges of ancient insects three times in quick succession. The first time, due to his inexperience, he managed to disperse the vestige, but both he and his life-bound insect gu sustained injuries, creating a latent problem.

The second encounter went slightly better, but before he and his life-bound insect gu could fully recover, he was once again drawn into a confrontation with another vestige. He couldn't help but want to curse aloud.

Based on his past experiences, once an ancient insect vestige set its sights on someone, it was a relentless, inescapable battle to the death.

Fortunately, as the Second Elder of the Dan Niao Clan, he had a deep foundation and was well-stocked with spiritual medicines. Both he and his life-bound insect gu were currently relying on elixirs to forcefully suppress their injuries, hoping to quickly dispatch these two ancient insects.

Hong Tong was secretly anxious, not out of concern for the elixirs themselves, but from the fear that more ancient insect vestiges would appear in succession. He didn't know how much longer he would be trapped in the Insect Tomb, and if his injuries continued to worsen, his situation would become increasingly perilous.

Hum! As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Hong Tong suddenly heard the sound of a zither. He quickly dismissed his distracting thoughts, then found himself enveloped by a shadow, as a series of rapid rushing sounds filled the air around him.

He saw the ground beneath him vibrate, with layers of earth surging up. The earth rumbled loudly, and the surrounding mountain peaks began to sway, sending rocks tumbling down.

Immediately, several areas on the ground swelled high, as if new mountain peaks were growing. The raised earth emitted a golden shimmer, then transformed into massive, rounded boulders that shot towards the sky.

These boulders flew to Hong Tong's side. With loud bangs, they interlocked, instantly forming a spherical stone ball that enclosed Hong Tong. The seams were airtight, and a metallic luster flowed across its surface, clearly indicating its immense solidity.

This was a spiritual insect's divine ability. His life-bound insect gu was a spiritual earthworm, highly skilled in controlling metal and stone. This ability, originally intended to trap enemies, was now being used for defense.

The moment the stone sphere formed, ripples spread from the void. As they struck the sphere, they caused intense vibrations and emitted resonant clanging sounds.

These ripples were sound waves, originating from one of the ancient insect vestiges, which had a very peculiar appearance: a spherical, furry ball.

This ancient insect's cries were melodious, yet concealed deadly intent. It was a very insidious sound-based killing ability, and Hong Tong had just narrowly avoided a huge loss.

The stone sphere blocked the ancient insect's sound-based killing ability, then suddenly plummeted, narrowly brushing past a streak of rainbow light.

The moment the rainbow light and sound waves collided, Hong Tong's eyes flashed with cold light. He flipped his palm, revealing a shadowy mass clinging to his palm.

Its aura indicated it was a spiritual insect with considerable cultivation, yet it remained shrouded in shadow, its appearance indistinguishable.

The spiritual insect's back swelled to its extreme, as if it were about to explode, then suddenly contracted, emitting a 'thump' that resonated like a thunder drum, echoing throughout heaven and earth.

In an instant, the ancient insect that unleashed the sound-based killing ability suddenly sank downwards, as if it had been struck hard, feeling dizzy and slow to react. Above its head, a pitch-black object had appeared at some unknown moment.

This object was not large, but it possessed immense force, suppressing the ancient insect!

At the same time, a golden gleam appeared behind the ancient insect. A slender, golden spiritual insect vaguely materialized, its body bending and springing forth, shooting out and piercing through the ancient insect like a sharp sword.

The ancient insect's cries abruptly ceased, and its body shattered like a mirror.

The golden spiritual insect's momentum was unabated, and it seized the opportunity to attack the other ancient insect.

Hong Tong had been entangled with the two ancient insect vestiges for a long time and finally found the perfect moment to strike. With good luck, he might be able to eliminate both ancient insects in one go.

Just then, Hong Tong hesitated for a moment, his face filled with surprise, as if he had discovered something astonishing.

The golden spiritual insect, too, was half a beat slow due to its master's hesitation, missing the opportune moment.

Hong Tong did not stomp his feet or beat his chest in frustration because of this. Instead, he burst out of the stone sphere, ignoring the living ancient insect, and stared intently at his own life-bound insect gu, a mix of shock and joy on his face.

Hiss... The golden spiritual insect swayed its head and emitted a cry. At first, it was a little awkward, but the cry quickly changed, becoming melodious and beautiful, exactly like the cry of the ancient insect that had just 'died'!

Immediately after, familiar sound waves emanated from the golden spiritual insect, spreading outwards.

At this moment, Qin Sang and Yu Ling were quietly approaching, taking in the entire scene. Both couldn't help but show astonishment.

"Attack!"

Qin Sang showed no hesitation because of this. Hong Tong was distracted by his spiritual insect, making it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The next moment, subtle fluctuations appeared beneath the golden spiritual insect.

The living ancient insect was currently launching a counterattack against Hong Tong. This spiritual insect, adorned in seven colors, was a Seven-Colored Ancient Insect. Its most powerful divine ability was to emit rainbow lights of various colors; each color possessed different powers, but all were extremely destructive, and the seven-colored rainbow light was particularly formidable.

Qin Sang's timing was impeccable. A seven-colored rainbow light happened to descend from the sky, attacking both the golden spiritual insect and Hong Tong. Moreover, as its opponent fell, the power of this Seven-Colored Ancient Insect was rapidly increasing, its might surpassing its past capabilities.

Hong Tong suppressed the wild joy in his heart, ordering the golden spiritual insect to focus on the Seven-Colored Ancient Insect. Suddenly, he grew alert and roared, "Who's there!"

Just then, a butterfly's silhouette flashed beneath the golden spiritual insect—it was the Heavenly Eye Butterfly!

The Heavenly Eyes on the butterfly's wings were significantly different from before, as if covered by a layer of green membrane. The Heavenly Eyes flickered, and lightning bolts leaped; these lightning bolts were immediately dyed green by the membrane, transforming into Yimu Divine Thunder.

Streams of green electrical light emerged from the butterfly's wings, instantly converging into a single green lightning bolt that struck towards the golden spiritual insect.

At this moment, the golden spiritual insect was caught between a seven-colored rainbow light above its head and Yimu Divine Thunder beneath it. Simultaneously facing two attacks, its situation was precarious.

This wasn't all. Yu Ling appeared right after the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. She had previously fed a pill to her Green Feathered Spirit Bird, and it immediately transformed into a green arrow. The green arrow left three graceful arcs in the void, instantly blocking all escape routes for the golden spiritual insect!

For the golden spiritual insect, this was almost a certain death trap!

The Insect Tomb was peculiar; once Hong Tong's spiritual insect was dealt with, he wouldn't be able to stir up any trouble.

However, Hong Tong remained a variable, and he was Qin Sang's primary target!

Developments came one after another. Hong Tong's eyes nearly split from rage as he realized this was an ambush meticulously prepared for him by his enemies—almost a death trap!

In this critical moment, Hong Tong had only one choice. His face immediately flushed as he prepared to sacrifice his own essence blood to unleash a forbidden insect-controlling art, instantly boosting the golden spiritual insect's combat power. He himself would even disregard the backlash from heaven and earth to intervene.

Just then, a familiar figure came into view.

"It's you!"

Seeing Qin Sang's face clearly, Hong Tong was greatly startled.

Outside the Insect Tomb, he had presided over the grand formation, observing Qin Sang's various actions. Besides hatred, he also felt a faint sense of dread. This person, while trapped within the formation, was actually able to forcefully kill another right under his nose. His strength was truly terrifying.

Now that Qin Sang suddenly appeared before him, Hong Tong's mind was greatly shaken. He saw Qin Sang charging directly towards him, radiating astonishing killing intent.

"This is bad!"

Hong Tong sensed an intense aura of danger from Qin Sang. If he were to rescue the golden spiritual insect now, he would be the one to die!

In a flash, Hong Tong unhesitatingly chose to save his own life, even if it might be a futile struggle. He quickly tossed the spiritual insect in his hand upwards. Both the spiritual insect and the stone sphere flew above his head, transforming into a thick black cloud.

He vividly remembered the terrifying power of Mount Daiyu Immortal, in case Qin Sang swung the immortal mountain to smash him.

Just then, he saw a flicker of mockery in Qin Sang's eyes.

Previously, he had used strength-based methods to distance himself from the identity of 'Elder Qin'. Just now, Qin Sang had subtly probed, confirming that Yu Ling was unaware of what had happened within the formation, and thus decided to continue concealing his true strength.

Now, he was using 'Elder Qin's' methods!

To Hong Tong's astonishment, he did not see the immortal mountain. Instead, he felt an unfamiliar sword intent lock onto him.

At this moment, he almost thought there was a third enemy.

"This person is not only a powerful body cultivator, but also a sword cultivator!" Hong Tong couldn't believe it.

The void darkened, and four sacred beasts flashed within the starlight. All of this happened in an instant. The four sacred beasts transformed into a streak of starlight, a star-sword, slashing at Hong Tong from an unexpected angle.

Attacking here would incur backlash from heaven and earth. Therefore, Qin Sang did not use a sword formation to wear down Hong Tong's strength; his very first move was a killing blow!

While the immortal mountain was broad and expansive, the star-sword was mysterious and unpredictable. The defenses Hong Tong had prepared for Mount Daiyu Immortal were almost useless before this star-sword, and Hong Tong no longer had time to change his moves.

In this critical moment, Hong Tong no longer cared about the backlash from heaven and earth. His glabella suddenly cracked open, and countless slender threads of light shot out, resembling tiny white insects twisting and dancing, a sight that made one's scalp tingle.

These threads of light condensed before him, instantly forming a divine-runic totem. The totem's spiritual light shifted, transforming into a massive shield that blocked his path.

The sword light arrived!

Sword and shield met. A crack appeared on the surface of the massive shield, with fissures spreading outwards from its center.

"Puff!"

Hong Tong spurted blood violently and shot backwards.

A terrifying sword mark distinctly appeared across his chest. His defense was shattered by a single sword strike, the mark diagonally traversing his chest and abdomen, a shocking sight.

Hong Tong's face was as pale as paper. He was not dead yet, but the sword intent was still wreaking havoc within his body.

At this point, Qin Sang did not continue his sword attack. A cry of alarm reached his ears.

"Elder Qin, quickly dodge!"

Unbeknownst to him, fierce winds raged behind him. The terrifying wind pressure could destroy everything on the ground. From within the raging winds, a transparent wind blade emerged, slicing swiftly towards Qin Sang's back.

Qin Sang had used the power of his sword domain, otherwise, he couldn't have instantly gravely wounded the man. But this also enraged the Insect Tomb. The stronger the divine ability used by a cultivator, the stronger the backlash they would face.

Before taking action, Qin Sang had agreed with Yu Ling that he would personally strike to capture or kill Hong Tong, while Yu Ling would fend off the backlash for him.

Yu Ling had summoned another spiritual insect beforehand, standing ready. But when the moment truly arrived, she realized just how strong the backlash was. She could only manage to slightly deflect the transparent wind blade, gaining some time for Qin Sang.

Qin Sang had long anticipated this. How could he entrust his life to others? The strange insect in his hand trembled, and a poisonous path formed beneath his feet. Taking a step, his figure flashed repeatedly, continuously weakening the transparent wind blade, while also hearing a tragic cry.

The tragic cry came from Hong Tong.

He was gravely wounded, and because he personally moved to resist the sword light, he also suffered backlash from heaven and earth. But unlike Qin Sang, he had no one to fend off the backlash for him, adding to his already severe injuries.

To make matters worse, the connection between him and his life-bound insect gu... was severed!

The golden spiritual insect was dead!

Besieged by the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, the Green Feathered Spirit Bird, and the Seven-Colored Ancient Insect, the golden spiritual insect couldn't hold out alone. Receiving no support from its master, it fought to its death, its newly comprehended sound-based killing ability becoming its final swan song.

Hong Tong's face was filled with despair. At this moment, the attacks of several spiritual insects swept towards him again, and Qin Sang and Yu Ling were also eyeing him like tigers.

Knowing there was no escape, he suddenly let out a sorrowful roar towards the sky, filled with deep hatred, as golden light erupted from his entire body.

Qin Sang inwardly thought, "This is bad," but it was too late to stop it, and he sighed inwardly.

Rumble... Thunderclouds gathered densely, silver lightning danced wildly, and gusts of eerie wind blew, incredibly strange. The backlash from heaven and earth was unpredictable and unfathomable.

A gust of eerie wind blew past Hong Tong, and the golden light rapidly faded. Hong Tong's figure appeared, transforming into wind-blown sand.

It turned out that Hong Tong knew he was going to die. If he continued to struggle, he might be captured by the enemies' methods, leading to a fate worse than death. So he exhausted all the power within his body, drew forth the backlash from heaven and earth, and ended his own life!

Hong Tong's final attack overdrawn his potential, carrying his unyielding will, striking towards his enemies, but it was easily dodged by Qin Sang and Yu Ling.

The wind-blown sand dispersed with the wind.

Yu Ling said unwillingly, "This person was truly resolute!"

"Let's see if he left anything behind."

Qin Sang shook his head. In the end, he had failed. It was too difficult to capture a late-stage Void Refinement realm expert alive, let alone in a place like this.

Once the celestial phenomena weakened, Qin Sang and Yu Ling flew to where Hong Tong had fallen, looking around.

After Hong Tong's death, the Seven-Colored Spiritual Insect also vanished. It was unclear if it was obliterated by the celestial phenomena, or if it dissipated automatically after losing its target.

"Friend, did you notice the golden talisman on this person's chest?" Qin Sang asked.

Yu Ling nodded, her expression solemn.

When Hong Tong fell, the golden talisman shattered, revealing some signs. They suspected that this treasure might possess powers similar to a soul lamp.

It was unknown if the other end was connected to the Dan Niao Clan's divine temple, or if it was personally overseen by the Dan Niao Clan's High Priestess. The latter meant that the female cultivator already knew of Hong Tong's demise and would certainly be extra cautious from now on.

Not only did they fail to capture Hong Tong alive or gain a lure, but they might have also alerted the enemy.

Since matters had come to this, regret was useless.

"Elder Qin," Yu Ling said, looking thoughtfully at the spot where the golden spiritual insect had fallen, "You saw what just happened, didn't you?"

Qin Sang knew what she was referring to.

The golden spiritual insect had clearly only comprehended the sound-based killing ability after killing the ancient insect vestige. It was an evolution in the midst of battle!

The Witch Clan cultivates spiritual insects, often starting from the first or second transformation stages. This makes it easier to guide the spiritual insects' evolution, but there is a drawback: low-tier spiritual insects lack sufficient intelligence, unable to control what they transform into, and after evolving, they can easily go astray or even become useless.

High-tier spiritual insects are different. For instance, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly now possesses extremely high intelligence. They are already capable of controlling themselves and clearly understand their chosen path. If they were to evolve again, it would be like having an additional path open before them, an added possibility, signifying even greater potential for the spiritual insect.

It should be known that spiritual insect evolution becomes more difficult the higher the realm.

These ancient insect vestiges could actually induce a Sixth Transformation spiritual insect to evolve!