Chapter 643: Fierce Insect Fright

With everything prepared, Qin Sang concealed himself in the shadows and left the stone platform.

Qin Sang sensed the locations of the Bloodwing Ghosthead Bee larvae and manipulated them to explore as far outward as possible, allowing the aura of Scarlet Fire Gold to spread even further.

Silently and imperceptibly, the scent of Scarlet Fire Gold dispersed throughout the grotto. Qin Sang and the Sky-Flying Yaksha lay in wait, quietly anticipating the emergence of the spirit insect.

The grotto fell into a deathly silence.

For a long time, there was no movement.

Qin Sang was very patient, remaining motionless like a withered tree. In his hand, he held the Ten Directions Yama Banner, ready to use his Nine Nether Demonic Flames to assist in capturing the Night Cicada.

During this time, Qin Sang had continuously cultivated, comprehending the Ten Directions Yama Formation and Sword Light Incarnation. He had made significant progress and could now barely use them in combat.

The underground river flowed with a gentle murmur.

Qin Sang had waited for nearly an hour, and still there was no sign of anything. He gradually grew suspicious. After such a long time, the scent of Scarlet Fire Gold must have spread very far.

Spirit insects should be highly sensitive to such rare treasures; their perception should be very keen, unless they were in a deep sleep or hibernation.

The allure of transformation was something no spirit insect could refuse.

Could it be that the Night Cicadas had truly migrated?

Just as Qin Sang was pondering this, his gaze suddenly narrowed slightly. In his perception, the connection to one of the Ghosthead Bee larvae had been severed.

Qin Sang abruptly turned his head, his eyes like lightning, fixed intently on a rock crevice across the riverbank.

The depths of the crevice were shrouded in darkness, permeated by Yin energy.

The Bloodwing Ghosthead Bee larva had vanished without a sound, and he hadn't sensed anything at all?

Just then, an unexpected change occurred.

In an instant, all three Bloodwing Ghosthead Bee larvae in that line vanished.

In the darkness, something was approaching him silently and with astonishing speed, devouring all the Bloodwing Ghosthead Bee larvae coated with Scarlet Fire Gold.

“Something is wrong!”

Qin Sang's expression changed dramatically.

To ensure the scent of Scarlet Fire Gold spread as far as possible, he had deliberately controlled the distance between each Bloodwing Ghosthead Bee larva.

The terrain deep within the grotto was complex, winding and tortuous.

Even if he used his Sword Qi Thunder Sound ability and flew on his sword, it would be absolutely impossible in such a place to traverse the distance between three larvae so quickly and kill them instantly.

It's important to note that after Qin Sang used Sword Qi Thunder Sound, his escape speed could rival that of a mid-Core Formation cultivator.

It was too fast!

A second-transformation Night Cicada definitely wouldn't possess such terrifying abilities, easily eluding his perception.

This was a third-transformation Night Cicada!

Had the person who discovered the Night Cicadas been mistaken, or had the Night Cicadas transformed over the years?

As this thought flashed through Qin Sang's mind, he suddenly turned his head to look at the stone platform.

In a fleeting moment, his peripheral vision seemed to catch a glimpse of a faint shadow, which vanished instantly. When he looked at the stone platform, nothing was there.

And the Bloodwing Ghosthead Bee larva used as bait had already disappeared!

Qin Sang almost instinctively moved to activate his Nine Nether Demonic Flames and pounce towards the stone platform to capture the Night Cicada. But at that very moment, an extremely dangerous sensation suddenly arose, triggering a strong warning in Qin Sang's heart.

This feeling surprisingly came from the Sky-Flying Yaksha submerged at the bottom of the river!

He was mentally linked with the Sky-Flying Yaksha and could keenly perceive its changes. This sense of danger was incredibly clear.

“This is bad!”

Startled, Qin Sang abandoned the idea of capturing the Night Cicada without hesitation. He abruptly pushed off the ground and shot like lightning towards the grotto's exit above.

His Ebony Sword flew out from between his eyebrows, its light circling his body, as a thunderous sound reverberated through the grotto.

At the same time, water splashed from the underground river as the Sky-Flying Yaksha shot skyward.

‘Whoosh!’

The Sky-Flying Yaksha didn't even glance at the stone platform and likewise fled towards the grotto's exit at maximum speed.

Speed was originally the Sky-Flying Yaksha's strength, but facing the Night Cicada lurking in the shadows, it seemed to have no advantage whatsoever.

In the darkness, an exceptionally sharp aura had already locked onto it and was effortlessly giving chase. Before the water droplets splashed in the grotto could even fall, a shadowy figure appeared with a startling speed, shattering countless water droplets and instantly closing in on the Sky-Flying Yaksha.

Qin Sang turned his head in alarm, just in time to witness this scene. Greatly startled, he hastily commanded the Sky-Flying Yaksha to dodge sideways.

At the same time, he quickly opened his corpse puppet bag and successively threw out several refined corpses to help the Sky-Flying Yaksha buy time.

Unexpectedly, as soon as these refined corpses landed near the Sky-Flying Yaksha, they were instantly sliced into minced flesh, their effect minimal. Only then could one vaguely discern that what had killed them was a narrow, wood-shuttle-like black sword, forged from Yin energy.

The true body of the Night Cicada was hidden within the black sword.

‘Swish!’

Two crisscrossing sword shadows blossomed across the Sky-Flying Yaksha's chest, and two identical wounds starkly appeared on its chest, deep enough to reveal bone!

Qin Sang gasped sharply.

The Sky-Flying Yaksha's physical body was extremely strong; having been tempered by Earth Fiend Qi, it surpassed even the body-tempering cultivators of the early Core Formation stage.

After entering the Core Formation stage, the power of spiritual spells was incomparable to that of the Foundation Establishment stage, and they were called Dao arts. Qin Sang had tested it; the Sky-Flying Yaksha could withstand the Dao arts he cast with its physical body.

Even when facing low-grade magic artifacts, the Sky-Flying Yaksha, by channeling its corpse qi, could resist them head-on.

Just now, Qin Sang had controlled the Sky-Flying Yaksha to concentrate all its corpse qi towards its chest, yet it had offered no resistance whatsoever and was easily breached by the Night Cicada, leaving two terrifying wounds on the Sky-Flying Yaksha.

Had he not reacted in time, the Sky-Flying Yaksha might have been cut in half.

Rumors claimed that high-tier Night Cicadas possessed the ability to bypass spell defenses, and this Night Cicada seemed to possess it.

It certainly hadn't just transformed.

Qin Sang felt immensely fortunate that he hadn't activated the Ten Directions Yama Banner to use Nine Nether Demonic Flames to capture the insect. Seeing that something was amiss, he had directly fled. The Night Cicada was so agile and possessed the ability to bypass spell defenses, making it almost impossible to trap. Qin Sang would not risk his life for a single insect.

Qin Sang was temporarily out of mortal danger, but the Sky-Flying Yaksha was in extreme peril.

If the Night Cicada continued its pursuit, the Sky-Flying Yaksha would be ruined!

He couldn't let the Sky-Flying Yaksha be destroyed here.

This refined corpse had undergone a miraculous encounter and was comparable to a true Sky-Flying Yaksha. It was a powerful aid, and even if he refined another one later, it would be impossible to replicate.

“Faster! Faster!”

Qin Sang's heart pounded with urgency. He fully activated his spiritual sense, extending it deep into the grotto, and finally sensed two Bloodwing Ghosthead Bee larvae.

He had split off some tiny fragments of spiritual sense, concealing them within the larvae. However, because they were released too far, he could only barely perceive their locations and couldn't control them at will.

Upon realizing something was wrong, Qin Sang immediately began to fully sense the spiritual fragments within these larvae.

“Explode!”

‘Pop!’

Deep within the grotto, the two larvae successively self-destructed, and the aura of Scarlet Fire Gold on them extinguished as well.

At that moment, Qin Sang felt a silent change occur around the Sky-Flying Yaksha. Although he couldn't see it, he was certain the Night Cicada had departed.

“Phew!”

Qin Sang let out a long breath, not daring to remain in the grotto. He hastily put away the Sky-Flying Yaksha and fled on his sword, not stopping until he had flown out of the desolate plain's range.