Chapter 568: Royal Spirit Master Wang Qingling

From time to time, demonic beasts emerged from beneath the swamp. Two Corpse-Bone Alligators were particularly fierce; with their thick hides and sharp teeth, ordinary demonic beasts were no match for them.

As time passed, the two Corpse-Bone Alligators stirred the swamp into chaos. They encountered giant yellow turtles about ten feet long, yellow earthworms over thirty feet long, strange beasts with pig heads and fish bodies, and more. The Corpse-Bone Alligators moved unimpeded through the swamp, driving the underground demonic beasts to the surface. Using their sharp teeth, they brutally tore other beasts to shreds and devoured them.

Wang Qingling continuously encouraged the two Corpse-Bone Alligators, becoming unusually excited whenever they tore other demonic beasts to pieces.

After about fifteen minutes, the two Corpse-Bone Alligators encountered a formidable enemy: a massive alligator about thirty feet long with black spiritual patterns on its back. This black alligator was a Class 2 mid-grade demonic beast, considerably larger than the two Corpse-Bone Alligators.

The two Corpse-Bone Alligators quickly scurried towards Wang Qingling, with the black alligator in close pursuit.

“Oh no, there’s a big one! Quickly, eliminate it! Don’t let it harm my Corpse-Bone Alligators; I’ve worked so hard to cultivate them to Class 2,” Wang Qingling exclaimed nervously. She then activated two Earth-to-Rock Talismans, sending them directly towards the black alligator.

The two Earth-to-Rock Talismans transformed into two streaks of yellow light, momentarily flashing before sinking into the swamp near the black alligator. The mud beneath the alligator's belly rapidly turned into grayish-white rock.

Around the black alligator, a fifty-zhang (approximately 160 feet) radius was now composed of grayish-white rock.

A gigantic, house-sized fireball descended from the sky, accurately striking the black alligator. Rolling flames engulfed the beast.

Wang Qiuming formed a hand seal, and behind him, a vast expanse of golden light points appeared in the void. These transformed into foot-long golden flying needles that shot towards the crimson sea of fire like falling meteors.

The dense golden flying needles flew into the crimson flames, eliciting a series of dull thuds.

Before long, the crimson sea of fire dissipated, revealing the black alligator completely unharmed, covered in a thick yellow armor.

Five Qi Refinement cultivators each summoned a Class 2 puppet beast, which landed near the black alligator.

The five Class 2 puppet beasts attacked the black alligator, some spewing light beams from their mouths, others wielding swords and blades.

Wang Qingjun and the others assisted from the side. The black alligator, being only a Class 2 mid-grade beast, could not withstand their combined assault. Before long, its body bore a dozen horrific bloody gashes, bleeding profusely.

The black alligator let out a strange roar, its body glowing with yellow light as it attempted to burrow underground. However, the Earth-to-Rock Talismans specifically countered earth-burrowing techniques, so it found itself unable to escape beneath the surface. Its ponderous body then charged rapidly towards the distant swamp.

Nine dazzling golden lights struck. Eight of them hit its body, producing dull thuds, while one struck its right eye, causing immediate and profuse bleeding.

A large white net enveloped it, quickly contracting and trapping the black alligator within.

To the black alligator's surprise, the sky suddenly darkened, and a crimson fire cloud hundreds of zhang (over 300 feet) in diameter appeared directly above its head.

The crimson fire cloud churned, and hundreds of watermelon-sized crimson fireballs flew out, fiercely raining down upon the black alligator.

Boom!

A sea of crimson fire engulfed the black alligator, from which emerged a series of shrill screams.

With loud “whooshing” sounds, hundreds of golden flying knives shot forth, soaring into the crimson sea of fire and causing a series of explosive bangs.

In less than three breaths, the flames dissipated. The black alligator's yellow armor was shattered, its body was bleeding profusely, covered in wounds, and its aura was weak.

Hundreds of blood-colored locusts flew over, swarming the black alligator. They viciously gnawed at its body, targeting the dark wounds.

These Bloodthirsty Locusts were all Class 1 spiritual insects. They were highly sensitive to blood, becoming extremely excited and ferociously bloodthirsty upon smelling it.

Although small individually, the Bloodthirsty Locusts were overwhelming in number. The black alligator was powerless against them. They gnawed furiously at its body through the wounds, burrowing into its flesh.

The black alligator let out repeated screams, its ponderous body thrashing wildly as it tried to crush the Bloodthirsty Locusts on it, but to no avail.

After about seven minutes, only a giant white skeleton remained, with even its core gone.

“Tenth Sister, you actually raise Bloodthirsty Locusts as spiritual insects? They are incredibly brutal! If not controlled properly, they could turn on their master,” Wang Qingjun said.

Wang Qingling smiled faintly and said nonchalantly, “Not at all! I find them quite well-behaved. The idea of them turning on their master is out of the question.”

“Well-behaved?”

Wang Qingjun glanced at the Bloodthirsty Locusts, whose fangs were exposed, and was somewhat dumbfounded.

Wang Qingling had slept with pythons since she was six or seven, possessing immense courage. In her view, any spiritual beast, bird, or insect that could be subdued was a well-behaved creature.

After eliminating the black alligator, the two Corpse-Bone Alligators re-entered the swamp, continuing to hunt and kill the demonic beasts beneath the surface.

Lower-level demonic beasts were no match for them. If they encountered a strong opponent, they would immediately flee, luring the beast to the surface for Wang Qingjun and the others to attack with their spells.

Most Class 2 demonic beasts beneath the swamp possessed defensive spells and had thick hides. Wang Qiuming and Wang Qingjun would cast spells to attack these Class 2 beasts, and as soon as they created wounds on the beast's body, the Bloodthirsty Locusts would latch onto the injuries, gnawing at and slowly devouring the beast.

The spiritual beasts and insects trained by Wang Qingling played a significant role, demonstrating well-coordinated teamwork.

Wang Qingjun and Wang Qiuming primarily assisted Wang Qingling, expending little mana.

After more than two hours, a house-sized black toad was completely consumed by hundreds of Bloodthirsty Locusts, leaving behind only its enormous skeleton.

The hundreds of Bloodthirsty Locusts were bloated to the point of near bursting, and over a hundred had perished in the mouths of demonic beasts. The two Corpse-Bone Alligators, with their thick hides, remained unharmed.

“There should be no more Class 2 demonic beasts here. Let's move on!” Wang Qingling said as she stored away her Corpse-Bone Alligators and Bloodthirsty Locusts.

Since the swamp was difficult to traverse on foot, they used their flying magical artifacts to cross it.

About seven minutes later, they landed on solid ground. Before them lay a vibrant, colorful sea of flowers, above which hovered a vast expanse of multicolored miasma.

The Miasma-Avoiding Beads held by Wang Qingjun and the others flickered continuously, indicating the potency of the miasma here.

This flower sea, spanning five or six mu (about 0.8-1 acre), undoubtedly harbored numerous poisonous insects.

Wang Qingjun waved his hand in the air, and a large expanse of crimson light appeared out of nowhere, transforming into a gigantic fireball that crashed into the flower sea. The others also released fire-attribute spells, intending to burn away the entire area.

However, before the flames could spread, a vast amount of multicolored miasma emerged, extinguishing them.

“These spiritual flowers are Five-Color Miasma Flowers. Like the Purple Root Flowers, they continuously produce miasma. The difference is that the miasma released by Five-Color Miasma Flowers attracts a type of poisonous insect called Five-Color Ants. These ants are gregarious, repel other poisonous insects, are agile, and are skilled at spraying venomous mist. Their weakness is their relatively weak defense. Don't we have a set of Class 2 mid-grade wind-attribute formation flags? It would be better to set up a formation to deal with them,” Wang Qingling suggested, for when it came to spiritual insects, beasts, and birds, no one present knew more than she did.

“Let’s do as Tenth Sister says,” Wang Qingjun affirmed.

Wang Qingjun took out over a hundred yellow formation flags. Before he could deploy them, a strange chirping sound erupted, and a vast swarm of multicolored demonic ants flew out from the flower sea.

Individually, the Five-Color Demonic Ants were small, but their strength lay in their immense numbers, totaling tens of thousands.

Wang Qiuming’s expression changed as he exclaimed, “Oh no, the Five-Color Ants are rushing out!”