The Gold Devourer Beetles’ Bitter Lesson

Countless Gold Devourer Beetles surged from the pouch, instantly coalescing into a massive, three-colored swarm that blanketed the sky above Han Li. The cloud stretched nearly a hundred meters across, a terrifying spectacle.

“Eh?” A voice of astonishment rang out.

A cold light flickered in Han Li’s eyes. He turned his gaze and landed on the stunningly beautiful young woman in the distance. Her hand was covering her small, cherry-like mouth, and her eyes were filled with surprise, along with a hint of inexplicable joy.

He was startled. Before he could understand why she wore such an expression, two booming crashes erupted from another direction.

Alarmed, he had no time to dwell on it and quickly snapped his gaze back.

A bronze ancient shield, gleaming with white light, flew out from the purple cloud, effortlessly blocking the attack of the two giant swords.

Seeing this, Han Li sighed inwardly.

He had never had the time to properly temper these flying swords. Their power relied solely on their special materials, making them only comparable to the magic treasures of an ordinary Core Formation cultivator.

Now that his cultivation had advanced to the late Core Formation stage, the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords' power no longer matched his level. Even when using the Giant Sword Technique, they posed little threat to an opponent of the same rank.

Even so, with a thought, Han Li commanded the two swords to assault the purple cloud from all angles. They rained down a relentless barrage of attacks, but each was blocked by the ancient shield.

At the same time, a low, droning hum emanated from Han Li’s mouth. The swarm of Gold Devourer Beetles above him began to buzz in response, then transformed into a massive insect cloud that surged toward the purple cloud.

He had no idea what the purple cloud was, but with the Gold Devourer Beetles’ talent for devouring anything, no barrier could withstand their consumption.

“Hmph! Using a taming technique? You’re just asking for death!” Wen Tianren, hidden within the purple cloud, showed no fear at the terrifying insect cloud descending upon him. Instead, he sneered with disdain.

Hearing this, Han Li was not angered but secretly pleased.

If the man treated the Gold Devourer Beetles as ordinary spirit insects, he was courting death! The moment the insect cloud fell upon the purple cloud, it would be the moment of his downfall.

Han Li smirked coldly to himself. Just as the insect cloud descended upon the purple cloud, Wen Tianren in the cloud suddenly uttered a single word: “Go!”

A startling scene unfolded.

A flash of golden light appeared within the purple cloud, followed by countless golden threads bursting forth from it, shooting in every direction into the surging insect cloud.

A series of pu pu sounds echoed. Countless insect corpses, like raindrops, fell densely from the sky.

These golden threads seemed to be the natural nemesis of the Gold Devourer Beetles. Their bodies, normally impervious to magic tools, were pierced and destroyed by the golden threads upon contact, utterly unable to resist.

Witnessing this, Han Li was naturally furious. He quickly let out a sharp whistle.

Hearing the signal, the insect swarm immediately turned and fled back.

But the golden threads seemed unwilling to let them go, chasing after the swarm. More and more insects fell from the air.

Han Li’s expression grew extremely grim. Without a second thought, he slapped his storage pouch and flipped his hand, revealing an ancient blue basket.

Without any hesitation, he tossed the basket into the air.

With a flash of white light, the basket transformed into a ball of white mist that shot directly toward the golden threads.

The mist passed through the fleeing insect swarm as if it were intangible and charged straight into the threads. A strange light flickered in Han Li’s eyes as he rapidly chanted an incantation. The white mist began to spin swiftly, its radiance intensifying.

The golden threads pursuing the insects, once enveloped by the white light, immediately slowed down, their speed becoming sluggish.

Taking advantage of this, the insect cloud widened the distance and flew back into Han Li’s spirit beast pouch.

However, Han Li’s expression remained grim. In this brief exchange, nearly ten thousand of his three-colored Gold Devourer Beetles had been lost. If not for the ancient basket’s intervention, the swarm might not have been completely wiped out, but the losses would have been catastrophic.

What kind of magic treasure were these golden threads to possess such power?

He still found it hard to believe. The Gold Devourer Beetle swarm had been so easily neutralized without even demonstrating its full power. The frustration was immense.

As he was lost in this brief moment of chagrin, the golden threads within the white mist changed once more.

They flashed fiercely a few times, then dimmed and revealed their true form, motionless within the white light. They were dozens of slender golden needles, each only about three centimeters long, glittering with a brilliant gold.

Seeing this, Han Li was genuinely horrified.

This disciple of the Six Dao Sect cultivated the most difficult type of magic treasure—flying needles—and he had hundreds of them, a dense and deadly array. Han Li sucked in a cold breath.

Then, a thought occurred to him.

But at that moment, the golden needles’ light, after dimming slightly, blazed forth again.

With a series of soosh soosh sounds, they shot toward a single point, converging in an instant to form a golden small sword.

This golden sword trembled lightly for a moment, then shot forward like a comet. It broke through the ancient basket’s restriction in an instant and flew straight at Han Li.

Han Li’s expression darkened. He reached into his storage pouch and pulled out a shimmering green talisman. This was the talisman treasure given to him by Elder Qing Yi back in the Void Heaven Palace.

It was a flying-needle type treasure as well, perfect for testing its power.

The golden sword flew right up to Han Li, then, with a bang, dispersed again, reverting to countless golden threads that lunged forward.

Without hesitation, Han Li opened his mouth and blew a stream of azure essence onto the talisman treasure.

The talisman flashed green, instantly activated. It transformed into a streak of green light that shot out.

Once outside the protective barrier, the green light instantly exploded into a dense rain of green needle-thin rays. At a glance, aside from their different color, they were exactly the same as the golden threads.

“This is…” Wen Tianren in the purple cloud was stunned, revealing an expression of surprise.

Meanwhile, the golden threads and the green needles clashed and intertwined not far from Han Li, erupting into large and small spheres of light. A temporary stalemate ensued.

“Azure Spectral Needle! What’s your relationship with Elder Qing Yi? How do you have a talisman treasure of his Azure Spectral Needle? That old miser is incredibly stingy and treats those needles like his own life. Could you be his disciple or a member of his sect?” Wen Tianren asked coldly after a sharp gasp of surprise.

Hearing the name ‘Azure Spectral Needle’ called out, Han Li was startled, but then he felt relieved.

It seemed that while the news of the Void Heaven Cauldron had spread, the specific details of what happened inside the palace had not been leaked much by the Nascent Soul elders. Otherwise, the other man would have recognized him based on this talisman treasure alone.

Thinking this, Han Li couldn’t be bothered to reply. He just let out a cold laugh, ignoring the question. He then poured all his mana into the spell, taking advantage of the opponent’s momentary hesitation to push the green needles forward, forcing the golden threads to retreat step by step.

“Looking for death! Since you refuse to explain, I won’t bother giving old man Qing Yi any face. Don’t blame me for being rude! Now, I’ll show you the power of the Chaotic Star Sea’s premier demonic technique, the Six Extreme True Demon Art!” Wen Tianren roared with rage, his voice turning icy.

With that, the golden threads stopped their engagement with the Azure Spectral Needle talisman. They turned and shot back, disappearing silently into the purple cloud.

A fierce look flashed across Han Li’s face. Without a moment’s delay, he urged the green needles forward, surrounding the purple cloud and stabbing wildly.

But as before, the cloud seemed empty. All the green needles pierced through without effect.

Seeing this, a frosty expression settled on Han Li’s face. He quickly summoned the green needles back, returning them to their talisman form and stowing them away in his pouch.

The Azure Spectral Needle was immensely powerful. He couldn’t afford to waste its energy.

Staring at the silent, distant purple cloud, Han Li’s expression shifted between uncertainty and hesitation. He seemed to want to do something but was unsure.

In that split second, the purple cloud began to churn without any warning. A fierce wind arose, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for dozens of kilometers became agitated, then surged like rivers flowing into the sea, pouring into the purple cloud. The cloud swelled, its color shifting drastically from purple to an ashen white. From within came a strange crackling sound. At first, it was faint, but it quickly grew earsplitting, filling the listener with a profound unease.

Witnessing this bizarre scene, the hesitation vanished from Han Li’s face.

He grabbed his right arm with his left hand, then raised his right palm, aiming it directly at the ashen-white cloud across from him, his face contorted with a terrifying and fierce expression.

The nearby spiritual energy continued to pour in recklessly. The ashen-white cloud continued its relentless expansion. The crackling sound had completely transformed into a thunderous roar, each rumble enough to make any cultivator of lower cultivation tremble in fear and lose their composure.

(End of Chapter)