Chapter 160: Century-Old Insect King

Ling Tian’s mind was entirely focused on searching for treasures, completely unaware of the evil master’s shifting expression. After all, Ling Tian had already crippled the evil master’s dark arts, leaving him no different from an ordinary person, utterly incapable of making any waves.

Elder Situ and Yan Fei looked in bewilderment from the dwarfish evil master to Ling Tian, both of them thoroughly puzzled. What kind of treasure could this short man possibly have? And even if he did, where could he possibly hide it? Just as the two of them were pondering, Ling Tian reached out and grabbed the evil master by the chest.

Suddenly, the evil master grinned and said, "Don't harbor any wishful thinking. Even if I die, I won't let you succeed."

Ling Tian abruptly seized the evil master's neck and shouted to Elder Situ and Yan Fei, "Get out of here immediately, this fellow is up to something sinister." The moment the words left his mouth, the evil master fiercely bit the tip of his tongue and burst into wild laughter. "Not a single one of you will survive today. To be able to drag three members of the Security Bureau down with me before I die makes it all worthwhile."

Yan Fei and Elder Situ rapidly retreated, yet still remained completely in the dark regarding what the evil master and Ling Tian were actually doing.

Ling Tian also quickly pulled back, flashing to stand in front of Nangong Zhenyu and the others. He channeled his true qi to erect a massive defensive barrier, enveloping everyone within it.

This was because Ling Tian had just sensed an immensely powerful force emanating from within the evil master's body, one even stronger than the evil master at his absolute peak.

The evil master's dark arts had already been crippled, so why did his body still harbor such a formidable wave of energy? Could it be that the evil master possessed some other unknown and unfathomable secret technique?

Right at that moment, the evil master’s chest ruptured. A blood-red little bug, wreathed in a ball of bloody mist, burst forth from his chest, accompanied by a heart-palpitating whistling sound. The evil master collapsed limply onto the ground, spat out a mouthful of pitch-black blood, and glared coldly at Ling Tian and the others while laughing frantically, "You could never have imagined that I raised a century-old insect king within my heart. Even a martial artist at the Qi Transformation realm who comes in person will be reduced to a rotting corpse."

As soon as he finished speaking, the evil master immediately collapsed completely and became a dead body. His corpse rapidly decayed, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a foul-smelling, rotting carcass.

Upon hearing the words "century-old insect king," Elder Situ, a man of vast knowledge and experience, saw his expression turn instantly grim. Even Yan Fei, whose expression remained eternally unchanged, turned pale, his eyes locked unwaveringly on the century-old insect king hovering in mid-air.

A grave expression also appeared on Ling Tian's face.

According to the information Ling Tian had acquired from the jade slip, he knew that corpse-insects, much like other insects, possessed a king. These were objects of specialized breeding, possessing terrifyingly formidable strength and immunity to blades and spears. When Ling Tian had eliminated the swarm of corpse-insects earlier, he had even felt a twinge of puzzlement as to why the insect king had been nowhere to be seen.

What Ling Tian had expected even less was that the evil master had actually used his own heart to nourish the insect king. This meant that the insect king had already fused into one with the evil master, serving as the ultimate trump card for the evil master to perish together with his enemies.

"Fall back immediately!" Elder Situ shouted at the top of his lungs, suddenly unleashing a palm strike that shoved the terrified crowd outside before swiftly slamming the door shut. "My young brother, this is the corpse-insect king, possessing the most ferocious strength. The three of us are likely going to fall right here today," Elder Situ said with a bitter smile.

Knowing all too well the terrifying might of the insect king, Elder Situ understood that even if the three of them joined forces, they would still be unable to defeat it.

Yan Fei declared, "The two of you get yourselves ready, I will deal with the insect king." Scarcely had his voice faded when Yan Fei charged forward with righteous valor, his hand lashing out toward the insect king. With his very first move, Yan Fei unleashed his full strength, and a mighty torrent of true qi surged forth like a gushing spring, engulfing the insect king within it.

Elder Situ grabbed Ling Tian by the arm, rapidly retreated a couple of steps, and then said in a deep voice, "Young Master Ling, in a moment you and I will strike together to kill Yan Fei. If we want to destroy the insect king, this is our only remaining method." As he spoke, the corners of Elder Situ's eyes turned crimson.

Ling Tian felt a bit perplexed and asked, "What do you mean?"

Elder Situ furtively wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and explained, "Unless it is a martial artist at the Qi Transformation realm, or high-temperature flames are used, it is impossible to defeat the insect king. Therefore, we now have only one option: let Yan Fei provoke the insect king, and once the insect king enters Yan Fei's body, we must immediately seal Yan Fei's meridians and then cr... crush Yan Fei's heart, because the insect king is at its most vulnerable when it is devouring the heart's vital blood."

Having heard Elder Situ's explanation, Ling Tian finally understood. He could not help but give Yan Fei a thumbs-up. Yan Fei intended to use his own body to lure the insect king, enticing it all the way to his heart, thereby creating an opportunity for Ling Tian and Elder Situ to annihilate the creature. Yet even with this plan, the dangers involved were extreme; should they fail to kill the insect king, Yan Fei would have sacrificed his life in vain.

Yan Fei, who had been tangling with the insect king, was already panting heavily. A faint layer of black baleful energy clung to his body; under the corrosion of this malevolent aura, Yan Fei—having just broken through—was unable to mount an effective defense, and his movements had grown exceedingly sluggish. The insect king, by contrast, seemed to fly with even greater exhilaration, emitting bursts of piercing screeches.

"Yan Fei, get back!" Ling Tian flashed to Yan Fei's side and threw out a streak of true qi, swatting away the hovering, swooping insect king like a bullet. It slammed directly into a table, piercing straight through the furniture.

Having suffered an attack, the insect king's screeches grew even more ear-piercing, and its speed escalated by another notch. Its blood-red body glowed with a harsher glare—evidently, Ling Tian's assault had thoroughly enraged the creature.

Elder Situ was dumbstruck. Ling Tian's speed was actually a fraction faster than that of the insect king! One had to know that the insect king's speed was terrifyingly swift, comparable to—or perhaps even slightly surpassing—a martial arts expert at the Qi Transformation realm. Yet Ling Tian was even faster than the insect king; could it be that he had previously underestimated Ling Tian's true strength?

"Step aside, let me handle this monster." Ling Tian delivered a gentle palm strike, and a wave of soft energy pushed Yan Fei directly beside Elder Situ.

The infuriated insect king widened its tiny mouth and spat a cloud of blood-red toxic mist straight at Ling Tian, enveloping him entirely.

A creature no larger than a fingernail was actually capable of spewing out such a massive quantity of poisonous mist. Elder Situ and Yan Fei were frightened out of their wits, finally witnessing firsthand the terrifying capabilities of the insect king. Yet both men were far more worried about Ling Tian, who had been swallowed up by the toxic fog. The poisonous mist released by the century-old insect king was no laughing matter.

"Yan Fei, prepare yourself for total sacrifice today. Even if the two of us die here today and turn into rotting corpses, we must eliminate the insect king," Elder Situ declared with grim determination. Once the insect king escaped, the devastation it would cause was something Elder Situ dared not even imagine—it would undoubtedly be catastrophic, a living hell on earth.

"Chief, let me be the bait instead. To prevent any mishaps, you must immediately search for a flame so that you can cremate my body along with it afterward. Until then, I will use every ounce of my strength to seal the insect king within my heart," Yan Fei said with absolute decisiveness. In this, he was remarkably similar to Ling Tian: even when facing the end of their lives, they remained steadfastly devoted to their duties.

Just as Elder Situ and Yan Fei were preparing to make their move, they watched in astonishment as the toxic mist enveloping Ling Tian began to rapidly dissipate. Moments later, Ling Tian emerged from the fog. With a casual wave and a clawing motion in empty space, the poisonous mist rapidly converged toward his palm, forming a tiny blood-red sphere.

"Still just an unformed insect king. If it had been raised for a few more years, it might have actually been able to injure me," Ling Tian sneered dismissively. He pressed his five fingers together, forcefully crushing the sphere condensed from the toxic mist. It turned into wisps of thin smoke and completely vanished into nothingness.

This time, Ling Tian hadn't even needed to use the heaven and earth anomaly flames to handle the situation effortlessly.

Compared to the virulent poison of the cockscomb snake king, the toxic mist released by the unformed century-old insect king fell short by a grade. Having consumed the inner core of the cockscomb snake king, Ling Tian’s body was now impervious to all poisons; how could mere toxic mist possibly harm him?

Elder Situ and Yan Fei rubbed their eyes hard, staring at Ling Tian with utter shock. A single thought arose simultaneously in both of their minds: Is this fellow even human? He wasn't even afraid of the toxic mist released by the century-old insect king! That poison was peerlessly lethal; an ordinary person touching even a trace of it would instantly drop dead.

Even martial arts practitioners would find it difficult to last ten minutes against it, unless they were masters of the Qi Transformation realm. Could it be that Ling Tian had been concealing his strength all along, and that his actual power had already reached the Qi Transformation realm? At this thought, the two of them were nearly frightened out of their wits. Being in his early twenties and possessing the strength of the Qi Transformation realm—even if they racked their brains, the two of them could never connect the two concepts.

Even among the genius disciples of those hidden sects and prominent families, blessed with supreme talent, vast cultivation resources, and top-tier cultivation techniques, they had never heard of anyone reaching the Qi Transformation realm in their early twenties.

The poisonous king hovering in mid-air once more spewed out a cloud of toxic mist, only for it to be easily blasted apart by Ling Tian yet again.

Having failed consecutively twice, the insect king grew utterly enraged. After circling in the air several times to build up momentum, it shot like a bullet straight toward Ling Tian's head.

"Overestimating your own capabilities," Ling Tian sneered contemptuously, abruptly thrusting his palm forward. This palm strike, imbued with his full strength, released a miniature hurricane that formed a violent vortex, instantly trapping the insect king within it. Driven by the true qi, the insect king was tossed about like a lone leaf amidst churning waves, swaying helplessly with the wind.

To be able to play with the insect king in the palm of one's hand—was this fellow even human?

One had to realize that this was a savagely ferocious insect king, one that even martial arts experts at the Qi Transformation realm found immensely troublesome. Yet in Ling Tian’s hands, it was treated no differently than a common housefly. Elder Situ and Yan Fei sighed in shared admiration: Ling Tian's mastery over the application of force had reached the realm of absolute perfection; even if he were not a Qi Transformation martial artist, he was infinitely close to it.

The insect king beat its wings incessantly, desperate to break free from Ling Tian's control, but every time it was on the verge of escaping, Ling Tian would always capture it back with absolute precision...

After thrashing about back and forth five times, the insect king realized it could not escape and once again spat out a cloud of poisonous mist...

Seeing that the insect king had been tormented nearly enough, Ling Tian gave a sudden backward tug. The true qi vortex rapidly shrank before vanishing entirely, and finally, the insect king landed right in the center of Ling Tian's palm, its entire body sealed off by heavy layers of true qi.

"Quickly destroy it! Yan Fei, hurry and find a source of fire—ideally a gas welding torch—to burn this insect king to death right away," Elder Situ shouted anxiously.

Before Yan Fei could even move, Ling Tian said indifferently, "Don't bother going, you won't find one anytime soon."

Elder Situ said anxiously, "The insect king's body is exceedingly tough; the best method is to use high-temperature flames."

Ling Tian smiled faintly, extended a finger, and a ball of crimson-red flame leaped to his fingertips. He chuckled, "Would this work?"