Born with immortal seed

Chapter 513 The Sword Formation Resumes
Once the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects have grown in strength, they are definitely a major nightmare in the cultivation world.

Unlike the Hundred-Eyed Heavenly Centipede, which is powerful and opens pair after pair of compound eyes as it grows, mastering different divine lights.

Unlike the cicadas of spring and autumn, the second-tier spirit insects, favored by time, can manipulate the power of time.

The Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects have always relied on sheer numbers to win, and they devour everything in sight, whether it be flesh and blood creatures or plants and spiritual trees.

Wherever it goes, it turns the land into barren wasteland.

The most famous instance was when tens of thousands of Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects flew out of the Ten Thousand Evil Mountains, causing several cities to disappear along the way.

Multiple Nascent Soul sects joined forces to besiege him, but all suffered crushing defeats.

Another unfortunate sect was chased by the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects, and its fourth-order grand formation was surrounded and relentlessly bitten by tens of thousands of these insects.

For several months, the earth's veins were drained and the spirit stones were exhausted.

A once-powerful Nascent Soul sect became a victim of the insect plague.

No one in the sect was spared.

The insect plague lasted for almost sixty years before several Great True Lords intervened, using magic to confine the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects to a single area.

Without enough spiritual food, the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects became extremely ferocious, with the swarm killing each other.

Before long, the insect swarm was decimated, with only a few remaining from tens of thousands.

Although one of the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects mutated and became an unprecedented fourth-order demon insect.

However, in the face of several Great True Lords, it is actually easier to deal with a single individual.

Such a large-scale insect plague is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and the characteristics of the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects determine that the population is unlikely to grow large.

During their growth, if they are even slightly short of spiritual food, they will attack their own kind and devour their insect bodies to replenish their nutrients.

The swarm of insects that Bai Zichen is currently encountering already numbers in the thousands, which is the largest number that the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects can gather under normal circumstances.

"This insect's body is stronger than gold and iron, comparable to high-grade spiritual materials, but unfortunately it can't be used for weapon forging..."

Having adapted to the attack intensity of the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects, Bai Zichen began to deal with Ruyi without having to maintain 120% concentration at all times.

The splitting of sword light is a technique used by sword cultivators to compensate for the lack of large-scale destructive magic weapons, specifically to deal with swarm tactics.

With the fourth-order flying sword being unstoppable, and once the sword light differentiation realm was truly mastered, as long as the sword did not miss, each strike could bring about the death of dozens of Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects.

If it were any other Nascent Soul True Monarch, such a high-intensity sword strike, utilizing the sword light to split, would still require worrying about insufficient true essence.

For him, there was no such concern.

The reason why the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insect can reproduce and grow is not only because it has almost no requirements for growth conditions, but also because its insect body has no value to cultivators.

The hard shell will crack and become extremely brittle when it is tempered by the fire of the earth.

If you switch to the water refining method, it will absorb moisture under the impact of the water flow, becoming soft and fluffy.

Without a demon core within its body, the spirit insect can only condense a tiny grain of rice-like essence, which will dissipate with a gust of wind.

Apart from the cultivators who were trying to raise the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insect, no one was interested in it.

Its ability to devour everything makes it extremely destructive to the ecological environment of spiritual veins, making it arguably the number one pest in the cultivation world.

After the sword light differentiation experiment was completed, Bai Zichen originally intended to stop and not continue to entangle with these Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects.

However, considering that the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects have similar properties to 'paraquat', such a large swarm of insects would inevitably leave the Ten Thousand Evil Mountains in search of food, with the small countries in the southern border bearing the brunt.

Whether for the safety of the Five Elements Sect or to save countless creatures in the Southern Frontier from the scourge of insects, it is necessary to kill as many of the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects as possible.

Unable to break through after a prolonged siege, the insect swarm showed signs of retreating, fighting intermittently and moving away intermittently. The insect cloud flew over dozens of miles and had already shrunk by 30%.

Perhaps sensing the danger of annihilation if things continued this way, the swarm emitted a low and rapid chirping sound, and the speed of its wing flapping increased significantly.

A small number of them stayed behind to block the enemy, while the rest of the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects flew towards the depths of the Ten Thousand Evil Mountains, clearly intending to preserve the survival of their clan.

"Isn't it too late to run now...?"

Bai Zichen opened his mouth and spat out the Purple Star Thunder Sword, which transformed into countless bolts of lightning, multiplying from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred, covering the sky and the sun with lightning.

When his natal flying sword was unleashed, it was extraordinary; a large hole instantly appeared in the dark cloud of insects in front of him.

With the three fourth-tier flying swords operating at full power, the remaining thousand-odd Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects had become sparse, scattered to less than a hundred.

They pursued on their swords, and another cloud of insects flew out not far.

Just as they got closer, a four-winged spirit insect flew up from the mountain in front of them. The Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insect that had entered that area seemed to be under a spell.

They all froze in place, neither advancing nor retreating, as if petrified.

No, it's not stagnant, it's been slowed down countless times.

Its wings were still flapping, desperately trying to fly forward, but it hadn't moved an inch.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

Accompanied by the sharp chirping of cicadas, the half-eaten Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insect rapidly aged, wrinkling into a dry, brittle insect trunk, which then fell to the ground with a crackling sound.

On the other half, they all turned into larvae no bigger than a fingernail, their aura reduced to the second level, and they scattered wildly with a buzz.

"Spring and Autumn Cicada! And it's a four-winged Spring and Autumn Cicada at the peak of the third tier!"

Upon hearing the cicada's chirping, Bai Zichen was startled and recognized that the spirit insect in front of him, apart from having an extra pair of wings and being much larger in size, was exactly the same as the second-tier spring and autumn cicada he had encountered in the Black Mountain years ago.

It's not surprising to encounter a Spring and Autumn Cicada in the Ten Thousand Evils Mountain. Before coming here, I had the idea of ​​trying my luck to see if I could run into one.

There has always been a saying that all the Spring and Autumn Cicadas in the cultivation world originated from the Ten Thousand Evil Mountains.

Regardless of whether it's true or not, the most common location of the Spring and Autumn Cicada is indeed in the Ten Thousand Evils Mountain and the surrounding southern Xinjiang.

"It is generally accepted that the Spring and Autumn Cicada can only grow to the third rank, low grade... Insects, with their inferior bodies, can only withstand a limited amount of the power of time. If they go any higher, they will be directly washed away by the power of time until their lifespan is zero. But now a four-winged Spring and Autumn Cicada has appeared before us. Could it be that the six-winged Spring and Autumn Cicada depicted on that animal skin really exists, and is not just a fabrication?"

Bai Zichen thought of the animal hide he obtained from the Hundred Crafts Sect's secret vault, on which was painted a fourth-order Spring and Autumn Cicada that people thought was just a figment of their imagination.

At the time, I scoffed at it, thinking that the ancients were spreading rumors and deliberately exaggerating their experiences.

But now that we have actually seen a Spring and Autumn Cicada at the peak of the third tier, it has broken the consensus of all predecessors in the cultivation world, which means that a Spring and Autumn Cicada at the fourth tier may have existed before.

Judging from the astonishing power of that four-winged Spring and Autumn Cicada, if there were truly a six-winged Spring and Autumn Cicada, it would probably be able to easily sweep away Nascent Soul True Monarchs below the Nascent Soul stage.

If the second-tier Spring and Autumn Cicada can draw upon the power of time, then the third-tier Spring and Autumn Cicada can control the power of time.

The fourth-order cicada of spring and autumn may truly be able to blend into time and wander in the long river of time.

In the human realm, it is the true meaning of time.

Bai Zichen's eyes lit up. This four-winged cicada's insect-killing efficiency was astonishing, which proved the power of its time force.

With his current mastery of the Great Dao, if it were an ordinary cicada from the Spring and Autumn Period, it would be impossible for it to achieve the same effect as it did back then.

If you want to make another breakthrough in the true meaning of time and complete the Azure Emperor's Longevity Sword as soon as possible, now is the best opportunity.

Without any hesitation, Xiaobai's nascent soul leaped out, and with a turn of the Supreme Pure Micro Sword Box in his hand, twelve flying swords flew out one after another.

Star River Sword Formation, complete!

As the starry sky darkened, the four-winged cicada was trapped within the sword formation.

The approach will differ depending on the value of the spirit insect being dealt with.

Even risking attracting the attention of a fifth-tier demonic insect, it's worth the gamble for the four-winged cicada.

Trapped by the sword formation, the four-winged cicada remained calm. Half of its body exuded vigorous vitality, while the other half withered and dried into a corpse.

With a flap of its wings, streaks of starlight and sword light falling from the sky seemed to deliberately avoid the four-winged cicada, all striking its body.

Amidst the starlight, the mountaintop had been leveled by several feet, yet the cicadas of spring and autumn remained unharmed.

Of course, it wasn't that Bai Zichen deliberately avoided the target's attack. Rather, it was that this Spring and Autumn Cicada used the power of time to stretch and change the time, causing the sword light to misjudge and miss completely.

"Don't even mention that once my Star River Sword Formation is complete, it will flow endlessly and never stop... This little bit of time utilization is too superficial in the eyes of other cultivators who have walked the same path of time."

Bai Zichen chuckled and with a flick of his hand, a celestial furnace overturned, as if a gap had been torn in the sky, allowing molten lava from the heavens to pour out. Several more stars, covered in lush bamboo forests, rushed in, a flurry of snow-like stars, golden flames and starlight, blocking all landing points for the Spring and Autumn Cicada.

The power of the cicada's life force is ultimately limited; no matter what, it cannot directly contend with the Star River Sword Formation, which transforms swords into stars and integrates into the sword intent of the starry sky.

Even without seeking change, he still has many opportunities to win.

But Bai Zichen wanted more and took the initiative to change things, wanting to see what surprises and supernatural powers Chunqiu Chan could still give him.

Several streaks of starlight sword light surrounded and intercepted the Spring and Autumn Cicada, putting it in a perilous situation.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

A few more cicada chirps followed. The spring and autumn cicadas have a blood-red line on their backs, with their wings as the dividing line.

His breath weakened considerably, and he lay there on the verge of death. Suddenly, a long river burst forth from the void.

By wrapping the four-winged cicada in its shell, all external attacks are blocked and become irrelevant to it.

Even the most terrifying sword light falls silently onto the long river.

Even when a star directly struck, it only caused the river to tremble slightly, without causing any harm to the Spring and Autumn Cicada protected inside.

"The river of time..."

Bai Zichen cried out in disbelief.

The ability to appear out of thin air, ignoring the sword formation, means that its essence surpasses the Starry Sky Sword Intent.

Otherwise, under the sword formation state, all flying swords can be upgraded by one level, up to a maximum of level five.

Even the nascent form of the Great True Lord's grotto-heaven couldn't possibly seep in even a tiny bit.

He was already quite familiar with the River of Time that would be summoned each time he activated the Azure Emperor's Longevity Sword, so he naturally wouldn't mistake it.

Seeing that the fourth-tier Spring and Autumn Cicada, under the protection of the River of Time, ignored all attacks and was about to tear through the sword formation space to leave.

Bai Zichen's expression was solemn as he directly stepped into the River of Time, holding the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword.

Countless lights and shadows flickered, and among them seemed to be quite a few familiar faces.

For a cultivator to step into the River of Time is an extremely dangerous thing. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator cannot control it well. In an instant, a thousand years may pass and they may become nothing but a skeleton.

However, Bai Zichen dared to act in this way because he himself walked the path of time, which gave him a certain resistance to the erosion of the power of time.

Holding the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword at the same time was also a way to hope that this natal flying sword, whose actual grade exceeded the fifth level, could serve as a coordinate for stable timing.

Upon seeing Bai Zichen rush into the River of Time, the spirit insect's eyes revealed a mocking and sarcastic expression, but it quickly turned into shock.

Because it saw the little white nascent soul's chubby white hand crossing the river, its light and shadow shifting in the layers of the long river of time, making its palm almost transparent.

Although it was slow, the palm did not turn to ashes, and the nascent soul's face showed no signs of aging, neither shrinking nor growing older. It slowly and firmly grasped the Spring and Autumn Cicada.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

The cicada was still struggling, its four wings flapping weakly. It had exhausted all its power by drawing upon the river of time within the sword formation, and the true meaning of time accumulated over hundreds of years was released all at once.

It also wondered why the River of Time, which was favored by time and relied on as the Great Wall, did not attack the enemy.

With the main character captured, the long river of time, whose beginning and end were unknown, shortened rapidly, eventually turning into specks of white light that entered Bai Zichen's 'Time Aura' beneath his arms.

Since the last time he faced Xiang Banshan, he used the Burning River to activate the Azure Emperor's Longevity Sword, and he has not fully recovered in recent years.

The infusion of this white light did not change the surrounding river, but only made it more mysterious and obscure.

Before Bai Zichen could figure out how to deal with the Spring and Autumn Cicada, the River of Time dissipated, and this unheard-of four-winged spirit insect simply closed its eyes and became silent.

The insect's body, which had withered and flourished, began to undergo a crystalline transformation, and within a few breaths, it acquired a sense of the weight of time.

If he hadn't been holding it in his hand the whole time, he would have definitely thought it was a specimen of a spirit insect that had been dead for hundreds or thousands of years.

Bai Zichen withdrew the Star River Sword Formation, the stars fell, and the world returned to light.

After thinking it over, I chose a secluded hilltop, put on the mask, and returned to the Star Palace Secret Realm.

He might be the first cultivator in ten thousand years to see the peak of the third tier, the Spring and Autumn Cicada. This spirit insect had been hiding underground, and his divine sense hadn't detected it at all.

It's unclear whether the Hundred Poison Gold-Eating Insects disturbed the four-winged cicada's hibernation, or whether it was attracted by Bai Zichen, who was cultivating the Great Dao of Time, that caused it to jump out on its own.

Otherwise, it would remain dormant, and even if Bai Zichen walked around that mountain, he wouldn't be able to find any trace of the four-winged cicada.

The importance of this spirit insect far surpasses that of the Hundred Poisons Jade Scale Bone.

Perhaps, one might discover something amazing on the body of a cicada in spring and autumn, allowing one to make progress in the path of time.

As for other cultivation techniques and supernatural abilities, Bai Zichen never worried about his cultivation progress.

This great road of time, however, has no predecessors to refer to; one can only explore and move forward by oneself, making it a completely new path.

Even if we can only learn something from the spirit insects, it would be good if we could draw inferences from similar cases.

Fifteen minutes later, a streak of seven-colored light appeared on the horizon.

The next moment, we reached the mountaintop, where a seven-colored moth appeared in the rosy light, its wingspan reaching several meters.

Despite being a demonic insect, it can be described as beautiful, a beauty that makes everything around it pale in comparison.

As soon as it appeared, several large trees and the grass and trees on the ground all turned around, waving their branches at the colorful moth and bending over.

The colorful moth displayed a human-like expression of confusion, circled the hilltop once, and fluttered its wings, scattering silver pollen.

After several unsuccessful attempts, the colorful glow flashed and disappeared again.

Only then did the vegetation on the entire mountain return to its normal orientation, no longer displaying the eerie sight of them all bowing their heads.

(End of this chapter)