Becoming an immortal and ancestor begins with the golden toad spitting out money.

Chapter 152 The Ancient Insect Mother, the Eyeless Demon Lord

From the moment Su Ji was ambushed by a spy from the Demonic Cult, he knew that things were definitely not that simple. Since members of the Demonic Cult could infiltrate the explorer team, they could also infiltrate the Qiu family.

However, Su Ji was ultimately an outsider and feared making things difficult for himself, so he kept it to himself.

After the group of cultivators stormed into the Spirit Realm again, the spies from the Demonic Sect could no longer hold back and made their move, disrupting three array nodes.

Clearly, the second elder of the Qiu family must have already noticed this, which is why he was able to construct the Five Elements Divine Beasts so quickly with the Five Elements Qi, directly blocking the exit that countless flying insects wanted to escape.

Although Su Ji used Lotus Yang Fire to help the Second Elder of the Qiu family kill the flying insects, he did not overlook the other two gaps in the formation. Sure enough, an evil aura flashed past from behind, giving Su Ji a target to unleash his long-prepared combination of mystical techniques.

"boom!"

As the Earth Yang Spear shot out, the ground beneath the gap in the formation suddenly exploded, and most of the flying insects that were trying to leave through the gap were killed by the Earth Yang Spear.

A few flying insects were very lucky and landed at the gap in the formation. However, the chaos outside the formation was only temporary. Once the Qiu family reacted, it was not difficult to kill the few lucky insects.

Yan Tianchou continued his analysis: "There are more than one type of insect in the Spirit Realm. Insects and their eggs that can parasitize the human body are one type, flying insects are another, and even those fused monsters could be a type of insect with an extremely large size..."

Like bees, which not only have worker bees and drones, but also a queen bee, ants are composed of male ants, soldier ants, worker ants, and queen ants.

The parasitic worms and their eggs that live inside cultivators have the ability to fuse and become stronger, much like the fusion monsters in the Spirit Realm. The flying fusion monsters are like a combination of flying worms and fusion worms.

Yan Tianchou said with certainty, "The Demonic Sect used the spiritual realm transformed from the Qiu family patriarch's body as a place to cultivate demons. If it were only those brought in nine years ago, it would be difficult to breed so many as we have today."

"Logically speaking, there is a greater than 90% probability that there is another Zerg queen who has reproduced the entire Zerg race."

"If the Queen Insect truly exists, and the spies of the Demonic Cult were able to bring out so many flying insects, they could certainly bring out the Queen Insect as well. There's a 10% chance the Queen Insect is still within the Spirit Realm, and a 90% chance it's within the range of the formation's seal!"

The exploration team fought in the spirit realm for about 150 breaths, which was enough time for the spies from the demonic sect to bring out what they wanted.

It is probably because the Second Elder of the Qiu family was willing to sacrifice his family members to maintain the formation that the spies of the Demonic Cult had no choice but to disrupt the situation, first helping the evil spirits in the Spirit Realm, and then self-destructing to cause chaos.

Even the spies of the demonic cult and the evil insects in the spiritual realm were merely sacrifices to allow the insect queen to escape.

"Mother Insect..."

Even without Tianchou's reminder, Su Ji knew that there might still be danger underground.

Now, Su Ji had even more guesses in his mind, and his expression changed slightly.

"If there really is a queen insect, she probably wouldn't want to escape through the gap in the formation. The two waves of flying insects are probably just casualties of a feint attack. The underground may be her only way to escape!"

Since Su Ji arrived here, he has been able to tell from the distribution of the array's spiritual patterns that the Qiu family's array is not what it appears to be. In order to prevent any accidents from happening, the array is also combined with the grand array that suppresses and seals the spiritual realm.

With large formations nested within smaller formations, it's very difficult to break through from the inside. The defection of traitors from the demonic sect within the Qiu family would be fatal.

However, the Queen Insect probably doesn't want to reveal her whereabouts, so there is only one last way to escape—the passage through which the Newborn Spirit Realm absorbs the power of Yin Sha.

Upon realizing this, Su Ji's expression turned serious, and he hurriedly shouted to the outside, "Second Elder, the demon's goal is probably not to escape from the formation openly, but to escape through the Yin Sha passage below the Spirit Realm. It is probably underground right now!"

The small formation has the effect of trapping the enemy, while the large formation suppresses and seals the spiritual realm. Whether the evil spirits are corrupting the large formation or preparing to break it from within or without, this is not what Su Ji wants to see.

"Underground!" The second elder of the Qiu family's expression changed.

Although the Qiu family's sealing formation is ingenious, it still requires human control. The spies from the Demonic Cult have been infiltrating the Qiu family for who knows how long, and may have already studied the sealing formation.

Even if the demons hadn't broken the sealing array beforehand, they could now break it specifically, releasing the demons from the spirit realm...

Without a word, the second elder of the Qiu family strode towards the north of the Spirit Realm. The Five Elemental Beasts were even faster, with the Vermilion Bird and the Yellow Dragon Beast diving directly into the great formation below the Spirit Realm.

A few breaths later, the second elder of the Qiu family's expression changed, and he whispered, "Vermilion Bird Divine Beast, explode!"

No matter how strong the sealing formation was, it was only one side; the Vermilion Bird divine beast formed from primordial energy did not explode on the surface of the sealing formation.

Instantly, the cracks in the ground from which the Yin energy was seeping out were blasted away by the explosion of the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast, revealing a snow-white worm with a reddish body.

"As expected, there are evil spirits underground!"

The second elder of the Qiu family's expression changed drastically. If the demon were allowed to escape through the underground fissure, then the Qiu family would be sinners against humanity.

Su Ji's Heavenly Soul Sense immediately followed the sound of the explosion and quickly located the location of the Insect Mother along the underground passage.

The snow-white color is not the color of the insect mother, but rather the color of a high-grade, perfect spiritual artifact. This artifact is composed of concentric rings that envelop all parts of the insect mother without affecting her movements.

Clearly, the explosion of the Vermilion Bird did not kill the Insect Queen. Although the crack was covered by the blasted earth and rocks, the Insect Queen was still struggling to pupate downwards.

However, Su Ji was quite far from the Insect Mother, making it difficult to perform mystical arts in the winding underground terrain.

In addition, Su Ji also had the task of guarding the exit of the Spirit Realm, so he could only entrust the task of blocking the Insect Mother to the Second Elder of the Qiu family outside the formation.

The insect mother wore a specially made high-grade spiritual artifact, and the pupa moved forward at an extremely fast speed, quickly passing through the soil and arriving at the edge of the great formation.

The great formation had long since developed a crack several feet long due to the erosion of the Yin energy. The Insect Queen, sensing the dense Yin energy, excitedly continued to burrow downwards.

Just then, a yellow dragon suddenly appeared at the edge of the great formation. At this moment, the yellow dragon was not in a formless state, but rather used the soil as its physical body. It lunged forward and blocked the crack in the great formation.

Instantly, not only was the Yin energy blocked, but the only escape route for the insect mother was also blocked.

The Insect Mother naturally did not give up. She used the superior-grade spiritual artifact on her body to drill a hole in the Yellow Dragon. However, before the Insect Mother's body could even touch the Yellow Dragon, the Azure Dragon and White Tiger arrived.

Immediately, the Insect Queen was surrounded and attacked. Although she held her own thanks to the magical artifacts on her body, she lost the possibility of escaping through the crack.

Seeing this, Su Ji couldn't help but sigh, "As expected of the Five Elements Divine Beasts transformed from years of arduous cultivation by a Qi Refiner, each one is probably as powerful as a top-grade perfect spell!"

This is the difference between Dongzhen and Dongxuan.

Su Ji only needs a little bit of magic power to cast one mysterious spell after another. The magic power consumed in the long battle can probably be replenished in half a day.

The spell cast by the second elder of the Qiu family consumed several years' worth of accumulated energy in one go. This great five-elemental energy contained a great deal of spiritual power, and the price was considerable.

However, the situation in this battle was not overwhelmingly advantageous, because the demonic disciples lurking nearby were about to arrive.

Su Ji felt rather helpless: "Three days ago, after Sanqiu Jun found me, he began to set up a formation with the Qiu family disciples. At that time, the Demonic Sect probably found out and plotted this disaster today..."

If Su Ji hadn't had multiple trump cards, the Qiu family's formation would have been broken long ago by the inside-outside collusion of the Demonic Cult members, and even those Demonic Cult members used for support wouldn't have needed to show their faces.

Now, things have reached a critical juncture, and the members of the Demonic Cult can no longer hide their true intentions.

"kill--"

Everyone in the Demonic Sect knows that breaking the small formation at this point is useless; the important thing is to release the ancient insect mother within the large formation.

Therefore, spells were cast towards the Second Elder of the Qiu family. As long as the Second Elder of the Qiu family was affected, the Insect Queen would have a high chance of escaping into the Yin Sha Rift.

"Shadow Lightning!"

The leader of the demonic sect was a middle-aged cultivator dressed in a black and yellow robe. Where his eyes should have been, there were two black holes flashing with electricity.

"boom!"

A bolt of lightning imbued with Yin energy tore through space and instantly reached the Second Elder of the Qiu family, followed by an explosion.

"Second Elder!" Many Qiu family disciples felt a chill run down their spines.

Fortunately, at the moment the lightning exploded, a Xuanwu divine beast quietly emerged from the body of the Qiu family's second elder, blocking most of the power of the Yin Sha lightning. However, many Qiu family disciples still looked desperate, because after the Xuanwu divine beast blocked one Yin Sha lightning bolt, its body cracked, and the second Yin Sha lightning bolt from the demonic sect was already coming.

"boom!"

This time, the Xuanwu Divine Beast on the Second Elder of the Qiu family exploded completely. Fortunately, the Second Elder of the Qiu family was not a soul, and the scattered Yin Sha lightning only damaged an outer robe.

"Kill them for me!"

The leader of the demonic cult members had lightning flashes in his dark eyes, and it seemed that two more streaks of malevolent lightning would appear soon.

Other members of the demonic sects also used unorthodox methods. Even if the Qiu family disciples fought with all their might, they might not be a match for them, let alone the fact that the Qiu family disciples also had to maintain their formation.

"Sigh—" Su Ji couldn't help but sigh. After taking out a moon crystal, he prepared to cooperate with the second elder of the Qiu family to deal with the blind demon lord of the demonic sect.

Just then, Yan Tianchou said with some surprise, "Reinforcements have arrived!"

Then, a streak of fire suddenly flew swiftly from behind the members of the Demonic Sect. It was none other than the Day-Wandering Spirit General of the Mountain God Temple in the White Rock Mountains!

Although Kikuyama is at the tail end of a mountain, it is still within the Baiyan Mountain Range and falls within the patrol range of the Mountain God Temple's daily wandering spirit.

"You heretics and evil spirits dare to act so violently in my White Rock Mountains! Today, I will make sure you never leave alive!"

Back then, the Mountain God Temple's Day-Roaming Spirit General had participated in the Monkey Demon King's case against the Earth God Temple, but that was just some friction. Now, with the evil spirits causing trouble, the two sides naturally stood on the same side.

Not to mention, the case of the Monkey King Demon King was long ago resolved with the Mountain God Temple taking the initiative to compensate, and the relationship between the Earth God Temple and the Mountain God Temple is not too bad now.

After the day-roaming spirit of the mountain god temple appeared, divine lights also flickered on the ground, including those of the local earth god temple and nearby cultivators.

"The reinforcements that the Qiu family sent to invite had already arrived..."

Su Ji didn't know whether these reinforcements were lying in ambush nearby or had just arrived, but that didn't affect the current situation.

The Qiu family members saw a glimmer of hope and exclaimed excitedly, "We're saved!"

The situation on the battlefield began to tilt in favor of the human race, but Su Ji was not too happy.

However, most of the reinforcements that came were just ordinary cultivators, and the gods were just a handful.

It's important to understand that not all day-roaming spirit generals are considered powerful. Even the Earth Spirit Official and the Mountain God Temple's day-roaming spirit generals are only of average strength at best.

As long as the City God Temple and the gods under the command of the Golden Flame General do not arrive, the Eyeless Demon Lord of the Demonic Cult still has a chance to escape, not to mention the existence of a Yin Sha Rift underground.

"In this way, I not only have to guard the exit of the Spirit Realm, but also prevent the members of the Demonic Cult from approaching the Yin Sha Rift..."

Fortunately, even if Su Ji couldn't go out to fight the enemy, his profound techniques were still useful. The three gaps in the formation became channels for him to support the Qiu family cultivators outside.

"The Spear of Earthly Yang!"

"The Spear of Earthly Yang..."

Before the members of the Demonic Cult could even get close, several of them had already died at Su Ji's hands. As for the Second Elder of the Qiu family, who was fighting the Eyeless Demon Lord further away, Su Ji couldn't provide any support and could only hope that reinforcements would lend a hand.

The battle outside the formation quickly intensified, with heavy casualties among the members of the Demonic Sect and several Qiu family disciples also killed or wounded, making their formation increasingly precarious.

At the same time, Yan Tianchou reported on the battle situation within the Spirit Realm.

"According to the clone within the mechanical spirit beast, the cultivators within the Spirit Realm have already killed five spies from the Demonic Cult, and the giants formed from the last three spies won't last much longer..."

This time, two more spies from the Demonic Cult made their move within the exploration team. One was trapped by the spiritual avatar of the Qiu family patriarch, while the other ambushed the silver-haired old woman.

Although the silver-haired old woman was severely injured, she still managed to sever the soul that had been corrupted by the Yin Sha Fire, thanks to her seasoned experience.

Ordinary cultivators were not so lucky. Four or five of them were affected by the Yin Sha Fire, which is why it took so long to capture all the giant monsters that were actually spies of the Demonic Cult.

Su Ji was relatively at ease about the battle within the Spirit Realm, since those remaining were merely expendable pawns.

"Kill, kill, kill!"

Because of the arrival of reinforcements, the members of the Demonic Cult seemed to have given up the idea of ​​breaking through and, led by the Eyeless Demon Lord, charged towards the enemy formation.

"As expected, they wanted to break into the Yin Sha Rift!"

Su Ji hadn't expected to encounter demons on this trip to Jushan. He only had a mid-grade perfect mechanical spirit beast by his side, which was good as an informant but not very effective in combat.

So, Su Ji looked at the demonic sect members charging towards him and took out the last few Earth Yang Lotus flowers.

"An enhanced version of the Earth Yang Spear!"

Su Ji's target was none other than the eyeless demon lord whose dark eyes flashed with electricity.

"How dare a mere cultivator at the Cave Profound Realm obstruct me?"

Amidst the flashes of lightning, a bolt of malevolent lightning struck directly down. If Su Ji were hit by this attack, he would likely be severely injured, if not killed.

"【Shadow Escape】!"

Fortunately, Su Ji had many life-saving techniques, and in an instant, he arrived three zhang away.

"boom!"

Before the Yin Sha lightning even touched the ground, it spread out in all directions like a spider web. Su Ji naturally refused to be touched in the slightest and once again used [Yin Light Shadow Escape] to fly upwards.

On the other side, the Eyeless Demon Lord simply moved to dodge Su Ji's enhanced Earth Yang Spear. He no longer cared about the Second Elder of the Qiu family, and the lightning in his eyes shot towards Su Ji again.

This time, the Yin Sha lightning seemed to have come to life, and after passing through the gap in the formation, it relentlessly pursued Su Ji.

"As expected of the Demon Lord of the Demonic Sect!"

After Su Ji used the [Shadow Escape] technique, he could only use his innate mystical art again.

"【Deflection of the Profound Realm】!"

After dodging the fatal blow, Su Ji unleashed an enhanced version of the Earth Yang Spear. At this moment, the Eyeless Demon Lord happened to enter the gap in the formation and had nowhere to hide.

"Humph!"

However, the Eyeless Demon Lord merely snorted coldly, and his black robe billowed as the enhanced Earth Yang Spear struck it, only penetrating to the tip.

"Top-tier defense!"

Even though the eyeless demon lord before him possessed only immense power in his attacks, it was untouchable due to the presence of Yin energy, and his defense was also top-notch, leaving Su Ji, who was deprived of sunlight, feeling somewhat powerless.

In the eyes of the Eyeless Demon Lord, the cultivator before him, though only at the level of a Cave Profound Mage, was simply a freak, unable to even be hit by his Yin Sha Lightning.

"Humph!"

Seeing that a group of cultivators were about to attack from behind, the Eyeless Demon Lord flew down to the ground without saying a word.

"Taiyin Tianguang!" Although Su Ji was not confident, he still wanted to stall for time.

Unexpectedly, in the instant when the Eyeless Demon Lord's thoughts froze, lightning flashed across his soul, directly awakening his consciousness that had been frozen by the Taiyin Heavenly Light.

(End of this chapter)