Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 280 Shocking News of the Insect Plague [Please Subscribe]

The north wind blows, and the autumn wind is cool.

Autumn will soon arrive again.

This is Zhou Chun's fortieth autumn since he came into this world, and also the fortieth year that the Zhou family has been rooted in Jiufeng Ridge.

Yes, without realizing it, the Zhou family has been in Jingguo for forty years.

Zhou Chun also spent forty years in this world.

Forty years have passed, and Zhou Chun has changed a lot, as has the Zhou family.

Over the past forty years, many of Zhou Chun's elders have passed away for various reasons, and many younger generations have grown up under his watchful eye.

He lost some elders, but gained many more younger generations.

The latest statistics show that the Zhou family now has 247 members, more than 100 more than the number of Zhou family members forty years ago.

At the same time, the Zhou family currently has more than 97,000 spirit coins in its accounts alone.

With money and connections, the Zhou family is incredibly powerful these days!

Of course, Zhou Chun herself has changed even more.

Forty years have passed, and he, who was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining back then, is now at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

He is only sixty-one years old this year, and it is very likely that he will break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment before he turns eighty.

If successful, opening the Purple Palace before the age of one hundred might not be a difficult task for him.

Therefore, the person with the most promising future in the Zhou family is actually him.

Autumn is the harvest season.

Many pregnant female animals in the Zhou Family Beast Garden gave birth to offspring during this season, ensuring their offspring could survive the winter before the snow arrived.

Zhou Chun also ordered people to find various supplies for exchange, preparing to go to the Longyuan Marsh to trade with the Scaled Frog aliens led by Lu Ran before the winter snow arrives.

Now that the Hualong Sect has fully retreated and returned to its headquarters, the Scaled Frog Alien Tribe by the Dragon Abyss Lake has also ushered in a period of rapid development.

Trade with the Zhou family provided the scaled frog tribes that had submitted to Lu Ran with a large number of high-quality weapons. They benefited greatly from this in conquering other tribes and obtaining food, and the number of tribesmen increased year by year.

The Zhou family also greatly benefited from the large number of rare aquatic treasures they obtained from the Scaled Frog race.

The only drawback is that the Qinglian Temple will take away the most precious items from these aquatic treasures, and the price they offer is not high.

On this day, after all the supplies for the exchange were prepared, Zhou Chun personally led the items and went to Longyuanze with Zhou Daoquan.

The Silver Lightning Python Bai Bai was now capable of traveling between the two places. Going downstream, it would only take it one day to bring Zhou Chun to Longyuanze.

Since this wasn't the first time the two sides had traded together, the relevant procedures were completed very quickly.

After arriving at Longyuanze, Zhou Chun and Zhou Daoquan quickly contacted Lu Ran, handed over the items they had brought, and then obtained a corresponding amount of aquatic treasures from him based on the approximate value of the goods.

In fact, the truly valuable things in this kind of trade are what Lu Ran himself needs.

Spiritual tea, spiritual wine, spiritual incense—all the things enjoyed by high-level cultivators are items that Lu Ran has been ordering regularly.

When it comes to enjoying life, he knows how to enjoy it even better than a Golden Core cultivator.

In order to purchase some new varieties that he had never used before, the Zhou family even asked people or sent people to Fengguo and Chengguo to buy them.

However, for the Zhou family, they are not afraid of Lu Ran enjoying himself, but they are afraid that Lu Ran will not enjoy himself.

If Lu Ran is solely focused on strengthening the Scaled Frog race through this trade, then the Zhou family will likely have to think twice and proceed with caution.

But now, no matter what kind of spiritual tea or wine Lu Ran wants, the Zhou family will try their best to get it for him, as long as he can afford to exchange it for something of equal value.

After the trade ended, Zhou Chun and Zhou Daoquan, carrying the rare aquatic treasures they had collected, traveled upstream through the underground river and returned to Lanzhou in two days.

Following the rules, Zhou Chun then sent the items directly to Qinglian Temple for selection.

The Taoist priest in charge of selecting rare aquatic treasures at Qinglian Temple is a cultivator at the Purple Mansion stage. He is knowledgeable and has a strong ability to appreciate various rare aquatic treasures.

He was able to name and describe many of the rare aquatic treasures that even Lu Ran and the Zhou family didn't know, which allowed the Zhou family to learn a lot of new knowledge in the process.

As usual, after the Taoist priests of Qinglian Temple selected the rare aquatic treasures that day, Zhou Chun prepared to leave with the remaining aquatic treasures and spirit coins to return to his family.

Unexpectedly, before he could leave the gate of Qinglian Temple, he was suddenly stopped and told that the temple master, Qingweizi, had summoned him.

Ever since he suffered a great loss at the hands of the Su family patriarch, Zhou Chun has never dared to be negligent towards these Golden Core cultivators again.

Upon learning that it was Qingweizi who had summoned him, he hurriedly turned back and went to the main hall of the sect leader to pay his respects.

"Junior Zhou Zhengchun pays respects to Senior Abbot."

Inside the main hall of the sect leader, Zhou Chun bowed respectfully upon seeing Qing Weizi sitting at the head of the table.

Upon seeing this, Qingweizi waved her whisk and said, "Young friend Zhou, there's no need for such formalities. I summoned you here today because after learning that you were in our sect, I happened to have something I'd like to ask you."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun immediately bowed respectfully, saying, "Senior, you flatter me. I am unworthy of your guidance. Please do not hesitate to ask if there is anything you need."

"I know that your Zhou family is skilled in beast taming and has made unique achievements in this field. I wonder if you have any research on insect control techniques?"

Qingweizi narrowed her eyes slightly and asked softly.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun didn't have time to think it over and immediately replied respectfully, "Your Excellency is wise. The art of beast taming and the art of insect control do have something in common. However, my Zhou family does not know anything about insect control, and our understanding of various demonic insects is limited to what is recorded in the demonic beast encyclopedia."

He didn't know why Qingweizi would ask about the insect-repelling technique out of the blue, but his intuition told him that it was best not to boast or say too much about such matters.

However, Qingweizi did not seem to intend to let him pass easily.

After listening to Zhou Chun's answer, Qing Weizi's eyes flickered slightly, and then she suddenly waved her sleeve and handed something to Zhou Chun.

"Then take a look at this thing. Do you recognize this kind of demonic insect?"

Zhou Chun looked closely and saw that what Qing Weizi had handed him was the corpse of a strange, yellowish-brown insect, about the size of a fist.

This strange insect looks somewhat like an ant, and also resembles a mole cricket, with sharp mouthparts and a pair of claws.

This was the first time Zhou Chun had ever seen such a strange insect.

He took the strange insect's corpse in his hand, examined it carefully from head to toe, and then shook his head at Qing Weizi, saying, "Senior Abbot, you are wise. I do not recognize this kind of demonic insect. There is no information about this kind of demonic insect in our family's demonic insect encyclopedia."

I thought that after giving that answer, the matter would be over.

However, to Zhou Chun's surprise, after listening to his words, Qing Weizi started talking about the origin of the demonic insect in his hand.

"You don't recognize this demonic insect, and neither do I, but now these insects have swarmed and rampant throughout Yang Kingdom. Half of Yang Kingdom has been destroyed by this insect plague, and countless civilians and cultivators have been devoured by these demonic insects!"

"It is estimated that the number of these demonic insects within the Yang Kingdom has now reached hundreds of millions, and their population has become so large that even a Nascent Soul stage cultivator would find it difficult to eliminate them!"

"The Yang Kingdom is now unable to contain the insect plague and can only send people everywhere to seek help and solicit effective methods for eliminating the insects. At the same time, it has also issued humanitarian appeals to neighboring countries and factions, requesting them to send people to the Yang Kingdom to help combat the insect plague!"

Even Nascent Soul stage cultivators are helpless?

Zhou Chun's expression changed. He looked at the corpse of the demonic insect in his hand and suddenly felt that it was extremely hot to the touch.

Only then did he realize why Qingweizi had suddenly summoned him to inquire about the art of exorcising insects.

If Qingweizi's words were not an exaggeration, then this matter is indeed very frightening.

Zhou Chun had seen many records of the power of insect plagues in ancient books.

According to ancient records, the greatest insect plague in this world was the "Soul-Eating Locust Plague" that occurred ten thousand years ago.

Suddenly, a demonic insect called the "Spirit-Devouring Locust" appeared. This insect was born with the ability to devour all spiritual power to evolve, and its reproduction rate was extremely fast.

Because these demonic insects initially only appeared in the territory of a certain alien race, they failed to attract the attention of the human cultivation world. By the time these demonic insects had gained momentum, they were already too powerful to control.

At that time, a powerful alien race was almost wiped out by these demonic insects. Later, the human race also suffered heavy losses in the invasion of these demonic insects, with more than a dozen Nascent Soul stage cultivators falling!

Later, it was said that a sixth-tier alien powerhouse unleashed an astonishing divine power, forcibly killing the most powerful insect king in the swarm, as well as many fifth-tier and fourth-tier demonic insects. Then, by gathering the power of the human race and several alien races, they forcibly extinguished the insect plague.

Since then, all the locusts that evolved into demonic insects have been wiped out by humans and various alien races; any sign of them being discovered will be nipped in the bud.

Those "Spirit-Devouring Locusts" were completely wiped out!

Besides this "Soul-Devouring Locust Plague," there have been many smaller insect plagues in the history of the cultivation world. Those insect plagues that are worth recording in the classics have taken countless lives each time they broke out.

Without a doubt, the insect plague that broke out in Yang Kingdom at this time has now shown signs worthy of being recorded in the annals of history.

"Senior Abbot, could you please describe the abilities of this demonic insect? What exactly are its powers that even a Nascent Soul stage cultivator struggles to extinguish?"

Zhou Chun couldn't help but inquire about the information on the demonic insect in his hand from Qing Weizi, showing that he attached great importance to this matter.

"According to the people of Yang Kingdom, these demonic insects have an extremely strong ability to grow and adapt. When they are first born, they are just ordinary insects, only slightly larger than ordinary ants. However, as long as they have enough food, they can grow to the size of the demonic insect in your hand within a month."

"They are born with the ability to burrow underground. After their first evolution, they will develop wings and gain the ability to fly. At the same time, their teeth are extremely sharp and can bite through flying swords of the same level. Their claws also have extremely strong cutting ability, and many of them will also evolve the ability to spit venom."

"The most noteworthy aspect of these demonic insects is that as long as they devour a spiritual object of a certain attribute before their first mutation and evolution, they can awaken and master the magical power of that attribute, and continue to evolve at an extremely fast speed."

"What's most terrifying is that when these demonic insects advance to the second tier, there's a significant chance they can evolve a second attribute power, making them even stronger and more difficult to eliminate!"

"Currently, the Yang Kingdom has even produced an Insect King equivalent to an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. With the power of its swarm, even a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator would find it difficult to kill!"

Qingweizi was very open-minded and quickly told Zhou Chun the information she had learned from the envoy from Yang Kingdom.

Even just hearing his account, Zhou Chun could sense how terrifying it was.

They grow and evolve rapidly, can burrow underground and fly, reproduce extremely quickly, and possess a strong ability to mutate!

When all these abilities are combined in one type of demonic insect, it becomes extremely terrifying.

He couldn't help but say, "According to what the Abbot has said, the insect plague is already so powerful that ordinary methods of extermination are probably ineffective. Even if we can find a way to counter the ordinary demonic insects, it will be difficult to deal with the high-level ones!"

But after hearing his words, Qingweizi shook her head slightly and said, "You're wrong. If we can find a way to eliminate ordinary demonic insects, we can fundamentally stop the demonic insect population from continuing to expand, and thus prevent more demonic insects from evolving into higher-level demonic insects."

"As long as the number of high-level demonic insects doesn't continue to increase, and the insect swarm's size is constantly being reduced by elimination, eradicating the insect plague won't be difficult!"

At this point, Qingweizi finally revealed her true intention in summoning Zhou Chun.

"Since Yang Kingdom has issued a humanitarian appeal, for the sake of the greater good of the human race, our sect, the Moon Wheel Sect, and the Flame Sun Sect will definitely send people to Yang Kingdom to help eliminate the disaster."

"Since your family is proficient in the art of beast taming and has research on demonic beasts and insects, young friend Zhou, why not send a few people to accompany our sect's cultivators to Yang Kingdom?"

"If the Zhou family can truly play a significant role in eradicating the insect plague, the elders of Yang Kingdom will surely reward them handsomely afterwards!"

It turned out that they wanted the Zhou family to also send people to join the support team for Yang Kingdom, hoping to use the Zhou family's expertise in beast taming to try to find a way to eliminate the insect plague.

It must be said that Qingweizi's plan was very well executed.

As a cultivation family under the jurisdiction of Qinglian Temple, if the Zhou family truly makes a significant contribution to eliminating the insect plague, then the benefits that Qinglian Temple receives will certainly be no less than those of the Zhou family.

Even though the Zhou family didn't contribute much, Qinglian Temple suffered no losses.

Fortunately, Qingweizi's tone was not harsh; she spoke in a consultative manner, which reassured Zhou Chun considerably.

He immediately replied respectfully, "I understand what you mean, Abbot. I will tell the elders about this when I return to my family and see what they think."

This is the first update for today; there will be another one tonight!

(End of this chapter)