Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

She could feel that the punch she threw with her icy arm was amplified. The power of that punch alone was no less than that of the peak of the Spirit Palace stage. Combined with her magic weapon, the power of this fiery tornado was actually approaching that of the minor completion stage of the Profound Gate stage!

Under the power of Zhang Ruoxue's punch, the dark insect swarm seemed to sense a great crisis. Those flying insects that were lucky enough not to be burned to a crisp began to huddle together and flee, running madly towards the depths of the cave.

It was at this moment that Fan Luokui, who had finally stopped being dazed, moved.

She bent down and gripped the knife handle tightly with her five fingers.

The red and white shrine maiden's dress fluttered in the swirling wind.

Snow Condensation Slash.

Draw your sword—

Six intersecting silver-white blades of light completely blocked the insect swarm's retreat. Fan Luokui's figure didn't even move an inch from her spot. At this moment, with an extremely solemn expression, she slowly stood up.

The remaining flying insects were instantly frozen in mid-air, and half a second later, a flash of silver light appeared.

Fan Luokui slowly loosened the hilt of the knife, letting the blade slide back into the scabbard.

Sheathed.

End.

Puff puff puff puff—

Green blood spurted from the silver light, and each blade pierced the tiny bodies of more than a dozen flying insects with unparalleled precision, slicing them in half.

The green rain was falling softly.

Fan Luokui breathed a sigh of relief; her pale face finally looked a little better. She then looked at Zhang Ruoxue with some embarrassment.

"Senior Sister Zhang, I was a little stunned just now... I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay."

Zhang Ruoxue looked at Fan Luokui with some curiosity. In fact, she had wanted to ask earlier that with Zhang Ruoxue's cultivation level, she could easily scare these insects into scattering in all directions by simply unleashing a few sword energies.

But she stood there, stunned, not knowing why.

Perhaps only Fan Luokui herself knew that the reason she didn't take action directly was because at that moment, she was so frightened by the dark swarm of insects in front of her that her brain went into a malfunction, and her consciousness went completely blank.

Yes, as the captain of the trial team, Fan Luokui was almost unafraid of any bloody scenes.

but……

She is terrified of insects.

On the other hand—

Why are there so many insects in this cave that should be inhabited by cultivators?

25. The Dead and the Insects

Zhang Ruoxue didn't have much fear of insects. To her, these insects were just a bit uglier in appearance, but in essence, they were still the most ordinary and ubiquitous creatures. Since they were living beings, they could be understood with common sense, rather than being unknown and terrifying like monsters and demons.

She strode confidently past the charred insects on either side of the cave, finally arriving before the corpses of those insects that Fan Luokui had cleaved in two with her blade, which were still twitching on the cold, gray ground.

Under Fan Luokui's shocked gaze, Zhang Ruoxue squatted down, then stretched out her left hand and picked up the half-eaten insect corpse on the ground, pinching it between her fingertips.

Holy crap! Senior Sister Zhang, that's an insect! How could you touch it with your bare hands?!

Fan Luo Kui's face was immediately filled with shock and horror. If it were her, she wouldn't dare to touch it, let alone get close to it!

Zhang Ruoxue not only held the half-eaten insect corpse between her fingertips, but also placed it in her palm, her eyes slightly narrowed, carefully examining this terrifying creature that most girls would consider like a ghost or god.

After a while, Zhang Ruoxue seemed to have come to a conclusion. She then tossed the disgusting insect corpse aside, clapped her hands, and casually used a little spiritual energy to wipe away the pale green insect blood that stained her palm.

She turned around, her expression calm as if nothing had happened. Instead, she tilted her head curiously at the cherry-haired girl who stood at the cave entrance, not daring to take a step forward. "Luo Kui, why are you standing there?"

"Ah...no, it's nothing." Fan Luokui stammered.

In the eyes of this former captain of the trial team, his senior sister Zhang had transformed from an ordinary senior sister with an ordinary cultivation level and a somewhat strong personality into a world-class warrior.

They dare to casually examine the corpses of insects in their palms; this is beyond being unafraid of insects!

Warriors, absolutely warriors!

Her slender, jade-like legs, encased in snow-white stockings, trembled slightly. Fan Luo Kui swallowed hard, suppressing her inner turmoil. Although she maintained her cold expression, her heart was pounding rapidly.

She took each step very carefully, afraid of stepping on something she shouldn't.

In the end, Zhang Ruoxue, who had been walking on thin ice the whole time, still came to Zhang Ruoxue's side. Of course, she didn't even look at the insect corpses she had cut down. Her gaze was fixed on Zhang Ruoxue.

This made Zhang Ruoxue feel a little uneasy—why was her junior sister Luo Kui acting so strangely all of a sudden?

"W-What's wrong? Junior Sister Luo Kui?"

"Nothing..." Fan Luokui thought for a moment, and in order not to affect their operation, she decided not to mention her fear of insects. Instead, she asked, "Did you find anything?"

"It's not exactly a novel discovery." Zhang Ruoxue pointed to the half-eaten insect corpse at her feet, then glanced back at the black tide that was now as calm as a mirror, her tone flat. "Most of these insects are ape-eyed black insects, which are very low-level demons. They have almost no intelligence and act entirely on instinct."

Although Fan Luokui didn't know the names of these flying insects, she could tell that these insects, which had been defeated and scattered in front of Zhang Ruoxue's flames, must be low-level demons.

However, there are simply too many of them.

It's strangely high.

She looked up, gazing at the uneven rocks at the top of the cave, her expression slightly serious. "Where did these insects come from?"

"I don't know. Although the scarlet-eyed black worms are indeed social insects, their sheer number and their movement like a tide is really too bizarre."

"Senior Sister Zhang, you seem to be very familiar with these demonic creatures?"

"I guess so." Zhang Ruoxue nodded. "Before I met that monster, I went down the mountain to train quite a few times, so I have a pretty good understanding of the monsters around Jingyuan Village."

That pervert—I'm naturally referring to our Yunping.

At this moment, across the distance of the Heavenly Domain, in a corner of the Extreme Heavenly Domain, a young man dressed in snow-white robes suddenly felt an itch in his nose.

"Ah!"

He scratched his head, looking around with a puzzled expression. He gazed at the towering, raging pillars of fire, then at the boiling, churning lava in front of him, and blinked.

"What do you mean? I caught a cold in this heat? No, wait, how the hell could I possibly catch a cold?!"

"I guess your junior sister is talking bad about you again."

Jiang Yuetian sat upright in the lava, completely naked, with a head of stunningly beautiful bright purple hair cascading down her fair and delicate shoulders. Despite her handsome features, she possessed more refined facial features and fair skin than most women, and coupled with her magnificent long hair, she was truly the envy of every woman in the mortal world.

On his flat chest floated a dazzling pure white snowflake, its extreme frost emanating from it, miraculously merging with the surrounding lava.

The old rogue glanced at Jiang Yuetian and asked, "Which junior sister are you talking about?"

"Besides Junior Sister Yu Chan, who else would speak ill of you?"

"That's not necessarily true." The old rogue chuckled. "When you get back, I'll have to introduce you to a new junior sister. But this new junior sister isn't all that great. She's not as pretty as you in women's clothes, and her penis isn't as big as yours. She's nothing special."

Jiang Yuetian: "...Please shut up."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Back to topic.

Inside the cave, Zhang Ruoxue turned her gaze toward the corner of the cave.

"Whenever the scarlet-eyed black worm encounters danger, its instinct is to flee. Because it needs to live in groups, it often builds a large nest to provide for its survival."

“So…” Fan Luo Kui thought of the direction the last flying insects fled in, and glanced thoughtfully at the deep corner, “There are their nests inside the cave?”

"It's very likely, and... with so many scarlet-eyed black worms, the possibility of a queen cannot be ruled out."

"Mother Insect?"

Upon hearing those two words, Fan Luokui felt a chill run down her spine, and goosebumps rose all over her body.

Zhang Ruoxue didn't pay much attention to this. "Although it is called the queen insect, the queen insect's cultivation level should not be very high. At most, it is at the peak of the Spirit Palace stage."

"Is...is that so?"

If it were a peak Spirit Palace stage cultivator, I should be able to kill them with a single strike.

It shouldn't be a problem if it's a little further away... right?

Thinking of this, Fan Luokui's heart sank a little.

However, problems soon followed—

"But I don't quite understand why there would be gorilla-eyed black worms in a place like this?"

Fan Luo Kui blinked; she didn't know much about these annoying insects. "What Senior Sister Zhang meant was..."

At this moment, Zhang Ruoxue had become an expert on monsters, explaining in detail: "The Ape-Eyed Black Insects generally do not like dark and damp places. They almost never build nests in caves like this, let alone have an insect queen staying in here."

Fan Luokui's mind worked quickly, and she immediately came up with an idea: "Was it left behind by that cultivator? If it was a special demonic cultivator, it wouldn't be surprising if he could summon demonic creatures."

“Very likely.” This time, Zhang Ruoxue did not deny Fan Luokui’s guess. “I just don’t know why that cultivator created so many ape-eyed black worms?”

"If you want to know, you'll have to go in and take a look first."

Fan Luokui's delicate body trembled. The thought that she might be greeted by an overwhelming swarm of insects after turning that corner made her unwavering heart tremble slightly.

"Yes."

However, Zhang Ruoxue remained like a fearless warrior, nodding slightly and taking a step towards the corner almost without hesitation.

My senior sister Zhang... she really is a formidable character.

Fan Luokui stared helplessly at Zhang Ruoxue's retreating figure. After a brief internal struggle, she gritted her teeth, stamped her foot, and followed after her.

They're just a few bugs; at worst, I can just kill them one by one before they get close!

That being said—

But after the two of them had taken only a few steps forward, Zhang Ruoxue, who was walking in front, involuntarily stopped.

At that moment, Zhang Ruoxue had just turned the corner.

She remained motionless.

"what happened?"

Fan Luokui was puzzled, and her heart trembled violently.

Could it be that another massive swarm of insects is coming?

That doesn't make sense either. There's not a sound around, unlike the sounds made when insects crawl and swarm.