Chapter 1056: Insect Death and Lingering Qi

Centered on Shilinzhou, a terrifying spiritual energy storm suddenly swept across the entire Xuanhuang continent.

The wind howled and echoed. Even the various Heavenly Cities of the Myriad Immortal Alliance, which usually floated in the sky as if they would never fall, trembled to varying degrees after being affected by the hurricane.

The strong winds were only a secondary concern.

What truly horrified the cultivators of the Immortal Alliance was the countless black insects, like dark clouds, that appeared out of nowhere.

They blotted out the sky and covered the Xuanhuang.

Before the Myriad Immortal Alliance could even react, the insect plague had already spread to every corner of their territory.

In just half a day, the spiritual energy concentration in the Xuanhuang Realm experienced a precipitous drop.

In this critical moment, the Myriad Immortal Alliance finally demonstrated its ability to act as one of the two dominant powers of the Xuanhuang Realm.

All Harmony Dao cultivators within the Alliance, regardless of their current engagements, were required to participate in exterminating the black insects. Those below the Harmony Dao realm who were confident in their strength could also join the eradication effort. Rewards would be bestowed upon them later.

Those lacking sufficient strength could take refuge in the Heavenly Cities, immortal caves, or the Heavenly Profound Mirror during this period. They only needed to wait for the disaster to pass.

After the Immortal Alliance's decree was issued, the situation in every state changed dramatically.

The mutated Dao One insects, besides being able to devour spiritual energy and reproduce rapidly in large numbers, had no other special offensive or defensive capabilities.

After suffering some casualties, the Myriad Immortal Alliance quickly found the most effective way to deal with the black insects.

Using a special method, they invoked powerful divine senses to forcibly control the black insect swarms, forcing them to self-destruct and rapidly consume each other.

By using this method, two Harmony Dao cultivators could clear an entire state of the insect plague in a short amount of time.

After the Myriad Immortal Alliance popularized this secret technique, known as the "Insect Sovereign," the raging insect plague instantly showed signs of being dismantled.

Deep within the Hundred Stone Grotto-Heaven, Li Fan, through the perception of the Dao One insect queens, noted down every cultivator in the Immortal Alliance who performed exceptionally well during this insect plague. He then cross-referenced this information with the data in the Heavenly Profound Mirror.

"These are the true top-tier combat forces of the Immortal Alliance. As long as these individuals stand, the Myriad Immortal Alliance won't face any significant danger."

"But if these people are dealt with first, the lack of core strength would instantly plunge the Myriad Immortal Alliance into an awkward situation with no one to rely on. At that point, even a minor disaster could cause immense impact."

After pondering for a moment, Li Fan's thoughts returned to reality.

Feeling the continuously dwindling number of insects, he couldn't help but frown deeply.

The Insect Sovereign's method of manipulating the swarm to turn on itself was somewhat unexpected.

Originally, the insect queens had absolute control over their swarm offspring. The simple life form of the Dao One insects also meant that ordinary control methods would not work on them at all.

But this Insect Sovereign secret technique deprived the insect queens of their control by impersonating an insect emperor.

"Insect Sovereign..."

Li Fan, who had access to the Heavenly Profound Mirror, easily learned of this secret technique. In his opinion, this method seemed to originate from the same source as the Beast Control Sect's Beast Controlling Wheel.

"Could it be that Emperor Sanmo intervened to help?"

The new Dao One insects had not yet been fully deployed. If the insect plague ended now, it might not achieve the goal of luring out Jiang, the Dharma Inheritor.

"Then let's activate the contingency plan."

Li Fan pondered for a moment, and two Dao One insect queens immediately appeared in his palm.

Due to the massive deaths of the swarm, their bodies were no longer as plump as they initially were. They looked somewhat listless.

At the same time, they eyed each other with a mix of wariness and greed.

That was the instinct to try and survive a crisis by devouring their own kind.

Li Fan's gaze showed no fluctuation as he looked at these two tiny insects that had stirred up trouble in Xuanhuang.

With a slight squeeze, he instantly crushed them both.

As Li Fan acted, the sky over the entire Xuanhuang Realm changed.

The black insects that had densely filled the sky and continuously emitted faint sounds suddenly all fell silent.

And then...

They fell from the sky like a torrential downpour.

The cultivators of the Immortal Alliance who were diligently eradicating the black insects were astonished.

They instinctively drew over some of the dead black insects to examine them, finding that it was not a deception.

Seeing this, some felt relieved, lamenting that the disaster had come and gone quickly.

However, some cultivators with keen spiritual senses felt an increasing sense of unease.

They quickly reported the situation to the Immortal Alliance headquarters.

All the black insects that had ravaged the Xuanhuang continent died instantly, leaving behind only a carpet of their corpses.

If these insect corpses were not dealt with quickly, they might cause unknown trouble.

After discussion, the Immortal Alliance quickly issued an order.

It was announced that cultivators who had previously sought refuge from the disaster could now safely venture out. They were also to assist in environmental cleanup.

This was not mandatory, but significant contribution points were offered as compensation.

Consequently, many cultivators could not resist the temptation and left their safe havens.

As they looked at the black insect corpses covering the entire Xuanhuang continent, they all felt their scalps tingle.

The bodies of the black insects were almost entirely composed of special energy that they had devoured and transformed.

This energy was somewhat similar to spiritual energy, but it could not be absorbed or utilized by cultivators.

When countless black insects died simultaneously, and their corpses naturally decomposed,

this special energy rapidly spread into the air.

In just half a day, the qualitative change caused by the quantitative change had arrived.

"Ugh..."

The peculiar smell pervading the air made the cultivators present feel nauseated.

An uncontrollable urge to vomit.

"Everyone hold your breath and isolate yourselves! This insect stench is poisonous!"

Nausea was merely the least significant aspect. When a cultivator fainted directly after staying too long in the putrid insect environment,

the real trouble began.

With a bang, the fainted cultivator's body exploded into smithereens.

Although he quickly reincarnated from his grotto-heaven, once mixed with the cultivator's flesh and blood, the peculiar smell in the air became even more unbearable.

Moreover, this special putrid odor, as long as it interacted with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, would follow the traces of spiritual energy fluctuations and enter the cultivators' bodies.

Not all cultivators, like Li Fan, possessed nearly inexhaustible spiritual energy resources from a Five Elements Grand Grotto-Heaven.

Ordinary cultivators still needed to draw spiritual energy from the heavens and earth.

Due to the previous insect plague, the spiritual energy concentration in the Xuanhuang Realm had already dropped to an extremely low level.

Before it could recover, it was further contaminated by the insect stench and the smell of blood.

This situation reached its peak as the black insect corpses fully decomposed.

In the foul-smelling environment, even Nascent Soul cultivators could not stay for long.

Only those at the Spirit Transformation stage and above could maintain normal activities by relying on their strong foundations.

Even so, after spending some time in the putrid external environment, they would experience varying degrees of psychological discomfort and nausea.

"How did the perfectly fine Xuanhuang Realm suddenly turn into this?"

Countless cultivators exclaimed from the bottom of their hearts.