Only now did he fully realize the methods of a Golden Core cultivator. With a mere sweep of divine sense, everything great and small within the entire sect was laid bare without the slightest concealment. Previously, he had prided himself on the joy of raising insects, but thinking back now, it felt laughable. He raised those bugs, yet that Golden Core Sect Master, in her quiet way, observed him as if he were nothing more than an insect himself.
Chen Gensheng let out a sigh and raised a hand to gently stroke the rough bark of the Juicy-Plump Tree. Suddenly, a suction force erupted from the hollow in his chest where his cockroach form resided—indescribable, like a starving beast smelling meat. Before he could process it, the Juicy-Plump Tree shuddered violently; its roots were ripped from the earth by an invisible force, sending soil flying.
"What's happening?"
Chen Gensheng retreated in alarm, his six arms raised in a defensive posture. Then, he watched in a daze as the massive tree and its roots instantly transformed into a surging flood of emerald light, charging straight for his chest. Before he could dodge, the torrent dove entirely into his body.
Soon, everything fell silent. All that remained was a large pit and scattered soil. The Spirit Plant Garden was terrifyingly quiet; not a sound could be heard. Even the Soul-Devouring Corpse-Wasps, usually the noisiest, were now listless, not daring to make a peep.
His newly acquired Ethereal Dao-Body was unharmed. Yet he could clearly feel that something extra had appeared within his true cockroach form. The Juicy-Plump Tree was now quietly rooted within the Myriad Venom Mysterious Casket of his hideous true body, its branches unfurling with vibrant vitality. It felt as if it had naturally belonged there all along.
Chen Gensheng’s hair stood on end. He instinctively grabbed the Shock-Wyrm Fire-Fish Flag. The commotion here was undoubtedly seen clearly by the Sect Master. He froze in place, not daring to move an inch, waiting for a full half-hour.
Nothing happened. No thunderous strike, no sign of the Sect Master's face, whether smiling or angry. Slowly, he lowered his six stiff arms, his terror gradually replaced by a bizarre bewilderment.
Could it be that he was overthinking things?
The wind blew through the empty garden, swirling a few fallen leaves against his ugly face. Yet Chen Gensheng didn't even dare to look in the direction of the main hall. Another half-hour passed. The tempest in his heart subsided slightly, suppressed by his innate greed and caution.
It seemed he wouldn't die for the time being. If so, he had to figure out exactly what this thing inside his body was. With a thought, his divine sense sank into his body. Passing through the brand-new and powerful Ethereal Dao-Body, his consciousness returned to the hideous cockroach form coiled within the chest cavity.
The 999 insect chambers were quiet. And in the very center of the chambers, in a place that had been empty, a tree was actually growing. A small tree. This tree was about the height of an arm, complete with branches and leaves, its entire body a dripping emerald green—a perfect miniature of the Juicy-Plump Tree. Waves of pure vitality radiated from the small tree, resonating with his single Heavenly Wood Spirit Root.
This thing had seemingly become a part of his body. Chen Gensheng tried to guide a wisp of divine sense to touch the small tree. A leaf fell onto the floor of the insect chamber and transformed into a small globule of dense, green spiritual liquid, emitting a refreshing fragrance of plants and trees.
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This tree and his Ethereal Dao-Body formed a perfect cycle. The inexhaustible spiritual energy of the Dao-body nourished the small tree. The tree then transformed and refined that energy, feeding back wisps of more primal life essence to nurture his cockroach form in return.
With another thought, he moved all the corpse-wasps into the insect chambers within him. As soon as the wasps entered this familiar space, they immediately sensed the presence of the small tree. The most robust Soul-Devouring Corpse-Wasp flew hesitantly to the tree's side. It circled the emerald leaf twice as if confirming something. Finally, its ferocious mandibles carefully took a small bite from the edge of the leaf.
Chen Gensheng’s heart jumped into his throat. The wasp’s body stiffened abruptly. Immediately, a stream of green light surged through its mandibles and into its body. The aura of death and corrosion that usually swirled around it was neutralized by the green light, turning into an indescribable spiritual agility.
The wasp dazed for a moment, then, as if gone mad, it pounced onto the leaf and began devouring it greedily. Seeing this, how could the rest of the wasps hold back? Leaf after leaf was swallowed into their bellies; the small tree was soon stripped bare. But in the next moment, new buds sprouted from the bare trunk. The speed of growth almost perfectly matched the consumption of spiritual energy within his body.
The aura of every wasp that consumed the leaves grew at an exaggerated, rapid pace. Several Corpse-Miasma Wasps that were originally at the Tier 2 Low-grade suddenly shuddered in their carapaces after swallowing three or four leaves, breaking through their bottlenecks on the spot.
Was it the Ethereal Dao-Body that magnified the effect of the Juicy-Plump Tree?
A dramatic transformation was occurring in the insect chambers. The death-rot aura surrounding the Soul-Devouring and Corpse-Miasma Wasps faded at a speed beyond logic, vanishing in an instant. Subsequently, wood-element vitality erupted from within the swarm, becoming so dense it almost solidified, completely replacing the former death energy.
Inside their bodies, a series of crisp, crackling sounds echoed continuously, sounding like a pot of beans being stir-fried over a high flame. One by one, the pitch-black carapaces of the wasps split open from the inside out. From beneath the shattered black shells emerged brand-new bodies.
They were emerald green throughout, as if carved from the finest jade. Their thin wings were nearly transparent, and their vibration sent out ripples of pale green spiritual energy. Their ferocious mandibles and sharp segments remained, but the previous sinister evil was gone, replaced by an unspeakable agility and purity.
In less than fifteen minutes, his more than ten thousand wasps had, without exception, been reborn with a completely new appearance. The tree within his body had thus spurred the birth of a new army of spirit insects. A line of information surfaced in his mind:
[Wood-Skeleton Wasp]
Grade: Tier 3 Middle-grade
Attributes: Wood, Death-Qi, Parasitic
Bloodline: Juicy-Plump Tree Spirit-Lineage
Innate Divine Abilities: Wood-element Divine Arts, Wood-spirit Transformation, Wood-blood Shield, Blood-root Body-piercing, Honey Production.
Evolution Path: None
Cultivation Suggestion: None
Quantity: 13,826
Note: Mutated from eight queens and a portion of elite individuals, serving as the core of the swarm. Capable of constructing nests within any flesh-and-blood body, siphoning the host's life force to feed the swarm.
Their grade had jumped directly from Tier 2 or Tier 3 Low-grade to Tier 3 Middle-grade. Chen Gensheng was stunned. Fear was one thing, but these tangible benefits were undeniable.
As he was contemplating this, the Wood-Skeleton Wasps within his body moved to various corners. Then, they began to build nests. Each emerald wasp opened its mandibles and spat out a green, wood-pulp-like thick liquid. They skillfully molded the pulp into standard hexagonal honeycombs. Countless combs connected to one another, quickly constructing a nest on the originally empty walls of the insect chambers.
Those nests appeared half emerald green and half deathly ink-black, looking absolutely bizarre. When the final cell was completed, the eight largest queen wasps flew into their respective core nests and lay motionless. The rest of the Wood-Skeleton Wasps rested quietly in their cells, seemingly waiting for something.
Chen Gensheng guided a wisp of divine sense to carefully enter one of the newly built cells. It was empty. But at the bottom of the cell, a drop of liquid was slowly condensing. The liquid possessed a strange color—half crystalline green and half deep ink—blending yet remaining distinct. An ineffable fragrance wafted from that drop, possessing both the freshness of plants and the exotic scent of a refined soul.
Just a single sniff of this scent made the spiritual energy within his Ethereal Dao-Body become noticeably more active.