Insect Tamer

Dense, strange sounds rose from underground, like countless pairs of scissors cutting through stone. The billowing black smoke grew thicker and thicker. Li Weiyi did not dare let down his guard and quickly held his breath.

"Watch out underground! They're Anomalous Fierce Insects—there's an Insect Tamer nearby."

The warning came from the Spirit Tablet on the table.

Li Weiyi had heard Senior Spirit Tablet speak of "Anomalous Fierce Insects" and "Insect Tamers." Who would have thought the Changlin Gang possessed someone like this?

He swiftly retreated, sword in hand, and leaped into the air.

He climbed up the old poplar's trunk and stopped only several yards above the ground.

Insect Tamers were also practitioners of the Spirit God Path, a minor branch of Mind Masters.

Leaving the Nether Realm aside, within the Realm of Life, the surface belonged to human powerhouses and Baleful Demon Kings, while beneath the earth lay the world of insects.

Insect Tamers often traveled through desolate mountains, vast marshes, underground rivers, and deep abysses, searching for all manner of rare and exotic insects to tame and command. At times, a single Insect Tamer could rival an entire provincial army, conquering cities and lands alone, even sweeping across the world by their own strength.

During times of war, legendary Insect Tamers often emerged.

Whoosh!

A strand of white spider silk, as thin as a hair, shot out of the soil like an arrow and wrapped around Li Weiyi's left ankle.

The silk was incredibly tough. It tightened continuously, dragging him downward.

Only by mobilizing the power of his Five Springs did Li Weiyi break it with a bang.

That burst of force yanked a fist-sized spider out from underground.

It had eight legs, but its back was like a turtle's, covered in a hard shell. Its teeth were sharp and keen, like scissors constantly opening and closing. One bite from it would tear away a huge chunk of flesh.

Li Weiyi swung his sword, cleaving it in two.

"It's a Soldier-class Fierce Insect, an Armored Spider. Watch out for the silk they spit from their abdomens. Martial Cultivators at any level below the Five Seas Realm can be bound and killed by them. One Armored Spider isn't hard to handle—the terrifying thing is a swarm." Senior Spirit Tablet said.

Whoosh, whoosh!

One Armored Spider after another burst from the soil in the courtyard, densely packed as they all fired silk at Li Weiyi in the poplar tree.

If several—or dozens—of strands wrapped around him at once, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Li Weiyi drove the Yellow Dragon Sword with his power. A gleam surfaced along its edge as he whirled it rapidly, refusing to let the spider silk come near.

The Armored Spiders on the ground were like an army. More than a dozen suddenly split off and charged toward the room where Zhao Meng and the others were hiding. At the same time, seven or eight swiftly moving shadows appeared atop the courtyard wall.

Two of those shadows held crossbow-like weapons aimed at him.

Li Weiyi immediately used Yellow Dragon Ascends to Heaven, stepping through empty air as he flew toward the wall six or seven yards away.

The crossbow-like weapons launched needle-like Windless Heavy Arrows, but with two clangs, the prepared Li Weiyi knocked them aside with his sword.

The two Changlin Gang members who had fired the Windless Heavy Arrows were shocked pale. The heavy crossbows in their hands were Divine Weapons and Sharp Tools; killing those at the Four Springs or Five Springs was effortless. If they caught their targets off guard, even Six Springs and Seven Springs experts might die without knowing what hit them.

Who exactly was this brat?

Had the people sent to scout the place gotten it right?

They had no chance to fire a second time. Like a ghost, Li Weiyi was already above their heads. Trembling in terror, they were about to leap over the wall and flee when the yellow blade had already slashed through the night toward them.

Pfft!

The first sword beheaded one.

The second pierced the other's heart.

The two Four Springs gang members, together with their heavy crossbows, fell from the yard-high wall.

Li Weiyi raced across the courtyard wall, slaughtering from south to north—one sword, one life. The night was filled with screams. Within the span of several breaths, all seven or eight shadows had fallen.

The next instant, he flew down onto the Stone Steps before the house where Zhao Meng and the others were hiding, swinging his sword at the ground to intercept the Armored Spiders.

Hiss, hiss!

More and more Armored Spiders crawled up from underground, and spider silk kept landing on him.

If it wrapped around his wrist, even if he could break it, his sword swings would slow. If it wrapped around his legs, his movements and evasions would become sluggish.

Seven or eight Armored Spiders had even joined together and were weaving a web.

At that moment, Li Weiyi finally understood what Senior Spirit Tablet had meant: Martial Cultivators at any level below the Five Seas Realm could be bound and killed. If he did not have the Yellow Dragon Sword, his situation would have been even more difficult than it was now.

Senior Spirit Tablet's voice came through. "Armored Spiders fear cold! Use the Ghost Flag and freeze them."

"The Ghost Flag?"

Li Weiyi was puzzled.

Li Weiyi had activated Yu Tuo Nan's Ghost Flag before. It could only release Nether Mist and, at most, provide some defensive effect.

"The power of a Martial Cultivator with Four Springs and one with Five Springs is different when activating a magical artifact. The power within the body has undergone a fundamental elevation." Senior Spirit Tablet clearly knew something about that Ghost Flag.

Li Weiyi took out the Ghost Flag. The power gushing from the five spring eyes within him flowed through sixty Trace Meridians, all of it pouring into the flag. At once, Nether Mist and frigid air erupted outward, blanketing most of the residence like a mass of black clouds.

Not long after.

"My Armored Spiders! My Armored Spiders..."

A hoarse voice, accompanied by hurried footsteps, rushed into the courtyard.

How could Master Qi, an Insect Tamer, not be anxious?

He had spent decades painstakingly raising nearly a hundred Armored Spiders. Only then had he gained the standing to sit on equal footing with Five Seas Realm experts and enjoy the treatment of one Above All Others—even the Changlin Gang's leader had to show him some respect.

But within the Nether Mist—

Every Armored Spider on the ground had been frozen stiff, unable to move, their bodies covered in a thin layer of frost.

"Whoosh!"

The tip of the Yellow Dragon Sword pointed at his throat.

Master Qi was tall and gaunt, dressed in a loose white robe, with deeply sunken eye sockets. Even though Li Weiyi could take his life at any moment, there was not the slightest fear in his eyes.

"Whoosh!"

He gritted his teeth, his hatred soaring to the heavens.

The Forehead Spirit Realm between his brows lit up like a lamp as he launched a Psychic Attack.

Psychic force was invisible and formless, yet it was like a sword, capable of directly attacking an enemy's soul.

But when Master Qi's Psychic Attack landed on Li Weiyi, not only did it fail to kill him, a series of bell chimes instead rang inside his own mind, jolting his consciousness into brief confusion and frenzy.

It was as though he had suffered the backlash of a Five Seas Realm Martial Cultivator's Battle Intent.

"Five Seas Realm... You're Five Seas..."

Master Qi collapsed onto the ground, clutching his head with both hands. His expression was agonized, his face white as paper.

Just as Li Weiyi was wondering why the old man had called him Five Seas Realm, two powerful gusts of wind sounded by his ears. He immediately struck out with a palm, knocking Master Qi unconscious first.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The two middle-aged men who had previously stood by the third-floor window of the brothel arrived at top speed. They were both guest retainers of the Changlin Gang, figures who had opened seven springs.

They had never intended to take action tonight. They only wanted some entertainment, while incidentally keeping watch to prevent anyone from escaping and causing unnecessary trouble.

With Master Qi's methods, such a small job should have been completed silently in less than a quarter of an hour. It would not alert the City Defense Camp, nor even the surrounding residents. By the next day, everyone would merely assume that these outsiders had been attacked by vicious insects and died unnatural deaths.

No one would investigate, and no disturbance would arise.

Master Qi fed his insects, while they got their money. Everyone was happy.

But now, the commotion had grown far too great. In this brothel alone, many people were already looking over as though watching a spectacle.

If they did not settle this soon, the City Defense Camp would likely arrive.

From the sound of the two men moving rapidly through the air alone, Li Weiyi judged the level of their cultivation. His heart tightened as he raised his vigilance to the utmost.

Two Spring Realm peak experts who had opened seven springs?

One Against Two?

The last time he had solo-killed Fang Tong, who had opened seven springs, he had borrowed the immensely powerful Evil Camel Bell and Black Iron Seal. But now, who knew how many eyes were watching this place? He did not dare be too conspicuous.

As for the Ghost Flag and the Yellow Dragon Sword...

The might of those two items appeared to be no more than that of low-grade artifacts. Even if they were exposed, the repercussions would be limited.

After all, which Five Seas Realm existence did not possess one or two low-grade artifacts?

The middle-aged man with a long black mole between his brows rushed in through the front entrance. He moved like an afterimage, throwing a punch that made the air ahead cave in before exploding with a thunderous boom.

His fist force was tyrannical, like a cannonball.

Li Weiyi took the punch head-on, letting the force send him flying backward. At the same time, he swung his sword at the seven-spring expert with the thick beard, who had vaulted over the wall and was preparing to attack Zhao Meng and the others.

These two possessed battle wisdom; they were not reckless fools who only knew brute force.

One restrained him from the front, while the other sought to seize his companions, leaving him unable to attend to both ends. That would make dealing with him much easier.

Since Li Weiyi had seen through their scheme, he naturally played along, intending to use this chance to heavily wound one of them first, lest he face One Against Two and be attacked from both front and rear.

Thus, he poured all the strength in his body into the sword strike aimed at the thick-bearded seven-spring expert, carving an arcing Sword Mark through the darkness.

The thick-bearded seven-spring expert had never expected Li Weiyi to arrive so quickly, and his heart jolted in alarm.

Yet he was, after all, a man who had immersed himself in the martial path for nearly sixty years. His mentality was exceedingly steady. Even at this moment of life-and-death peril, he could respond calmly.

He swung the crescent-shaped short blade in his hand, meeting the edge of the Yellow Dragon Sword.

"Clang! Clang!"

Sparks flew, and harsh scraping rang out.

The two separated in an instant.

Li Weiyi landed before the door of the house where Zhao Meng and the others were. He looked at the blood sliding down the edge of the Yellow Dragon Sword in his hand, then at the thick-bearded seven-spring expert rolling beneath the steps, disappointment surfacing in his eyes.

Just a little more.

The middle-aged man with the black mole between his brows had caught up. Li Weiyi had lost the chance to follow up with another sword strike.

With his current cultivation, even with the aid of artifacts, even with the advantage of catching his opponent off guard, trying to swiftly kill a seven-spring martial cultivator with a single sword strike was still as difficult as climbing to the heavens.

The Seven Springs powerhouse with the thick beard sprang to his feet, reaching for his neck and finding his hand covered in blood.

He then looked at the crescent dagger in his hand, only to see a deep notch carved into its edge.

One had to know, this was no ordinary weapon, but an ultra-dense heavy weapon. Even a magical artifact would find it no easy task to damage an ultra-dense heavy weapon.

These targets were rather thorny!

The two exchanged a glance, then attacked from left and right at the same time.

Their target was not Li Weiyi, but the building behind him.

The more their opponents sought to protect something, the more they wanted to strike at it.