Six-Winged Golden Silkworm

In the VIP room of Caesar's Palace, one of the largest hotels in Las Vegas, even "resplendent in gold and jade" was not enough to describe it. Liao Xiaojin hopped about in excitement as he stared at the enormous pile of cash covering the super-sized bed. "Three hundred million! Three hundred million U.S. dollars! Why were these little Japs carrying so much cash around? Is this girl really worth that much?" Amid his excitement, Liao Xiaojin also felt a trace of doubt. "Looks like we'll have to wait until Master wakes her up to find out!" Zhou Qing, however, wore a grave expression. Two fingers rested on the unconscious girl's wrist as he kept shaking his head.

Liao Xiaojin burst out laughing. "Haha! Since when did you know how to treat illnesses, Master? Didn't you say the Puppet Technique was in the brain? Why are you checking her wrist now? What are you putting on this act for?"

"Hehe!" Zhou Qing laughed awkwardly. "How can you talk to your master like that? Are you asking for a beating? I'm taking her pulse, aren't I? Checking whether she has any other injuries."

"You're obviously just posing! Taking her pulse? What an act!" Liao Xiaojin muttered, then asked, "Master, can she still be saved? It'd be such a pity if someone this pretty died!"

"It's very troublesome. I can't be certain either. A Puppet Worm has restrained her divine consciousness in her brain. We need to lure the Puppet Worm out, then nurse her back to health slowly. Otherwise, if too much time passes and the Puppet Worm loses control, it will eat her brain hollow. By then, even a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal would be useless." Zhou Qing analyzed the situation.

"Then what do we do? How can we lure out the Puppet Worm?" Liao Xiaojin asked. "That'll require your help!"

"Me? How can I help?"

"Though there are many kinds of Puppet Worms, most of them like blood. Let out some blood, and I'll perform a rite to send its bloody scent into her brain and lure the Puppet Worm out. Then we can slowly nurse her with Yi Wood Spiritual Energy."

"My blood again? Why is it always mine?"

"If not yours, should we use your master's? Or do you want to be the master instead? You're a Vampire Clan member, so losing ten or twenty catties won't matter. You'll recover in no time. Your master is different." Zhou Qing grinned lewdly. Your blood contains Nine Li Sacred Blood. It's the finest nourishment those worms could ever want. Whose blood would I use if not yours?

"Fine, for the sake of a beauty, I'll make this sacrifice." Liao Xiaojin spoke with righteous grandeur. Zhou Qing said no more. He condensed his qi into a sword and sliced a small cut across Liao Xiaojin's wrist. "When you see something strange come out later, move her away immediately. Here, stick this Evil-Warding Talisman on her body too. That way, once the Puppet Worm comes out, it won't be able to get back in. You must seize the timing—stick the talisman on her the instant it emerges," Zhou Qing instructed.

Dipping his hand in a little blood, he drew a symbol on his palm and placed it beside the girl's ear. With a surge of power, a faint blood-red glow flecked with pale golden motes slipped into the girl's ear. Before long, a rustling sound came from within. A golden, silkworm-like insect over an inch long and as thick as a chopstick slowly crawled out. Even stranger, the golden worm had a pair of wings on its back, thinner than cicada wings and constantly fluttering with golden light. The moment it emerged, it transformed into a streak of golden light and shot toward Zhou Qing's palm.

Zhou Qing immediately gave Liao Xiaojin a meaningful look. The golden worm suddenly sensed danger by instinct and actually halted abruptly less than an inch from Zhou Qing's palm, about to turn back. But it was too late. Zhou Qing had planned it all, and Liao Xiaojin was no slouch either. With a bang, red light from the Evil-Warding Talisman knocked the golden worm back, sending it into a jade bottle in Zhou Qing's hand.

Zhou Qing's face filled with astonishment, and he could not help crying out, "A Six-Winged Golden Silkworm! A Six-Winged Golden Silkworm! It really is a Six-Winged Golden Silkworm! Which bastard actually refined such a treasure into a Puppet Worm? What a fool who can't recognize treasure! What a squanderer!"

Seeing Zhou Qing so beside himself, Liao Xiaojin could not help asking, "What is this Six-Winged Golden Silkworm thing? Why are you so happy?" Zhou Qing laughed. "Go on, stick a few Wood Spirit Talismans around that girl. She should wake up in a few hours. The Six-Winged Golden Silkworm is one of the finest spiritual creatures under heaven, but it isn't suitable for use as a Puppet Worm. Once we're done, I'll explain it to you properly!" Zhou Qing was utterly pleased with himself.

"Master, it's all done."

"Mm! Not bad. You drew these Wood Spirit Talismans quite decently, and this Spirit Gathering Formation isn't half bad either!" In his excellent mood, Zhou Qing rarely offered Liao Xiaojin a word of praise. "Looks like you really have been studying diligently lately!"

Liao Xiaojin did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Master, when that beauty wakes up, don't you dare say that about me, or I'll be terribly embarrassed!" "Oh?" Zhou Qing's eyes rolled half a turn. "Fine, but your master has something he'd like your help with later. Don't refuse me then!"

Liao Xiaojin hastily nodded and agreed, patting his chest. "Master's business is my business. Just give the word, and I'll brave boiling water and tread on fire without hesitation. Oh, right—you said it was some Six-Winged Golden Silkworm. What exactly is it? It clearly only has one pair of wings."

"This Six-Winged Golden Silkworm is one of the finest spiritual creatures in heaven and earth, an ancient primordial variant species. Their numbers are scarce. A pair lays only one egg every thousand years, and it takes another hundred years for that egg to hatch into a larva. Newborn larvae are weak and have only one pair of wings. Only when they evolve into adults do they gain three pairs—six wings. A mature Six-Winged Golden Silkworm is simply terrifying. It can fly through the heavens and burrow through the earth, rise to the azure firmament or descend to the Nine Netherworlds. Its nature is savage, though its intelligence is low. It thirsts for slaughter. It seems that during the ancient Investiture of the Gods War, the Six-Winged Golden Silkworms were wiped out entirely. Adults were refined into magical treasures, while larvae were raised as pets. After the Investiture of the Gods War, nearly all the great experts beneath heaven died, and the Six-Winged Golden Silkworm vanished as well. Then, six hundred years ago, the demonic master Green Robed Ancestor discovered a larva in the Miao Borderlands. Green Robed Ancestor was also a heaven-sent genius. He actually bred the Six-Winged Golden Silkworm with another variant species and produced a large brood of golden silkworms. Though they were far inferior to mature Six-Winged Golden Silkworms, they still possessed its bloodline and were not weak. Their numbers were especially vast, and Green Robed Ancestor fed them human blood, making them even more savage than the Six-Winged Golden Silkworms. That established Green Robed Ancestor's fearsome reputation as a grandmaster of the demonic path. Later, Shu Mountain joined forces with the major Daoist Sect factions to eliminate him. He himself died beneath the Purple and Azure Twin Swords, and Six-Winged Golden Silkworms never appeared again. Who would have thought one would show up here? It seems to be only a larva, perfect for becoming a pet. A mature Six-Winged Golden Silkworm can rival a super expert at the late Spirit Transformation stage! Even a golden silkworm that has evolved four wings is absolutely beyond our ability to handle. It could probably rival someone at the early Spirit Transformation stage! By then, the whole world would be ours to roam!"

"Master, how long would it take for the Six-Winged Golden Silkworm to evolve into an adult? It can't be a short time, considering it takes a thousand years just to lay an egg." Liao Xiaojin instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

"Under normal circumstances, it would take about two hundred years for this golden silkworm to evolve from two wings to four. As for evolving from four wings to six, that's hard to say. It would probably take more than ten times as long as the previous stage—at least two thousand years." Zhou Qing answered with a smile.

"Ah! Then what damned use is it? By then, even I, as a Vampire Clan member, will probably be dead, let alone you, Master. Our bones could likely be used as drumsticks by then!" Liao Xiaojin's enthusiasm deflated, and he began spouting nonsense without any regard.

Zhou Qing did not mind in the least, smiling as he said, "I said under normal circumstances—that means natural growth. Of course I have a way to make it evolve into a Four-Winged Golden Silkworm quickly."

"What way?" "Feed it human blood! That was how Green Robed Ancestor did it back then. And Six-Winged Golden Silkworms love devouring souls. Hehe!" Zhou Qing chuckled sinisterly.

"No way!" Liao Xiaojin stared at Zhou Qing, his face going pale. "Don't look at me like that. I won't do things like murder people and seize their souls—that's what demonic cultivators do. Besides, what kind of society is this? Killing one person would cause a huge uproar. Would I do something that stupid? Don't forget the Nether Blood-Devouring Divine Saber we took last night. Who knows how many thousand-year fiendish souls and ten-thousand-year vicious spirits are imprisoned within the Du Tian Twelve Divine Demon Grand Formation on it? They'll be perfect for feeding the golden silkworm! As for human blood... hehe! Hehe!" Zhou Qing gave several dry laughs.

How could Liao Xiaojin fail to understand? He immediately cried out, "My blood again! Absolutely not this time! Vampire Clan members may not care that much, but blood isn't river water or dirt in the ground, is it? It takes time for me to replenish it! Absolutely not this time!"

"Hehe! Disciple, you've followed me for so long, but your master has never given you a proper magical treasure, have I? I was originally planning to make you a few powerful magical treasures so you could take revenge sooner and win back your Jenny. But you saw it yesterday—your master's flying sword and jade tablet were both destroyed! Sigh, there's no helping it. Your master is poor too!" Zhou Qing smiled wickedly.

"Ah!" Liao Xiaojin sagged like a deflated ball. "How much? Let's make this clear first—any magical treasure you give me must be at least on the same level as your Lesser Heaven Flipping Seal."

"No problem. Twenty catties of blood will be enough." "Ah!" Liao Xiaojin trembled all over as if he had gone mad, pointing at Zhou Qing. "You! You! Are you the vampire, or am I the vampire? One price: five catties!"

"Fifteen catties!"

"Eight catties!"

"Twelve catties!"

"Ten catties at most! Otherwise, goodbye!"

"Deal! Now that we have so much money, I can go buy a few pieces of top-grade jade and make some powerful magical treasures for you!"

"Mm!" A faint groan drifted over. Liao Xiaojin shouted, "Master, she's awake." "Why did she wake up so quickly? That makes no sense." Zhou Qing was puzzled, then immediately understood. It must have been when I lured out the golden silkworm just now. Some of that brat's blood and qi must have entered her. This Nine Li Sacred Blood really is formidable! If I feed the golden silkworm Nine Li Sacred Blood, I'd like to see just how powerful this Six-Winged Golden Silkworm can become! Hehe!!

When Ling Ruoshui woke up, her head was swimming. The instant she opened her eyes, she saw a man beside her, his face nearly pressing against hers. She screamed in fright, "Ah!" The shrill cry made Liao Xiaojin's vision go black, and he nearly fainted.

Ling Ruoshui tightly crossed her arms over her chest and checked her clothes and skirt. Seeing that they were completely intact, she finally relaxed a little.