Octagonal Spike and Seven-Colored Moth

Chapter 18: Octagonal Spikes and Seven-Colored Moths

It was no wonder the White Jade Ant eggs hadn't perished inside the storage bag; given the tenacious vitality of the White Jade Ants, it was hardly surprising they had survived.

The successful hatching of the five White Jade Ants truly gave Luo Mu a pleasant surprise.

Shifting his gaze from the White Jade Ants, he turned his attention to the three seemingly ordinary caterpillars. Reaching for the storage bag at his waist, he retrieved his Insect Control Technique manual and began flipping through it rapidly.

In truth, Luo Mu had already made a rough guess as to the species of these three caterpillars, but he dared not be entirely certain. Thus, he brought out the manual to cross-reference them.

With practiced ease, Luo Mu located the information he sought. After carefully comparing the data with the three caterpillars before him, he was finally able to confirm that they were a highly venomous species known as "Octagonal Spikes."

The Octagonal Spike possessed eight antennae on its head, as hard as steel and shaped like nails. Each antenna contained potent venom and served as the creature's lifeline; should any of these antennae be damaged, the main body of the Octagonal Spike would suffer severe trauma. It was precisely because of these eight antennae that the creature earned its name.

However, "Octagonal Spike" was merely the larval name of this caterpillar. Once it advanced to its mature form, it would no longer be called an Octagonal Spike, but rather a Seven-Colored Moth.

As a larva, the Octagonal Spike only possessed the strength of a first-rank low-level demonic beast and was extremely fragile. As the larva slowly advanced, its defense and attack capabilities would strengthen, and its grade would rise accordingly.

With each advancement, one of the antennae on its head would vanish, and its grade would ascend a tier. Only when all eight antennae had completely disappeared would the Octagonal Spike enter its mature form: the Seven-Colored Moth.

The mature Seven-Colored Moth was a terrifying eighth-rank demonic insect! Not only did it possess immense attack power and formidable defense, but most fearsome of all was the toxic powder emitted from its wings, which was so lethal that low-rank demonic beasts would die the moment they touched it.

Because the Seven-Colored Moth was covered in seven distinct colors and was incredibly beautiful, it was named accordingly.

Yet, the Seven-Colored Moth was rarely seen in the cultivation world. Its scarcity was one reason, but another significant factor was that this moth was no different in size from an ordinary moth. Aside from being slightly more beautiful, it had no distinguishing features, making it difficult for cultivators to notice. Even if they did, few would recognize it, and those who did might simply ignore the small creature if they didn't pay close attention.

Luo Mu had no idea who the previous owner of that storage bag was to have managed to find Seven-Colored Moth eggs. An adult Seven-Colored Moth was an eighth-rank demonic beast, and a troublesome, venomous one at that. He couldn't fathom how that person had obtained these three eggs.

However, this was not what concerned Luo Mu most. How they were obtained mattered little; the key was that these three Octagonal Spikes were now his pets. Nothing else was of any importance.

Five White Jade Ants and three Octagonal Spikes—both were rare demonic beasts in the cultivation world, and both belonged to the category of insects with exceptionally tenacious vitality; otherwise, they would not have survived until now. Furthermore, both were insects with immense destructive potential.

The destructive power of a single White Jade Ant was not particularly notable. But once they formed a swarm, they would leave nothing but ruins in their wake, their destructive force truly formidable.

As for the Octagonal Spikes, while a low-level cultivator like Luo Mu could easily crush them in their larval stage, once they advanced to adulthood, they were eighth-rank demonic beasts!

What was an eighth-rank demonic beast? It was an existence that Luo Mu could only look up to; in his mind, such creatures existed only in legends. He had rarely even seen information regarding eighth-rank demonic beasts in books, which spoke volumes of their terror.

Obtaining these two types of demonic insects made Luo Mu's heart bloom with joy. Yet, a moment later, his brows furrowed slightly. For cultivators in the cultivation world, obtaining the eggs of certain demonic beasts or insects might not be a difficult task.

However, successfully hatching these eggs without a miraculous secret technique—like the Blood Pact Formation Luo Mu had used—was incredibly difficult. Even if one were lucky enough to hatch them, there was a risk of being backlashed by the insects.

Even if one were fortunate enough to bypass those hurdles, successfully hatch the insects, and tame them, keeping them alive was another challenge entirely. Different species of insects had different dietary preferences; failing to understand what one's insects liked to eat could easily lead to them being starved to death.

Taking a step back, even if one understood their dietary needs and possessed the wealth and strength to sustain a small number of insects, the cost of food would become a massive problem as their numbers increased, potentially leading to financial ruin.

It was unknown how many cultivators in the cultivation world raised demonic insects, as no one had ever kept statistics. But one thing was certain: those who raised them in large quantities were indeed few—or rather, extremely rare.

The primary cause of this phenomenon was the issue of food!

And now, Luo Mu faced this very same dilemma.

The White Jade Ants were manageable; as long as they had flesh and blood, they would suffice. The mountains were teeming with wild beasts. Although these beasts lacked spiritual energy and provided little benefit to the ants, they would not starve, at most resulting in a slightly slower rate of advancement.

What worried Luo Mu were the Octagonal Spikes. Their advancement speed was significantly faster than that of the White Jade Ants, but their dietary preferences were far more selective.

Octagonal Spikes did not like to eat meat. Like Luo Mu, they needed to consume various toxic substances to advance. The more potent the toxin, the more they enjoyed it, and the faster it would promote their advancement!

They were, in every sense, another version of Luo Mu!

Thinking that these three little things would be competing with him for food in the future gave Luo Mu a massive headache. Shaking his head, he decided not to dwell on it. When the boat reaches the bridge, it will naturally go straight. He believed a solution would eventually present itself; worrying now would only increase his troubles to no avail.

He took out several large chunks of demonic beast remains and tossed them into the Blood Pact Formation. The five White Jade Ants clinging to the blood-colored light barrier immediately caught the scent of blood. Within moments, they left the barrier, descended to the ground, and swarmed toward the blood-soaked remains.

The three Octagonal Spikes, however, showed no reaction, remaining motionless on the light barrier as if waiting for Luo Mu to provide their food as well.

In a short while, to Luo Mu's disbelief, the five thumb-sized White Jade Ants had completely devoured the large chunks of beast remains, not leaving behind even a shred of meat. What shocked Luo Mu most was that the size of the five ants hadn't changed in the slightest; they remained exactly as they were, and not even their tiny bellies appeared distended.

Regaining his senses, Luo Mu exclaimed in wonder. He truly couldn't fathom how these five little things had swallowed such large pieces of meat, or where the food had gone.

After eating, the five White Jade Ants crawled around inside the Blood Pact Formation. To Luo Mu, it didn't look like they were strolling because they were full; it looked like they were still hungry and unsatisfied!

With a wry shake of his head, Luo Mu tossed the remaining beast remains from his storage bag into the formation. Seeing this, the five White Jade Ants crawled over without hesitation.

This beast meat had been obtained when Luo Mu killed several first-rank low-to-mid-level demonic beasts on his way to Jinxiu City. At the time, he had not only harvested the useful materials but also kept the remains. After arriving in Jinxiu City, Qu Yi had used the beast materials for practice, leaving Luo Mu with this meat—he hadn't expected it to come in handy now.

A short while later, the meat was once again wiped clean by the White Jade Ants. Luo Mu's eyelids twitched violently as he cursed them as "bottomless pits." Fortunately, the five ants finally quieted down, lying motionless on the ground. Perhaps because they had only recently hatched, their appetite wasn't massive, and they were finally full.

Seeing this, Luo Mu let out a long sigh of relief and turned his gaze toward the three Octagonal Spikes.

With a pained expression, he retrieved three stalks of Ink Crow Grass from his storage bag and dropped them into the Blood Pact Formation. The Octagonal Spikes, which had remained motionless on the barrier, finally reacted the moment the Ink Crow Grass appeared.

Slowly and sluggishly, the three Octagonal Spikes crawled toward the grass. Watching this, Luo Mu felt helpless, his mouth twitching. Although the Ink Crow Grass wasn't impossible to obtain, he hadn't even had a taste of it himself before letting these three little things feast on it.

Don't let their slow crawling speed fool you; their eating speed, while not quite as fast as the White Jade Ants, was not slow either. In the time it took to eat a meal, Luo Mu watched helplessly as the three Octagonal Spikes devoured all three stalks of Ink Crow Grass.

Fortunately, the appetite of the Octagonal Spikes was much smaller than that of the White Jade Ants; three stalks were enough to satisfy the three little ones, which made the stingy Luo Mu breathe a sigh of relief.

The three stalks of Ink Crow Grass had already pained him enough; if they had eaten any more, he would have jumped up in protest. He had never given up even when he couldn't step into the ranks of cultivators, and now that he finally could, how could he dare to be lazy?

Moreover, his desire to improve his strength had reached a fever pitch. Using Ink Crow Grass to boost his cultivation was his greatest reliance right now. How could he not feel the sting of the three Octagonal Spikes consuming three stalks in a single meal?

"Eat, eat! If you little things don't earn back your keep in the future, see if I don't stir-fry the lot of you!" Grumbling to himself, the complaining Luo Mu gathered the now-sated White Jade Ants and Octagonal Spikes, placed them into two separate Spirit Beast Bags, and hung them at his waist alongside his storage bag.