Octagonal Spikes and Seven-Colored Moths

Chapter 18: Octagonal Spikes and Seven-Colored Moths

No wonder the White Jade Ant eggs hadn't died in the Storage Bag. Given the White Jade Ants' tenacious vitality, it wasn't surprising they'd survived.

The successful hatching of five White Jade Ants had given Luo Mu a tremendous, delightful surprise.

He shifted his gaze from the White Jade Ants to the three ordinary-looking caterpillars. Reaching for the Storage Bag at his waist, he pulled out the Insect Control Technique and quickly leafed through it.

Luo Mu had already guessed roughly what kind of caterpillars these three were, but he didn't dare be certain they were what he suspected. So he took out the Insect Control Technique to check.

With practiced ease, Luo Mu found the information he was looking for. After carefully comparing it with the three caterpillars before him once more, he was finally certain: they were an exceptionally venomous kind of poisonous insect called "Octagonal Spikes."

Octagonal Spikes had eight nail-hard, steel-like feelers on their heads. Each feeler contained deadly poison, and all eight were vital to the creatures' survival. If even one of these feelers was damaged, the Octagonal Spike itself would suffer severe harm. They had earned their name from these eight feelers.

However, Octagonal Spike was only the caterpillar's name in its juvenile stage! Once it matured, it was no longer called an Octagonal Spike, but a Seven-Colored Moth.

The juvenile Octagonal Spike was only as strong as a first-level, low-grade demon beast, and was extremely fragile. As it gradually advanced, its defense and attack power would improve, and its grade would rise as well.

Each time it advanced, one of the feelers on its head would disappear, and its grade would rise by one level. Only after all eight feelers had vanished would it enter its mature stage and become a Seven-Colored Moth.

A mature Seven-Colored Moth was a terrifying eighth-level demon insect! It had not only tremendous attack power and extremely high defenses, but also a deadly poison dust released from its wings. Any low-level demon beast touched by it would die instantly!

The Seven-Colored Moth was named for its stunning beauty, its whole body covered in seven different colors.

However, Seven-Colored Moths were rare in the cultivation world. Their scarcity was one reason, but another important reason was that they were no bigger than ordinary moths. Apart from being slightly prettier, they looked no different, so cultivators could hardly spot them. Even if they did, few would recognize them. And even those who did might overlook the little creatures if they weren't paying attention.

Luo Mu had no idea what manner of person the previous owner of the Storage Bag had been to find Seven-Colored Moth eggs. Adult Seven-Colored Moths were eighth-level demon beasts, and troublesome poisonous ones at that. He couldn't imagine how that person had obtained these three eggs.

But that wasn't what Luo Mu cared about most. How they had been obtained didn't matter. The important thing was that these three Octagonal Spikes were now his pets. Nothing else mattered anymore.

Five White Jade Ants and three Octagonal Spikes: both were rare demon beasts in the cultivation world, and both were exceptionally tenacious demon insects. Otherwise, they couldn't have survived until now. They were also both highly destructive.

A single White Jade Ant wasn't particularly destructive. But once they swarmed, everywhere they passed would be reduced to ruins. Their destructive power was immense.

Octagonal Spikes could be killed even by a low-level cultivator like Luo Mu while they were still juveniles. But once they matured, they would be eighth-level demon beasts!

What was an eighth-level demon beast? It was a being Luo Mu could only look up to right now. In his mind, eighth-level demon beasts existed only in legends. Even in books, he had rarely seen information about them. That showed just how terrifying they were.

Luo Mu was overjoyed to have obtained these two kinds of demon insects. But in the next instant, his brow furrowed slightly. For cultivators in the cultivation world, obtaining demon beast eggs or insect eggs might not be particularly difficult.

But successfully hatching those eggs was difficult without some marvelous secret technique, like the Blood Pact Formation Luo Mu had used. Even if someone was lucky enough to hatch them, the demon insects might turn on them.

Even if someone was lucky enough to avoid both of those problems, hatch the insects, and tame them, keeping them alive was still difficult. Different kinds of demon insects ate different foods. If their owner didn't know what they liked, one careless mistake could leave them dead from starvation.

And even if someone knew what their insects liked to eat and had the money and resources to raise a small number, increasing that number would make feeding them a problem. They might end up bankrupt.

No one knew how many cultivators in the cultivation world raised demon insects; no one had ever counted. But one thing was certain: very few cultivators raised them in large numbers. They were extremely rare.

The main reason for this was the problem of feeding demon insects!

And Luo Mu was facing exactly that problem!

White Jade Ants were easy enough. They only needed blood and flesh, and there were plenty of wild beasts in the mountains. Although those beasts contained little spiritual energy and offered the White Jade Ants few benefits, at least they wouldn't starve. At worst, they would advance a little more slowly.

What troubled Luo Mu was the Octagonal Spikes. They advanced much faster than White Jade Ants, but were far more particular about what they ate.

Octagonal Spikes didn't like meat. Like Luo Mu, they had to consume all kinds of poisonous substances to advance. The more potent the poison, the more they liked it—and the faster it helped them advance!

They were practically another Luo Mu!

At the thought that these three little things would be competing with him for food, Luo Mu felt a headache coming on. He shook his head and didn't dwell on it. The bridge would appear when they reached the river. He believed a solution would come in time. Worrying about it wouldn't help; it would only bring him needless frustration.

He took out several large chunks of demon beast remains and tossed them into the Blood Pact Formation. The five White Jade Ants clinging to the blood-red barrier immediately caught the scent of blood. Within moments, they left the barrier, returned to the ground, and headed for the bloody chunks.

The three Octagonal Spikes didn't react at all. They continued clinging to the blood-red barrier, as if waiting for Luo Mu to give them food too.

A short while later, to Luo Mu's disbelief, the five thumb-sized White Jade Ants had swallowed every last one of the huge chunks of demon beast remains. They hadn't even left behind a single strand of meat. What shocked Luo Mu most was that the five White Jade Ants hadn't changed size at all. They were still just as big as before, and even their tiny bellies hadn't looked the slightest bit fuller.

When he came back to his senses, Luo Mu exclaimed in amazement. He had no idea how these five little things had swallowed so much meat, or where it had all gone.

After eating, the five White Jade Ants crawled around inside the Blood Pact Formation. To Luo Mu, they weren't taking a walk because they were full; they were still hungry and wanted more, their appetites whetted!

Luo Mu shook his head with an amused smile, then tossed all the remaining demon beast parts from the Storage Bag into the Blood Pact Formation. The five White Jade Ants immediately crawled over again without hesitation.

The demon beast meat came from first-level, low- and mid-grade demon beasts Luo Mu had killed on his way to Jinxiu City. At the time, he had collected not only the useful materials from the beasts, but also their remains. After he reached Jinxiu City, Qu Yi had used the demon beast materials for practice, while Luo Mu had kept the meat. He hadn't expected it to come in handy now.

A short while later, the White Jade Ants swept away all the demon beast meat again. Luo Mu's eyelid twitched, and he cursed them as "bottomless pits." Luckily, the five White Jade Ants finally settled down, lying quietly on the ground without moving. Perhaps they hadn't been born long ago and didn't have very large appetites; now, at last, they were full.

Seeing that, Luo Mu breathed a sigh of relief, then turned his gaze to the three Octagonal Spikes.

With a pained expression, he took three stalks of Ink Crow Grass from the Storage Bag and tossed them into the Blood Pact Formation. The Octagonal Spikes, which had been lying motionless on the barrier, finally stirred when the Ink Crow Grass appeared inside the formation.

They wriggled slowly toward the Ink Crow Grass. Watching them, Luo Mu wore a helpless expression, the corners of his mouth twitching. Ink Crow Grass was easy enough to find, but he hadn't even gotten to taste it himself before these three little things had already enjoyed their fill.

The Octagonal Spikes crawled slowly, but they ate almost as fast as the White Jade Ants. In the time it took to eat a meal, Luo Mu watched as the three Octagonal Spikes swallowed all three stalks of Ink Crow Grass.

Fortunately, the Octagonal Spikes had much smaller appetites than the White Jade Ants. Three stalks of Ink Crow Grass had filled all three little creatures, and Luo Mu—who pinched every penny—couldn't help but sigh with relief.

Three stalks of Ink Crow Grass had already made Luo Mu wince like that. If they ate a few more, he'd have jumped out of his skin. Back when he'd been unable to enter the ranks of cultivators, he'd never given up. Now that he'd finally begun cultivating, how could he bear to slack off?

Not only that, but Luo Mu's desire to improve his strength had reached a fever pitch. Using Ink Crow Grass to increase his strength was his greatest advantage right now. How could he not mind that three Octagonal Spikes had eaten three stalks in a single meal?

"Go on, eat up. If you little things don't earn back what I've spent on you, I'll fry you up!" Luo Mu grumbled inwardly, his face full of complaint. Then he put the now-full White Jade Ants and Octagonal Spikes into two separate Spirit Beast Bags and hung them at his waist, just like the Storage Bag.