Darkwater Centipede

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Darkwater Centipede (阴水蜈蚣)
Species/Race	A centipede that developed supernatural traits by absorbing vital energy 1
Affiliation	Su Yan; his first Bound Insect 1 2
Occupation/Role	Combat companion, scout, resource finder, and source of nourishing insect essence 2 3 18
Rank	Initially unranked; enters the first rank during its Growth Stage 1 6 8
Growth Stage	Mature Stage, last explicitly recorded at 15/400 41
Habitat	Originally found beside a secluded pool in Cloudridge Mountain; naturally lives near water and emerges after rain 1
Status	Alive and accompanying Su Yan on mountain hunts 50
First Appearance	Chapter 1, “The Insect Lord” 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Unranked strange insect	1	Already possesses supernatural traits, lethal venom, and a tough shell before being captured.
Newborn — 1/100	1	Refined through the Fierce Insect Cauldron and registered as Su Yan’s first Bound Insect.
Newborn — 13/100	3	A large viper supplies ten growth points; feeding, commanded activity, and fighting contribute to its development.
Newborn — 27/100 → 54/100	6	Progresses through hunting and mountain exploration. Growth slows when suitable venomous food runs short.
Growth Stage — 12/200; enters a rank	6	Advances after eating scorpions, spiders, vipers, and poisonous herbs. A two-hour molt produces a roughly fifty-centimeter body and sharper mandibles.
Growth Stage — 63/200	8	Confirmed as first-rank; its shell can withstand ordinary attacks like cowhide.
Growth Stage — 103/200	22	Continues developing during Su Yan’s mountain expeditions.
Growth Stage — 189/200	32	Nears maturity after receiving flameflesh lingzhi and further food, including poisonous plants and animals.
Growth Stage — 195/200	35	Stands close to a breakthrough before feeding on the Copper Fox Ape’s heart.
Breakthrough into maturity	35	Consumes the heart’s concentrated blood and qi, cracks its old shell, and develops new blackish-purple armor without a major change in size.
Mature Stage — 15/400	41	The attribute panel explicitly confirms its Mature Stage. No new rank is specified.

Appearance

• Original form: Dark purple, three fingers thick, and as long as a forearm, with densely packed jointed legs resembling black needles 1.
• Growth Stage: Roughly fifty centimeters long after its first documented molt; its mandibles resemble two pitch-black curved blades 6.
• First-rank armor: A dark-purple shell with cowhide-like resistance to ordinary attacks 6 8.
• Near maturity: Its purple coloration deepens and its increasingly tough carapace makes it resemble a weapon more than an ordinary insect 30.
• Mature form: Blackish-purple armor, spear-like legs, whip-like antennae, and blade-like mandibles; its size remains approximately unchanged at the breakthrough 35.

Background / History

Capture and Binding

Su Yan finds the centipede at a secluded pool in Cloudridge Mountain after months of searching for a refinable strange insect. It emerges after the rain and catches a fish, giving him an opening to throw his repaired fishing net. Although its venom withers nearby weeds and its struggles tear holes in the net, he subdues it with repeated blows from a stick 1.

The Fierce Insect Cauldron suppresses and refines the creature, establishing a close bond with Su Yan. His preparations have required months of saving and a hundred catties of beast blood essence. After binding, the centipede obeys without resistance and begins supplying the essence that restores his weakened body 1 2.

Early Mountain Expeditions

On their first substantial outing together, the centipede kills and devours a large viper, revealing that suitable prey increases its growth. It then kills two scorpions guarding yinred root and excavates the poisonous plant without damaging it. Allowed to choose their route, it leads Su Yan to medicinal herbs, ten-year-old wild ginseng, and bamboo jade tooth 3.

Repeated feeding and hunting carry it into the Growth Stage and the first rank. Its greater strength lets Su Yan explore deeper, less-traveled areas and obtain valuable medicinal harvests 6 7.

Attacks on Su Yan’s Enemies

When Wang San, Li Hu, Huang Tian, and Zhao Fu follow Su Yan into the mountains, he uses the centipede to open the counterattack. Ordered to limit its venom, it mangles Wang San’s ankle and sprays Zhao Fu’s eyes, while Su Yan handles the attackers with his bow 8 9.

Su Yan later leaves it concealed at Niu Han’s house after having it memorize the gang’s scents. At dawn, it attacks the sleeping men, killing Zhao Erlaizi and others before biting Niu Han’s hand and spraying his face. It evades the gang’s capture attempts by climbing onto the beams and escaping through the roof tiles 18 19.

Niu Han dies after the poison reaches his heart. His severed hand is not the centipede’s direct work: Su Yan observes the clean cut and concludes that the gang probably amputated it in an attempt to save him. The centipede subsequently waits for Su Yan in the mountains beside Yunqian Village 20 21.

Second Bound Insect and Maturity

The centipede helps Su Yan capture the Velvetfire Scorpion by provoking it, fighting through its fiery poison mist, and drawing it away from its crevice onto open ground. Both insects suffer cracked carapaces during the struggle, but the maneuver allows Su Yan to trap and refine the scorpion 31.

After sharing flameflesh lingzhi with its new companion, the centipede approaches maturity. Eating the Copper Fox Ape’s heart triggers its next breakthrough. Immediately afterward, it leads Su Yan to a hidden cave containing seven wolf pups and Blood Tendon Flowers 32 35.

It remains an active foraging and hunting partner afterward, excavating Water-Dropping Gold and following the trail of a Fang-Horned Boar that Su Yan kills with an arrow 49 50.

Behavior

Before refinement, the centipede is a dangerous predator that responds to capture with venom and violent struggles. Binding removes its resistance to Su Yan’s commands, but not its aggression toward opponents: the Velvetfire Scorpion’s attack immediately provokes its vicious nature 1 2 31.

It also acts as a protective companion, warning Su Yan of an approaching wolf and preparing to intervene against a tiger. When he chooses to fight personally, it withdraws to give him room 6 21.

Abilities & Skills

Venom

• Venomous bite: Quickly kills fish and ordinary venomous animals; later proves fatal to human targets 1 3 19.
• Projected venom: Spits narrow, arrow-like jets, allowing attacks without direct contact 9 19.
• Corrosive effects: Withers vegetation, blinds Zhao Fu, and corrodes the Velvetfire Scorpion’s carapace 1 9 31.
• Controlled use: Su Yan can order it to reduce venom use, as he does before the ambush on Wang San and Zhao Fu 9.
• Hunting drawback: Animals it poisons are unsuitable for Su Yan to eat and instead become food for the centipede 3.

Poison Resistance and Armor

• A large viper’s venom has no visible effect on it, and it can handle poisonous yinred root safely 3.
• Its first-rank shell resists ordinary attacks; it survives a stool being smashed against its body and immediately counterattacks 8 19.
• The Velvetfire Scorpion’s fiery poison loses seventy percent of its potency against it, but still scorches and damages its shell. Resistance is not complete immunity 31.

Mobility and Close Combat

• Swims well and can shoot through water to seize prey 1.
• Uses its jointed legs to cling to rock faces, climb walls, and move along beams and roof tiles 1 19.
• Dodges Zhao Fu’s iron-fork thrust and exploits the opening to spray venom 9.
• Uses powerful mandibles to tear flesh and ribs, including those of the Copper Fox Ape 35.
• Its ranked presence makes much larger animals, including a tiger and a black bear, hesitate to attack 21 33.

Scouting, Tracking, and Harvesting

• Leads Su Yan to valuable plants, though he initially cannot tell whether it detects the herbs themselves or nearby venomous creatures 3.
• Memorizes individual scents through its antennae, enabling it to identify Niu Han during the planned attack 18 19.
• Excavates delicate or poisonous roots with its legs and mouthparts, including yinred root and Water-Dropping Gold 3 49.
• Works with the Velvetfire Scorpion to search undergrowth and flush prey toward Su Yan 33.
• Follows a savage beast’s trail on command 50.

Bound-Insect Functions and Growth

• Produces one wisp of nourishing insect essence each day, initially replenishing Su Yan’s malnourished body and later supporting his cultivation 2 14.
• Can recover from injuries and be nurtured within the Insect Realm 2 31.
• Grows through suitable food; commanded activity and combat also grant growth, but more slowly 3.
• Needs time to process meals rather than feeding continuously 3.
• Its development also increases Su Yan’s Insect Master experience 3.
• Su Yan can sense its condition at a distance, but cannot possess it or act through its body 20.

Relative Combat Strength

• Su Yan estimates its first-rank strength as broadly comparable to a Skin Refining Realm martial artist, while warning that physique and poison make simple realm comparisons unreliable 16.
• He believes its venom might threaten a Sinew and Bone Realm opponent; after obtaining the Velvetfire Scorpion, he estimates their combined poisons could kill one. These remain his assessments, not demonstrated victories 16 31.

Relationships

• Su Yan — Master and bonded companion. He controls it mentally, handles it affectionately, feeds it valuable resources, and relies on it for protection, nourishment, and mountain exploration 2 3 35.
• Velvetfire Scorpion — Initially a territorial opponent, then Su Yan’s second Bound Insect. The pair share food and cooperate in scouting and flushing prey 31 32 33.