First Meeting in the Black Nether Abyss

The Black Nether Abyss was an infamous danger zone in the Northern Spiritual Realm, and also its forbidden ground.

Over the years, nine out of ten people who ventured into the Black Nether Abyss became part of the foul, rotting sludge that had accumulated there for years. Even the one who managed to escape would be scared out of their wits, needing a long recovery before they returned to normal. Afterward, merely hearing the name Black Nether Abyss would make them tremble.

Deep within this forbidden ground, in an unremarkable little basin, stood a small black hill. An oddly shaped black tree rose from the hill, bearing neither flowers nor fruit, but densely covered with some kind of bee-like insect beasts.

These bee beasts were the size of fists and numbered in the tens of thousands. When they swarmed into the air, they resembled a black cloud, and any living creature that dared approach the basin would be devoured in an instant.

They seemed to be guarding something...

At the top of the black tree, a faint silhouette appeared. A closer look revealed that it was actually a person sitting cross-legged there!

No, it could hardly be called a person. It was a corpse... a skeleton wrapped in rotting black robes.

Half of the skeleton was charred black, as though it had been burned by flames. Beneath that blackened surface, even the bones showed signs of shriveling.

Before death, this skeleton's owner must have suffered a grievous injury.

At a certain moment, a streak of spiritual light came from beyond the sky, dropping onto the black tree in an instant and pouring into the seated skeleton through the crown of its head.

In the next instant, the charred skeleton became translucent, even taking on the luster of fine jade, while its shriveled bones began to stretch, forming a complete skeleton of white jade...

However, the skeleton seemed to have shrunk a little, standing slightly shorter than the original adult frame.

An immensely powerful vitality erupted from within the skeleton. Then, enveloped in white light, human organs rapidly appeared inside it, while blood-red muscles and blood vessels swiftly regenerated over the white jade bones. The sight was rather horrifying.

This regeneration lasted roughly two hours. Afterward, a young man who looked seventeen or eighteen appeared in its place.

His eyes were tightly shut. His features looked unremarkable, but he possessed an air that seemed to cast him in soft light, adding considerably to his appeal.

Another day passed. When the blazing sun once again reached the middle of the sky, the young man's closed eyes trembled slightly, then slowly opened...

"Hm, so I really did transmigrate and get reborn? I thought that voice was lying to me..."

The newly awakened young man muttered quietly to himself.

"So this body is the compensation they promised me? There are even some lingering memories..."

"The Spirit Insect Tribe, Heavenly Insect... what the hell kind of name is that?"

"Huh, his name might be terrible, but his background is pretty impressive..."

The young man-oh, he ought to be called Heavenly Insect now... after discovering Heavenly Insect's background in those lingering memories, he decided that he was Heavenly Insect!

The Spirit Insect Tribe was one of the ancient races of this Great Thousand World, ranking alongside ancient races such as the Fire Spirit Clan, the Ice Spirit Clan, and the Wood Spirit Clan. It was also one of the Great Thousand World's supreme powers.

A supreme power was a faction with a Heavenly Sovereign presiding over it, placing it firmly among the mightiest forces in the Great Thousand World.

In a Great Thousand World this perilous, only a fool would refuse the backing of such a powerful faction!

Indeed, the world the young man had transmigrated into was precisely the Great Thousand World described in The Great Ruler, a novel he had read in his previous life...

The young man, now Heavenly Insect, moved his body a little and sensed the powerful strength within it. A smile once again appeared on his face.

"To think,

"I'd start out in the late phase of the Divine Soul Realm. That might not make me much of an expert, but it's certainly enough to keep me safe. Besides, I'm a Spirit Insect Master..." Because members of the Spirit Insect Tribe possessed an innate ability to control all the myriad insects under heaven, they were also known as Spirit Insect Masters...

A Spirit Insect Master's personal strength might not be particularly impressive, but in an actual fight, even someone an entire major realm above him might not be able to defeat him.

And all of this was thanks to a Spirit Insect Master's ability to command myriad insects!

"Still, the identity I inherited is in a pretty miserable state. He coveted the Nine Nether Sparrow, only to be burned to death by her flames. Even the powerful spirit insects protecting him were burned to death, leaving only a swarm of Devouring Spirit Bees..."

The Devouring Spirit Bees he mentioned were the bee-like insect beasts resting on the black tree. Individually, they were only low-level spirit beasts, at most equivalent to human cultivators in the early phase of the Spirit Movement Realm.

Yet even though they were only low-level spirit beasts, they appeared in vast swarms, sweeping past like black clouds. Wherever they passed, any spirit beast-even an intermediate spirit beast comparable to the late phase of the Spirit Wheel Realm-would be reduced to stark white bones in an instant.

Within the Black Nether Abyss, even powerful high-level spirit beasts had no choice but to retreat temporarily upon encountering the Soul Devouring Bee Swarm.

Huh, wait. Where are my Devouring Spirit Bees?

As Heavenly Insect recalled how many means of protection he still possessed, he abruptly froze. Then he looked at the completely empty black tree and was instantly alarmed...

Damn, don't tell me I've lost even my last protective spirit insects?

In his urgency, Heavenly Insect immediately reached for a black flute beside him. This was the Insect Flute unique to Spirit Insect Masters. They could use its special sound to control insect swarms, and even spirit insects a hundred miles away could sense its call...

Woo, woo, woo...

A strange sound drifted into the distance, carried by spiritual energy.

Meanwhile, somewhere outside the basin, a group of people who had entered the Black Nether Abyss were being pursued by the Soul Devouring Bee Swarm.

Although these people seemed reasonably strong, given the swarm's speed, it appeared to be only a matter of time before it caught them. When that happened, their only possible fate would be to be utterly devoured by these tens of thousands of Devouring Spirit Bees!

"Damn it!"

A middle-aged man among them also realized this. He cursed furiously, then gritted his teeth and prepared to turn back to stop the swarm.

"Uncle Duan, don't be rash!" Just as Duan Wei was about to turn around, however, the young man beside him suddenly grabbed him, then pointed. "They seem to have given up?"

Duan Wei, whom he had called Uncle Duan, paused. Looking over, he indeed saw that the Soul Devouring Bee Swarm had suddenly stopped pursuing them. The bees circled with a buzzing hum, then abruptly swept northwest at high speed.

The young man, Mu Chen, watched this scene in surprise. Then his brows furrowed. Vaguely, he seemed to hear a faint flute call coming from afar.

That extremely faint, peculiar flute call did not sound as though it had come from the Soul Devouring Bee Swarm...

Could someone actually be controlling the Soul Devouring Bee Swarm?

A thought that rather shocked him suddenly flashed through Mu Chen's mind. That sound clearly could not have occurred naturally, which meant someone must have produced it.

"Young master, those things have finally retreated. Let's hurry and reunite with the Domain Lord and the others." Seeing that they had finally escaped the Soul Devouring Bee Swarm, Duan Wei breathed a great sigh of relief.

At those words, Mu Chen's eyes flickered, but other ideas had already formed in his mind. He said softly, "Uncle Duan, let's follow the Soul Devouring Bee Swarm and take a look."

Duan Wei froze, then hurriedly said, "Young master, that's too dangerous!"

We only just managed to escape danger, and now you actually want to follow them?

"It's fine. We won't get close, just follow them and have a look. If anything goes wrong, we'll retreat immediately."

Still unwilling to give up, Mu Chen spoke after a moment's thought.

If someone was controlling the Soul Devouring Bee Swarm, did that mean another faction had learned about the Nine Nether Sparrow and entered the Black Nether Abyss? It was better to investigate such matters beforehand.

Seeing Mu Chen's insistence, Duan Wei could only shake his head helplessly. Then he gritted his teeth and said, "All right, we'll follow them and take a look. But if anything unexpected happens, I'll take you away immediately, young master."

"Mm, thank you, Uncle Duan."

Mu Chen smiled at that, then wasted no more time and swiftly followed the swarm.

Duan Wei could only resign himself to it and hurriedly led the others after him.

As Mu Chen's group followed closely behind the Devouring Spirit Bees, their expressions grew increasingly bewildered and wary, because by now, all of them could clearly hear the flute.

"Young master, the Devouring Spirit Bees have stopped!" Watching the distance nervously, Duan Wei suddenly spoke in a low voice.

Mu Chen looked up at his words and naturally discovered the little basin where Heavenly Insect was. The black-cloud-like swarm of Devouring Spirit Bees was now circling a small black hill inside the basin. Through the swarm, he could vaguely make out a large black tree at its center...

"Could there be someone in that tree? Or some kind of treasure..."

Mu Chen's eyes lit up at the sight. Clearly, this swarm of Devouring Spirit Bees was guarding something, which greatly interested him.

Mu Chen's eyes flickered, then he said softly, "Uncle Duan, sorry for the trouble, but I need you to do something."

"What are your orders, young master?" Duan Wei responded immediately.

Mu Chen moved closer and whispered something into Duan Wei's ear. Upon hearing it, the latter's expression changed drastically, and his face went pale.

"Young master, this is far too dangerous!" Duan Wei pleaded earnestly.

He did not understand why Mu Chen wanted to do something so dangerous. This was very likely the Devouring Spirit Bees' nest, and if someone really was controlling them, Mu Chen might have no hope of survival if he approached like this.

"Uncle Duan, I know my limits. Trust me," Mu Chen said quietly.

His face was exceptionally serious at that moment. There was not the slightest hint of recklessness in his dark eyes; instead, calmness glimmered within them.

As the saying went, riches and honor were won amid danger. Had he lacked even this much courage, he would never have caused such a stir on the Spirit Road.

Seeing Mu Chen's insistence, Duan Wei could only give a bitter smile. Then he waved to the people beside him and swiftly headed away.

Had the plot followed its original course, Mu Chen would naturally have come through with a scare but no real danger. Now, however, the world had already changed in unseen ways. Just what consequences his actions would bring this time depended entirely on one person's wishes...

"Oh, you noticed people approaching, so you went to drive them away..."

The newly reborn Heavenly Insect watched the Soul Devouring Bee King hovering before him, using the Spirit Insect Tribe's unique ability to receive its messages.

"Buzz, buzz..."

Listening to the Soul Devouring Bee King's buzzing and watching its dance as it flew up and down, Heavenly Insect smiled gently. "Those people followed you here, too... hehe, perfect. I need someone to tell me a few things, so go capture them."

Although Heavenly Insect now knew his identity and some of the novel's plot concerning him, he could not be certain whether the people outside were Mu Chen's party searching for the Nine Nether Sparrow. Thus, he planned to send the Soul Devouring Bee Swarm out again to capture them for questioning.

Before he could act, however, a disturbance came from the distance...

Heavenly Insect turned to look and saw a dozen or so spirit beasts seemingly driven out of the forest by something. All of them fled straight toward his position.

The sight immediately made Heavenly Insect's eyes light up. This familiar plot-it seemed his rebirth had come at just the right time...

A hint of a smile curled his lips. Heavenly Insect sat cross-legged on the large tree again, letting its branches partially conceal him, then commanded the swarm to rush en masse toward those spirit beasts.

He did this because he had absolute confidence in his own strength.

The Northern Spiritual Realm, where the Black Nether Abyss lay, was merely an insignificant place within the Hundred Spirits Domain of the Hundred Spirits Continent. The strongest people here were only in the late phase of the Divine Soul Realm. Thus, with Heavenly Insect's current strength, even without spirit insects to protect him, he was still among the very strongest.

One must never assume that commanding spirit insects was a Spirit Insect Master's only means. The Spirit Insect Tribe had stood among the Great Thousand World's supreme powers for countless years, and the divine abilities and secret arts it possessed were truly terrifying.

Moreover, Heavenly Insect's original self had been a direct descendant of the heavenly meridian, one of the Spirit Insect Tribe's four meridians. Even though his talent was ordinary and his strength unimpressive, the spiritual arts and secret techniques he had been taught remained beyond the reach of ordinary factions.

And so, under Heavenly Insect's deliberate guidance, everything unfolded according to the script he had written. Watching the swarm being lured away from the black hill, Mu Chen could no longer restrain his restless heart and began to act...

Mu Chen instantly shot forward, heading straight for the enormous black tree where Heavenly Insect sat. With a push of his toes, he darted toward the treetop like an agile monkey.

The ascent went extremely smoothly. Heavenly Insect had sent out every Devouring Spirit Bee, leaving Mu Chen's path completely unobstructed.

Mu Chen was also extremely fast, reaching the treetop in little more than a dozen breaths.

The space at the top of the tree was fairly roomy, yet exceptionally well concealed. Spreading branches and leaves hid every secret within.

With time pressing, Mu Chen did not dare dawdle. His gaze immediately turned toward the interior of the treetop.

Yet that single glance left him utterly frozen, for he saw a pair of equally bright eyes fixed upon him...