The Terror of the Profound Branch

This spirit jade token was an identity token that parents applied for from the clan when a child of the Spirit Insect Tribe was born, equivalent to a modern identity card.

The character "Profound" on it indicated the branch she came from. The Spirit Insect Tribe had four main branches-Heaven, Spirit, Earth, and Profound-but that did not mean those were its only branches. There were also subdivisions under the four main branches, as well as other weaker collateral branches...

In that respect, it was rather similar to the Buddha Ancient Clan, which likewise had three main branches-Qing, Profound, and Mo-and countless subsidiary branches...

Or rather, this was a path many ancient races in the Great Thousand World would follow after ten thousand years of development.

There was no helping it. Any race that had multiplied for so long would have a terrifying number of members. Without dividing them into branches, managing them would be impossible.

Combined with the importance of bloodlines to the races of the Great Thousand World, this made the present situation inevitable.

The four branches of the Spirit Insect Tribe-Heaven, Spirit, Earth, and Profound-each raised spirit insects with their own distinctive traits.

The Heavenly Meridian primarily raised flying spirit insects, the Spirit Branch focused on spirit insects that devoured spiritual energy, the Earth Meridian specialized in earth-attribute spirit insects, and the Profound Branch mainly raised poisonous insects and special varieties.

This woman came from the Profound Branch, and her surname was Hundred Poison. It seems she was an expert with poisonous insects too, yet the creature she controlled when we fought was clearly a giant flying cockroach...

Heavenly Insect's expression shifted slightly. His gaze sharpened as he carefully examined the woman below, who had already been frozen into an icicle.

This closer look really did reveal something suspicious...

Inside her half-open red lips, behind wisps of cold vapor, a tiny flying insect was faintly visible.

If she had been an ordinary person, it would not have been impossible for some flying insect to have accidentally entered her open mouth after she had lain dead from poison for so long.

But she was a Spirit Insect Master!

In that case, this flying insect was unlikely to be as simple as an "accidental intruder"...

After a moment's thought, Heavenly Insect moved a little farther away, then told the Blade Mantis beside him, "Cut her mouth open!"

Although Heavenly Insect was no pervert and had no fondness for toying with the dead, his own safety naturally came first at a time like this. Especially when facing a Spirit Insect Master-even a corpse could take his life!

The Blade Mantis did not hesitate at all upon receiving Heavenly Insect's command, nor could he possibly entertain any thought of sparing a beauty. With a sweep of his bladed foreleg, a crescent of blade energy slashed straight toward the woman's head.

Shhk!

The razor-sharp blade energy cut deep into the ground.

There was no bloody spray, for the Frost Demon Spider's virus had already frozen the woman's corpse to the marrow.

Only...

Bzzzt!!

A cloud of black smoke burst noisily from inside the woman's skull, startling Heavenly Insect into retreating more than ten meters.

The moment this black smoke appeared, it first targeted the enormous Earthworm and swiftly swept toward it...

"Earthworm, dodge!"

Heavenly Insect hurriedly issued the command.

In fact, before he even spoke, the Earthworm had sensed the danger and burrowed underground, even sealing the entrance behind it with soil...

Heavenly Insect carefully studied the black smoke, now drifting aimlessly through the air, and only then discovered that it consisted of countless flying insects as tiny as motes of dust.

Although the dispersed cloud covered an area of only two or three meters, the number of flying insects needed to form it was astonishing-several hundred thousand!

"What on earth are these things...?"

Heavenly Insect watched in bewilderment and suspicion. Although he knew those fellows from the Profound Branch were always coming up with strange and bizarre things, he could not help being startled at seeing this for the first time.

"Hundred Poison... that surname doesn't seem to belong to an ordinary family in the Profound Branch either.

"I remember the original owner's father gave him a scroll introducing the Spirit Insect Tribe's internal affairs. The surname 'Hundred Poison' seemed to be in it..." Although the original owner's parents had been weak and could only find a place for themselves in a small city like Flying Spirit City, the fact that their surname was "Heaven" showed that Heavenly Insect's family had once belonged to the Heavenly Meridian's main branch in ancient times.

But long ages had passed. Even the four branches of the Spirit Insect Tribe could be replaced, let alone the rise and fall of individual families within them.

Clan rules stipulated that branch lineage privileges ended after five generations. In other words, if a family failed to produce a genius or powerful expert recognized by the clan within five generations, it would be expelled from the main branch and stripped of its main-branch surname...

Most of the countless surnames now found within the Heavenly Meridian had originated this way, and all these people strove desperately toward the dream of regaining their main-branch surname.

In some respects, such clan rules also invigorated the Spirit Insect Tribe and awakened its members' potential.

Since Heavenly Insect could still bear the surname "Heaven," his generation evidently had not yet reached that five-generation cutoff. Perhaps he might even visit the main branch to acknowledge his kin someday...

Well, back to the Hundred Poison Clan of the Profound Branch.

Although Hundred Poison was not the Profound Branch's principal surname, theirs was still a major clan within it. Its members excelled at cultivating all manner of unusual poisonous insects and were fairly renowned throughout the Spirit Insect Tribe.

If Heavenly Insect was not mistaken, the tiny poisonous insects that had flown out of this woman's body should be a rare species of Poison Midge...

These poisonous insects were tiny and transparent, entering a person's body with their breath. Their venom was deadly; anyone who had not passed the Body Tribulation would certainly die if poisoned.

Although these insects had no grade distinctions and could not destroy heaven and earth like powerful Heaven-grade Spirit Insects, they were exceptionally dangerous. They could kill unseen and were extremely difficult to deal with.

Fortunately, Heavenly Insect had only sent his swarm to deal with that woman without showing himself. Otherwise, if she had truly tried to take him down with her in a desperate last stand, his ignorance of her abilities could very well have left him falling victim, even though his realm and cultivation surpassed hers!

Thus, duels between Insect Masters were not like those between ordinary cultivators, where having more spiritual energy or a higher realm could ensure victory. One careless move, and the whole game was lost...

The weak defeating the strong, the defeated killing the victor-none of these were impossible. In the future, he had to be careful, and then more careful still. He must never let a momentary victory swell his pride and cost him his life!

After repeatedly warning himself inwardly, Heavenly Insect looked at the swarm of Poison Midges in the sky. He merely recognized them; he did not know how to raise them, nor did he have any techniques for using them.

When searching the corpse earlier, he had found no secret insect-rearing techniques from the Profound Branch either. That was actually quite normal. Such knowledge was passed down orally and naturally would not be committed to paper, where it could all too easily be lost or leaked.

For instance, Heavenly Insect certainly did not dare hide these things inside his body like that Hundred Poison Wu had. Before he could kill an enemy, he would poison himself to death.

Subduing spirit insects did not mean a Spirit Insect Master became immune to their harm, particularly in the case of poisonous insects. This was also why only people of the Profound Branch were enthusiastic about raising them. Although the other branches knew how powerful poisonous insects were, they had never considered switching their allegiance...

As the saying went, different trades were separated by mountains. Though not entirely apt here, it was nonetheless very accurate.

Ignoring the Poison Midges, Heavenly Insect changed direction and continued deeper into the Insect Prison Site. So much time had passed that quite a few people had probably broken through the outer barrier of Blood-Mustached Mosquitoes. Encounters with them during the coming search would be unavoidable, so even as he searched, Heavenly Insect prepared himself to fight at any moment.

Several hours later, Heavenly Insect gradually slowed, finally landing atop an enormous tree three hundred meters tall.

Gazing into the distance, Heavenly Insect studied what lay ahead. Amid the overlapping mountain ranges, an emerald-green peak stood straight and silent. Like a sharp longsword, it radiated an ancient aura that made him feel as though he had dreamed his way back into the primordial wilderness.

"Is that the center of this Insect Prison Site...?"

Heavenly Insect gazed at the towering Sword Peak, his eyes narrowing slightly. Although the immense mountain stood right before him, he kept having the strange feeling that it was beyond his reach.

"Something's strange..."

"Could it be a Spirit Array?"

Insect Prison Sites were ruins left over from ancient times. Powerful beings must once have lived here, so there was nothing strange about a great array protecting the place.

Unfortunately, Heavenly Insect was not a Spirit Array Master and had never learned even a scrap of relevant knowledge. Guessing that there might be a great array there was already his limit. As for anything else, he was completely in the dark...

"Forget it. I'll head over first."

If he could find this place, it surely would not be difficult for others either. Plenty of powerful experts had come to explore this Insect Prison Site, including some at the Heaven-reaching Realm. Perhaps one of them could break the array.

As he drew closer, Heavenly Insect saw countless streaks of light sweeping in from afar, finally becoming figures that landed on the surrounding peaks and enormous trees. In less than an hour, the emerald sea across this landscape was gradually occupied by a dense mass of people.

Generally speaking, most teams that could arrive by this point possessed some strength. Heavenly Insect could also tell that, overall, these teams were far stronger than those he had seen outside earlier.

Compared with these teams, Heavenly Insect stood out all the more as a lone traveler.

After all, anyone who could reach this point single-handedly certainly had some ability. With his Heaven Fusion Realm cultivation and two high-grade spirit insects guarding him, no one dared underestimate him.

"This is a little troublesome..." Although Heavenly Insect maintained a cold expression, his mind was racing.

Quite a few of those present posed a genuine threat to him.

Flying Scorpion Inkstone of the Flying Scorpion Family, whom he had seen earlier, was one example. He now stood atop a terrifying flying scorpion dozens of meters long, presumably the family's Heaven-grade Spirit Insect. With master and insect joining forces, probably no one present would dare claim they could defeat him!

Besides him, Heavenly Insect discovered six other teams led by Heaven Fusion Realm experts. Although these people had no Heaven-grade Spirit Insects protecting them, they possessed quite a few high-grade spirit insects. Together with their teams' numbers, they could not be taken lightly.

While Heavenly Insect watched the others, they evidently noticed him as well. Sinister, indifferent, friendly-all manner of gazes turned toward him.

Heavenly Insect could roughly distinguish the potential threats from those gazes.

Whoosh!

Just as everyone present was observing one another, another flurry of sharp sounds tore through the air. Countless eyes turned toward them, revealing a great mass of figures sweeping in like a rainstorm before landing atop one enormous tree after another...

When they saw this group's matching dark-gold armor, everyone present changed expression.

And when they saw the three leaders at the front, their faces turned livid...

"The City Lord's Estate..." Flying Scorpion Inkstone forced the words through clenched teeth.

In all of Flying Spirit City, only the Flying Spirit Army under City Lord Flying Locust could field such a large, orderly, well-equipped force.

The three men at its head were the Flying Spirit Army's three commanders, all Spirit Insect Masters at the Heaven Transformation Realm. Moreover, each possessed a Heaven-grade Spirit Insect. Their arrival alone utterly overwhelmed everyone present.

"Hahaha, it's quite lively here. It seems the appearance of this Insect Prison Site has attracted plenty of old friends..."

Qingyan, the chief of the three commanders, laughed heartily. As he spoke, his gaze deliberately settled on Flying Scorpion Inkstone and lingered for a moment.

"Hmph!" Facing that gaze, Flying Scorpion Inkstone snorted coldly and said flatly, "Although I knew all along that the City Lord's Estate would never relinquish this Insect Prison exploration so easily, I didn't expect the city lord to be willing to send all three of you together..."

"So opening the exploration to the whole city was a sham. Using us as cannon fodder to scout the path was your real intent!"

Qingyan did not mind his words. He was not even interested in denying them, simply saying, "It's true we wanted cannon fodder to scout the path, but it's also true that the city lord opened the entire exploration to everyone. Don't tell me you, Flying Scorpion Inkstone, gained nothing during your earlier search. As for the cannon fodder you mentioned... if they lacked strength yet still had bottomless greed, they deserved to die!"

These words left many of the unaffiliated cultivators nearby livid, but they did not dare speak out as Flying Scorpion Inkstone had.

The Flying Spirit Army's overbearing arrival stirred unease among the surrounding crowd. In particular, the gazes of several Heaven Fusion Realm experts began to darken.

Heavenly Insect silently watched it all. Just as he was considering what to do, a voice suddenly reached his ears.

"Friend, I am Flying Scorpion Inkstone, patriarch of Flying Spirit City's Flying Scorpion Clan. Might I ask your name?"

Heavenly Insect looked up in surprise, then saw that Flying Scorpion Inkstone, who had just been trading hostile looks with Qingyan, had approached him at some point.

A thought stirred in Heavenly Insect's mind, and he could already roughly guess the man's purpose. He immediately smiled as well and cupped his fists in greeting. "Greetings, Patriarch Flying Scorpion. Just call me Heavenly Insect..."

"Heavenly Insect..." Flying Scorpion Inkstone silently repeated the name. Then, looking at Heavenly Insect's youthful face, no older than twenty at most, his eyes immediately brightened.

His surname is Heaven, and he already has such cultivation at this young age. This young fellow's background must be anything but simple!