Tian Fu

Heavenly Insect was quite surprised as he looked at the cold-faced woman before him.

The spirit insect she commanded was actually a Flying Spirit Centipede...

The Flying Spirit Centipede was a spirit insect highly favored by certain factions within the Heavenly Meridian, ranking among the top ten of all spirit insect species.

It already belonged among the finest heaven-grade spirit insects. Every time its strength increased, another tail resembling a black thread grew from its back. Once it possessed ten tails, it could evolve into a Flying Golden Centipede-a genuine sovereign divine insect, which was said to be capable of growing even further.

The Flying Spirit Centipede could be considered one of the few spirit insects within the Heavenly Meridian with a complete growth progression. It was one of the three basic spirit insects that the Heavenly Meridian's major factions offered their descendants to choose from.

Even so, only those major factions could afford such a thing. For ordinary Spirit Insect Masters, small families like the Spirit Butterfly Lineage, or small cities like Flying Spirit City, obtaining one was harder than climbing to heaven.

Yet the woman before him possessed a Flying Spirit Centipede, and a seven-tailed one at that. Clearly, she was no ordinary person.

At that thought, Heavenly Insect slowly reined in his killing intent. He was not yet strong enough to kill gods and Buddhas alike if they stood in his way, so knowing how to read the situation was crucial at times like this.

Heavenly Insect beckoned, and the Nine Revolutions Black-Whiskered Mosquito appeared, facing the woman standing atop her Flying Spirit Centipede in the distance. Everyone around them watched the pair nervously, anticipation gleaming in their eyes.

"I am Heavenly Insect. May I ask your name, miss?" To be safe, Heavenly Insect decided to reveal his identity first.

The world of cultivators had never been solely about fighting and killing. More often, it was about relationships and navigating human affairs!

"Tian Fu!"

After hearing Heavenly Insect introduce himself first, the woman opposite him looked surprised, then gave a name that caught him off guard.

She has the main surname too...

Now this was interesting...

Once their surprise passed, everyone present could not help looking at the pair.

Two people bearing the main surname were fighting to the death over this tiny Flying Spirit City, and neither was even doing it for themselves...

This was far too strange!

"In that case, Miss Tian Fu, forgive what follows!"

With a hearty laugh, Heavenly Insect took out his Spirit Insect Flute and raised it to his lips. A melodious tune drifted from the flute.

The next moment, a mass of black flew out of the Spirit Insect Pouch at Heavenly Insect's waist. Within moments, it formed a vast dark cloud above his head.

A closer look revealed that this dark cloud consisted entirely of fist-sized black bees. Their savage mouthparts, coupled with stingers gleaming with a metallic luster, sent a chill down everyone's spine.

"A Soul Devouring Bee Swarm! There must be several hundred thousand of them, and they've all been raised to intermediate-grade spirit insects. It looks like Heavenly Insect must have an advanced-grade Bee Queen."

Quite a few people immediately discerned the nature of Heavenly Insect's swarm.

Of course, some dismissed it with contempt.

"They're just a bunch of intermediate-grade spirit insects. What use are numbers? Once you reach the Heaven-reaching Realm, trying to win through sheer numbers is nothing but a fool's dream. With that many resources, raising a single heaven-grade spirit insect would be far more useful!"

Such arguments had existed since ancient times and had never died out within the Spirit Insect Tribe. Although they did not lead to any serious conflict, people with these two opposing philosophies inevitably debated which was superior whenever they met...

Seeing Heavenly Insect make his move, the woman named Tian Fu refused to show weakness.

An equally melodious flute sounded, and another swarm filled the sky. Hers, however, consisted of Green-Feathered Locusts. They were also intermediate-grade spirit insects, though they numbered considerably fewer than Heavenly Insect's Devouring Spirit Bees.

Guided by the flute melodies, the two swarms instantly plunged into a slaughter. Countless bee and locust corpses fell from the sky like rain,

covering the ground in the blink of an eye. This was how Spirit Insect Masters fought. They only needed to send their spirit insects into battle while they stood elegantly to one side playing their flutes.

Of course, once their eyes turned red with bloodlust and the fight became a struggle to the death, there would be nothing elegant about it...

Ten minutes later, the dark clouds overhead had grown much thinner.

The corpses of Devouring Spirit Bees and Green-Feathered Locusts lay piled shin-deep on the ground. Both swarms had lost at least two-thirds of their numbers.

Yet neither of the dueling Spirit Insect Masters showed the slightest change in expression.

Continuing like this was pointless, however, so Heavenly Insect and Tian Fu stopped playing at the same time, then recalled their respective swarms into their Spirit Insect Pouches.

"Your Green-Feathered Locusts are remarkable, miss. Despite such a huge difference in numbers, they still fought my Devouring Spirit Bees to a standstill!" Heavenly Insect said with a smile.

Green-Feathered Locusts were naturally intermediate-grade spirit insects. Although they lacked the stingers and venom of Devouring Spirit Bees, their enormous mandibles were exceptionally hard and could bite a whole bee in two. Thus, even though Heavenly Insect had evolved his entire Soul Devouring Bee Swarm to intermediate grade, they were still slightly inferior in combat strength.

"Your Soul Devouring Bee Swarm is impressive too. My Green-Feathered Locusts cannot defeat yours at their current stage."

Tian Fu nodded, much of the coldness fading from her face. Clearly, in her eyes, this youth who shared her main surname and possessed considerable strength had earned the right to speak with her as an equal.

Strictly speaking, Tian Fu was not Wu Shao's subordinate. She had only agreed to act this time because he had previously offered her benefits she could not refuse, leaving her obliged to make this trip.

Her identity was extremely special. Even in Flying Spirit City, only the city lord was qualified to know who she was...

After a brief pause, Tian Fu continued, "Even so, we must determine a true victor today. So now, I will get serious."

"Heh, then please proceed!"

Heavenly Insect chuckled, utterly unafraid.

The next moment, Tian Fu played her Insect Flute again. The Flying Spirit Centipede beneath her feet let out a hiss, then swung its enormous body like a giant serpent, smashing its hard-shelled tail straight at Heavenly Insect.

Heavenly Insect's eyes flashed. His hands swiftly formed a seal, and a Sword Butterfly phantom appeared behind him. His figure vanished instantly.

"Flying Insect Method!"

Tian Fu recognized the movement technique Heavenly Insect had just used at a glance, but the Sword Butterfly phantom behind him made her frown.

A Flying Insect Method condensed from some kind of butterfly spirit beast...

This divine movement art was exclusive to those bearing the Heavenly Meridian's main surname, and Tian Fu naturally knew it too. The instant she saw Heavenly Insect use it, she formed the same seal. The spirit insect phantom behind her, however, was a green Spirit Cicada.

Clang!

While everyone searched for the vanished pair, the clash of metal suddenly rang through the air. Two figures reappeared in their sight.

Qing Fu held a green longsword, while a pitch-black short saber had appeared in Heavenly Insect's hand. The instant their blades clashed in midair, both retreated and separated, then collided again with even greater speed and ferocity...

Sparks from their clashing blades filled the air, accompanied by a dense succession of ringing impacts.

"Why are they so fast?!" Quite a few spectators were horrified to discover that their eyes could no longer follow the pair's exchanges.

If they could not even see their attacks, would they not be killed in an instant if they faced either of them?

Of course, some knowledgeable spectators immediately recognized that the pair were using divine movement arts, countless times more powerful than ordinary spiritual arts!

While Heavenly Insect and Tian Fu fought in person, their spirit insects were hardly idle.

After Heavenly Insect evaded its attack, the Flying Spirit Centipede twisted its enormous body to pursue him. But the Nine Revolutions Black-Whiskered Mosquito split into countless duplicates and blocked its path, and the two heaven-grade spirit insects began fighting.

Despite the Flying Spirit Centipede's enormous body, heaven-reaching strength, and indestructible shell, the tiny Nine Revolutions Black-Whiskered Mosquito had it utterly suppressed.

The main reason was that the Nine Revolutions Black-Whiskered Mosquito's mouthparts could easily pierce its shell and drain its blood essence, while the Flying Spirit Centipede struggled to shake its opponent off. After a brief stalemate, the latter was reduced to passively taking a beating.

This was the consequence of one spirit insect's traits countering another's. The disadvantaged side often had no ability to retaliate and could only endure the blows.

After separating from Heavenly Insect following another exchange, Tian Fu noticed her Flying Spirit Centipede's plight, and her pretty face darkened.

Although her cultivation had reached the Spiritual Energy Tribulation stage, her Flying Spirit Centipede only had seven tails, making it equivalent to a Heaven-reaching Realm cultivator-two stages below her own cultivation.

After devouring so much powerful flesh and blood, however, Heavenly Insect's Nine Revolutions Black-Whiskered Mosquito had recovered to peak nine revolutions, comparable to a Divine Soul Tribulation cultivator. It was already far stronger than the Flying Spirit Centipede, and with its traits countering the latter, the centipede's defeat was only a matter of time.

Tian Fu had originally intended to have her Flying Spirit Centipede stall for a while as she used her superior spiritual energy cultivation to defeat her opponent directly. Then the Nine Revolutions Black-Whiskered Mosquito would no longer pose a threat.

Only after exchanging blows did she realize she had underestimated the youth opposite her... Although his spiritual energy cultivation was only at the Heaven Transformation Realm, his speed was truly impressive. Furthermore, whatever body-refining technique he had cultivated had made his body far stronger than an ordinary Spirit Insect Master's, leaving her unable to win immediately.

I must defeat him quickly! Seeing her Flying Spirit Centipede bitten by the Nine Revolutions Black-Whiskered Mosquito once again, Tian Fu could no longer hold back.

She stamped her foot heavily. Vast green spiritual energy surged from her body like a tide, instantly occupying half the sky. Wave after wave of powerful spiritual pressure descended upon Heavenly Insect.

Boom.

Dazzling golden light flashed wildly across Heavenly Insect's body. A heavenly silkworm mark appeared between his brows. Clearly, Heavenly Insect was also giving it his all, even drawing upon the Golden Origin Heavenly Silkworm's power.

Golden spiritual energy filled Heavenly Insect's limbs and every part of his body. Its tremendous power rendered Tian Fu's formidable spiritual pressure completely ineffective against him.

Whoosh!

The two figures shot forward almost simultaneously. Then the air screamed all around them as sword and saber shadows filled the sky, carrying billowing spiritual energy as they collided like a furious storm.

Clang! Clang!

Everyone could hear only the rapid clash of metal and the waves of violent energy raging outward. The two figures themselves had become exceptionally indistinct.

Sword qi crisscrossed the battlefield, and no one dared venture into it lightly. Even Wu Shao, the Spirit Butterfly Tribe Chief, and the others had to retreat swiftly to avoid its cutting edge.

Clang!

Sword tip and saber tip met head-on, like a needle point against a wheat awn. Under their terrifying strength, both blades bent slightly, then abruptly sprang straight again the next instant. The air exploded, and both figures were driven several steps back.

"You use a saber? Why do you possess such terrifying sword qi?" Tian Fu looked at the high-grade spirit artifact Qing Fu Sword in her hand, then at the black short saber in his, and asked in bewilderment.

Heavenly Insect gave a slightly awkward smile and explained, "I actually used a sword before, but my high-grade spirit artifact longsword was destroyed. I can only use this short saber in its place for now..."

What damned high-grade spirit artifact longsword? Heavenly Insect had never owned a weapon before and simply used whatever was available. He had not cultivated any spiritual arts related to weapons anyway, so his choice of weapon had little effect on his fighting.

Still, a blade's sharp edge was often far more lethal than a fist. High-quality spirit artifacts in particular could greatly enhance a person's combat strength.

Of course, more importantly, neither of them had yet brought out their true methods: the various ways Spirit Insect Masters coordinated with their spirit insects, the secret arts they used to empower them, and so on. Neither Heavenly Insect nor Tian Fu showed any intention of revealing such things. Their battle looked fierce, but that was all it really amounted to.

Finally, seeing that her Flying Spirit Centipede would suffer badly if the battle continued, Tian Fu stopped persisting and conceded outright. Thus, Wu Shao's side finished with two losses and one victory, losing to the Spirit Butterfly Lineage.

"That damned bitch! She took my things and dared not give it her all!" Wu Shao glared at Tian Fu, who had withdrawn to one side on her own, looking as though he wanted to devour her.

Yet when he remembered her identity, he dared not do anything...

But getting him to surrender his position as city lord so easily would never be that simple.

Now that things had reached this point, he no longer cared whether someone else might reap the fisherman's rewards. No one was taking what was already in his hands!

"Kill these women!"

Wu Shao disregarded his earlier promise completely and immediately launched an attack.