Making a name

With Tian Yu leading the way, the two soon reached the outskirts of the Gathering Point.

It was a vast basin ringed by mountains. This natural terrain made the spiritual energy within exceptionally dense, turning it into a paradise for those spirit entities.

"No wonder I barely saw any stronger spirit entities along the way. They'd all gathered here!"

Standing atop a mountain and looking down at the enormous colony of spirit entities, Heavenly Insect could not help growing solemn.

A spirit entity gathering of this scale was not something one or two people could take on...

As his gaze traveled deeper, Heavenly Insect spotted several unusually towering silhouettes of light farther inside, waves of powerful spiritual pressure radiating from them.

These stronger silhouettes were precisely the Spirit Generals!

"What are you planning to do?" Faced with this terrifying sight, Tian Yu could not help turning to ask him.

Though Heavenly Insect looked solemn, he was not flustered. He replied softly, "You won't be the only person to discover a spirit entity Gathering Point this large..."

Tian Yu's expression changed, and she looked around in alarm. "You mean someone else has found this place?"

Heavenly Insect chuckled and reassured her. "Don't panic. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. Besides, look at the peak to our left. Haven't some people already arrived...?"

Hearing this, Tian Yu hurriedly looked in the direction he indicated.

Sure enough, a gigantic black centipede dozens of meters long lay coiled atop that peak. Four or five figures stood on its head, surveying the Gathering Point below just as the two of them were.

"A Mountain-Splitting Centipede, a top-tier heaven-grade spirit insect. Their identities probably aren't simple..." Tian Yu withdrew her gaze and spoke quietly to Heavenly Insect.

Naturally, they were no ordinary people. Their leader was a Spirit Insect Master at the Divine Soul Tribulation stage. In this contest, apart from the five Supreme Realm experts, such strength was enough to rank among the top fifteen!

While Heavenly Insect and Tian Yu observed that group, the other side also noticed them.

But Heavenly Insect and Tian Yu numbered only two, one at the Body Tribulation stage and the other at the Spiritual Energy Tribulation stage. They posed no threat whatsoever, so the other group had no intention of paying them any attention.

Even with their formidable strength, however, they did not dare rashly attack this enormous gathering of over ten thousand spirit entities. They made the same choice as Heavenly Insect: keep waiting!

As time passed, three more teams arrived. One even numbered over a dozen, making it the strongest team present.

"Four teams led by Divine Soul Tribulation experts! What should we do?" As more teams arrived, each stronger than the last, Tian Yu's heart sank to the bottom of a valley.

"Let's watch first..." Heavenly Insect replied calmly.

Once four powerful teams had gathered, the people present finally lost the desire to keep waiting.

A young man stepped out from the team with the Mountain-Splitting Centipede, which had arrived first apart from Heavenly Insect and Tian Yu. He called toward the peaks occupied by the other three teams, "I am Tian Que. May I ask your names?"

Hearing that name, Heavenly Insect gave Tian Que a somewhat surprised look. The name had been far from unfamiliar in the intelligence Elder Tian Zhe had provided.

Because he might be one of Heavenly Insect's most direct rivals in this contest for the slots, Heavenly Insect had paid particular attention to him.

"Hehe, so you're the renowned Young Master Tian Que. I've long heard of you. I am Tian Ling." At the head of a team of roughly ten, a purple-robed woman dressed as a man smiled and cupped her hands.

"I am Tian Qi," the young leader of another team likewise said, cupping his fists.

"My name is Tian Xi." A lean young man from the final team nodded as well, a trace of arrogance on his face.

As for Heavenly Insect and Tian Yu...

Well,

None of the four teams here took the two of them seriously at all. Yet after those four introduced themselves, Heavenly Insect's expression grew serious.

Tian Ling, Tian Qi, Tian Xi...

These three were outstanding talents who stood shoulder to shoulder with Tian Que, their strength comparable to his. They were likewise Heavenly Insect's most direct competitors.

"I imagine everyone understands that there are too many Spirit Soldiers at this Gathering Point for any one of us to swallow alone. Why not cooperate and carve them up together? How many Spirit Cores each of us obtains will depend entirely on our own abilities. What do you say?"

Tian Que looked at everyone and smiled.

A flicker passed through the eyes of Tian Ling and the other two captains upon hearing this, but neither Tian Ling nor Tian Qi objected.

Only the arrogant-looking Tian Xi sized Tian Que up before nodding. "You lot are strong enough to qualify for a share of the broth. As for the others, just drive them away..."

Heavenly Insect, who had been watching from the sidelines, raised an eyebrow at that final remark. He had not expected this fellow to target the two of them!

"Hehe, Brother Tian Xi, there's no need for that. After all, this place belongs to no one, and these two fellow clanspeople arrived first. I don't think we need to drive them away, do we?" Tian Que said with an air of false sincerity.

"Tch, does arriving first mean you get first pick? Then why bother competing for slots? We might as well go straight home," Tian Xi sneered. "These two aren't much, but I still won't let them fish in muddy waters right under my nose!"

"If they want Spirit Cores, fine. As long as they're willing to lead the charge, we can give them a hundred Spirit Cores after we wipe out all these Spirit Soldiers. Are you willing?"

Tian Yu's face immediately filled with anger. Wasn't he simply trying to use them as cannon fodder?

Forget Spirit Cores-if the other side played another little trick, the two of them might not even keep their lives. How would they get a chance to claim any cores then?

Heavenly Insect lowered his head with a smile, signaling the furious Tian Yu with his eyes before turning his gaze toward Tian Xi.

Of the four teams, Tian Xi had the most people behind him, making his force the strongest. It was hardly surprising that he would say something like this.

Never mind Tian Xi-if their positions were reversed, Heavenly Insect would not want a few weaklings trailing him to pick up scraps either...

As for Tian Que, who seemed to be speaking up for them, his intentions were not necessarily good.

Of the four teams present, Tian Que had the fewest people. Winning Heavenly Insect and Tian Yu over was merely a way to increase the strength at his disposal. Ultimately, he also wanted to pull them over to serve as his cannon fodder.

"You want us to be cannon fodder? That isn't out of the question..."

Heavenly Insect spoke with a soft laugh.

"As long as one of you can withstand this sword strike, I, Heavenly Insect, will willingly lead the charge for you!"

Seeing Heavenly Insect draw his Dragon Centipede Sword, everyone opposite him immediately went on guard. After hearing his words, they all felt that this brat at the Body Tribulation stage had gone mad...

Even the weakest among them was at the Spiritual Energy Tribulation stage. His cultivation was the lowest here.

Even if he had some hidden trump card, he had no right to speak like that before four Divine Soul Tribulation experts!

Who among those capable of entering this place did not have a trump card of their own...?

"What arrogance!" Tian Xi laughed in fury, immediately preparing to send someone to teach this brat, who knew neither the height of heaven nor the depth of earth, a lesson.

But before he could speak, Heavenly Insect had already swung his sword...

Swish!

An overwhelming surge of sword energy shot out, like a dazzling beam tearing across the sky in an instant.

The next moment, a deep sword scar appeared on the peak before Heavenly Insect, racing outward from where he stood.

As that earth-shaking sword energy blasted toward him, Tian Xi's expression changed drastically. But he was, after all, a Divine Soul Tribulation expert, protected by a sovereign spirit insect. With a fierce shout, spiritual energy surged from his body and formed the phantom of a flying lizard, which swiftly transformed into a wall of spiritual light before him.

The Profound-Winged Flying Lizard, Tian Xi's life-bound spirit insect!

Though the Profound-Winged Flying Lizard possessed an impressive bloodline and had reached the Supreme Realm, defense was not its strength.

Hiss!

The instant that wall of spiritual light took shape, Heavenly Insect's brilliant sword energy swept toward it and, under Tian Xi's horrified gaze, tore it apart.

The sword energy was chillingly sharp. A bloody line crossed Tian Xi's face, and even a fair amount of his hair was severed, leaving him looking rather bedraggled.

Tian Ling and Tian Qi, who had remained silent throughout, both looked aghast.

They had never imagined that Tian Xi, an outstanding talent renowned even among the twelve branches, would be defeated by a nameless nobody at the Body Tribulation stage-unable to withstand even a single strike!

Meanwhile, Tian Que, who had intended to draw the pair into his team, wore a dark expression. His plan was clearly doomed, and more importantly, this had instead made his side the weakest force present...

Sweeping his gaze over the stunned members of all four teams, Heavenly Insect said calmly, "Well? I think I'm qualified for a share of the broth here too. Who agrees, and who objects?"

Tian Ling and the other two remained silent. Only Tian Xi raised a hand to wipe the blood from his face, gritted his teeth slightly, and said, "Fine. I have no objection!"

He might be somewhat arrogant, but he was no fool. Though Heavenly Insect's side numbered only two, his terrifying strength was enough to cow the others. For his own sake, Tian Xi made the sensible choice.

Seeing this, Tian Que and the other two also voiced their agreement.

"In that case, here's to a pleasant partnership."

Once the decision was made, no one stirred up any more trouble.

Looking at the endless spiritual light rippling like an ocean in the basin below, a trace of burning eagerness flashed through everyone's eyes.

"Everyone, prepare to attack. The longer we delay, the more people may notice this place."

Tian Que looked excited. Before he had even finished speaking, billowing spiritual energy swept out of him, rising into the clouds like black signal smoke.

"All right!"

At that moment, Tian Ling, Tian Qi, Tian Xi, and the others responded as well, and powerful fluctuations of spiritual energy spread throughout the surroundings.

"Poria Wind Butterfly, Seven-Star Ladybug, Tian Chuo Demon Spider..."

Seeing the spiritual energy phantoms taking shape behind the three, Heavenly Insect immediately understood that these three powerful spirit insects were their life-bound spirit insects.

Then Heavenly Insect glanced at the person beside him. "Be careful and protect yourself. I'm going in!"

His hands shifted through seals, and the phantom of a sword butterfly several meters across appeared behind him. An even more terrifying surge of sword energy then began rapidly gathering.

Naturally, the army of spirit entities in the basin could not fail to notice such a commotion.

Accompanied by tremendous waves of spiritual energy, the luminous silhouettes of Spirit Soldiers shot out, converging on Heavenly Insect and the others to surround and destroy them.

"Attack separately, but don't stray too far apart, or these Spirit Soldiers will bury us under their numbers!" After slaughtering a large swath of Spirit Soldiers with a single strike, Tian Que looked at those still surging toward them like a tide and shouted with a grave expression.

Heavenly Insect watched the tide of Spirit Soldiers before him. Nearly a hundred had gathered in just the small area facing him. If he could not hold them back, the line would truly collapse like a flood bursting its banks!

"Six-Eyed Blade Mantis!"

"Nine Revolutions Black-Whiskered Mosquito!"

A gigantic black Blade Mantis appeared in the sky. The wings on his back rose high, and the six eye-like markings immediately fired six dark purple rays, directly covering an area over a hundred meters ahead.

The next moment, the Spirit Soldiers that had been surging forward in mindless frenzy stopped in their tracks the instant those rays touched them. Their eyes, originally filled with murderous bloodlust, turned vacant...

The Six-Eyed Blade Mantis could fire illusory rays from the six eye-like black spots on his wings, trapping enemies in illusions.

Heavenly Insect had not expected this ability to work so well against these Spirit Soldiers.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

After trapping the Spirit Soldiers in illusions, the Six-Eyed Blade Mantis immediately began swinging his two great blades. Terrifying waves of blade energy rained indiscriminately into the mass of Spirit Soldiers, and large numbers fell without offering any resistance.

"Excellent!"

Heavenly Insect was very pleased with his Six-Eyed Blade Mantis's performance.

Especially when facing low-level fodder like this, such battlefield-clearing ability was extremely effective.

Likewise, the Nine Revolutions Black-Whiskered Mosquito, capable of splitting and devouring, was exceptionally well suited to this situation. It transformed directly into a black cloud and enveloped a vast swath of Spirit Soldiers.

"So powerful!" After killing a Spirit Soldier, Tian Yu turned toward Heavenly Insect and witnessed this scene.

Although Heavenly Insect had already demonstrated his formidable strength, she had not expected him to possess two such powerful spirit insects as well.

I just wonder what his life-bound spirit insect is...

Tian Yu wondered curiously, but her hands did not slow in the slightest. She likewise released her own spirit insects to attack.

Unlike Heavenly Insect's, Tian Yu's spirit insects were merely heaven-grade. Against these Spirit Soldiers, they could at best fight on even terms, unable to sweep away huge swaths with the overwhelming force of the Six-Eyed Blade Mantis.

Heavenly Insect's speed not only astonished Tian Yu but also left the members of the other teams feeling ashamed.

His killing speed alone was nearly catching up to that of an entire team. Where could they possibly go to argue with that?!