The world inside the Arctic Sea Eye gave off a mysterious presence.
After passing through a bank of white mist, the three entered that world.
With a boom, an incomparably brilliant rain of golden light appeared, so dense that it filled the entire small world.
The brilliant golden rain fell with incredible speed, seemingly without end.
Golden light flashed, each spark resembling a golden rune.
The golden raindrops in the sky seemed to come alive. Each shone as brilliantly as a little golden sun.
They also rang with the clangor of colliding metal.
"There are so many insects here?" Chuan Ying was astonished. Even though he had traveled the world and seen much, he had never seen so many golden insects.
"Could these be the legendary God-Slaying Insects?" Xiao Ping'an asked.
"That's right. These are divine insects with pure bloodlines, God-Devouring Insects," Emperor Venerable said.
Each God-Devouring Insect looked as though it wore golden battle armor. They were over a meter long, with incredibly hard shells, and looked exceedingly savage.
These were all Saint-level divine insects that devoured flesh and primordial spirits. Almost nothing could withstand them, and they could devour anything.
According to legend, if raised from eggs, these insects could become divine beasts that guarded a mountain.
They were covered in golden scales, like little golden flood dragons, except they had no horns.
This swarm of God-Slaying Insects had pure bloodlines. Golden light shone from their bodies, and they gave off a savage, murderous presence that swept across the sky and earth, like an army of thousands charging into battle.
God-Slaying Insects of this level were nearly impossible for Saints to deal with, but they were of no use against Xiao Ping'an and the others.
Chuan Ying reached out and seized a God-Slaying Insect. He clenched his hand, and with a splat, he crushed the Saint-level God-Devouring Insect to death. Golden light burst out, and golden blood splattered everywhere.
Xiao Ping'an caught one too. He gave it a gentle squeeze, crushing it to death with a splat.
After sensing its pure bloodline and powerful origin, Xiao Ping'an waved his hand and gathered up all the God-Devouring Insects that had blotted out the sky.
With the divine insects that had filled the sky and earth gone, the three were shocked to discover that the mountain range stretching before them was actually an enormously vast God-Slaying Insect.
Its scales gleamed gold, and its massive body stretched for dozens of li. At first glance, it looked like a gigantic golden dragon, except it had no horns.
Only then did the three sense that this was a True Immortal-level God-Slaying Insect.
It lay coiled there, emanating an invincible presence that could suppress the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.
The golden divine mountain was actually the God-Slaying Insect's immense body.
The boundless white mist surrounding it was actually an immensely vast galaxy the God-Slaying Insect had refined, forcibly reducing it to fine grains of sand. At first glance, it looked like a bank of white mist.
When the three had first arrived, they had noticed only the strange and powerful presence here. For a time, they had failed to notice that the white mist had been refined from a galaxy.
Now, the God-Devouring Insect's body seemed to have lost its life, becoming a corpse.
"A True Immortal-level God-Devouring Insect's corpse?!" Chuan Ying said in shock.
Emperor Venerable looked grave. He, too, seemed not to have expected that this incomparably powerful True Immortal was a God-Slaying Insect, or that it seemed to have died.
Just as the three were examining the God-Slaying Insect, the God-Devouring Insect's corpse suddenly moved.
The white mist and the boundless Lunar Power within the Arctic Sea Eye were instantly devoured. Even the essence blood in their bodies felt as though it might burst out of them.
Then the God-Devouring Insect's corpse began to emit fluctuations of life.
Boundless essence Qi of heaven and earth flowed toward it. The signs of life in the God-Devouring Insect grew ever more vigorous, and its presence grew stronger and stronger.
"Roar..."
The roar nearly shattered the entire world and even caused the three to lose focus for an instant.
Countless Great Dao Runes appeared on the God-Devouring Insect's body.
Divine chains of Great Dao laws appeared one after another, binding the God-Devouring Insect firmly in place and preventing him from escaping.
Xiao Ping'an gazed intently at the God-Slaying Insect and said, "The True Immortal-level God-Slaying Insect has already died. A new soul has now been born within his body. The corpse must have gained sentience."
If it had been a living True Immortal, the three might have been in danger.
But now it was only a True Immortal corpse that had gained sentience, so it might not pose as great a threat to them.
The God-Slaying Insect True Immortal's corpse gradually shrank, and the countless divine chains of Great Dao order shrank with it.
Crack, crack.
The soul born from the sentient corpse snapped the terrifying divine chains of order one after another with ease.
Then he transformed into a sinister-looking old man. He was gaunt and wizened, with golden hair, golden skin, and eyes like golden lamps.
He looked impossibly old, and his whole body gave off a decaying, decrepit presence, but his body was still that of a True Immortal.
The gaunt old man looked at the three and gave a sinister smile.
"If I eat all of you, perhaps I can recover my True Immortal-level strength," the old man murmured.
This new being born within the True Immortal's remains possessed at least the strength of a Heavenly Venerable who had lived several lives. With the added power of the True Immortal corpse, he did indeed have grounds for arrogance.
It seemed the reason he had not devoured Emperor Venerable when he came to investigate before was that the incomparably mysterious chains had trapped him.
"You're just a corpse that gained sentience. Are you really stronger than us?" Xiao Ping'an asked mockingly.
"Ha ha, you'll never know how great the gap is between the Heavenly Venerable realm and the true Immortal Dao Domain," the old man sneered.
"You think you can make a meal of us?" Emperor Venerable shook his head. "You're just a corpse that gained sentience. Your hocus-pocus won't work on us."
"You all deserve to die!" The God-Slaying Insect suddenly flew into a towering rage.
He opened his mouth wide and lunged at them.
His dragonlike claws also swiped at them.
Though he was a True Immortal corpse that had gained sentience, he possessed a genuine True Immortal-level body, extraordinarily hard.
The God-Slaying Insect elder seemed determined to make a meal of the three, sneering repeatedly as he attacked.
His dragonlike claws tore through space, seeking to rip Emperor Venerable and Xiao Ping'an to pieces.
There was not a trace of panic on Xiao Ping'an's face. Instead, a cold smile appeared.
With a sharp hiss, the old man's claws were severed in an instant.
A white bone saber swept through the air, its immortal light dazzling and its terrifying presence capable of destroying heaven and earth.
With a splat, the gaunt old man was cleaved in two.
His body flew backward, golden blood spilling across the sky and turning into golden runes that blocked his enemies.
"Why?" The God-Slaying Insect elder could scarcely believe it.
He had never imagined that his True Immortal-level body could be torn apart by a white bone saber that looked like an Extreme Dao Weapon, forcibly cleaving him in two.
He soon understood something.
As the bloody haze dispersed, an ancient, weathered-looking white bone saber floated there.
Mysterious Great Dao Runes occasionally flashed across the white bone saber, as though the heavenly sound of the Great Dao were thundering around it. White light flickered from the blade, as if it might launch its next attack at any moment.
It had once been a true Immortal Artifact that had fallen into this world from the Immortal Domain.
The curse in the Phoenix Blood Sea had caused its grade to fall. Coupled with the suppression of this world's Great Dao rules, it had been forcibly reduced from a powerful True Immortal weapon to an Extreme Dao Weapon.
Though it was an Extreme Dao Weapon, it bore incomparably mysterious immortal Dao runes.
The weapon spirit of Xiao Ping'an's Overlord Heaven Bell had taken advantage of the white bone saber's weakened state to refine its weapon spirit.
After Xiao Ping'an awoke, he had taken further care in refining it, making the white bone saber entirely his own as his Extreme Dao Weapon.
After adapting to the Great Dao rules of this world, the mysterious immortal Dao runes within it had begun to reappear.
If placed in the Immortal Ascension Pool in the Kunlun Secret Realm, it might become an Immortal Artifact again in the shortest possible time.
Now it did not look like an Immortal Artifact, yet it surpassed one.
"That white bone saber is actually an Immortal Artifact!" Utter shock appeared on the God-Devouring Insect's face.
He watched the floating white bone saber, his expression turning grave and cautious as he examined it closely.
Then a strange expression appeared on his face. "This is actually an Immortal Artifact from the Immortal Realm. It was unfortunate enough to end up in this world, and its grade has fallen. What an immense pity..."
He looked thoroughly regretful.
"Only in the Immortal Domain can this white bone saber truly display its power. Suppressed by the Great Dao rules of this world, it has become a mere mortal item," the God-Devouring Insect said, shaking his head.
Xiao Ping'an glanced sideways at the God-Slaying Insect. "Even if this white bone saber can't unleash its full power, it can still tear you to pieces."
Xiao Ping'an knew that Emperor Venerable also possessed an Immortal Artifact: the Immortal Ascension Cauldron, also known as the Cauldron of the Source of All Things.
They had two Immortal Artifacts on their side. How could the God-Slaying Insect stand against the two of them with nothing but a True Immortal-level corpse?
Greed appeared on the God-Devouring Insect's face. "Even in the Immortal Domain, this white bone saber would be a rare treasure."
"Only in the hands of a True Immortal would it befit its status." As he spoke, the God-Devouring Insect tried to seize the white bone saber.
"Wishful thinking," Xiao Ping'an said with a cold snort.
The white bone saber suddenly burst forth with scarlet divine radiance, its immortal light red as blood.
The white bone saber's sudden eruption nearly tore the Arctic Sea Eye apart.
With a sharp hiss, the white bone saber swept through the air and cleaved the old man's body in two once more.
The God-Devouring Insect wore a savage expression. "You think you can kill me like this?"
His hands traced patterns ceaselessly, and mysterious runes flashed around his body one after another.
With a tremendous boom, countless immortal Dao runes appeared on the God-Devouring Insect's body, as though they had been awakened.
Divine chains of immortal Dao order emerged from his body one after another.
The God-Devouring Insect suddenly gave off a True Immortal-level presence, and its incomparably violent pressure swept across the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands in an instant.
The combatants instantly rushed out of the Arctic Sea Eye and sped toward the Cosmic Frontier.
Along the way, that incomparably powerful immortal Dao presence awakened one sleeping Dark Supreme after another.
"Has someone become an immortal?"
"That's really a True Immortal's presence..."
"Is that True Immortal hunting down Emperor Venerable and Overlord Heavenly Venerable?"
At the Cosmic Frontier, a stunning battle erupted.
The Immortal Ascension Cauldron blazed with green light, illuminating that cold expanse of the cosmos.
The scarlet divine radiance of Xiao Ping'an's white bone saber dyed half the sky red.
The incomparably powerful God-Slaying Insect seemed to have come back to life, as though he had truly become a flawless True Immortal.
He looked at Emperor Venerable's Immortal Ascension Cauldron, and greed appeared on his face once more.
He seemed not to have expected his enemies to bring two Immortal Artifacts at once.
The God-Slaying Insect clamped his jaws onto the Immortal Ascension Cauldron. Countless immortal Dao laws erupted as he tried to force it down into his belly.
"This Immortal Ascension Cauldron is mine! Submit to me, and I'll lead you in sweeping across the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands!" the God-Devouring Insect shouted.
Just then, he heard Xiao Ping'an's mocking laughter.
The white bone saber tore through the void, appearing instantly above his head, right at his Immortal Platform.
Scarlet radiance seemed to shatter the cosmos.
With a splat, it pierced through the God-Slaying Insect's Immortal Platform.
Terror appeared on the God-Devouring Insect's face.
"This white bone saber was actually refined from an Immortal King's remains!"
"Otherwise, it could never have shattered my True Immortal-level God-Slaying Insect body!" the True Immortal roared.
As though he had heard nothing, Xiao Ping'an controlled the white bone saber and attacked without pause.
Scarlet radiance enveloped the God-Slaying Insect True Immortal as he let out agonized screams.
Scarlet flames seemed to have ignited there, setting that expanse of the Chaos Sea boiling.
From the Immortal Ascension Cauldron, now free, boundless Power of Faith cascaded down like a waterfall of stars and surged toward the God-Slaying Insect.
The soul born from the sentient corpse seemed terribly afraid of this Power of Faith, as though it had encountered its natural enemy.
Blazing karmic fire of the mortal world immediately ignited, burning the God-Slaying Insect's soul furiously.
The Power of Faith had such a marvelous use.
Emperor Venerable did not care in the least that his Power of Faith was being consumed. He let it turn into karmic fire of the mortal world and burn the God-Slaying Insect furiously.
Xiao Ping'an thought it a pity. If Yongsheng had devoured these things, he might have undergone a transformation.
It was a shame to waste them like this.
Still, Xiao Ping'an thought it over and did not suggest that Emperor Venerable refine some sort of faith body.
Instead, he was curious why Emperor Venerable, who was perfectly normal now, had suddenly become the great villain of the entire Shrouding the Heavens World.
Even now, observing Emperor Venerable up close, he could find nothing abnormal about him.
Xiao Ping'an's white bone saber not only hacked the God-Devouring Insect's body apart, but also forcibly picked out his primordial spirit.
Xiao Ping'an pointed, and scarlet divine light streamed from the white bone saber. The primordial spirit soon grew weaker and weaker within the scarlet light.
Finally, it was ground away, reduced to the most fundamental primordial spirit essence, which the white bone saber then absorbed.
(End of chapter)