Chapter 39: The Insect Plague Descends!
Chapter 39: Chapter 39: The Insect Plague Descends!
Ever since awakening his Metal Spirit Root, Chen Mo discovered he had a clear perception of insect pests like the Drunken Aphid. As soon as these pests began gnawing on the Spirit Rice Seedlings, he could detect the faint disturbances they caused, provided they were within his perception range.
This Acquired Transformation made Chen Mo realize why a Cultivation Immortal Sect like the Cyan Yang Sect would only recruit Cultivators with a Spirit Root. Having a Spirit Root and not having one were entirely different concepts. Setting aside its impact on Cultivation speed, just the ability to resonate and harmonize with all things in the world was enough to completely crush any Cultivator without a Spirit Root.
For several consecutive days, just as the sky was about to turn dark, Chen Mo would patrol his Spirit Field. He even went as far as spending nearly half an hour collecting the Drunken Aphids that inexplicably appeared in his field, placing them into an earthen jar. There, he quietly waited as they slaughtered each other and gradually grew larger.
He Zhiping hadn’t been idle these past few days either. Every day, he shuttled back and forth between his own Spirit Field and Lan Ling’s.
After going through the trouble for a few trips, he learned to be smart. Instead of dumping all the Drunken Aphids he caught into Chen Mo’s field all at once, he kept a portion of them to reuse the next time he visited her.
Through these repeated visits, He Zhiping firmly established his foothold with Lan Ling. Every day, he would hear her sweetly calling him "Fellow Daoist He" and "Brother He."
As far as he was concerned, he wasn’t far from becoming Daoist partners with her. However, whenever he casually pretended to brush against her, she would always feign a casual dodge. But the moment he showed signs of getting angry, she would blush pitifully and mutter, "Wait a little longer... just a little longer." For the time being, He Zhiping was completely wrapped around her finger.
That was until one day, a palm-sized Drunken Aphid flew out from Lan Ling’s field, startling her so much that she hurriedly unleashed an entry-level Flaming Palm! The Magic missed the insect entirely and instead scorched a small patch of her Spirit Field.
Seeing this, Lan Ling ran non-stop to He Zhiping’s small wooden cabin. Taking the initiative to grab his arm, she panted and pleaded, "Brother... Brother He! A bug... a huge bug!"
Hearing her plea, He Zhiping’s lust instantly took the wheel. Making a confident guarantee, he accompanied her back to her field. He exerted a Herculean effort before finally locating the Drunken Aphid, which was distinctly different from the others.
Indeed! The other insects were barely the size of a thumb and still in their larval state. But this one had already reached its Adult Stage. Neither its speed nor its destructive power could be compared to that of a larva!
Of course, no matter how powerful this adult insect was, it was still just a single bug. It was no match for He Zhiping at all. With a simple strike of his Geng Metal Finger, he easily eradicated the Drunken Aphid without breaking a sweat.
"Brother... Brother He, what... what kind of Magic is this?" Lan Ling stared at him in disbelief with wide eyes.
If judged solely on destructive power, this Magic was naturally inferior to the Flaming Palm. But its advantage lay in its extreme speed and concentrated force. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was practically tailor-made for dealing with Drunken Aphids!
"The Geng Metal Finger!" He Zhiping tilted his head up smugly. He thought to himself, "I’ve definitely got you under my thumb now, haven’t I?"
"The Geng Metal Finger? That’s... that’s amazing! Can I learn it?"
"Of course. You can buy the manual for two taels of Spiritual Sand."
"Ah, it costs Spiritual Sand?" Lan Ling lowered her head in shame. "I... I don’t have any."
"If you and I become Daoist partners, I’ll give it to you as a betrothal gift. How about that?" He Zhiping narrowed his eyes as he spoke. At this point, he stopped hiding his intentions. He simply wanted to engage in Dual Cultivation with her!
"Ah?!" Hearing this, Lan Ling’s face flushed crimson. Before he could react, she had already covered her face and run away.
"Wait a little longer... just a little longer," she cried out as she fled.
He Zhiping watched her retreating beautiful silhouette, his heart fluttering. He thought, "I’ll definitely get you under my thumb next time!"
Humming a little tune, he returned to his own Spirit Field. Just as he was planning to go back to his cabin and reward himself, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the Spirit Rice swaying unsteadily in the distance, looking as if it could lodge at any moment.
It hadn’t even begun to form ears yet, so how could it fall over? Startled, He Zhiping hurriedly rushed over.
The very moment he approached, over a dozen Drunken Aphids frantically fluttered their wings and scattered at an incredibly fast speed!
Survival was the instinct of any living creature. The same applied to Spirit Insects.
When they first reached their Adult Stage, a Drunken Aphid’s carapace hadn’t fully hardened yet. Therefore, when encountering disturbances or danger, they would flee at the first opportunity. But once they grew into their Mature Stage, these insects became as stubborn as unmovable porcupines. Unless they were killed, they wouldn’t move half a step away from their food!
Right now, with over a dozen Drunken Aphids scattering in different directions, He Zhiping panicked and hastily executed his Geng Metal Finger, barely managing to eradicate two or three of them. At this moment, he couldn’t even afford to assess the damage to his Spirit Field. He had to exterminate these bugs immediately, or the consequences would be unimaginable!
The Adult Stage Drunken Aphids were inherently fragile. After putting in quite a bit of effort, He Zhiping finally managed to wipe out all the insects in the field.
Of course, this was also thanks to the Geng Metal Finger. If he had solely relied on the Flaming Palm, he wouldn’t have been able to kill them all even if he exhausted all the Spiritual Qi in his body! But even so, He Zhiping’s Spiritual Qi had already hit rock bottom.
Looking at the large barren patch in his Spirit Field, he slumped onto the ground in despair, his mind filled with confusion.
"Where did so many Adult Stage insects come from?!"
He Zhiping was absolutely certain that he had been extremely careful and meticulous during his daily field patrols. It would be normal to miss one or two larvae, but how could he have failed to notice these adult insects that fled at the slightest sign of trouble?
"Damn it!"
"Where did they come from?"
"Where did they come from?!"
His gaze swept across his surroundings, but he couldn’t figure it out.
...
Meanwhile, seeing that things had quieted down on He Zhiping’s end, Chen Mo gently shook his head and closed his eyes to cultivate.
That’s right, he had raised those insects, and he was the one who released them using a time gap.
He had originally planned to exact an eye for an eye, but he still underestimated He Zhiping’s methods. He hadn’t expected this guy to have also practiced the Geng Metal Finger. Judging by its destructive power, he was probably already proficient in it; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to wipe out Adult Stage Drunken Aphids so easily.
Of course, Chen Mo merely treated this matter as a minor interlude on his path of Cultivation. He had no intentions of continuing to raise and release bugs. After all, it was a time-consuming and troublesome endeavor! Rather than wasting his effort on this, it was far better to focus on his Cultivation. Breaking through to the Qi Refining Third Layer as soon as possible was the true path to success.
In the following days, Chen Mo cultivated while constantly keeping an eye on He Zhiping’s movements. But gradually, he noticed something was wrong!
As the Spirit Rice began to form ears day by day, the number of Drunken Aphids in the Spirit Field was actually increasing! Even with his Metal Spirit Root’s perception abilities, he still spent over half an hour every day killing insects.
Not only that, but there were no signs of these bugs decreasing at all!
"Where are these bugs coming from?!"
Chen Mo felt a sense of foreboding, but because he was eradicating them fast and early enough, it didn’t cause too much damage.
It wasn’t until massive swarms of Drunken Aphids took flight from the neighboring Spirit Fields—including those of Spirit Plant Cultivators like Xiao Changhua and He Zhiping—that he finally realized:
A plague of insects had descended!