Chapter 247: Transformation Stage

Watching Zhuge Qing weeping powerlessly on his shoulder, Zhang Nuo's heart melted. In truth, he knew deep down that this woman was quite calculating, yet he still could not let her go!

The first time he saw her at the Trial Ground, Zhang Nuo's naive heart had been stirred! Even now, he was still interacting with Zhuge Qing while remaining on guard. However, seeing her current state, Zhang Nuo could not bear it, and the final line of defense in his heart finally collapsed!

"If you do not leave me, I will stay with you through life and death!"

Not knowing where the courage came from, Zhang Nuo lowered his head and whispered softly into the young woman's ear. Upon hearing this, Zhuge Qing lifted her head at once, as if these words possessed infinite magic that left her unable to stop.

"You..."

A look of astonishment flashed across her slightly dazed, pretty face. Zhang Nuo revealed a faint smile and reached out to wipe the tear stains from the young woman's face.

"This is fine now, right!"

"Then why didn't you agree before?"

With a hint of a smile on her face, Zhuge Qing asked in return.

"Perhaps I was overthinking things!"

Letting out a long sigh, Zhang Nuo could not let go of Zhuge Qing! He had tried many times, but while he could be ruthless toward others, he could not do so toward her.

Inside the room, the two embraced each other like this, neither saying anything more, as if only the two of them remained in the world. In Zhuge Qing's heart, there was an indescribable feeling; it was a sense of satisfaction she had never experienced before.

Just at this moment, the Spirit Beast Bag in Zhang Nuo's arms moved! Immersed in the young woman's youthful body scent, Zhang Nuo moved as if struck by lightning, then reached out and pushed Zhuge Qing away.

Seeing her face flushed with red and that she had not discovered the Spirit Insect had awakened, the heart he had been holding in his throat finally settled. There were some things that even the closest person could not be allowed to know; this, Zhang Nuo understood deeply.

The 'Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect' was the greatest secret of his life; no matter the time, no matter the matter, no one could compare to it!

However, seeing that Zhuge Qing was there, Zhang Nuo could not take out the Spirit Beast Bag directly and could only let the Spirit Insect continue to stir inside! The two lingered together for a long time more before the young woman finally rose to leave! Zhang Nuo dared not try to make her stay; he saw her to the door and promised her that he would go to propose marriage to Zhuge An in a few days!

She had come with a face full of sorrow, but left all smiles. Zhuge Qing instantly returned to her former self, piloted her Flying Magic Tool, and flew toward her residence.

At this moment, the two women Bai Xiu and Xun Zhen ran out from their room. They had been very curious about what Zhang Nuo and Zhuge Qing had been talking about in the room. However, Zhang Nuo did not give them the chance; he closed the room casually and cast several Restrictions in succession, sealing the entire room.

With his Golden Core stage cultivation, even if they worked themselves to death, Bai Xiu and Xun Zhen would have no way to open the Restrictions he had set. The two women looked at each other and walked away, feeling extremely helpless.

After finishing all this, Zhang Nuo anxiously took the Spirit Beast Bag from his Storage Bag. The moment he opened it, a Golden Light rushed out! However, this time, the golden radiance was vast, and it even contained a certain pressure!

"Hm?"

It was not just Zhang Nuo who felt surprised; even Chunyangzi, inside the Nine Dragon Sword Case within his body, let out a soft sound of surprise!

"What is going on?"

A mass of Golden Light, fully half a zhang in size, floated in the room, with chirping sounds echoing incessantly from within. Zhang Nuo was full of astonishment; he had never seen a Spirit Insect act like this! He raised one hand and summoned the Sword Box.

"I don't know either!"

The moment the Nine Dragon Sword Case appeared, Chunyangzi's voice rang out. But why would such a thing happen just because he had released the 'Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect' a little late?

Sensing the fluctuations of Spirit Power within the Golden Light with his Divine Sense, Zhang Nuo felt somewhat worried! If anything happened to the 'Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect', he would surely regret it to death.

"Kid Zhang, don't worry yet. To my eyes, it doesn't look like the Spirit Insect is in trouble!"

Chunyangzi also probed the interior of the Golden Light with his Divine Sense, but the thick Golden Light isolated his Divine Sense, making it impossible to enter. He could only speculate about the situation inside based on its appearance.

Zhang Nuo acted as if he hadn't heard, his gaze never leaving the Golden Light. After about an hour had passed, 'Booming' sounds began to erupt from within the Golden Light.

The sounds were faint, but with every boom, Zhang Nuo's heart beat violently!

"Could it be that the Spirit Insect has advanced again?"

Chunyangzi said suspiciously. He could not be certain of such things; after all, a Heavenly Sky Grade Spirit Insect could not be compared to other types of Spirit Insects, nor could it be judged by conventional logic.

"That shouldn't be! It just advanced a tier a few years ago, how could it advance again!"

Based on his understanding of the Spirit Insect, Zhang Nuo did not believe Chunyangzi's theory. Aside from needing opportunity, Spirit Insect advancement required large amounts of metal to assist. The last time the 'Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect' advanced, it was because it had consumed a mineral vein in the Divine Sword Mountain Range, but in these recent years, the Spirit Insect had not devoured large quantities of metal at all.

Just as the two were talking, the Golden Light was slowly shrinking toward the center, finally becoming only the size of a fist! However, the scorching golden radiance grew even more intense! Like the sun, it shone so brightly that Zhang Nuo could barely open his eyes.

"What exactly does it want to do?"

Zhang Nuo gently shielded his eyes with his hand, watching everything happening in the room through the gaps between his fingers, his heart feeling as if it were in a frying pan.

Chunyangzi remained silent, unable to guess the Spirit Insect's actions in his heart either! But very quickly, a bizarre scene occurred, and both of them were startled.

'Boom!'

After a soft sound, the surface of the Golden Light seemed to have been struck heavily from the inside, causing ripples to spread across the surface!

'Boom'

Another heavy sound, and in the same spot. The Golden Light could not quite withstand it, and the radiance became chaotic. At this moment, a small hand like that of an infant reached out from inside the Golden Light; the hand was small, but it possessed great strength.

With a 'Rip!' sound, as if tearing through tattered cloth, that small hand tore the entire mass of Golden Light apart! The next moment, an infant only half a foot tall floated in mid-air.

However, unlike a normal infant, this infant was wrapped in a layer of carapace, its face blurred and covered by a faint mass of Golden Light! Its small hands and feet kicked incessantly, as if it had finally broken free and was stretching its limbs.

"Whose Nascent Soul is this!"

Even as experienced as Chunyangzi was, he was given a huge fright by everything before him! The infant in mid-air was clearly the existence of a Nascent Soul!

How could there be a Nascent Soul inside the Golden Light that flew out of the Spirit Beast Bag? Where did the Spirit Insect go? Zhang Nuo was equally astonished and turned the Spirit Beast Bag inside out, but there was no sign of the 'Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect' anywhere.

"Senior! It might be the Spirit Insect!"

At this time, the Golden Light had dissipated, leaving only that flickering wisp on the infant's face. Zhang Nuo shook the Spirit Beast Bag in front of the Sword Box and said softly.

"How is this possible!"

Because his Remnant Soul was hiding inside the Sword Box, Zhang Nuo could not see Chunyangzi's expression; otherwise, this old monster would surely have bitten his own tongue!

"There is nothing else left inside the Spirit Beast Bag!"

The facts were right before them, leaving Chunyangzi no choice but to believe. At this time, Zhang Nuo closed his eyes slightly and sent a message to the infant in the air through their mental connection.

"Ah-yi! Ai-ah!"

The infant danced and flew to Zhang Nuo's side, then dove straight into his arms! It looked very affectionate! The small hand wrapped in the golden carapace kept scratching at Zhang Nuo's body!

At this, Chunyangzi truly believed it; this infant that looked like a Nascent Soul was indeed the 'Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect!'

"How miraculous! It actually reached the Transformation Stage!"

Zhang Nuo cradled the infant with one hand, his face so joyful he was almost crying! Looking at the 'Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect's' cultivation now, it was at most no higher than the Second Tier! But he had almost never heard of a Spirit Beast that could reach the Transformation Stage while in the Second Tier state!

"Senior! This little fellow is truly no ordinary creature!"

Zhang Nuo held the Spirit Insect after its Transformation Stage and played with it for a long time; he had never imagined that the seemingly unremarkable little beetle from back then would turn into what it was today.

"Against the heavens! Simply too against the heavens!"

Chunyangzi's words of praise were endless; he was a cultivator from the Immortal World, but even he could not suppress the surprise in his heart when faced with such a powerful Spirit Beast!

A sound like an infant babbling came from the mouth of the Spirit Insect after its Transformation Stage; others did not know what it meant, but Zhang Nuo was clear.

"Don't be impatient, I'll take you there now!"

Putting the Spirit Insect back into the Spirit Beast Bag, Zhang Nuo put away the Sword Box, his figure flashed out of the room, and then he transformed into a streak of escape light, rushing out toward the Nanxuan Sect.

After flying for nearly half an hour, he arrived in front of a pile of scattered rocks, opened the mouth of the Spirit Beast Bag, released the infant-like Spirit Insect, and whispered in its ear:

"Eat your fill first! I'll find you something better after a while!"

Among this pile of scattered rocks were many metal ores; although the content was relatively low, it was all there was for now! The Spirit Insect's cultivation was very low, but after the Transformation Stage, it could fly through the air; before Zhang Nuo had finished speaking, the little fellow dove headfirst into the scattered rocks, grabbing a stone several times larger than its own body with its two little hands.

Then it took a fierce bite; because the face of the Spirit Insect after the Transformation Stage was always shrouded in Golden Light, it was impossible to see how it moved its mouth, and the only thing that could be heard was the 'crunch, crunch' sound of it gnawing on the stone.

"Senior, isn't it usually only Eighth Rank demonic beasts that possess the ability of the Transformation Stage? How did the Spirit Insect reach the Transformation Stage when it is only Second Tier?"

Watching the little thing eat with such relish, a wave of doubt arose in Zhang Nuo's heart.

"You ask me? Who should I ask! When this old man was in the Immortal World, I had never heard of any demonic beast that could reach the Transformation Stage at the Second Tier!"

Chunyangzi, who was equally puzzled, also did not know what had happened to the Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect, but its heaven-defying Transformation Stage ability made him extremely interested!

"I say, boy Zhang, you have a mental connection with it, why not explore it thoroughly!"

Zhang Nuo nodded, though he gave a bitter smile internally; currently, the mental connection between him and the Spirit Insect was still established at a simple level, and although it had reached the Transformation Stage, they still could not communicate very clearly!