Chapter 348: The Mysterious Change of the Spirit Insect

Spring passed and autumn came; in the blink of an eye, ten years had gone by. During these ten years, many things happened on the Xianhuan Continent, but the most eye-catching of all was the struggle for the Xian Mountains!

As several major powers continuously explored the interior of the Xian Mountains, one great battle after another took place. In these ten years, countless cultivators fell, some of whom were even at the Nascent Soul Stage!

As for this Tianqi Immortal Mountain, a dramatic scene unfolded. In the previous struggles, the Taixu Palace, which had the highest support, was unexpectedly defeated by the Sea Flood Dragon Clan and eventually had to tuck its tail and flee the immortal mountain.

Relying on the inheritance of his Heavenly Demon Bloodline, Baijiaowang unleashed various secret techniques, ultimately defeating three Nascent Soul Stage experts from the Taixu Palace and occupying the immortal mountain. The Sea Flood Dragon Clan had many members, and after seizing the immortal mountain, flood dragons of all cultivation levels moved into the mountain all at once.

In just a few short years, this mountain became the world of demon cultivators. However, the Sea Flood Dragon Clan was naturally fond of water, so they were somewhat unaccustomed to practicing on the mountain for a long time! In the end, only those demon beasts capable of Transformation Stage were left on the immortal mountain.

As a result, the number of demon cultivators in Tianqi Immortal Mountain decreased significantly, which made countless powers jealous. For several years, disputes on Tianqi Immortal Mountain were constant! This gave Baijiaowang a massive headache!

If he abandoned the immortal mountain, he was somewhat reluctant; if he did not, he would be firmly trapped in this place. Whenever a powerful cultivator attacked, he, the Leader, had to personally take action! A perfectly good immortal mountain had now become a hot potato; he couldn't throw it away, yet he couldn't keep it either!

The plight of the Sea Flood Dragon Clan actually gave Zhang Nuo enough time. In order to deal with external attacks, the demon cultivators had no time to search for the Purple Mansion Immortal Cave! Only then was he able to practice properly inside the immortal cave.

On this day, Zhang Nuo was sitting in meditation with his eyes closed when his brows suddenly twitched slightly. He then abruptly opened his eyes, and as he spread the fingers of both hands, two wisps of pitch-black Demonic Qi rose from his palms.

These two wisps of Demonic Qi were fully half a zhang high, steaming upward like burning flames! Looking at the two wisps of Demonic Qi, a faint trace of joy appeared at the corners of Zhang Nuo's mouth. In ten years, he had spent three years healing his wounds, and in seven years, he had finally completed the first layer of the "Eight Extremes Demon Veins," the "Resting Meridian"!

Once the "Resting Meridian" was formed, a meridian for the circulation of Demonic Qi was completely and spontaneously opened within Zhang Nuo's body. This meridian was different from the one used for the "Shangqing Sword Art," as if they were two independent existences! They did not rely on each other and did not interfere with one another!

Only at this moment did Zhang Nuo truly realize the benefits of the "Eight Extremes Demon Veins." Not only was his physical body strengthened, but the meridians within his body were also greatly improved! Moreover, once the "Resting Meridian" was activated, it would erupt with astonishing power. Although he had not personally tested this, he could infer it from the pulse.

With the Demonic Arts initially mastered, Zhang Nuo's cultivation advanced a step further. He vaguely felt his physique was full. He had previously reached the Golden Core Late Stage Great Perfection, and now, with the catalysis of the Demonic Arts, his desire to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage grew even stronger!

In order to better consolidate his foundation and ensure the success rate of Shou Dan Jie Ying, Zhang Nuo further practiced the "Shangqing Sword Art" and the "Immovable Underworld King"!

Among the three techniques, Zhang Nuo still prioritized the "Shangqing Sword Art." As his main technique, as the sword art improved by one level, his base cultivation would also grow by a large margin!

As for the problem that the sword art was only a fragment, Zhang Nuo had long since stopped thinking about it. After all, once he entered the Nascent Soul Stage, he could seek out other techniques. On the other hand, if he entered the Nascent Soul Stage, relying on the few techniques he currently possessed to break through to the Spirit Severing Stage would be far from enough.

Therefore, Zhang Nuo did not place too much hope on the "Shangqing Sword Art." As long as this technique could help him advance to the Nascent Soul Stage, that would already be quite good!

Having figured this out, Zhang Nuo closed his eyes again! This closure lasted another ten years. Through the Spiritual Qi gathered by the Nine Dragon Sword Case, combined with the unique geographical advantages of the Purple Mansion Immortal Cave, Zhang Nuo's practice of the "Shangqing Sword Art" could be said to be unimpeded. Ten years ago, he had practiced the Shangqing Sword Art from the sixth layer all the way to the ninth layer!

This change was even more immense. As Zhang Nuo looked inward, he saw the Spiritual Qi flowing endlessly in his body like a vast river and sea. As long as his Divine Sea moved slightly, he could easily release most of the Flying Swords inside the Nine Dragon Sword Case! At this time, the number of Flying Swords was much greater than before. There were nine sets of Flying Swords in total, and when Zhang Nuo exerted his full strength, he could actually release eight sets! This matter not only surprised him, but even Chunyangzi was greatly amazed!

It seems that there is some kind of necessary connection between the "Shangqing Sword Art" and the "Nine Dragon Sword Case" in the dark; otherwise, Zhang Nuo could not have achieved this! One must know that when Chunyangzi was at the Nascent Soul Stage, he could only barely release seven sets of Flying Swords!

As for the "Immovable Underworld King" technique, Zhang Nuo had almost no progress. For one, this technique was indeed too difficult to practice; every time he advanced, it required the support of powerful Yin Qi. For another, Zhang Nuo's physical body at his current level already belonged to the accomplished kind; if he were to use the technique to forcibly temper it again, it would do more harm than good! It was just like forging a sword; if the heat was too high, the quality of the sword would not be the best!

Based on the various reasons above, Zhang Nuo stopped practicing the "Immovable Underworld King" and could only wait until after successfully advancing to the Nascent Soul Stage to ponder it further!

The ninth layer of the "Shangqing Sword Art," combined with the opening of the "Resting Meridian" of the "Eight Extremes Demon Veins," gave Zhang Nuo sufficient qualifications to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage!

In the following year, what Zhang Nuo did every day was to repeatedly memorize the various steps of condensing the Nascent Soul to ensure nothing went wrong!

On this day, Zhang Nuo was discussing the matter of condensing the Nascent Soul with Chunyangzi when suddenly the Spirit Beast Bag in his arms moved slightly, and a mental connection from the "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect" came from within!

This made Zhang Nuo even more delighted! He immediately opened the bag, and saw the Spirit Insect, which looked like a baby, fly out and hover in front of him, waving its little hands and feet as if it had something extremely important!

At first, both Zhang Nuo and Chunyangzi thought the little guy was about to produce crystals, but a moment later, Zhang Nuo vaguely felt something was wrong, because it had been several decades since the Spirit Insect last slept. After such a long time, if it came out without producing crystals, there could only be one possibility!

That was that the Spirit Insect was about to advance! As soon as this thought emerged in Zhang Nuo's heart, the Spirit Insect immediately sensed it, and its two little hands actually clapped a few times in great joy!

This left Chunyangzi, who had been watching from the side, completely confused! Ignoring him, Zhang Nuo continued to communicate with the Spirit Insect through their mental connection. About an hour later, Zhang Nuo's expression began to turn serious, and he would look at the palm of his right hand from time to time!

After thinking hard for a long while, Zhang Nuo gritted his teeth, and a bloodstain split open in the center of his right palm. Immediately after, the Jingming Divine Tree grew out. At this time, among the branches and leaves of the Divine Tree, several red lights could be vaguely seen; those were the fruits formed by the Golden Cores of the Golden Core Stage cultivators absorbed by the Divine Tree!

Zhang Nuo vividly called them "Golden Core Fruit!"

It turned out that during the communication with the "Mysterious Heaven Spirit Insect" just now, this insect unexpectedly wanted the "Golden Core Fruit!" Moreover, this advancement of its was also an extremely important matter. Once it failed, not only would the human form it had just condensed dissipate, but it was even more likely to revert directly to its most initial state!

Originally, Zhang Nuo had wanted to use these "Golden Core Fruit" to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage, but he did not expect that the Mysterious Heaven Spirit Insect would also need them. For a time, a conflict arose between the Spirit Insect and himself! Whether to give these fruits to the Spirit Insect or keep them for his own use to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage! This became a serious problem!

After thinking it over repeatedly, there were twelve "Golden Core Fruit" condensed on the Divine Tree. Zhang Nuo was confident that seven or eight would be enough to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage. He gritted his teeth slightly and decided to give all the rest to the "Mysterious Heaven Spirit Insect"!

Seeing the insect's extremely anxious appearance, Zhang Nuo smiled faintly, reached out and plucked a "Golden Core Fruit" that was not yet fully ripe from the Divine Tree, and then handed it to the Spirit Insect!

As soon as the Spirit Insect saw the fruit, it immediately chirped a few times, took it without any hesitation, and swallowed it in one gulp without even thinking!

Not long after, strands of crimson blood began to appear around the Spirit Insect's body. These blood threads kept spinning, and the Spirit Insect's two little hands also seemed to be pinching some strange hand seals. A moment later, the Spirit Insect reached out its little hand to Zhang Nuo for the second time!

Seeing this, Zhang Nuo took another "Golden Core Fruit" from the Divine Tree. After swallowing the second fruit, the blood threads around the Spirit Insect's body became even denser!

In the blink of an eye, five "Golden Core Fruit" had all gone into the Spirit Insect's belly, which made Zhang Nuo's heart ache. If it kept eating, I'm afraid even his own share would be gone!

However, what made him feel slightly comforted was that after eating the fifth Golden Core Fruit, the Spirit Insect did not reach out again. At this time, the blood threads around the Spirit Insect were dense, as if it were making a blood cocoon!

About three days later, the blood threads surrounding the Spirit Insect suddenly condensed and all surged into its body. With low roars coming from the Spirit Insect's mouth, the insect seemed to have undergone a major transformation!

When the "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect" landed, a little boy about a foot tall appeared in front of Zhang Nuo. This child had delicate features, snow-white teeth, and skin that was slightly dark. It was hard to imagine that this was what the Spirit Insect looked like after transforming into a human form!

Chunyangzi, who was on the side, was also greatly shocked. At this time, the Spirit Insect was only at the Second Tier, but its ability to transform into a human form far exceeded that of ordinary demon beasts!

Not only that, the Spirit Insect actually opened its mouth and spoke human language, which made Zhang Nuo so happy he couldn't close his mouth! For so many years, he had always communicated with the Spirit Insect through mental connection. Now that the Spirit Insect could speak human language, it would be even more convenient to communicate in the future!

Although a few "Golden Core Fruit" were lost, this price was completely worth it!