Serpent Ancestor
Chapter 477: Insect Emperor Cave Dwelling

In an instant, the Spirit-Eating Ants inside the stone hall vanished, all chasing after something outside.

This group of people had unique methods, handling the Spirit-Eating Ants with ease. As long as they weren't surrounded by an endless army of ants, there was no danger.

Only then did the people outside understand that Xue Yang had spread the news to lure some cannon fodder in, to draw away the ant army, so he could seize the opportunity to enter the stone hall himself.

After entering the stone hall, Xu Hei was thrown to the ground, while Ah Yin was placed to the side.

"Should we kill him?" the white-haired elder asked, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

Xu Hei hadn't entered the pavilion but had avoided the Spirit-Eating Ants with his own strength, giving them a sense of losing control.

The white-haired elder had planned to control Xu Hei with a Soul-Devouring Insect once he entered the pavilion, but things hadn't gone as planned.

Xu Hei immediately showed a terrified expression and said, "Ah Yin, what do we do? They want to kill me!"

Ah Yin quickly replied, "If you kill him, I'll kill myself immediately!"

"So it's just a coward!" the fat cultivator said with a look of disdain.

Xue Yang stopped wasting words and glanced at a middle-aged cultivator in brocade robes, giving him a signal.

The brocade-robed cultivator stepped forward, flicking threads from his hand that struck Xu Hei's joints. At that moment, Xu Hei felt as if his limbs no longer belonged to him, standing up on their own.

"Puppet threads?" Xu Hei recognized it at a glance; it was a puppet technique from the Divine Puppet Sect.

"If you try any tricks, I'll turn you into a puppet!" the brocade-robed cultivator said coldly.

Xu Hei showed a panicked expression and lowered his head, saying, "I wouldn't dare!"

And so, Xu Hei was half-controlled by the puppet threads, walking towards the passage deep within the stone hall.

Xu Hei's ability to avoid the Spirit-Eating Ants had already exceeded everyone's expectations, prompting Xue Yang to use someone to control Xu Hei to prevent any mishaps in the upcoming plan.

"Whoosh!"

Just then, a black umbrella came whistling from outside the stone hall, spinning as it flew into the passage. Xue Yang paused, seeing a woman in black emerge from the umbrella.

Xue Yang was about to act when the leader of the Extinction Gang said, "If you dare make a move, I'll release spirit stones and draw the Spirit-Eating Ants back!"

At these words, Xue Yang's gesture stopped, and he stared at the woman with the black umbrella, a strange smile slowly appearing on his face.

"Come if you want, but I warn you, don't regret it later," Xue Yang sneered.

"Hmph, if I die, no one will survive," the leader of the Extinction Gang snorted coldly, holding a storage bag full of spirit stones.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Suddenly, two more figures rushed in from outside, landing nearby.

These two wore gray masks, their bodies wrapped in a layer of sand. The person on the left carried a gourd, both at the Great Perfection of the Elemental Infant stage.

"Hehe, Blood Sun True Master, you really went all out. No wonder you generously shared this place; you wanted to attract a bunch of cannon fodder!" the person with the gourd laughed.

"And who might you be?" Xue Yang frowned.

"None of your business!" the person with the gourd laughed.

Xu Hei breathed a sigh of relief, recognizing the person with the gourd as Luo Gang. The other must be someone Luo Gang brought along.

Luo Gang hadn't let him down after all.

Xue Yang furrowed his brows. He wasn't afraid of the Extinction Gang leader, but suddenly having two more at the Great Perfection of the Elemental Infant stage with unknown identities was troublesome.

Even though he had more people on his side, there were still unstable factors.

Things were far from over when another figure floated in from outside. Clad in blue with a long sword on his back, it was the horse-faced youth from the Tianhen Sword Sect.

However, this person didn't reveal his identity. The horse-faced youth smiled and said, "Blood Sun True Master, what treasure is inside that makes you go to such lengths? Care to share?"

Xue Yang merely snorted, "These days, any Tom, Dick, or Harry dares to intrude, truly courting death!"

He ignored the group and headed straight into the depths of the passage.

The Extinction Gang leader, Luo Gang and his companion, and the horse-faced youth from the Tianhen Sword Sect, a total of four groups, advanced into the depths of the passage.

Inside the passage were layers of stairs leading downward.

On the stone walls on either side were many stone eggs of the Spirit-Eating Ants, but each had a hole, indicating the ants had already left.

Seeing the dense stone eggs, everyone felt a chill in their hearts.

If they hadn't lured these creatures out, even with a hundred lives, they couldn't have gotten in.

Following the stairs downward, smaller, undamaged stone eggs began to appear, with the ants inside still in larval form.

This wasn't an ancient remnant but something brought in by people later.

As they continued forward, the light suddenly dimmed, and a murderous aura flashed through the air.

"Swish, swish, swish..."

Xue Yang waved his hand, countless sharp killing intents flashed, clashing with a clang, blocked by his spell.

The murderous aura was overwhelming, like invisible blades shooting towards them.

Some used magical treasures to block, some dodged in advance, while others, unable to avoid in time, had their bodies grazed, oozing blood.

Even with his eyes closed, Xu Hei could sense the murderous aura and could have avoided it in advance.

However, he still acted extremely panicked, his body cut with wounds, blood splattering, until Ah Yin grabbed him, turning Xu Hei into a phantom state to avoid some fatal attacks.

During this time, the horse-faced youth observed everyone's reactions.

He even paid attention to the Spirit-Eating Ants in the stone eggs on either side.

In his mind, he ruled out each person.

"Strange, could it be that the one who stole the Supreme Spirit Stones isn't among them?" the horse-faced youth pondered.

In fact, this Divine King's Hall relic was also a spiritual energy collection point for their Tianhen Sword Sect.

However, unlike other relics, they had never collected from this one.

Because it was occupied by a swarm of Spirit-Eating Ants, every time a Supreme Spirit Stone was about to form, it would be devoured by the ants.

Unable to eliminate the insects here, they had left it vacant.

There was indeed an opportunity, the Insect Emperor deep underground and the spiritual pool nourishing it. Absorbing the pool could allow a cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Elemental Infant stage to attempt a breakthrough to the Divine Transformation Stage.

Revealing this place to Xue Yang was to clear out the Spirit-Eating Ants and to catch the thief of the Supreme Spirit Stones.

If the plan succeeded, it would kill two birds with one stone.

But to the horse-faced youth's surprise, after observing for a long time, he found no suspicious individuals.

"If someone had Supreme Spirit Stones, passing through this passage would definitely cause the ants to riot, but nothing happened!"

"If they had transcendent perception, they could avoid the murderous aura in advance, but they didn't!"

"The latter can be disguised, but the former cannot. Could it be the target didn't take the bait?"

The horse-faced youth's mind raced with thoughts.

The killing formation came and went quickly. The people here were all experts, so there were no casualties. Xu Hei, with Ah Yin's phantom technique, "barely" survived.

"This murderous aura came out of nowhere, clearly man-made. What's the point?" Xu Hei wondered.

Before long, they passed through the narrow underground passage, and the spiritual energy in the air rapidly increased, as if they had entered a paradise from a barren land.

This change made everyone's eyes light up, indicating they were getting closer to their destination.

After a few more breaths, an open stone chamber appeared ahead.

That was where the Insect Emperor lay dormant.

"You, place this inside."

Xue Yang tossed an incense burner to Ah Yin.

Ah Yin had no choice but to comply, turning phantom and floating into the stone chamber.

Inside, a massive milky-white worm lay, its tail continuously producing stone eggs, piling up like a mountain.

Beside the worm was a verdant green pool, just inhaling its air made one feel filled with spiritual energy, enhancing their cultivation.

This was the spiritual gathering point of the Tianhen Sword Sect.

However, for a long time, it had stopped producing Supreme Spirit Stones, instead forming a spiritual pool. Now, after thousands of years without collection, the pool's water volume was quite considerable.

Ah Yin placed the incense burner beside the worm, and as the scent wafted out, the worm soon fell into a deep sleep.

With everything done, the crowd outside rushed in.

The white-haired elder glanced at Ah Yin and the wounded Xu Hei, ready to strike them down, but Ah Yin shouted, "I've left an explosive rune in the incense burner. If you dare act, I'll detonate it."

Of course, this was Ah Yin's bluff.

In such a short time, she couldn't have inscribed any runes inside, nor did she have the ability.

Naturally, Xu Hei had taught her to say this.

But it did intimidate the white-haired elder. Unable to confirm the truth, he could only snort and sit by the spiritual pool, quickly beginning his breathing exercise.

The others didn't delay either, rushing to the pool and frantically absorbing the spiritual energy.

Though the pool's energy wasn't as potent as Supreme Spirit Stones, its abundance over the years was enough to boost everyone's cultivation.

Seeing this, Xu Hei took out a gourd, intending to fill it with spiritual liquid.

"Stop! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

The brocade-robed cultivator raised his hand, and the puppet threads immediately froze Xu Hei's actions.

"If anything enters the pool, the Insect Queen will sense it immediately. The sleeping incense won't work, and everyone will be doomed!" the brocade-robed cultivator warned coldly.

Hearing this, Xu Hei had no choice but to sit cross-legged nearby, absorbing the spiritual energy from a distance.

Seeing Xu Hei's ignorance, everyone shook their heads. If not for Ah Yin's protection, this kid would have died countless times by now.

Xue Yang began to suspect that Xu Hei had avoided the Spirit-Eating Ants' attacks using Ah Yin's phantom technique, which could turn allies into phantoms, rather than his own abilities.

He had thought he misjudged, but it turned out Xu Hei was just a waste.

Xue Yang shook his head, lowering Xu Hei's threat level to the minimum.

Unlike the others who sat by the pool for breathing exercises, Xue Yang focused on the Insect Emperor, taking out some formation flags and placing them around.

Meanwhile, as everyone entered the Insect Emperor's cave dwelling, a fiery red figure appeared at the stone hall's entrance.

A woman with fiery red hair and eyes like frost, her robe adorned with countless firebirds, stood there. The Spirit-Eating Ants and Ghostface Stone Spiders outside showed fear in their eyes, not daring to approach.

Others had used various methods to sneak past, but this woman had barged in directly!

She had no fear of these insects.

"Whoosh!"

The red-haired woman, like a blaze, rushed into the passage. Neither Xue Yang's formations, Luo Gang's sand, nor the horse-faced youth's Sword Qi were triggered.

"Hmm?"

Xu Hei raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling a strong sense of danger. He glanced back outside.

His cultivation was the weakest, yet neither Xue Yang, the Extinction Gang leader, the horse-faced youth, nor even the Insect Emperor had given him such a strong sense of danger.

So, what had entered now?

Xu Hei remained calm, quietly moving closer to Ah Yin, ready to act at the first sign of trouble.