My Longevity Simulation

Chapter 1066: Insect Death, Qi Still Lingers

With Shilin Prefecture at the center, a terrifying spiritual energy storm suddenly swept across the entire Xuanhuang land.

The wind howled and echoed. Even the various Heavenly Cities of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, which floated perpetually in the sky as if they would never fall, trembled to varying degrees under the influence of the gale.

The fierce wind was merely secondary.

What truly horrified the cultivators of the Immortal Alliance was the countless black insects that arrived like dark clouds, their origin unknown.

They blotted out the sky and covered the earth over Xuanhuang.

Before the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance could react, the insect plague had already spread to every corner of the territory.

In just half a day, the spiritual energy concentration in the Xuanhuang Realm plummeted off a cliff.

In this moment of crisis, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance finally unleashed the efficiency befitting one of the two overlords of the Xuanhuang Realm.

All Dao Integration cultivators within the Alliance, no matter what they were occupied with, were required to set aside their tasks and join the extermination of the black insects. Those below Dao Integration who were confident in their strength could also participate in the slaughter. Rewards would be bestowed upon all afterward.

For those whose realm and strength were insufficient, they could seek refuge in the Heavenly Cities, cave abodes, or the Tianxuan Mirror during this period. They need only wait for the disaster to pass.

After the Immortal Alliance's decree was issued, the situation across the various prefectures changed in an instant.

The mutated Dao One Insects, aside from their ability to devour spiritual energy and reproduce rapidly in large numbers, possessed no other special offensive or defensive capabilities.

After some initial losses, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance quickly discovered the most effective method to counter the black insects.

Using a special technique, they invoked vast divine sense to forcibly control the insect swarms, compelling them to turn on each other and rapidly deplete their own numbers.

With this method, two Dao Integration cultivators could clear an entire prefecture's insect plague in a short time.

Once the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance popularized this secret technique named [Insect Lord], the rampant insect plague showed immediate signs of being dismantled.

...

Deep within the Hundred Stones Cave-Heaven, Li Fan, through his connection with the Dao One Insect Mother, noted down every cultivator who had performed outstandingly in this insect plague response from the Immortal Alliance. He cross-referenced them with the records in the Tianxuan Mirror.

“These are the true upper echelon of the Immortal Alliance's combat power. As long as these people do not fall, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance will face no particularly great dangers.”

“But if these individuals are eliminated first, the absence of core forces would plunge the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance into an awkward situation where no one is available. At that point, even a minor disaster could cause massive repercussions.”

After indulging in this fantasy for a moment, Li Fan's thoughts returned to reality.

Sensing the insect swarm's numbers dwindling continuously, he could not help but furrow his brow.

The “Insect Lord” method of manipulating the insect swarms to turn against themselves was somewhat beyond his expectations.

Originally, the Insect Mother held absolute control over the offspring in the swarm. The Dao One Insects' simple life form also rendered ordinary control methods utterly ineffective on them.

Yet this Insect Lord secret art bypassed that by disguising itself as the emperor of insects, thereby usurping the Insect Mother's authority.

“Insect Lord...”

With access to the Tianxuan Mirror's authority, Li Fan easily learned about this secret technique. In his view, this method seemed to originate from the same source as the Beast Taming Sect's [Beast Taming Wheel].

"Could it be that Emperor Sanmo lent a hand?"

The new Dao One Insects had not yet been fully arranged. If the insect disaster ended at this moment, it might fail to achieve the goal of luring out Dharma-Transmitter Jiang.

"Then, activate the backup plan."

Li Fan pondered for a moment, and two Dao One Insect Mothers immediately appeared in his palm.

Due to the massive deaths in the insect swarm, their bodies were no longer as plump as they had been at the start. They looked somewhat listless.

At the same time, they eyed each other with both vigilance and greed.

That was the instinct to survive a crisis by devouring their own kind.

Looking at these two little insects that had stirred up storms in the Xuanhuang Realm, Li Fan's gaze showed no fluctuation.

With a slight exertion of force, he crushed them both in an instant.

As Li Fan acted, the sky over the entire Xuanhuang Realm changed.

The black insects that had densely covered the heavens, constantly emitting faint noises, suddenly all fell silent.

Then...

They plummeted from the sky like a torrential rain.

The cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, who had been working hard to exterminate the black insects, could not help but feel stunned.

They instinctively captured some of these dead black insects for inspection and found they were not disguised.

Seeing this scene, some felt a sense of relief in their hearts and sighed that the disaster had come and gone as quickly as it arrived.

But some cultivators with keen spiritual senses grew increasingly uneasy.

They hurriedly reported the situation to the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance headquarters.

In an instant, the black insects ravaging the Xuanhuang Realm all perished, leaving only a ground covered in corpses.

If these insect corpses were not dealt with quickly, they would likely cause unknown troubles.

After deliberation, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance soon issued an order.

It announced that the cultivators who had previously avoided the disaster could safely venture out. They were also to assist in cleaning the environment.

It was not mandatory, but there were substantial contribution points as rewards.

Thus, many cultivators could not resist the temptation and left their safe zones.

They looked at the black insect corpses covering the entire Xuanhuang Realm and all felt their scalps tingle.

The bodies of the black insects were almost entirely composed of the special energy they had devoured and converted.

This energy was somewhat similar to spiritual energy, but it could not be absorbed or utilized by cultivators.

After the countless black insects died simultaneously, as their corpses naturally decomposed.

These special energies rapidly spread through the air.

Merely half a day later, the qualitative change caused by the quantitative accumulation had arrived.

"Ugh..."

The foul odor permeating the air made the cultivators in it feel an involuntary wave of nausea.

An uncontrollable urge to vomit.

"Everyone, hold your breath and seal it off. This insect stench is poisonous!"

Nausea was merely the most insignificant aspect. When some cultivators fainted directly after lingering too long in the insect stench environment.

The real trouble began.

With a bang, the fainted cultivator's body exploded into pieces.

Although they quickly resurrected from their Cave-Heaven, the air's foul smell became even more unbearable once tainted with the cultivator's flesh and blood.

Moreover, this special stench, as long as it interacted with heaven and earth's spiritual energy, would follow the traces of spiritual energy fluctuations into the cultivator's body.

Not all cultivators were like Li Fan, possessing the Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven with nearly infinite spiritual energy resources.

Ordinary cultivators still needed to draw spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

Due to the previous insect disaster, the spiritual energy concentration in the Xuanhuang Realm had already dropped to an extremely low level.

In a state that had not yet recovered, it was now further contaminated by the insect stench and bloody odor.

This situation reached its peak as the black insect corpses fully degraded.

In the foul-smelling environment, even Nascent Soul True Lords could not remain for long.

Only Soul Transformation True Monarchs and above could rely on their powerful foundations to maintain normal activities.

Even so, after strolling through the foul external environment, they would experience varying degrees of nausea psychologically.

"How did the once fine Xuanhuang Realm suddenly turn into this?"

Countless cultivators sighed from the bottom of their hearts.