BOOK 2: CHAPTER 472: BOTTLE CAPTURES TEN THOUSAND INSECTS, ANCIENT TURTLE SHELL

Vol 2 Chapter 472: Bottle Captures Ten Thousand Insects, Ancient Turtle Shell

A single shout of “Master” sent a tremendous shock through those Lu Clan disciples and scattered cultivators.

But the expression on the Gu God’s face looked more like the sky was collapsing.

She pursed her lips, her complexion iron-gray, and the gaze she cast at Zheng Fa was one of unrelenting enmity. To a certain extent, Zheng Fa, who had deciphered the secrets of her Gu Dao, had already become her mortal enemy.

No matter what fate or skeleton matters, at this moment, they could not compare to the threat Zheng Fa posed to her.

Zheng Fa watched the change in the Gu God’s expression, feeling a surge of caution in his heart. Their tactic had such a strange effect for two main reasons:

First, it was an inherent flaw of Gu Dao. While Gu Dao was powerful because of the insect swarms, on the other hand, it was fragile due to the same insect swarms.

In essence, the more complex a system is, the more prone it is to problems—especially with the three internal traitors like Zheng Fa.

The second reason was even more important. Zheng Fa and his group had caught the Gu God completely off guard.

No matter what, the Gu God was still a True Immortal;

whatever methods she possessed, the Jiushan Sect would find it hard to figure them out quickly, so they had to be cautious.

The Gu God’s eyes swept through the chaotic insect swarm, her expression growing grimmer. Her long green hair whipped wildly behind her, revealing her flawless and even irresistibly alluring body.

But Zheng Fa felt not an ounce of temptation!

Behind the Gu God’s jade-like, straight, long legs, six spider legs had grown, covered in black bristles as hard as nails, gleaming with a cold light.

Her abdomen was soft and white but studded with countless compound eyes.

Her chest rose and fell proudly, her curves impressive, but her skin had turned a sickly green, as if two poison sacs had replaced her breasts.

Behind her, two hard wings the size of door panels had sprouted, resembling a cockroach’s wings.

Her cherry lips had transformed into a mouthpart filled with sharp teeth, and her long hair had become countless writhing antennae.

Zheng Fa thought he had seen a lot, but even so, he involuntarily stepped back half a pace.

Was this really something a human could cultivate?

But the insect swarm in the valley seemed to have met the most beautiful, the most supreme of its kind.

For a moment, they all stopped fighting, raised their heads, and looked up at the Gu God, chirping continuously.

“Watch out!” Zheng Fa shouted, turning into a streak of light and leading Senior Sister Zhang and the other woman in a rapid retreat.

At the spot where he had just stood came a sharp crack. The Gu God’s mouth full of sharp teeth snapped together, biting the empty air.

Only then did the Gu God’s phantom above the mountain peak slowly fade away.

Looking at the trembling wings behind the Gu God, Zheng Fa silently marveled at how fast she was.

The Gu God seemed to hate Zheng Fa intensely, relentlessly pursuing the three of them.

But if it was a race... no, in terms of speed, Zheng Fa had never been inferior to anyone in his life!

He, along with Senior Sister Zhang and the other woman, weaved through the valley, chasing and being chased, engaging in an exhilarating cross-country race. ꭆåꞐО฿Ê𝐒

In theory, the power gap between the two was huge—especially their magical power, which was not in the same league. Zheng Fa was only at the Great Ascension stage, whereas the Gu God was already a True Immortal.

If it came down to endurance, Zheng Fa could never outlast the Gu God.

Yet, after the chase, it was the Gu God who grew slower and slower, seemingly running out of energy.

She hovered in the air, and two low, deep buzzing sounds came from her mouth:

“Despicable!”

Zheng Fa glanced at Xie Qingxue. She was cursing you!

Xie Qingxue withdrew her hand into her sleeve and casually looked up at the sky, though a faint blush still lingered in her eyes.

During the chase, Xie Qingxue had not been idle;

she was constantly spreading medicine.

Her urgency stemmed partly from this style of fighting—the great reverse sword cultivator’s way—and partly because the medicine was extremely fierce.

Zheng Fa was naturally cautious. Compared to the Gu God, the Jiushan Sect was a small workshop;

their overall approach was just one word—ferocious!

Earlier, Xie Qingxue had scattered a substance that induced most of the Gu insects to mate.

Now, the behavior of those insect swarms in the valley was shameless beyond words.

This stuff was useless to humans, but the Gu God no longer looked like a human at all.

Though reluctant to admit it, Zheng Fa truly detected a trace of... seductive intent on her face.

The Gu God seemed to notice her own abnormality. Panting heavily, she no longer chased after the three.

She turned and landed in the valley, her eight legs supporting her on the ground, then suddenly let out a piercing scream.

The entire valley shook violently, and an ancient, heavy bronze cauldron large enough to hold the entire valley flew straight out from the valley floor.

She used this cauldron to contain the insect swarm and flew towards Haori Mountain.

She was running!

No one had expected the Gu God to be so decisive. Seeing the situation was unfavorable, she fled swiftly.

Outside the mountain, several Lu Clan disciples wore expressions that screamed, “I haven’t even gotten on the cauldron yet!”

They understood clearly that the Gu God’s escape was less about fearing Zheng Fa and his group and more because Zheng Fa’s methods were too strange and despicable.

In this fight, she had been restricted at every turn and preferred to retreat first and then come back to reclaim the field.

But the problem was, didn’t that leave them high and dry?

The Gu God ran;

what would happen to their delivery group?

But the next moment, they stopped worrying because no one could escape!

Zheng Fa stood atop the mountain peak, holding a jade bottle high in his hand, its mouth facing the Gu God, his entire body surging with magical power.

After several breaths, he shouted coldly:

“Capture!”

The Gu God suddenly turned, screaming sharply, “It’s that!”

Only now did she finally understand what it was on Zheng Fa’s body that she dreaded and even vaguely feared—the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle!

“Why didn’t you use it before? No, you were waiting for me to run?”

Her voice was filled with hatred, regret, and even fear.

Zheng Fa smiled lightly, offering no reply.

But the Gu God was right.

The Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle was obtained from that Golden-Winged Great Peng. Zheng Fa had pondered over it for a long time before understanding its function.

The treasure bottle had three main functions:

Capture, trap, and refine.

Capture meant the bottle’s mouth locked onto the enemy and could contain them inside.

Trap meant the jade bottle came with its own spatial dimension.

Refine meant using yin-yang two energies to dissolve the enemy’s flesh and bones.

This thing was extraordinarily powerful. The day the Golden-Winged Great Peng lost this treasure was like losing its father.

Zheng Fa had plenty of treasures himself;

this jade bottle wasn’t even the strongest, but against the Gu God, it was a match made in heaven.

The bottle’s mouth swirled with yin-yang two energies, forming a tiny vortex.

The Gu God and the insects inside the cauldron were pulled by an irresistible force, flying back toward Zheng Fa.

The Gu God was still fine—after all, she was a True Immortal—but the insects were different, many of them already entering the jade bottle.

Each time an insect flew into the bottle’s mouth, the Gu God’s aura weakened a little. Anyone could see that eventually, she would also be captured inside the bottle.

The hundreds of compound eyes on the Gu God’s abdomen stared fixedly at the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle, revealing deep fear.

At this moment, even the Lu Clan disciples had to admit that the Gu God seemed utterly helpless before this treasure bottle!

The Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle and Zheng Fa’s Sleeve Universe divine ability could both capture enemies.

But the two were very different.

Zheng Fa’s Sleeve Universe used primordial magnetism to control enemies. Simply put, it was brute force—the more refined, the more like a black hole. Any enemy within the divine consciousness’s range would be sucked in.

But the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle, according to Zheng Fa’s earlier experiments, was much more sophisticated:

It was a targeted strike, only capturing one person at a time.

Zheng Fa guessed that this bottle identified its target based on the cultivator’s cultivation method, even their Dao Fruit inheritance.

To make an improper analogy:

The Sleeve Universe was like antibiotics, killing both good and bad indiscriminately.

The Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle was more like gene-targeted medicine—high precision, low magical power consumption, but less range and power.

For Zheng Fa, the Sleeve Universe was more convenient. For one, he could manipulate primordial magnetism to form the Profound Earth Primordial Magnetism Array.

Secondly, it was his innate divine ability, needing no preparation.

But against the Gu God, it was different. The Gu God was essentially an insect swarm, and the swarm was too numerous for Zheng Fa’s divine consciousness to locate each individually.

Moreover, these things were poisonous!

If he stored them in his sleeve, he might not be able to withstand it.

The Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle was different—in essence, the countless Gu insects and the Gu God were one. The swarm was the Gu God, the Gu God was the swarm. Hard to capture them all in one net, but the bottle could precisely strike.

The only problem for Zheng Fa before was that using the bottle required some preparation time.

He hadn’t fully refined the jade bottle, and since it wasn’t his innate divine ability, using it took time to channel magic power.

At this, the scattered cultivators also saw through Zheng Fa’s scheme.

“If Zheng Fa had taken out this treasure at the start, they probably wouldn’t have had a chance to use it...”

“They could only use it while the Gu God was escaping.”

“No wonder the Gu God was so afraid before.”

The few Lu Clan people looked even more frightened. With the Gu God about to fall, what chance did they have?

But the Gu God at this moment showed the resolve of a Demon Ancestor.

She glanced at the treasure cauldron beneath her, seeming reluctant.

Then her whole body stiffened, falling from the air lifelessly.

Not only her, but countless Gu insects inside the cauldron also collapsed, turning into corpses at the bottom.

Only the ancient bronze cauldron, having lost the Gu God’s control, crashed to the ground.

“Dead?” Xie Qingxue asked in puzzlement.

Zheng Fa carefully stepped forward and examined the Gu God, then shook his head.

“This thing... is a bit like a cicada shell.”

Senior Sister Zhang and the other woman were stunned, then also took a closer look.

The Gu God’s corpse appeared intact, but inside it was hollow, with a somewhat translucent texture under the sunlight.

“But the Gu insects in the cauldron are truly dead.”

“What about the Gu God...?”

“I don’t think she committed suicide.”

Xie Qingxue nodded slowly, regret evident.

“Next time, it probably won’t be this easy.”

“According to our investigation, these Gu insects should be the essence of the Gu God’s swarm. Losing them, I think the Gu God will suffer.”

Zheng Fa smiled and looked at the treasure cauldron in front of him, puzzled.

“I feel like she cares more about this cauldron than her own life or the insect swarm.”

Senior Sister Zhang recalled the previous situation carefully and nodded.

“Yes. I used to think she was reluctant to part with the insect swarm, but now I think the bronze cauldron is what she cherishes more.”

Zheng Fa examined the bronze cauldron closely. Its belly was engraved with some mysterious runes and patterns.

“Fairy Xie, do you recognize these patterns?”

Xie Qingxue shook her head.

“There’s nothing similar in the Heavenly River Sect.”

Zheng Fa nodded, then outside the valley came the sound of continuous kowtowing.

He looked toward the mountain foot. Countless scattered cultivators were kneeling, repeatedly kowtowing to him, chanting words of gratitude for saving their lives.

The few Lu Clan members stood stiffly, looking like they wanted to kneel but dared not.

Zheng Fa ignored them and took the group flying toward Jiushan Sect’s territory.

Along the way, he and Senior Sister Zhang were still unwilling to give up, searching everywhere for signs of the Gu God and the Gu insects.

“They’re hiding from us...” Zheng Fa frowned, watching a few insects hurriedly burrow underground.

He shook his head.

“So the Gu God really isn’t dead.”

Senior Sister Zhang agreed.

“If she abandoned those Gu insects, it’s probably because she fears we might affect her…”

Zheng Fa had the same thought. If the Gu God had other insect swarms, it made sense why she left those in the valley behind.

It was like a system infection triggering a backup.

“There aren’t many Gu insects left in this area,” Zheng Fa straightened up and looked around.

“Or rather, there aren’t many Gu insects in the entire Haori Mountain.”

“Is she... afraid?”

“Either afraid of us or seeking a place to recover.”

“Nine Luminaries Heaven?”

“Hard to say...” Zheng Fa shook his head.

“From what she said before, she also fears the Zao Hua Demon Ancestor and the White Bone Demon Ancestor. If severely injured, she might not dare return to Nine Luminaries Heaven.”

After some speculation, they couldn’t be certain. Since they couldn’t find any trace of the Gu God, they decided to return directly to Jiushan Realm.

They ordered the scattered cultivators and Lu Clan prisoners to be taken back and settled.

Only then did Zheng Fa gather everyone to discuss the valley battle.

“So the Gu God ran?” Uncle Pang frowned.

“No, probably severely injured,” Zheng Fa shook his head.

“Those Gu insects are likely her foundation. Without them, the Gu God’s Dharmakaya might be incomplete, or she wouldn’t have hidden away.”

Uncle Pang thought for a moment, then nodded lightly.

The Gu God didn’t seem like a forgiving and magnanimous character. If she wasn’t hurt, she might have sought revenge.

Frankly, Zheng Fa and the others had the advantage of surprise, but without the Profound Earth Primordial Magnetism Array and the Slaying Immortal Sword Formation, it would be difficult to deal with the Gu God.

That the Gu God dared not show herself now only meant one thing—Zheng Fa had severely wounded her this time, forcing her to find a place to recover.

“At least the insect tide is gone,” Uncle Pang said after thinking for a while.

“In the coming days, I don’t even know if the disciples can hold on.”

Indeed, although the array could block the insect tide, it still required people.

After so many days, the Divine Thunder Fleet had barely rested, and even those cultivating could not endure such overtime.

This battle could be considered a relief for the Divine Thunder Fleet.

After discussing the Gu God’s condition, Zheng Fa thought of the spoils.

“Fairy Xiao, take a look at this cauldron,” he said, pulling out the bronze cauldron and asking Jiushan history experts.

“Do you recognize the patterns on it?”

Xiao Yuying’s interest was piqued. She stood before the bronze cauldron, studying it deeply.

After a long time, she said uncertainly, “I think I’ve seen this style of decoration before.”

“Think?”

“Yes. Very rarely. In all these years, I’ve only seen it once. Look.”

She pulled several turtle shells from her sleeve and pointed to their patterns.

“Doesn’t this look a bit similar?”

The turtle shells were jet black, with crack-like patterns on their backs.

Next to the patterns were several designs that looked like both characters and pictures.

The group stared at the turtle shells for a long time, then back at the bronze cauldron, feeling they were similar.

“Fairy Xiao, where did you get these turtle shells?”

“Also by chance, from a ruin. There was nothing else besides these shells,” Xiao Yuying paused, then added, “But... I always suspected that ruin was very old.”

“Very old? How old?”

“Older than any cave dwelling I know of. At least from the Second Era, maybe even earlier.”

Zheng Fa was a little surprised.

“How do you judge this from just one turtle shell?”

“I was actually searching in a cave dwelling at the time. That cave dwelling belonged to a cultivator from the late Second Era. The style of the treasure and architecture matched that era,” Xiao Yuying explained.

“But as I searched, I found that cave dwelling was built atop another cave dwelling—in other words, one ruin with two dwellings, stacked one above the other.”

Uncle Pang suddenly understood.

“That makes sense. After all, spirit veins are limited. Someone would inevitably build on top of a predecessor’s dwelling.”

“Therefore, I speculate that the ruin I mentioned earlier is even older. Unfortunately, there was nothing strange inside except these turtle shells. Out of curiosity, I kept them.”

“How many are there?”

“More than five hundred and sixty, but not all have characters. I still have them.”

Zheng Fa lowered his head to look at the turtle shells in Xiao Yuying’s hands.

This thing... why did it sound so familiar?