In the Divine Sense World, ancient legend held that there existed a peculiar breed of insects upon this land. These insects were the bane of all living things — no matter how powerful one's strength or how lofty one's cultivation, none could stand against them. Moreover, they could never be killed, and would only continue to devour the bodies of living creatures to grow ever stronger.
These insects were known to the inhabitants of the Divine Sense World as the Holy Insects!
When the Holy Insects first appeared, there was no warning. No one knew where they had come from, and no one paid them any mind, for they had been very weak at the time.
But as time passed and they continued to devour and grow, the terror of these Holy Insects gradually came to be known.
Wherever they passed, all living things vanished without a trace. Within a million li of their nesting grounds, no one dared approach.
In those rumored ancient days, the Divine Sense World had been filled with countless experts — Emperor Realm cultivators of all three stages were a common sight!
Once the Holy Insects had become nothing short of a catastrophe, these experts could no longer sit idly by. They banded together, prepared to expend every last drop of their strength to exterminate the Holy Insects that had brought ruin upon the entire world.
No one knew what exactly happened in that battle.
But from that battle onward, every expert in the Divine Sense World vanished without a trace, and the terrifying Holy Insects — the very mention of which had once sent people fleeing in terror — disappeared along with them.
Some speculated that the experts had perished together with the Holy Insects — otherwise, how else could one explain the final outcome? Others guessed that the experts had exterminated every last Holy Insect, then each went into hiding, adopting false names and vanishing into the remote wilderness. Still others believed that the Holy Insects had devoured all the experts and were even now evolving in some unknown place, and that if the day came when the Holy Insects reappeared, it would surely herald the end of the entire world!
These were nothing more than rumors. No one had ever believed them, no one had ever laid eyes on the so-called Holy Insects, and no one knew what they actually looked like.
Almost no one took the so-called Holy Insects seriously.
But today, in this very place, Ban Qing came to understand that the rumors were no fabrication. The Holy Insects truly existed — creatures that could fill one's heart with utter despair. These tiny insects were exactly as the legends described: they fed on the energy within living bodies, could not be killed, could not be destroyed. All one could do was watch helplessly as they slowly grew in strength, then swept across the land and reduced the entire world to scorched earth.
The ancient legends that had followed humanity for ages had suddenly materialized before his very eyes, and Ban Qing had entirely lost the will to fight Yang Kai.
He simply could not fathom it. How could Yang Kai — a mere Dao Source Realm cultivator — command the Holy Insects to fight on his behalf? Was he not afraid that the Holy Insects would devour him until not even bones remained?
Shrill screams and agonized roars echoed through the air as Ban Qing thrashed in agony, as though he had fallen into an abyss of eternal damnation and was subjected to unbearable torture. As the Soul-Devouring Insects rampaged through his body, devouring his spiritual energy bit by bit, Ban Qing experienced the sheer terror and despair of having his soul slowly consumed.
He went completely mad, unleashing his power without restraint. All manner of wondrous and profound Soul arts — things Yang Kai had never seen or even imagined — blossomed forth from his hands.
The surrounding space grew unstable from the force of it.
Yang Kai hastily retreated, watching Ban Qing from a safe distance.
He had not expected that, after shouting out a single sentence, this Emperor Realm powerhouse would appear to lose his mind entirely.
"Could the Soul-Devouring Insects have some connection to this world? Otherwise, why would he call them Holy Insects..." Yang Kai furrowed his brow in deep thought, unable to come to any conclusion. Still, the current situation was exactly what he had hoped for.
His earlier ambush with the Soul-Severing Blade, exploiting Ban Qing's visual blind spot, followed by the follow-up attack with the Soul-Devouring Insects — both had succeeded. But if this Emperor Realm powerhouse had chosen to flee in earnest, Yang Kai would truly have had no effective way to stop him.
His command of the spatial laws might not necessarily have been enough to restrain the movements of an Emperor Realm cultivator.
Once Ban Qing broke free and leaked his intelligence to others, Yang Kai's advantage would be completely wiped out.
Now Ban Qing had gone stark raving mad, trapped in helpless despair, and by the looks of it, appeared to be heading toward the end of his life in this very manner. For Yang Kai, this was most welcome indeed.
But after all, he was still an Emperor Realm powerhouse. Even though Ban Qing had gone completely insane and was flailing about without any rhyme or reason, the Soul-Devouring Insects still could not devour him entirely in one go.
Yang Kai did not provoke him either, simply watching from afar, biding his time...
But as time passed, the aura emanating from Ban Qing grew weaker and weaker, plummeting from the Emperor Realm all the way down to the Dao Source Realm, then to the Void King Realm, and the Return Void Realm...
After a full hour, Ban Qing suddenly froze in place, standing perfectly still.
Then, with a muffled pop, Ban Qing's entire body burst apart, transforming into countless motes of faint light that dissipated into the air between heaven and earth.
An Emperor had fallen!
In the spot where he had vanished, a cloud of insects churned and writhed, swirling up and down through the air.
After devouring all the energy of an Emperor Realm powerhouse, the Soul-Devouring Insects seemed to have made significant gains. Yang Kai noticed that their aura had noticeably thickened.
He released his spiritual sense, intending to call the Soul-Devouring Insects back, but to his unease, the insects completely ignored his command and instead seemed to be preparing to leave the area.
Yang Kai was alarmed.