Having left the path paved with stone tiles, it took less than a few dozen zhang before Xie Lian and Patriarch Lüshi both stirred, sensing something.
The four of them darted past stone tower after stone tower, and after flying barely two hundred zhang, the view before them suddenly opened up. An enormous pit, seven or eight zhang across, yawned before their eyes.
Around the pit, seven or eight stone towers lay toppled in disarray, broken roughly in half. Countless grooves and sword scars crisscrossed the nearby ground, giving the unmistakable impression that a ferocious battle had been fought here not long ago.
At the center of the pit lay a charred black insect corpse, clearly reduced to barely half its original form from its size and shape.
Yet even incomplete, the grotesque remains were enough to draw sharp breaths from Xie Lian, Patriarch Lüshi, and the others.
The insect's body was roughly the same size as an ordinary Míng insect, its surface covered in a smooth, lustrous carapace. But atop its slender neck sat a man's head — hideously ugly — and though only a small portion remained, all five features were intact: eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, all present. A shock of wild, grassy green hair sprouted from the skull in tangled disarray.
The insect corpse lay half-prone on the ground, utterly motionless, with no trace of blood anywhere around it. It had clearly been dead here for an unknown length of time.
"So this is the true offspring of the Míng Insect Mother. It really is... deeply unpleasant to look at." Xie Lian gazed at the remains, her complexion paling slightly.
"Hmph, it's most likely genuine. I certainly didn't expect these vicious insects to look like this. Which only goes to show that the Míng Insect Mother herself must be even more revolting and terrifying. Fellow Daoist Han, wouldn't you agree?" Patriarch Lüshi gave a cold snort, then turned to address Han Li.
"Perhaps. Until I've laid eyes on that monstrous insect mother myself, I'm hardly in a position to make any firm judgment," Han Li replied with a light smile. His sleeve suddenly swept toward the giant pit.
With a muffled boom, an invisible force surged forward, catching the prone insect corpse and rolling it over so that its belly faced the sky.
Xie Lian's attention sharpened, and as she focused her gaze, her delicate features shifted once more.
Along the creature's abdomen, over a dozen incomplete limbs protruded. Some were quite sharp, bristling with stiff black hairs, indistinguishable from those of any ordinary insect.
But others had pale, smooth skin, eerily similar to human hands — except that instead of five fingers, each split into three segmented digits: one thick and two thin.
When Patriarch Lüshi saw this, his face twitched several times. He raised one hand.
A dull thud!
A ball of blue-tinged flame materialized in his palm. His five fingers flexed slightly, and the fireball shot toward the insect corpse in a streak of blue light.
The flame's surface gave off no discernible heat, yet the surrounding void blurred and warped — a clear sign that the blue fire carried tremendous destructive power, far beyond any ordinary true flame.
With a soft hiss, the moment the fireball touched the insect corpse, it erupted into a roaring blaze.
After a brief moment, Patriarch Lüshi formed a quick seal with one hand and pointed toward the corpse from a distance.
Another muffled thump, and the blue flames vanished instantly, revealing the insect remains once more.
Aside from being slightly darker than before, the carcass showed remarkably little change — not the slightest sign of having melted.
Patriarch Lüshi's heart clenched, and his expression darkened.
Xie Lian's face grew even more grim.
As for Crab Daoist, beyond a few subtle flickers in his gaze, his expression remained perfectly impassive.
"Interesting. Let me have a go as well!" Han Li chuckled lightly.
The words had barely left his mouth when he raised one arm. Three fingers flicked outward with a clear, metallic ring.
A sharp whistle cut through the air!
Three streaks of azure sword light shot from his fingertips in rapid succession, swirling together as they slashed down onto the insect corpse.
Three sounds rang out — similar yet distinctly different.
The first sword light struck the surface and was immediately deflected, its glow flashing as it bounced away.
The second sliced cleanly through a section of the carapace.
The third flashed once and vanished, neatly bisecting the insect corpse down the middle.
At the sight of this, both Xie Lian and Patriarch Lüshi could not help but show a flicker of surprise in their eyes.
Han Li stroked his chin thoughtfully, a pensive look settling over his features.
Xie Lian hesitated for only a moment before asking directly.