1115: Chapter 677_2 1115: Chapter 677_2 However, upon entering the desert, a slow sense of thirst began to creep in!
The insect demons weren’t entirely foolish; they quickly realized they had fallen into the pit set by eastern cultivators.
Previously, the Demon King had sent wave after wave of his minions to appear outside the eastern borders!
Originally, these insect demons were meant as reinforcements.
If they had entered the eastern territory, these insects could have consumed human essence like locusts!
The Demon King had no other choice—he had to dispatch his subordinates one batch after another.
He couldn’t let his ambitions crumble!
The insect demons naturally had leaders.
Among this group sent out to battle, their abilities were relatively strong.
However, those stationed here might merely become sacrificial pawns!
In the desert, they felt thirst.
Sand stretched endlessly.
Forget about shadows—sandstorms blew relentlessly, causing the insects to gradually shrink in size!
Upon arriving in the eastern territory, the insect demons, who had grown larger, began to shrink as their bodies lost moisture!
This place is devoid of grass or wood, leaving no means to replenish oxygen!
Instead, the shifting sands of the desert unceasingly absorbed the nutrients from the insects!
The insect demons envied the demons proficient in phantoms, for they could escape this illusion realm.
Now that their advantage in breaking formations had dissipated, they became helpless fodder for slaughter!
Anger was useless in this predicament—the insect demons could only keep flying aimlessly!
In the high skies of the desert, the gale and sandstorms persisted.
As the insects’ bodies shrank further, they were swept away!
As the shrinking insect demons fell into the desert sands, they were buried by sandstorms!
Flying insects were no match for ground-burrowing demons in these conditions.
At least the latter could resist this windkill somewhat!
Those insect demons trapped within the sand piles found themselves consumed by the sand-dwelling creatures, which constantly absorbed their demonic energy!
Perhaps it was an illusion, but this sensation was agonizing for the insect demons!
The insect demons couldn’t understand that their bodies were shrinking painfully due to flames of ginormous golden light, burning away their nutrients!
Dugu noticed that some insects had started shrinking.
These insects appeared dazed, frozen in flying postures!
They circled tirelessly in one location, moving their legs and wings.
Their shrunken physiques created extra space within the formation, and more insect demons flew out of the entrance!
Some insect demons entered the grasslands, quickly realizing it was barren—void of human presence, only grass, trees, and the bugs within!
The bugs hiding within the grass and trees were ground-dwellers that could take flight.
If the insect demons descended onto the ground, the bugs would strike!
Insect demons perceived no spiritual energy to absorb in the grasslands.
Whether hovering or flying, they had to rely on their own demonic energy reserves to stay airborne!
Constant flight at high altitude exhausted them.
Deprived of nourishment, their bodies continued to shrink!
They could extract water from the grass and trees, but this moisture wasn’t nourishing.
Without spiritual energy, the water only strengthened their ability to spray venom!
The lack of nutrients meant spraying venom came at a cost!
The venom sprayed from their tails lacked potency because it wasn’t bolstered by spiritual energy!
Continuing this pointless effort only damaged their bodies further!
Chaos overtook the insect demons—they realized this situation was working against them, leaving them floundering in the skies!
Insect demons appearing over the sea—they were flying insects, yet they plunged uncontrollably into the ocean!
Since they weren’t sea creatures, they flailed uselessly, akin to land ducks thrown into water!
They felt as though the seawater might overwhelm and drown them!
Attempting to absorb spiritual energy from the sea, they could only shoot upward into the sky!
Yet the sea contained no spiritual energy to draw—instead, they swallowed an abdomen full of seawater!
Once seawater entered their systems, the insect demons realized its harm.
The seawater seemed to have a numbing effect; insect demons that could spray venom suddenly felt enfeebled.
Though resistant to poison, insect demons weren’t immortal—they remained susceptible to external substances and air restrictions!
The numbing seawater left them paralyzed, draining their spiritual energy to the point they couldn’t even muster venom, barely surviving!
As their bodies shrank, the insect demons’ gaze grew unfocused, dulling into lifeless stares!
Observers noticed that the previously terrifying and dangerous insect demons within the formation were now docile, minuscule creatures!
Even as more of these insects surged from the cave, their bodies grew larger upon emerging, only to shrink again!
At this point, all the cultivators needed to do was continuously cast spells into the formation.
Once strengthened, the formation rendered the insect demons powerless, eliminating their chances of escape!
Dugu saw that his Jin Cancan was so capable and promised it rewards, saying, “As long as you destroy these insects, I’ll give you a reward!”
Jin Cancan communicated with its master through ear whispers, saying, “Master, I don’t need any reward; just keep assigning me more tasks.
Once I’ve absorbed the demonic energy from these insects, I’ll grow stronger!”
“Oh wow!
You’re so capable—makes me wonder if you’re getting the better deal here compared to your master.
Say, can you grab some benefits for me while you’re at it?”
Dugu couldn’t help but envy Jin Cancan.
Jin Cancan tilted its head, thinking for a moment, then said, “Master, these insects are useful beyond their wings and venom—their souls are valuable too!”
“How about I help you collect their souls?
Even after the insects die, you could use their souls to craft puppets infused with artifact spirits.
You’d have flying insects under your command—they’d follow your orders, so I wouldn’t need to lift a finger anymore!”
Dugu praised the idea enthusiastically, saying, “That’s brilliant—my pet is clever despite being slightly slower than me!
You’ve thought of such a clever plan for your master!”
Jin Cancan wanted to splash Dugu’s face with golden light, blurring his vision to snap him out of his absurd fantasies of easy wealth!
People need to work hard—external aids are merely supplements.
A fragile body, unnourished by effort, can lead to a swift demise!
Though Jin Cancan mocked its master in its mind, it remained busy, working tirelessly to control the insects emerging from the formation!
Thanks to Jin Cancan’s efforts, the cultivators’ initial pressure gradually eased!
They began preparing to encircle and destroy all the insect demons, collecting them in storage bags afterward!
These flying insects were excellent materials for artifact refining—their venom could be turned into potent poison as well!
Selling them would undoubtedly yield profits!
Among those undertaking missions, some were clan descendants with abundant resources, eager to create better environments for themselves!
Others aimed to contribute resources to their families and gain merit points.
Loose cultivators sought to sell these supplies for resources or funds to purchase new materials!
This mission appeared to be progressing smoothly—so far, it promised to be lucrative!
Though some cultivators had expended spiritual power and used magical treasures, they felt the gains outweighed the losses now that the demons were being harvested!
They battled the flying insect demons for a full eight hours before finally dealing with the entire batch.
Everyone reaped significant rewards!
As the leader, Dugu hauled in even more—besides the insect demon corpses, he also secured their souls.
Like previous missions, he distributed a portion of resources to the groups involved!
They had pre-arranged plans to share resources—each group contributed some from their gains to the overall mission team.
After all, many cultivators acted as guardians during the operation, deserving their share!
Although this effort was held within the domains of the Ten Great Clans, the large-scale organization included participants from across the country.
It wouldn’t be fair for the Ten Great Clans to shoulder all the costs!
The resources collected during this mission would serve as prizes and rewards for everyone involved!
Ground-level cultivators couldn’t help but envy the stronger cultivators in the skies—they were profiting greatly from this effort!