Bang!
The bullet roared.
In an instant, it pierced through the Insect King's head.
Lin Xiao Tian did not give the Insect King any time to react, firing several more shots in quick succession.
After these few days of interaction, Lin Xiao Tian had a general understanding of the Insect King's weaknesses. Although the Insect King had been guarding against Lin Xiao Tian, the more it guarded, the more it indirectly revealed its weaknesses to Lin Xiao Tian.
For instance, the Insect King would never turn its back to Lin Xiao Tian. As a spider, it had a large fleshy sac on its back, which would enlarge during a full moon, transforming it into its complete spider form.
After piercing the Insect King's head, Lin Xiao Tian immediately targeted this fleshy sac.
Next came the abdomen.
In the Kunlun Valley, most creatures harbored a bead, which was also their weak point.
To be safe, Lin Xiao Tian also shot at the heart and eyes.
Just as Lin Xiao Tian was about to fire a few more shots, the Insect King charged at him furiously.
Lin Xiao Tian, not having fully recovered his strength, could not dodge.
Fortunately, the Insect King's eyes were injured, so it did not hit Lin Xiao Tian.
Bang bang…
Lin Xiao Tian fired two more shots.
But by then, the Insect King had transformed into its complete spider form. The bullets only sparked off its body, unable to penetrate.
Lin Xiao Tian saved one bullet and hid in a low-lying area, quietly waiting for the Insect King to die.
In truth, Lin Xiao Tian was not confident. He didn't know if the Insect King would die. If this Insect King, like the Apostles, could revive indefinitely, he would be in trouble.
As expected of a high-level beast, the Insect King could still move despite being injured.
Lin Xiao Tian followed behind it as much as possible, but he was still too slow. The Insect King eventually disappeared, leaving Lin Xiao Tian to follow its tracks, searching for it by the trail of blood.
Finally, at noon, Lin Xiao Tian stopped.
The bloodstains ended by a lake.
Lin Xiao Tian glanced at the lake ahead, where a waterfall cascaded. Recalling the place where the Insect King had taken him to hide before, Lin Xiao Tian guessed that there was definitely something unusual behind the waterfall.
But he dared not go there now. Although his body was improving, it had not yet recovered. If he rashly entered the water and was attacked by the Insect King, it would be troublesome.
Lin Xiao Tian found a hidden spot nearby and gathered some herbs to conceal his presence. After arranging everything, Lin Xiao Tian began to meditate and detoxify.
Fortunately, the Insect King had been too greedy and dared not kill him. Relying on these neurotoxins, it was only a matter of time before Lin Xiao Tian recovered.
Around dusk, Lin Xiao Tian let out a long sigh of relief.
This was the most relaxed he had felt in his body for many days.
With his recovery, Lin Xiao Tian immediately activated his senses.
As he had guessed, there was indeed a hidden mechanism behind the waterfall.
Lin Xiao Tian could sense something there. Unfortunately, his current strength was insufficient; he didn't even have any magical power, so his perception could only offer a rough sense.
But Lin Xiao Tian was certain that the Insect King was definitely not dead.
"Such a tough life!"
Lin Xiao Tian snorted.
At night, many monsters emerged from the lake, including Frogmen and Catfishmen. As soon as the two types of monsters encountered each other, chaos erupted. If it were before, Lin Xiao Tian would have gone up to kill them and collect their beads.
But now, with his current situation, Lin Xiao Tian had to wait for the outcome with the Insect King.
The long night stretched on.
Lin Xiao Tian thought of Li Xue and the others.
Without him, what would they do?
Could they survive here with just that little bit of internal energy?
And Yang Lin, he was being hunted by the Apostles, so he was surely doomed.
He hoped they would all be alright!
Lin Xiao Tian prayed silently in his heart.
Thus, another night passed.
After a night of rest, Lin Xiao Tian had recovered considerably. He decided not to wait any longer. No matter what, he had to go in and take a look this time. What if the monster wasn't completely dead and was still recovering?
With this thought, Lin Xiao Tian plunged into the lake without hesitation.
Upon seeing Lin Xiao Tian, the monsters in the lake scattered as if they had lost their souls.
Not long after, Lin Xiao Tian cautiously approached the cave entrance.
Lin Xiao Tian probed a few times and, finding no danger, ventured further inside.
A pungent odor wafted from within the cave.
Upon closer inspection, parts of the Insect King's body had begun to fester, with maggots crawling on them. Yet, astonishingly, the Insect King was still not dead.
Lin Xiao Tian sprinkled some medicinal liquid at the cave entrance and then walked towards the Insect King.
"Hehehe… I didn't expect… to die… at your… hands." The Insect King spoke with great difficulty.
Lin Xiao Tian ignored it and simply watched it.
"What? Not… coming to kill me?" the Insect King continued.
Lin Xiao Tian still paid it no mind.
The Insect King chuckled.
"You are indeed clever. It seems I did not underestimate you, and dying by your hand is not a loss."
This time, the Insect King spoke fluently.
"As the saying goes, a centipede dies but never falls. I never underestimated you," Lin Xiao Tian said calmly.
"Heh, it seems I underestimated you."
After saying this, the Insect King fell silent.
A foul odor filled the cave. Lin Xiao Tian waited beside it, feeling the Insect King's vitality draining away.
The next day, Lin Xiao Tian arrived by the Insect King's side.
This time, the Insect King was completely dead.
Lin Xiao Tian found a stone and began to smash the Insect King's body.
The Insect King's exoskeleton was very hard; bullets couldn't penetrate it. Lin Xiao Tian finally managed to force a small opening through the wounds left by the bullets.
Then, following the opening, Lin Xiao Tian began to search inside the Insect King's belly.
After a thorough search, Lin Xiao Tian finally felt a spherical object. Upon taking it out, he saw it was the bead he had been looking for.
The Insect King's bead was blue. With a simple sensing, Lin Xiao Tian could feel the powerful energy within.
Without hesitation, Lin Xiao Tian began to refine it.
While it took Lin Xiao Tian only an hour to refine the yellow beads, refining the Insect King's bead took him a full day, and he had only managed to absorb half of its energy.
However, even so, Lin Xiao Tian's strength had undergone a qualitative leap.
Faintly, Lin Xiao Tian felt a surging of blue energy, a prelude to condensing magical power.
Condensing magical power required a significant amount of spiritual energy. If the spiritual energy was insufficient midway, it could lead to a severe backlash in the body.
But with more than half of the Insect King's bead's energy remaining, there was no need to worry about insufficient spiritual energy if he condensed magical power now.
With this in mind, Lin Xiao Tian began preparations for condensing magical power.
The initial condensation of magical power was a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, and it was also very dangerous. This danger came from two sources.
One was internal. Different cultivation techniques had different ways of condensing magical power. The lower the cultivation technique, the higher the danger.
The other was external. Disturbing someone during the process of condensing magical power was the most taboo. The condensation of magical power required complete concentration, making one extremely vulnerable during this period.
However, for Lin Xiao Tian, the latter threat was greater, and he had to prepare for it!