Chapter 313: A Small Gift
Chapter 313: A Small Gift
"We've hit the jackpot!"
Lu Chen's eyes narrowed as he felt a sense of caution upon seeing the boy who was on the verge of becoming a Blood Man.
Ever since the slender cultivator incident, he had encountered and dealt with over a dozen corrupted solitary cultivators infested by the evil influences, and now, there were actually this many Blood Condensing Evil Insects actively seeking them out.
"Thank you, senior," the boy said, lowering his head shyly as the blood within his body continued to surge towards his head.
More than ten people moved around them, subtly surrounding Lu Chen.
"No need to be so polite. As a token of our first meeting, I have a few small gifts for you to play with as firecrackers."
Lu Chen's expression was kind as he took out three bright red stone beads from his storage bag.
Under the ability of his Pupil of Breaking Illusions, the blood lines within the boy and the surrounding cultivators' bodies were becoming more and more active.
"Oh dear, I dropped them," Lu Chen exclaimed, taking the initiative to strike first.
The three Explosive Flame Beads fell and flew out in a pinwheel pattern.
At the same time, the boy's orifices shot out blood arrows, and a huge blood-colored cavity instantly covered his head.
The cavity, filled with a strong bloody aura, shot towards Lu Chen like lightning.
Before it could fully form, Lu Chen leaped into the air.
Boom!
The three Explosive Flame Beads burst apart, creating endless flames like scorching lava that engulfed all the corrupted cultivators.
Blood Condensing Evil Insects flew out of their shells, their pale pink wings and blood-red tentacles at the ends burning with crimson flames that clung to them like festering sores, raging relentlessly.
"Ah!"
The Blood Man boy, whose sneak attack had failed, was instead badly injured by Lu Chen's Explosive Flame Beads. In his pain, countless blood-red tentacles sprouted from his body, transforming him into a blood insect monster. He flapped his wings, adorned with blood-colored patterns, and flew towards Lu Chen, who was still in the air.
Countless blood-red tentacles grew from the ends, like spears, attacking Lu Chen from all sides.
Lu Chen remained calm, his spiritual power surging as he performed a sword art. His Wind and Thunder Sword transformed into a beam of darkness, slashing towards the blood insect monster.
In an instant, the vast square was filled with howling winds and rolling thunder, and sword energy crisscrossed through the air.
The blood-red tentacles were sliced in two by the Wind and Thunder Sword, falling to the ground and jumping about randomly.
The king of the Blood Condensing Evil Insects let out a shrill cry. All the tentacles silently melted, turning into streams of blood-red light that curled upwards and merged into its vascular-like body.
"Hmm? Can't be killed?"
Lu Chen's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and a fourth-grade Great Sun Sword Talisman slid out from his sleeve. He infused a wisp of spiritual power into it.
The bright red sun at the center of the sword talisman shone brilliantly, and countless crimson sword energies, like rays of sunlight, shot towards the king of the Blood Condensing Evil Insects with a fierce hissing sound.
Under the relentless assault of the infinite Great Sun Sword Energies, the insect king could no longer hold on. Its body was riddled with holes, and the blood-red color quickly faded, unable to return to its original state.
"How terrifying. I almost got hit by that evil insect," Lu Chen said, holding the Great Sun Sword Talisman as he landed on the ground.
The entire square was charred black, and all the solitary cultivators corrupted by the Blood Condensing Evil Insects had turned to black ash.
Fortunately, Lu Chen had been prepared and deliberately led these insects to a remote place, so the impact on the other normal cultivators in the square was minimal, with only a handful sustaining minor injuries.
He estimated that the insect king within that boy's body possessed strength not far from the early stages of foundation establishment. Together with the over ten Blood Condensing Evil Insects, it would have been difficult for an ordinary foundation establishment cultivator to deal with them quickly.
Fortunately, Lu Chen had many treasures on him.
The third-grade Explosive Flame Beads could instantly create a vast sea of flames, derived from the white light group of the Blazing Flame Fruit, and had an extremely high probability of occurrence—he had no less than twenty of them in his storage bag.
The fourth-grade Great Sun Sword Talisman, originating from the light group within the Sword-Nurturing Gourd, could easily slay mid-to-late Foundation Establishment cultivators and was naturally more than capable of dealing with a third-grade insect king.
After two rounds of searching, he only found a handful of scattered cultivators who had been infected and corrupted by the evil insects. He effortlessly cleansed them.
Amidst Song Yu's repeated gratitude, Lu Chen returned to his small courtyard.
He thought for a moment and took out a transmission talisman from his storage bag.
On a massive island, Shi Zhong frowned slightly and led several high-level Qi Refining cultivators to rush to a remote corner of the island.
Not long ago, he had received an emergency distress signal. A large number of evil insects had revealed their true forms, bursting out of the bodies of scattered cultivators and launching frenzied attacks, causing significant casualties.
With his powerful intervention, the multitude of evil insects was quickly dealt with.
However, the worry on his brow did not lessen in the slightest.
While fishing for sea fish in the coastal waters, Lu Chen noticed something amiss. He and Zhou Bingyu returned to the island they were stationed at and made thorough arrangements.
As the evil infestation began to emerge and erupt, their preparations prevented them from falling into a state of panic.
Yet, the tenacity of the evil infestation far exceeded his imagination.
Firstly, they were extremely difficult to detect as they merged with their hosts, and it was likely that Qi Refining cultivators searching for them might overlook their presence.
Moreover, ordinary cultivators struggled to cope with the attacks of the evil insects. Aside from some exorcism methods, most of the time, they were unable to inflict significant damage on the insects.
Hence, he had been in a constant state of chaos lately, rushing from place to place to put out fires, barely finding time to rest, let alone go fishing.
Suddenly, a transmission talisman appeared before him.
Shi Zhong sensed the subtle aura on the talisman, recognizing it as Lu Chen's, and he activated it without hesitation. A familiar voice echoed.
"How are you doing, Fellow Daoist Shi?"
"We've discovered traces of numerous evil insects on Kongming Island. From what I understand, those blood insects are called Blood Condensing Evil Insects. They can silently devour all the blood within their host's body and store it within their own, which is a common method used by cultivators of the evil blood path to acquire essence blood."
"Therefore, there might be an evil cultivator pulling the strings behind the scenes. Please be extra cautious, Fellow Daoist."
"Aside from the commonly used exorcism and purification talismans and techniques, fire-attribute techniques can deal a certain degree of damage to the evil insects. Sword techniques and arts of the 'Radiant Light' type may also be remarkably effective."
Shi Zhong pondered for a moment before imprinting a message onto the talisman.
Lu Chen's actions were akin to delivering charcoal in snowy weather for Shi Zhong.
By providing detailed information about the evil insects' origins and abilities, offering countermeasures, and pointing out the lurking crisis, Lu Chen greatly eased Shi Zhong's burden.
On Kongming Island, two transmission talismans successively landed in Lu Chen's courtyard.
They were from Shi Zhong and Zhou Bingyu, each expressing their gratitude and specially conveying that they would thoroughly search for spirit liquid information for Lu Chen after dealing with the invading evil infestation.
"At least this favor wasn't given in vain," Lu Chen muttered as he held the talismans.
After resolving the issue of the evil insects on Kongming Island, Lu Chen no longer concerned himself with other islands plagued by the evil infestation. He merely passed on some information about the evil insects to Shi Zhong and Zhou Bingyu.
Although the two were from major sects and had extensive knowledge, the Blood Condensing Evil Insects were ultimately objects of the evil path, and without Lu Chen's unique abilities, even if they had heard of the insects before, they might not have been able to handle them properly.
So, Lu Chen extended a casual favor to the two, and they did not disappoint him. After receiving Lu Chen's transmission, each of them expressed their gratitude.
(End of Chapter)
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