Chapter 426: Chapter 418 Mirage Insect_1

Termites inherently possess strong combat capabilities, but because they naturally prefer defensive nesting rather than offensive attacks, people tend to view termites as weak and easily bullied insects.

It is a common belief that termites are weak.

An entomologist once accidentally encountered a ferocious group of army ants assaulting a termite nest.

Taking advantage of their superior numbers and brutality, the army ants breached into the termite nest, slaughtering the termite soldiers in droves. Just when the entomologist thought the termite colony would soon be wiped out, the termites began their counterattack.

A host of termites from deep within the nest were roused, responding to the distress signals of their kin and the pheromones released by the Termite Queen.

They swiftly emerged from the depths of the nest.

After just over an hour, the termites, though outnumbered, had miraculously defeated the formidable army ant forces, even locating and biting to death the Army Ant Queen.

The army ants left behind a vast number of their dead, including the body of the Ant Queen, and retreated in panic.

Since Qin Niu started raising termites, he hadn’t yet seen any ants with combat abilities stronger than the termites.’

Even the Fire Ants of Elder Jiu Yin from the Nine Insect Gang were effortlessly slaughtered by the Termite Army of Qin Niu.

The combat prowess of these hidden-wing insects might not be as strong as that of regular ants of the same grade.

Their most effective method of attack is to spray venom from their abdomens.

However, against the poison-resistant Poisonous Ants among the termites, this tactic was almost useless. Consequently, the hidden-wing insects were slaughtered en masse.

Over twenty thousand died in one instance, an astonishing rate of attrition.

If the hidden-wing insects were concentrated in one location, the battle would likely be over within an hour at most.

Ye Ji simply stood silently behind Qin Niu, watching.

This time, she did not urge Qin Niu to hurry to the frontline battlefield.

Even if she was not the sharpest tool in the shed, she understood that Qin Niu’s elimination of these hidden-wing insects was the strongest support he could offer to the frontline warriors.

If these hidden-wing insects absorbed enough of the toxic miasma in the Valley of Wronged Spirits and then returned to the frontline, it would spell doom for the Black Tiger Gang Warriors.

Ye Ji had not forgotten her duties; she held her Short Sword tight, vigilantly observing her surroundings.

Should any danger arise, she would immediately step in to protect Qin Niu.

As time swiftly passed, the hidden-wing insects in the valley had been almost completely annihilated.

Essentially, as many as came were destroyed.

Qin Niu’s Poisonous Ant Army was at full battle capacity, taking advantage of this opportunity to feast grandly, hoping to accumulate energy and evolve to higher grades sooner rather than later.

Like humans, insects also become addicted to getting stronger.

The Grade Three termites sought to reach Grade Four, and those at Grade Four aspired to ascend to Grade Five.

The path to evolving and getting stronger is endless.

“The swarm in the sky is almost out of sight. These hidden-wing insects should be completely eradicated in less than half an hour,” Qin Niu said, looking up at the sky.

This valley had become a burial ground for the hidden-wing insect army.

Perhaps the Insect Masters of the Nine Insect Gang would never dream that a powerful Black Tiger Gang Insect Master had uncovered their conspiracy and was waiting here to massacre them.

“Onglur!”

Within the valley, a column of black qi shot up to the sky, emitting a deep cry at the same time.

You could vaguely see the silhouette of an insect writhing within the black qi.

“What kind of monster is that? Could it be that a sinister creature resides within the Valley of Wronged Spirits?”

Ye Ji reached into her bosom and pulled out a talisman.

It gave off a dangerous aura.

Qin Niu was not well-versed in talismans, having only seen three somewhat advanced ones—Contractual Talisman, Invisibility Talisman, and Earth Escape Talisman.

The talisman Ye Ji produced was clearly none of these three.

“Can your talisman deal with this sinister creature?” Qin Niu asked curiously.

As a close attendant to the Gang Leader, she indeed had some last-resort methods up her sleeve.

“This here is a Flame Blast Talisman; when activated, it can create a small-scale explosion of flames. Most insects fear fire, so if that creature is too powerful, I should be able to fend it off with this talisman, or even inflict severe injury upon it.”

“`

Ye Ji introduced the name and function of this talisman.

After listening, Qin Niu yearned even more for the status of an Immortal Master.

Whether a powerhouse in the Innate Realm or the Spirit Qi Realm, they could only demonstrate the might of spells through the use of talismans.

Moreover, in terms of power, talismans definitely did not match up to the original spells.

This was because the principle of talismans was akin to sealing spells within them, inevitably reducing their power.

Theoretically speaking, if those Talisman Makers had high enough cultivation levels, they could draw whatever types of talismans they wanted, allowing them to cast corresponding spells.

Talismans, aside from being expensive and having reduced power, had one major drawback: they were single-use.

Once used, they were gone.

If one became an Immortal Master and learned spells, this problem would not exist.

Spells could be cast repeatedly as long as one had enough mana, with no restrictions.

Furthermore, as spells were cast more frequently, their power would increase, and the speed at which they were cast would also become faster.

“This demonic insect closely resembles the legendary Mirage Insect; it is essentially a Gu that can shapeshift.”

Qin Niu had very little knowledge about the Mirage Insect.

He had only read a few fragments about it in books.

The Mirage Insect possessed a peculiar ability: its actual body might be very weak, but it could project extremely powerful images. The images it conjured were not wholly illusory; they possessed real combat capabilities.

This was terrifying.

For example, the black energy that had burst forth from the valley—if that were truly the Mirage Insect’s doing—its attack power might be as formidable as it appeared.

Merely by its ability to shoot straight into the sky, a single strike might reach the level of an Immortal Master.

It was certainly not something that two individuals in the Innate Realm like themselves could contend with.

Moreover, even if the images conjured by the Mirage Insect were destroyed, it would not inflict much damage to its actual body.

Which meant, if they fought tirelessly and yet could not find where the true body of the Mirage Insect was hiding, then all their efforts would have been in vain.

Given some time, the Mirage Insect could conjure a new image to battle their enemies once more.

Qin Niu had released nearly thirty thousand Poisonous Ants, and a Black Spider Gu had entered the valley to hunt enemy insects. He was somewhat worried that the Mirage Insect might take action against them.

Since being subdued by Qin Niu, the Black Spider Gu had been treasured by him like a jewel.

Merely the fact that the Black Spider Gu could resist all poisons, neutralizing and absorbing them, was enough to make Qin Niu treat it as an extremely important pet to cultivate.

The Black Spider Gu was certainly no match for the Mirage Insect now.

Even if Qin Niu employed all his tricks, he might not be able to deal with that Mirage Insect.

After all, it had the advantage of being on its home turf.

Within the Valley of Wronged Spirits lay a dangerously poisonous atmosphere, and Qin Niu couldn’t possibly enter.

“Black Spider Gu, come back!”

Qin Niu immediately called for the Black Spider Gu to return.

If the Termites truly met an unfortunate end, he could still rely on the Ant Queen to lay eggs continuously, recreating an army of thirty thousand Poisonous Ants.

If the Black Spider Gu died, he would not be able to find another one.

This was why every special insect was so precious.

“Master, the insect inside the valley is particularly terrifying.”

The Black Spider Gu, while fleeing out of the valley, engaged in a spirit communication with Qin Niu.

Qin Niu was well aware of how formidable the Mirage Insect was.

The severity of the Mirage Insect’s prowess was directly linked to its strength.

The stronger they were, the more powerful the images they could conjure.

Conversely, the images they conjured could be very weak insects.

“Black Spider Gu, can you find the actual body of that insect?”

Qin Niu always developed a deep interest in such special insects whenever he encountered them, thinking of various strategies to subdue them as his pets.

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