Chapter 330: Chapter 195: New Exotic Insect! New Demon Technique

With his Eyes of Golden Flame, Gu Zheng saw the specks of light inside the strange Tree Demons. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

These specks of light were the Tree Demons’ cores, their source of energy, and the seat of their consciousness.

Just as he thought.

The blade bored directly into a core, spun once, and drilled back out, punching a hole through the Tree Demon and stopping its movement.

Spirit Capturing!

[Demon Points +9]

[Demon Points +8]

...

After slaying Demon Fiends, he naturally didn’t forget to harvest Demon Points.

The strange Tree Demons numbered in the thousands. The others were horrified, scrambling up the mountain in a panic.

Gu Zheng, however, was perfectly calm, his eyes glinting with satisfaction.

’I was just running low on Demon Points!’

’These strange Tree Demons have come at the perfect time.’

Immediately, a constant SWOOSHING sound rang out as blades tore through the air.

The blades vanished and reappeared. Vanished and reappeared.

Each reappearance was accompanied by a strange Tree Demon halting its movements, becoming a true, motionless tree.

Then, Spirit Capturing, Spirit Capturing!

Meanwhile, Cao Qingsong and Zhong Zhengao on the other two fronts were finding that while killing the demons was simple, it took a considerable toll on their energy.

A Domain was forming, throwing the Power of Heaven and Earth into chaos. For the moment, they were unable to draw upon it.

They could only rely on their own stamina and special abilities.

Gu Zheng was also using his own power, but he had long since perfected his Golden Thousand Blades technique. His control over the Spatial Blade Intent was so masterful that he could command the blades with a mere thought.

The strain on his Spirit, it could be said, was almost nonexistent.

Thus, the gap between them quickly widened.

Zhong Zhengao and Cao Qingsong had to start taking Treasure Pills, while Gu Zheng continued to effortlessly control the blades—vanish, reappear, vanish, reappear.

Spirit Capturing, Spirit Capturing, Spirit Capturing!

SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH~

The sharp sound of the blades tearing through the air was incessant.

Vast swathes of the strange Tree Demons were rendered motionless.

The number of Demon Points Gu Zheng harvested started at one thousand and grew continuously.

Two thousand, three thousand, four thousand...

"Ah~!"

"Run! There are Demon Fiends on the mountain too!"

"Where are the Demon Fiends? Where are they!?"

"Don’t panic! Protect the princess! Don’t panic!"

...

On the mountain behind them, the three hundred or so people who had just reached the halfway point suddenly erupted into a cacophony of miserable screams, shocked cries, and furious roars.

"I’ll go see what’s happening!"

Zhong Zhengao shouted, his figure blurring as he broke away from the frontline at the foot of the mountain. He spun around and charged toward the halfway point.

"Ah!"

"What is that thing? What kind of Demon Fiend is this? I can’t even see it!"

"It’s too fast, too fa—SPURT!"

"..."

The cries of alarm and low growls intensified, and the panicked atmosphere grew thicker.

As Zhong Zhengao charged up the mountain, he saw only a black line, moving with incredible speed as it weaved through the crowd.

Whoever it passed, it slit their throat or pierced their heart.

Its attack was like a razor’s edge, leaving behind perfectly clean wounds.

HUM~

Zhong Zhengao’s figure blurred as he unleashed the pressure of his Heroic Body and charged forward to intercept it.

He couldn’t make out the black line’s true form; all he could do was try to block its path.

At the same time, Gang Qi condensed on his skin, while a high-grade spirit blade appeared in one hand and a Spirit Shield in the other.

SHIIING~

KRAK!

With those sharp sounds, a clean gash appeared on his Spirit Shield, and a crack spiderwebbed across his spirit blade.

SWOOSH~

The blade-like attack curved, almost grazing Zhong Zhengao’s neck as it flashed past. If he hadn’t dodged so quickly, jerking his head aside, his neck would have been hit. Instead, it only brushed past his face, leaving a fine cut.

Although the wound wasn’t visible yet and no blood had fallen, Zhong Zhengao could feel it. He had just caught the scent of death!

"Ah~"

"Run, just run!"

"..."

The black line continued to weave through the crowd. In just that short amount of time, seventy or eighty guards had been slain and had already fallen.

These men had no power to resist. They couldn’t dodge in time, nor did they have time to react before the black line swept past and slaughtered them.

Among them, the dozen or so warriors at the Super Body Realm were wounded the very instant they sensed the attack.

The physical defense of a Super Body was no different from an Alien Body’s against this foe.

’Is this how it ends?’

Resignation and terror flashed through Zhong Zhengao’s mind.

HUM~!

Suddenly, space itself trembled.

The screams and low growls stopped.

"It’s gone?"

"It was Lord Gu! Lord Gu captured that Demon Fiend!"

"Thank you, Lord Gu! We are eternally grateful, Lord Gu!"

Cheers quickly rose up.

Zhong Zhengao stiffly turned his head. He looked back at Gu Zheng, who was hovering in mid-air, and then at the guards who were now kneeling all over the mountainside.

’Gu Zheng captured that ray-like Demon Fiend!?’

’How did he capture it?’

Zhong Zhengao was stunned, suspicious, and utterly shaken.

WHOOSH~

Gu Zheng paid the others no mind. His figure blurred as he once again charged away from the mountain, remotely controlling his three hundred and sixty blades. Amidst the constant SWOOSHING, he slaughtered the strange Tree Demons that continued to advance on the mountain in successive waves.

Inside the Insect Tower sealed on his hand, there was a new Exotic Insect.

The Death God Mantis!

The black-line Demon Fiend from a moment ago, the one with incredible speed that had slaughtered those in the Alien Body and Super Body Realms, the one that even a third-stage Heroic Body like Zhong Zhengao couldn’t guard against as it effortlessly tore through a high-grade Spirit Shield, was in fact a natural-born killer Exotic Insect: the Death God Mantis.

Unlike other Exotic Insects such as the Silkworm or the Celestial Heart Toad, which possess support abilities, an Exotic Insect like the Death God Mantis knew only slaughter.

Once it struck, it was guaranteed to hit its target.

It was unafraid of spiritual pressure, emitted no aura, ignored the obstruction of Gang Qi, and its sharp forelimbs were comparable to a Pseudo-Divine Weapon!

In other words, it could even shred the flesh of someone in the King’s Body realm.

If a King’s Body expert didn’t deploy their Domain, a moment of carelessness was all it would take for them to fall prey to it as well.

This was the origin of the name "Death God Mantis."

Fortunately, the Equipment Effect of his "Lord of Hundred Insects" title was still effective.

The Death God Mantis was one of the hundred Exotic Insects.

After Gu Zheng sensed the Death God Mantis, he had rushed up the mountain to intercept it. The mantis had then come to him of its own accord and acknowledged him as its master!

Then, it entered the Insect Tower.

...

SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH~

The three hundred and sixty blades danced through the air, vanishing and reappearing, vanishing and reappearing.

One after another, the strange Tree Demons stopped moving.

Spirit Capturing!

[Demon Points +9]

[Demon Points +8]

...

By using Spirit Capturing on them en masse, his total Demon Points harvested surpassed ten thousand.

Then eleven thousand, twelve thousand, thirteen thousand...

By the time his total exceeded twenty thousand Demon Points and Gu Zheng had acquired a new Gold Manipulation Demon Technique, the remaining strange Tree Demons finally ceased their attack and began to retreat.

The same was happening on all three fronts.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE... The soil shifted and the ground churned.

The small hills quickly became bare, not a single tree left in sight.

"Hooo~~"

Cao Qingsong took a deep breath to regulate his own breathing. He looked at Gu Zheng and cupped his fist. "We owe it all to you, Grand General Gu. If it weren’t for you, at least half of us would have been killed or wounded."

"More than that."

Zhong Zhengao said gravely, "If that Demon Fiend on the mountain hadn’t been dealt with, every single one of us would be dead."

"Ah?" Cao Qingsong was astonished. "What kind of Demon Fiend appeared on the mountain? Grand General Gu took care of it?"

"I took care of it."

Gu Zheng replied calmly, "The Domain is about to fully activate. Let’s go."

He didn’t elaborate on what kind of Demon Fiend it was.

It was an Exotic Insect, the Death God Mantis, and it was extremely famous.

Since Zhong Zhengao hadn’t recognized it, Gu Zheng certainly wasn’t going to reveal what it was.

Because when used correctly, the Death God Mantis was a major trump card!

"The Domain is activating? This quickly?"

Cao Qingsong was puzzled.

The words had barely left his mouth when—

RUMBLE~!

In the heavens above, the rolling thunder stopped and vanished completely.

A dim twilight began to spread out from the distant center.

In the blink of an eye, it had spread across the entire sky, covering the outer perimeter of the Domain for dozens of miles.

"It’s really activating."

Cao Qingsong murmured. The next moment, he came to his senses and shouted to those on the mountain, "Everyone still alive, get down the mountain immediately!"

"Right, the Domain has activated. Where is the exit?"

Remembering something, Cao Qingsong frowned again. "If we can’t find the exit, I’m afraid we’ll be trapped in here again."

"The exit is over there!"

Gu Zheng pointed in the direction where the strange Tree Demons had vanished and said with a serious expression, "According to my senses, that is the Domain’s exit to the mortal world!"

Cao Qingsong, "..."

"Let’s go!"

Zhong Zhengao waved his hand decisively. Turning to the remaining survivors who were scrambling down the mountain in a panic, he quickly shouted, "Everyone, keep up! Don’t get separated!"

"Yes, sir~!"

"Go, go."

"..."

Everyone flew and sprinted, rushing down the mountain at top speed.

Gu Zheng glanced at Zhong Zhengao before taking the lead, flying off into the air.

It was just as he had sensed.

After racing for fifteen or twenty miles in the direction the strange Tree Demons had vanished, the exit to the mortal world—the original mountain pass—appeared before their eyes.

However, just then, several figures flew into the Domain from the outside.

"Who goes there!"