TL: Etude

The passage through the Forbidden Insect Nest was not particularly long. Before long, Ye Tian traversed the tunnel and entered the vast internal space of the Forbidden Insect Nest.

The interior of the nest was immensely expansive, stretching beyond the horizon. Even Ye Tian’s spiritual sense could not detect the core region, only observing some forbidden insects shuttling about in the vicinity.

Moreover, the suppression here was overwhelming. At best, he could utilize only thirty percent of his full strength.

Even a Half-Step Domain Ancestor arriving here would likely have much of their power suppressed, leaving any single lord-level forbidden insect capable of slaying them.

“I must approach the core region to gather specific information!” Ye Tian thought.

Thus, he employed the Heavenly Illusory Divine Steps, rushing toward the center of the Forbidden Insect Nest at maximum speed.

Along the way, countless forbidden insects attacked him, but Ye Tian paid them no heed, allowing them to strike at will.

He even pushed the potential of this body to its absolute limit, traversing with speed that surpassed his boundaries.

Finally, he reached the core region, his body gravely wounded.

At that moment, his gaze fixated on a massive Divine Tree within the nest. The tree bore countless Insect Cocoons, each representing a forbidden insect.

Through his spiritual sense, Ye Tian identified three particularly significant cocoons. These cocoons emanated a golden radiance—they were the cocoons of lord-level forbidden insects. If these three cocoons were to fully mature, three more lord-level forbidden insects would emerge.

What caused Ye Tian’s expression to shift dramatically, however, was a pure purple flower atop the Divine Tree. The flower bore a tightly closed purple bud, resembling the insect cocoons but smaller in size.

Clearly, this pure purple bud was also a cocoon. Its position on the tree indicated its unparalleled importance.

Ye Tian could distinctly see two golden forbidden insects perched on either side of the purple flower, appearing to guard the cocoon.

These two golden forbidden insects were unmistakably lord-level, their strength comparable to that of Half-Step Domain Ancestors!

“Could that be the Insect King Cocoon?” Ye Tian speculated.

If this were true, it was anything but good news.

Although he did not know when the Insect King Cocoon might mature, its emergence would undoubtedly spell disaster for the Dao Mountain Domain.

Suddenly.

The two lord-level forbidden insects awoke, their gaze locking onto Ye Tian.

One of them extended a long limb, sharp as a spear. In an instant, it pierced through space, crossing the void to kill Ye Tian on the spot, then resumed its slumber.

To these creatures, it seemed, Ye Tian was nothing more than an insignificant bug, easily crushed.

…

In a distant part of the Dark Forbidden Domain, Ye Tian was hunting forbidden insects with Xiao Yue when his expression abruptly shifted. He realized his Copy Body had perished.

The Copy Talent ability was remarkable. Even within the Forbidden Insect Nest, it could not sever the connection between Ye Tian’s main body and the copy, allowing him to clearly perceive everything the Copy Body had experienced.

“As expected of a lord-level forbidden insect. Just one of its limbs effortlessly killed me,” Ye Tian murmured to himself.

However, he quickly grew excited.

Previously, when he followed Dao Ancestor Eternal Perpetuity and Dao Ancestor Divine Ruins near the Forbidden Insect Nest, they refrained from letting his clone approach the two lord-level forbidden insects due to their caution.

Because of the significant distance, his Copy Talent could not encompass the two lord-level forbidden insects’ bodies, making it impossible to see their talents.

This time, however, the two lord-level forbidden insects inside the nest were much closer to Ye Tian. As a result, Ye Tian successfully probed their talents.

Ordinary forbidden insects typically lacked any special talents. They only possessed speed, defense, and strength talents—without even a cultivation talent.

Many forbidden insects had fixed power levels right from the start and were unable to grow further, no matter how many resources they consumed. Their strength could only rise to its current limit.

Because of this, Ye Tian had never been able to copy any particularly good talents from other forbidden insects.

This time was different. He discovered an entirely new talent from the lord-level forbidden insects.

[Forbidden Talent: Dark Spear]

Ye Tian had never encountered any forbidden talent before, but from the description, he gained a general understanding of forbidden talents.

It was a type of talent surpassing Dao-level core talents. Nearly every Forbidden Lifeform possessed a forbidden talent.

True Forbidden Lifeforms were beings comparable to Domain Ancestors, far beyond Ye Tian’s ability to encounter.

However, lord-level forbidden insects also possessed forbidden talents—although only one per creature.

Both lord-level forbidden insects had the same forbidden talent: Dark Spear. Clearly, this was a racial forbidden talent.

Ye Tian copied the forbidden talents of both lord-level forbidden insects in an instant. Once he merged them, his forbidden talent would become even stronger than that of the lord-level forbidden insects.

“If I could copy the forbidden talents of all the lord-level forbidden insects, I would gain an even more powerful forbidden Dark Spear talent. Unfortunately, encountering more lord-level forbidden insects in the future will be exceedingly difficult,” Ye Tian lamented.

His strength was far too weak. Without Dao Ancestor Eternal Perpetuity and Dao Ancestor Divine Ruins leading him, he wouldn’t have been able to get close to the Forbidden Insect Nest. He would have been killed on the way by the elite or commander-level forbidden insects.

Ye Tian also regretted not being able to probe the talent of the insect king inside the pure purple insect cocoon. It appeared that the insect king had not yet fully developed, which was why its talent couldn’t be seen.

If he could observe it, the forbidden talent of a future insect king would undoubtedly be far more powerful.

After killing three forbidden insects alongside Xiao Yue, Ye Tian refrained from further combat and quickly left the area, returning to the Blackwind Mountain base.

Greed would be risky. If surrounded by large numbers of forbidden insects, even Ye Tian would find it difficult to break through. Encountering elite forbidden insects would put both of their lives in jeopardy.

Thus, it was best to stop while ahead. Returning to the Blackwind Mountain base, Xiao Yue rested for a while, while Ye Tian was promptly summoned by Dao Ancestor Eternal Perpetuity and Dao Ancestor Divine Ruins. Clearly, the two Half-Step Domain Ancestors had also returned.

…

At the residence of Dao Ancestor Eternal Perpetuity.

Ye Tian met the two Half-Step Domain Ancestors once again. “Greetings, Dao Ancestor Eternal Perpetuity. Greetings, Dao Ancestor Divine Ruins.”

Dao Ancestor Eternal Perpetuity asked, “Heavenly King Nine Limits, did your clone uncover anything inside the Forbidden Insect Nest?”

Ye Tian replied truthfully, “I’ve roughly investigated the situation. At the heart of the Forbidden Insect Nest stands an incomparably massive Divine Tree. I call it the Forbidden Insect Tree. On the tree are countless forbidden insect cocoons, from which every forbidden insect is born! Furthermore, I saw two living lord-level forbidden insects and three more currently being nurtured!”

Dao Ancestor Eternal Perpetuity and Dao Ancestor Divine Ruins’ expressions shifted slightly at this information.

This meant that the Forbidden Insect Race currently possessed eight lord-level forbidden insects. If the three being nurtured emerged, the total number of lord-level forbidden insects would rise to eleven.

However, what Ye Tian said next caused their expressions to change drastically.