Witnessing all this, Lu Qiancha’s heart instantly sank to the bottom of the abyss.
It’s over!
This Insect Queen…
Its speed was ghostly, and it flew through the air as if gliding over flat ground.
Exactly the type she was currently the worst at handling.
Throw a potion? Missed!
Throw a spear? Couldn’t hit!
She inwardly lamented: why hadn’t she learned a few more techniques for locking onto fast targets earlier?
With a light sigh, she resigned herself helplessly. It seemed she was of no use here. So what could she do? Ask for a substitute to fight.
Without hesitation, Lu Qiancha cast a pleading glance toward the bright red figure beside her.
Shangguan Yunzhu understood at once, a gentle smile curling at the corner of her lips, radiating reassurance.
The next moment, her gaze sharpened to ice-cold precision.
Her fingers formed rapid seals.
Clang clang clang clang—
Dozens of scarlet Flying Swords surrounding her suddenly burst forth with piercing sword cries. Like shooting stars, they poured down toward the terrifying Larva that had just risen from the pool of blood.
Pup pup pup pup…
It didn’t even have time to scream. The Scarlet Larva instantly became riddled with countless holes, a torn ragdoll.
Amid the roaring blaze that followed, its wretched life came to an end.
“Zhi!”
The Insect Queen’s compound eyes locked tightly onto Shangguan Yunzhu, unleashing a shrill, furious howl.
Its enormous body transformed into a yellow-black afterimage wrapped in a stench-filled gale, tearing through the air as it lunged fiercely.
At this moment, its demon power at Divine Transformation stage, combined with the mixed incense wishes it had absorbed, exploded violently.
Two forces were roughly fused and entwined around its entire body—like forcibly placing an early-Hua Xu (Void Refinement) armor onto an already powerful physique.
Savage amplification of both speed and strength.
Though chaotic and unrefined, this raw, brutal attack mode pressed Shangguan Yunzhu with mountain-like pressure.
Her Sword Web defense was already pushed to its limit. The high-speed Flying Swords couldn’t catch the Insect Queen’s ghostly form, only passively resisting the storm-like charge.
“Keep going!”
In the critical moment, Lu Qiancha’s voice pierced through the clouds.
A small bluish potion bottle sliced through the blazing turbulent air, precisely caught by Shangguan Yunzhu.
“What’s this?”
“Speed potion. Just drink it.”
Lu Qiancha transmitted urgently.
Without hesitation, Shangguan Yunzhu tilted her head back and swallowed the cool liquid.
One breath.
A strange clear stream surged up to her spiritual platform.
The world before her suddenly slowed down.
The ghostly afterimage of the Insect Queen became clear and sluggish in her eyes. Every evasive trajectory revealed itself like slow motion.
“Also this.”
Lu Qiancha tossed another vial, this one glowing with orange flame light.
Shangguan Yunzhu caught it again and gulped it down without hesitation.
Boom—!
The potion’s power ignited like a dormant volcano erupting within her.
Her spiritual power was instantly purified and condensed. The magic flowing from her fingertips seemed alive, control precision soaring. Power surged by nearly forty percent.
Confidence surged.
Shangguan Yunzhu’s gaze sharpened like a blade as she traced intricate patterns in the air with her fingertips, chanting clearly: “Fengyu Thousand Blades, Myriad Swords Return! Hum—”
The countless sword shadows swirling around her suddenly froze. The sword tips inverted, humming and vibrating, gathering overwhelming fiery sword intent.
“One Flame Burns Heaven, Breaks Ninefold!”
The myriad swords rang out as if paying homage to their sovereign.
“Devotion Burns Out, Sword Pierces the Sky!”
All Flying Swords abruptly converged inward. The scorching, crimson-gold radiance instantly swallowed everything.
“Solitary Swan Soars, Breaking the Firmament!”
Shangguan Yunzhu’s jade hand clenched in midair and slashed forward.
“Wail—!!!”
A thunderous phoenix cry, shattering metal and stone, echoed through the sky.
Within the dazzling light, a Heaven-Breaking Fire Phoenix with a wingspan darkening the sky, formed entirely from the Divine Flame of Nirvana, flapped its wings and cried out.
Its majestic might incinerated the Eight Desolations.
The giant phoenix transformed into a scarlet-gold meteor that tore through space, colliding violently with the charging Insect Queen!
“Jii—Zhi!”
The Insect Queen emitted a heart-wrenching, soul-splitting scream.
The Heaven-Breaking Flame instantly engulfed its entire body.
It flapped frantically like flying cotton fluff set ablaze, trying to shake off the flames, only fanning the fire further.
After several breaths—
Boom!
The massive insect body completely charred into a huge blackened coal, crashing heavily to the ground amid thick smoke.
“Watch this!”
Seeing the opportunity, Lu Qiancha ruthlessly poured the two jet-black Pitch Black Potions she held onto the corpse.
Outofy—!!
A harsh corrosive sound accompanied by billowing green smoke rose up.
The charred insect corpse melted rapidly like snow on a branding iron, visibly dissolving into a pool of foul-smelling thick black pus, slowly seeping into the cracks in the earth.
Left behind on the spot were an Alchemic Core, a Brilliant White Pearl emitting a soft, gentle glow, and an ancient Storage Ring tarnished with the rust of time.
“…Did it… drop equipment?” Lu Qiancha tilted her head, her blue eyes full of suspicion.
Slaying demons and monsters and leaving behind heaps of corpses was the norm, but this kind of “loot box” drop was something she’d never seen before.
Her innocent blue eyes blinked as her spiritual perception carefully gathered the pearl, ring, and Alchemic Core.
After cleansing with the Condensed Water Spell, she laid the two unexpected treasures and the Alchemic Core in her palm for a closer look.
Shangguan Yunzhu retracted the myriad Flying Swords and gracefully landed beside her.
“Here, you killed it, so the spoils belong to you.”
Lu Qiancha generously handed over the Alchemic Core, pearl, and ring.
“This is… from where?”
Shangguan Yunzhu eyed the pearl and ring curiously. She had been too busy fighting to notice where the insect’s corpse had fallen.
“Probably… hidden inside the insect’s belly? But I washed it clean with Spirit Stone.”
Lu Qiancha speculated.
“Ugh—!”
Shangguan Yunzhu’s face instantly scrunched up in disgust, even instinctively stepping back half a pace.
“Stuff from inside an insect’s belly… no matter how you wash it, it still smells… so gross!”
“Then if you don’t want it, it’s mine, right?”
Lu Qiancha’s blue eyes sparkled as she prepared to put the items away.
Shangguan Yunzhu looked at her with a mixture of helplessness and worry, like a parent watching a child pick up random things: “Xiao Qiancha… don’t you find this stuff dirty?”
“Well, a little…” Lu Qiancha honestly wrinkled her small nose but her claws honestly retracted the items closer to herself.
“The Alchemic Core can be exchanged for Spirit Stones. The ring might have good stuff inside. I don’t know what the white pearl is, but what if it’s something valuable too? Anyway, it can’t be wasted!”
She was already terrified of poverty; her craving for Spirit Stones outweighed her disgust toward insects.
“…Then can’t you just erase the ring’s mark, take out whatever’s inside, and toss the ring far away?”
Shangguan Yunzhu gently rubbed her forehead. Suddenly, she thought of the environment at Tianquanfeng…
Unconsciously, a trace of pity for Lu Qiancha flickered in her eyes. Xiao Qiancha’s life must have been very hard…
“Oh! That’s true!”
Lu Qiancha nodded in realization and immediately sent spiritual power probing into the ancient ring in her claw.
The moment her spiritual power touched the ring—
The Brilliant White Pearl lying quietly nearby suddenly transformed without warning into a milky stream of light.
“Wah!”
Lu Qiancha’s claw trembled in shock, and the ring dropped to the ground with a clatter.
“What’s going on?!”
Shangguan Yunzhu’s expression changed drastically as she took a quick step forward.
Her fingertips touched Lu Qiancha’s wrist pulse, her spiritual perception instantly entering her body.
She “saw” the white light flowing rapidly along Lu Qiancha’s meridians, traversing the entire Great Circulation in an instant.
Finally—
Pop!
With a steady sound, it settled quietly into Lu Qiancha’s energy core and energy sea.
Lu Qiancha quickly sat cross-legged, concentrating inwardly.
Her spiritual perception cautiously touched the quietly floating white light pearl—
Hum.
A vast and clear torrent of information instantly surged into her spirit sea.
“I’ll help you force it out!”
Shangguan Yunzhu said anxiously, her spiritual power itching to forcibly rush in.
“Wait! Yunzhu! No need…”
Lu Qiancha suddenly opened her eyes, her expression unusually strange, eyes turning toward the half-ruined Shanshen Temple in the distance.
“Hm? What exactly is that pearl?”
Shangguan Yunzhu frowned and asked.
Lu Qiancha took a deep breath, her gaze complex as she turned to Shangguan Yunzhu and spoke softly:
“That pearl is the Mountain God’s Command issued by Netherworld to the local Mountain God. As soon as my spiritual power touched it, I…”
She hesitated painfully for a moment, her expression a mix of laughter and tears: “Let’s just say I voluntarily accepted the posting and was instantly employed on the spot.”
“Huh?!”
Shangguan Yunzhu’s amber pupils trembled violently.
Her expression seemed frozen into a big question mark mixed with an exclamation.