"Mysterious Rocky Cave? Enter!"
Currently, Qi Ping and the Bee Swarm were still within the range of his special connection with his Animal Companion, so he could still command the Bee Swarm in real-time.
Upon receiving the order, the Bee Swarm immediately flew into it.
About ten Bees entered first, and upon entering, they immediately felt the rich Spiritual Qi within the rocky cave.
Using their dark vision, the Honeybees began to investigate the scene inside the rocky cave according to Qi Ping's orders; dark vision is basically something that animals that can be ranked as Spirit Beasts possess, including Qi Refining First Level Cultivators, it's just that the strength of dark vision varies.
However, they had only just entered for a moment and hadn't had time to investigate any information when a sudden change occurred.
Qi Ping had only just ordered the Honeybees to enter for a moment when he felt a mysterious power attempting to control the Bees, and even his Animal Companion contract with the Honeybees was interfered with.
"Something is forcibly controlling the Bees?" Qi Ping's expression changed when he perceived this situation.
So, Qi Ping quickly stopped the other Bees that were preparing to enter.
This mysterious power was extremely bizarre, actually being able to directly attempt to control the Bees' Divine Soul!
And the reason why Qi Ping's Animal Companion contract with the Honeybees was triggered was because that mysterious power was forcibly enslaving the Honeybees!
"What strange thing is inside?" Qi Ping's brows furrowed tightly as he perceived this situation.
It was recorded in ancient texts that to achieve such a degree of control and enslavement, it must either be an existence with extraordinary strength and means, or a Spirit Beast with a kingly Bloodline Rank, possessing the Talent to control lower-ranked Spirit Beasts.
But no matter which situation it was, it proved that the existence inside was not easy to deal with.
Fortunately, after that mysterious power lasted for a period, it did not shake the Animal Companion contract and gradually receded.
This made Qi Ping let out a sigh of relief.
This should probably be the latter, because if it were an existence with extraordinary strength and means, the Bee Swarm's consciousness would have been easily destroyed long ago.
It was also fortunate that the Animal Companion contract was much more stable than ordinary Blood Pacts.
The reason why Beast Cultivators attach so much importance to cultivating feelings with their Spirit Beasts is because the Blood Pact method has significant drawbacks.
For example, if the Spirit Beast and master mutually resent each other, or if their feelings are not harmonious, it's impossible to command one's own pet beast. Furthermore, some Spirit Beasts would even rather risk their Divine Soul collapsing to drag their master down with them.
Another example is that some mysterious methods can bypass this Blood Pact method and forcibly dissolve such ordinary Blood Pact contracts.
Fortunately, this problem did not exist for Qi Ping; the Animal Companion contract was incomparably more profound and stable than the Blood Pact method. This was the fundamental ability of the Beast King Druid profession.
"Continue to investigate! Find out what's inside!"
After some thought, Qi Ping issued another order.
"Buzz buzz… (Yes, Boss!)"
"Buzz buzz… (That big guy actually wants to forcibly enslave us! How infuriating!)"
Soon, the situation inside the rocky cave was transmitted to Qi Ping one by one.
"Mysterious Altar…"
"Formation… Chains…"
"Giant Insect Corpse… Bloody Larva…"
After obtaining this information, the scene inside the rocky cave was quickly described by Qi Ping.
It was not a very large rocky cave, about ten meters in length and width, and its rock walls and overall appearance were not much different from ordinary rocky caves.
The only special thing was a mysterious blood-colored altar in the middle of the rocky cave.
This circular blood-colored altar was more than two meters long and wide. Four spirit origin stone pillars stood around the altar, and four Spiritual Qi chains tightly bound a huge Insect corpse in the center of the altar.
This corpse itself had no vitality whatsoever. The one that had just attempted to control the Honeybees was a chubby, blood-colored Insect on top of the huge Insect corpse.
This blood-colored Insect was about the size of a human, with an insect-shaped black mark on its brow.
Inside the rocky cave at this moment.
The bound blood-colored Insect on the altar looked at these Bees with a puzzled expression.
Aren't these the little Insects it summoned?
Why can't it control them?
Logically, little guys of this Rank and size shouldn't be able to escape its control!
Since awakening from Sleep during this period, it would wake up once every three days, releasing special messages to attract Demon Insects to this place, then forcibly control them and use the Demon Insects to break free from its restraints.
At that time, it would be free to roam the wide sea and soar through the high heavens!
Outside, Qi Ping's expression immediately changed when he learned the information described by the Honeybees!
"Four Saints Demon Cultivation Array!"
This was a method of Demon Insect cultivation briefly mentioned in the Demon Insect Breeding Handbook.
This cultivation method first required using the corpse of a King-Ranked Bloodline Insect, combined with various precious Materials and the most ferocious Demon Insect larvae, and then cultivating them with the Four Saints Demon Cultivation Array, making it an extremely mysterious and terrifying cultivation method.
High Material consumption, long duration, and low success rate were the biggest characteristics of this cultivation method.
But if the cultivation succeeded, it would usher in an extremely terrifying Magic Insect King!
This was also why this cultivation method was described as terrifying; only the utterly deranged would use it.
Firstly, the cultivation period of this method spans an extremely long time, often hundreds or thousands of years, and ordinary Cultivators cannot live that long.
Moreover, once this Magic Insect King is cultivated, it is extremely difficult to control, and the risk of devouring its master exists almost every moment.
Therefore, without absolute certainty, those who cultivate this type of Demon Insect are purely seeking to retaliate against the Cultivation World.
Once this Magic Insect King is born, it can rapidly increase its strength by devouring Demon Insects or other Spirit Beast bodies. This strength can almost single-handedly defeat any Demon Insect of the same Rank or the vast majority of Spirit Beasts.
High HP, high attack, high defense, and extreme ferocity are the characteristics of this type of Magic Insect King.
However, this is not the most terrifying; the most terrifying is this Magic Insect King's absolute enslavement and control over ordinary Demon Insects!
Unowned Demon Insects have almost no power to resist the Magic Insect King's enslavement, and even owned Demon Insects have a very high probability of being forcibly enslaved!
Furthermore, this control is not limited to Demon Insects. Because this Magic Insect King devours the Bloodline essence of King-Ranked Bloodline Insects, it also possesses extremely strong enslavement and demonization abilities over many ordinary Insects.
Under good development, a powerful Magic Insect King can control millions, even tens of millions, of Demon Insects!
Once an Insect Calamity of this scale forms, it is an absolute disaster for the Cultivation World.
Coupled with the Magic Insect King's extremely high intelligence and cunning nature, whenever a Demon Insect Calamity of this Rank forms, the likely outcome is corpses strewn across the land, with all life extinguished wherever it passes.
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