'A mysterious grotto? Continue the entry!'
Currently, the distance between Qi Ping and the bee swarm was still within the range of that special connection he shared with his animal companions, allowing him to command their movements in real-time. Upon receiving the order, the swarm immediately flew into the opening.
The first group to enter consisted of about ten bees. As soon as they crossed the threshold, they felt the dense spiritual energy saturating the air of the cavern. Utilizing their darkvision, the bees began to scout the interior according to Qi Ping's instructions. Darkvision was a common trait among creatures classified as spirit beasts, and even first-layer Qi Refinement cultivators possessed it to some degree, though the strength varied by individual.
However, they had only been inside for a moment, before they could even gather any intelligence, when disaster struck.
Just after Qi Ping gave the order for the entry, he felt a mysterious power attempting to seize control of the bees. Even the bond of his animal companion contracts was being interfered with.
'Something is trying to forcibly control the bees?' Qi Ping's expression shifted drastically at the sensation.
He quickly halted the other bees that were preparing to enter. This mysterious power was exceptionally eerie, capable of directly targeting and attempting to enslave the bees' consciousness! The reason the animal companion contracts had been triggered was that this force was trying to exert a form of absolute dominance over them.
'What kind of wretched thing is in there?' Qi Ping's brow furrowed tightly as he processed the feedback.
According to ancient records, those capable of such high-level control and enslavement were either extraordinary beings with transcendent methods, or spirit beasts with King-grade bloodlines exercising their innate authority over lower-ranked creatures. Regardless of which it was, it proved that the entity inside was not to be trifled with.
Fortunately, after the mysterious power persisted for a short time and failed to shake the animal companion contracts, it gradually receded. Qi Ping let out a long breath of relief. It was likely the latter—a bloodline suppression—because if it had been a transcendent being, the consciousness of the bee swarm would have been annihilated instantly.
He was also fortunate that the animal companion contract was far more stable and advanced than ordinary blood-binding methods. The reason beast-taming cultivators placed such emphasis on nurturing the emotional bond with their pets was that blood-binding methods possessed significant flaws. For instance, if a spirit beast and its master hated each other, the master would find it impossible to command the creature. In extreme cases, some spirit beasts would even choose to collapse their own souls just to take their masters down with them.
Furthermore, there were certain mysterious techniques that could bypass such blood-bindings and forcibly dissolve the contract. However, this was not a problem for Qi Ping. The animal companion contract was infinitely more sophisticated and secure than blood-sacrificial methods; it was the fundamental ability of the Beast King Druid profession.
'Continue the investigation! Scout out the situation inside clearly!' After a moment of deliberation, Qi Ping issued the command again.
"Buzz... (Understood, Boss!)"
"Buzz... (That big fellow actually tried to forcibly enslave us! How hateful!)"
Soon, information from within the grotto began to flow back to Qi Ping in fragments.
'A mysterious altar...'
'An array... chains...'
'A giant insect corpse... a blood-colored larva...'
As he gathered these snippets, the scene inside the cavern quickly took shape in Qi Ping's mind.
It was a cavern of modest size, roughly ten meters in length and width. The rock walls and overall appearance differed little from an ordinary cave. The only exceptional feature was the mysterious, blood-colored altar situated in the center.
The circular altar was over two meters wide. Around it stood four Spirit-Origin Stone Pillars, and four chains of spiritual energy tightly bound a massive insect corpse in the center of the altar. The corpse itself possessed no life, but the entity attempting to control the bees was a plump, blood-colored larva resting atop the giant carcass. The larva was roughly the size of a human body, and a black, insect-shaped mark was etched into its brow.
Inside the grotto, the bound, blood-colored larva on the altar looked at the bees with a sense of confusion in its eyes. Were these not the little insects it had summoned? Why couldn't it control them? By all rights, tiny creatures of this level and size should have been utterly incapable of resisting its dominance!
Ever since it had awakened from its slumber some time ago, it had been waking up once every three days to release a special signal. Its goal was to lure demon insects to this location, forcibly control them, and then use them to break the restraints binding its body. Once that was done, it would be as free as a fish in the sea or a bird in the sky!
Outside, once Qi Ping understood the information described by the bees, his face turned pale with shock.
'The Four Saints Demon-Nurturing Grand Array!'
This was a method of demon insect cultivation briefly mentioned in the Demon Insect Cultivation Manual. This technique required the use of a King-grade bloodline spirit insect corpse, combined with various precious spiritual materials and the larva of the most vicious demon insect. It was a mysterious and terrifying method of nurturing carried out under the auspices of the Four Saints Demon-Nurturing Grand Array.
Massive resource consumption, long duration, and a low success rate were the defining characteristics of this method. However, if it succeeded, it would herald the birth of a truly horrifying Demon Insect King!
This was why the method was described as terrifying. No one unless they were utterly depraved would utilize such a technique. Firstly, the time required for this nurturing was immense, often spanning centuries or even millennia—lengths of time most cultivators could not hope to survive. Furthermore, once such a Demon Insect King was produced, it was extremely difficult to control; the risk of it devouring its master existed at every moment.
Without absolute certainty, anyone who nurtured such a creature was simply doing so to wreak vengeance upon the cultivation world. Once a Demon Insect King entered the world, it could rapidly increase its strength by devouring other demon insects or the bodies of spirit beasts. This strength allowed it to crush almost any other demon insect or spirit beast of the same rank in single-combat.
High health, high attack, high defense, and utter ferocity—these were the hallmarks of such a Demon Insect King. Yet, that was not the most terrifying part. The most horrifying aspect was the absolute enslavement and control a Demon Insect King exerted over ordinary demon insects!
Masterless demon insects had almost no ability to resist the King's dominance, and even those with masters stood a high chance of being forcibly enslaved. Furthermore, this control was not limited only to demon insects. Because this King had devoured the bloodline essence of a King-grade spirit beast, it also possessed a powerful ability to enslave and demonize ordinary spirit insects.
Under favorable conditions, a powerful Demon Insect King could control a swarm numbering in the millions or even tens of millions! Once a demon insect calamity of that scale took form, it would be an absolute catastrophe for the cultivation world. Combined with the King's high intelligence and cunning nature, the aftermath of such a disaster was almost always a landscape of corpses and a total extinction of life wherever it passed.