The dragon’s cry rang out endlessly, growing louder and louder. There was nothing to see, but Li Qingshan seemed to visualise a golden, divine dragon swimming through the sea of thunder, interrupting the mighty decree of the heavens.
In that instant, he actually experienced a sense of serenity.
Li Qingshan could not help but hold his breath. He had once witnessed the Clam King of Mirage Sea’s ascension. This was not all to the heavenly tribulation of ascension, or more accurately, the true heavenly tribulation of ascension had only just begun.
From the centre of the ring of clouds, a column of white light rained down, slamming into the Golden Cicada Spirit King.
Boom!
Li Qingshan had to squint his eyes to see that the column of white light was actually composed of thousands of bolts of lightning. The rumble came from thousands of claps of thunder, shaking up the space violently while shaking up everyone’s minds.
The terrifying power left even him astonished—it was as if the heavens had been infuriated!
Curled up like an infant, the Golden Cicada Spirit King gradually brought his palms together in a solemn manner. He continued with the Chant of Deva-Nāga, except only he could hear it. However, the golden speck of light was never put out by the thunder and lightning. Instead, it moved against the light, rising slowly and steadily.
Li Qingshan stood on the edge of the clouds and gazed at this grand sight. He thought to himself, This is what I’ll be facing very soon. Though, I think this guy owes me a gift.
Right when he wondered whether the Golden Cicada Spirit King had forgotten or if he had just been fooling him, he suddenly heard the familiar buzzing again.
After collapsing under the tribulation lightning, the bulging mountain turned into a huge pit. The sound had come from the pit. The buzzing grew louder and louder, such that even the thunder could not drown it out.
Soon afterwards, a black, thick cluster rushed into the air!
That was a swarm of millions of insects, throwing themselves at the scorching column of white light like moths to a flame.
They obviously were not trying to shield the Golden Cicada Spirit King from the damage of the heavenly tribulation. With the entry of the swarm, the light became even more blinding, and the column thickened as well.
This was a test from the heavens, one that no one could avoid. Even relying on external objects was pointless, so at a time like this, only lifebound items were worth using. Using something like a powerful formation to fend off the heavenly tribulation would only make it even mightier, and the power of the heavens was endless.
The Soaring Locust King was abusing this exact aspect. He wanted to make the heavenly tribulation so powerful that the Golden Cicada Spirit King could not endure it.
“He’s finally here!” Li Qingshan grinned. He took out a curved piece of transmission jade and called into it, “Xiao An, Xiao An, the food delivery is here! Get over here!” These swarms of insects were the perfect fuel for the Samādhi Flames of White Bone.
However, he did not receive any reply, which left him slightly puzzled, but he did not think too much about it. She must have been focusing on cultivation. It was quite a pity, but he alone was more than enough to handle something like this.
Seeing how the heavenly tribulation was becoming stronger and stronger, Li Qingshan stopped hesitating. He sucked in a huge breath until his belly bulged before blowing out again. A wisp of wind whistled out, twisting and curling like a long snake and sweeping aside the insects!
The black mass of insects was as sturdy as a rock. Even when they were struck head-on, they continued to struggle towards the lightning.
“Let me lend you a hand!”
Gu Yanying arrived beside Li Qingshan and opened her folding fan. With a gentle wave, wisps of atmospheric wind merged with the breath, multiplying the strength of the attack instantly. Before the insects could even approach the lightning, they were sucked into the wisp of air and ground to powder. They immediately staved off the Soaring Locust King’s attack.
“Thanks.” Li Qingshan communicated mentally.
“Where is Xiao An?” Gu Yanying asked.
“I don’t know, probably still cultivating. But we’re enough.” Li Qingshan shrugged.
At this moment, the Golden Cicada Spirit King looked over and nodded as if he was thanking them.
Li Qingshan waved his hand and decided to not dwell on the matter of the gift. However, the Golden Cicada Spirit King gradually began to change in shape. His tender skin hardened and became half-transparent. Within the skin, the Golden Cicada Spirit King was no longer human. He had turned into an insect, squirming around under the golden, half-transparent skin.
His transformation did not come off as eerie at all. Instead, he gave off a sense of holiness, like the development of a nobleman, like a phoenix undergoing rebirth in fire.
“That’s…”
“The golden cicada is shedding its skin!” Gu Yanying blurted out and smiled towards Li Qingshan. “Looks like that’s for you!”
Li Qingshan praised inside, The Golden Cicada Spirit King sure is a man of his word. I can tell that the golden cicada skin is something good with just a single glance.
At this moment, the insect swarms began to recede, returning to the underground cavern. He suddenly became puzzled again. Everything had progressed a little too smoothly. Even until now, he had yet to sense the Soaring Locust King’s main body.
Don’t tell me the Soaring Locust King has given up on seeking revenge on the Golden Cicada Spirit King?
He immediately dismissed an idea like that. The Soaring Locust King clearly was not that generous and forgiving.
Or perhaps he’s afraid of being sucked into the heavenly tribulation, as well as being intercepted, so he’s hiding underground and controlling the insect swarms?
That was very likely.
“The Soaring Locust King is not here,” Gu Yanying said with a frown.
“How do you know?” Li Qingshan immediately asked.
“They’re too weak. They shouldn’t be so weak. They’re like a formation missing a core, which seems to still operate, but they can’t even unleash half of their strength.” Gu Yanying furrowed her brows in thought.
“Perhaps he knows he’s not our opponent, so he refuses to show himself,” Li Qingshan said. That was the most logical guess.
“In terms of strength alone, probably only the Great Banyan Tree King across the entire world can surpass him. If he really wants to fight, not even we can necessarily stop him,” said Gu Yanying.
“Really?” Li Qingshan was surprised. He had never clashed properly with the Soaring Locust King.
“Yes. In the past when the locust plague swept through the Green province, beyond anyone’s control, the Soaring Locust King had not achieved that through caution. Back then, the Soaring Locust King was not even as cautious as right now. He once gathered the insect swarms for a direct confrontation against the armies of Chu. Although it ended in his defeat, his terrifying strength was enough to be recorded in the annals of history. His main body might not be particularly powerful, but once he gathers billions of insects, he can contend against an entire kingdom. An attack as feeble as this is pointless.”
“You mean this is just a front and a diversion? The main target for his attack is elsewhere?”
Li Qingshan thought about how Xiao An had never replied and became slightly worried, but he did not find that to be particularly likely. Even if the Soaring Locust King really were that foolish, Xiao An was not that weak, and if she really was in danger, she would obviously ask him for help. Their transmission talismans came as a pair. If one was destroyed, both were destroyed. Even if they were sealed up in different spaces, unable to convey messages to one another, they could still seek help from each other.
“I can’t think of any target that’s even more important than the Golden Cicada Spirit King,” said Gu Yanying.
“No, there might be one.” Li Qingshan’s heart lurched.
Gu Yanying said directly, “The Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga! But that’s not too likely. Most of the insects are all gathered here. We can’t be wrong about that. If the Soaring Locust King only uses the strength of his main body, he’s definitely not the opponent of the four guardian kings.”
At this moment, the Golden Cicada Spirit King used the might of the heavenly tribulation to break free from the cicada shell bit by bit.
“Perhaps we’re overthinking.” Li Qingshan crossed his arms. “Who knows, he might just appear from underground in the next moment!”
“Hopefully he does!”
