Clan Cultivation: Starting from Beast Taming-Chapter 534 - 279: Shocking News About the Pest Plague [Please Subscribe]_2
"I know your Zhou Family excels in the Beast Taming Technique and has made unique achievements in the art of beast taming," Lord Temple Master inquired gently, her eyes narrowing slightly, "but I wonder if you have studied the Insect Expelling Technique?"
Zhou Chun, upon hearing this, responded promptly and respectfully without overthinking, "Lord Temple Master is indeed discerning. It is true that beast taming and insect expelling share similarities, yet my Zhou Family has no knowledge of any insect expelling techniques, and our understanding of various demon insects is limited to what is recorded in the Demon Beast catalogue." Explore stories at novelbuddy
He didn’t understand why Master Qingwei would suddenly ask about the Insect Expelling Technique, but his instincts told him it was best not to show off or say too much on the matter.
However, Master Qingwei did not seem inclined to let him off easily.
After listening to Zhou Chun’s answer, Master Qingwei’s gaze flickered, and with a sudden wave of her sleeve, she passed an object to Zhou Chun.
"Take a look at this item, then. Do you recognize this type of demon insect?"
Zhou Chun looked closely and saw that the object Master Qingwei had handed to him was, astonishingly, the corpse of a dirt-yellow insect roughly the size of a fist.
This strange insect resembled an ant to some extent, while also bearing some similarity to a mole cricket, complete with sharp mouthparts and a pair of huge feet.
Such an odd demon insect was something Zhou Chun was seeing for the first time.
He took the corpse of the insect in his hands, carefully inspecting it from every angle before shaking his head at Master Qingwei, "Lord Temple Master’s insight is profound; I do not recognize this type of demon insect, and the information on such has not been included in my family’s Demon Insect catalogue."
He had thought that would be the end of the matter with his response.
But what Zhou Chun did not expect was that, after hearing his words, Master Qingwei began to tell him of the origins of the demon insect in his hands.
"You do not recognize this insect, and neither do I. However, this type of demon insect has now gathered in swarms and overrun the Yang Kingdom. Half of the Yang Kingdom has already been devastated by this pestilence, with countless citizens and cultivators falling prey to these demon insects!"
"It is estimated that there are now hundreds of millions of these demon insects within the borders of the Yang Kingdom, and their population has grown so large that even Nascent Soul Stage cultivators have difficulty eradicating it!
"Now that the Yang Kingdom can no longer contain this calamity, it has sent out seekers in all directions asking for help, gathering techniques to rid us of these pests, and has also issued the Humanity Aid Edict to neighboring countries and sects, requesting aid to combat this devastating plague!"
Even Nascent Soul Stage cultivators are helpless?
Zhou Chun’s expression changed; looking at the demon insect corpse in his hand, he suddenly felt it burning hotly.
It was only then that he understood why Master Qingwei had suddenly summoned him to inquire about the Insect Expelling Technique.
If what Master Qingwei said was no exaggeration, then the situation was indeed terrifying.
Zhou Chun had read much about the power of pestilences in the classics.
According to these records, the largest pestilence event in this realm occurred ten thousand years ago, during the "Soul-Devouring Locust Disaster."
At that time, a demon insect called the "Soul-Devouring Demon Locust" suddenly appeared, born with the innate ability to devour all spiritual power for evolution, and reproduced at an extremely fast rate.
Because at first, these demon insects only appeared within the territory of an alien race and failed to catch the attention of the Human Clan Cultivation Realm, when the insects became a significant threat, it was almost too late to manage.
Back then, a powerful alien race was almost annihilated by these insects, and following the invasion, multiple nations of the Human Clan also suffered heavy losses, with more than a dozen Nascent Soul Stage cultivators falling!
Later, it was said that a sixth-order alien powerhouse performed a tremendous Divine Skill, forcibly killing the most powerful Insect King as well as many fifth- and fourth-order demon insects, and then, by combining the forces of the Human Clan and several major alien races, they managed to extinguish the plague.
Since then, any locust-like evolving demon insect has been eradicated by the Human Clan and various alien races, extinguishing any sign of them upon discovery.
"The ’Soul-Devouring Demon Locusts’ were completely exterminated!"
Apart from this ’Soul-Devouring Locust Plague,’ there have been several smaller-scale insect plagues throughout the history of the Cultivation World, and those plagues, worthy of being recorded in the Classics, would claim countless lives each time they erupted.
Without a doubt, the insect plague that had erupted in Yang Kingdom now also showed signs capable of being inscribed into the Classics.
"Lord Temple Master, can you speak of the abilities of these Demon Insects? What powers do they exactly possess that even Divine Skill wielders in the Nascent Soul Phase find difficult to exterminate?"
Zhou Chun couldn’t help but inquire about the intelligence on the Demon Insects in Master Qingwei’s hands, taking this matter very seriously.
"According to the people of Yang Kingdom, these Demon Insects have an extremely strong capability for growth and adaptation. When they are just born, they are merely ordinary bugs, only slightly larger than common ants, but given sufficient food, they can grow to the size of the Demon Insect in your hand within a month."
"They are naturally capable of burrowing into the ground, and after their first evolution, they develop wings and gain the ability to fly. At the same time, their teeth are extremely sharp, capable of biting through Flying Swords of the same tier, and they possess cutting power similar to that of a giant turtle’s legs. Many will also evolve the ability to spit venom."
"But the most noteworthy aspect of these Demon Insects is that, if they consume a Spiritual Object with certain attributes before their first mutation and evolution, they are able to awaken and master the Spell power of that particular attribute, and continue to evolve at an extremely rapid pace."
"The most terrifying is that, upon advancing to second-tier Demon Insects, there is a not small probability for them to evolve a second type of attribute power, making them after evolution even more powerful and even harder to annihilate!"
"Currently, Yang Kingdom has even seen the emergence of Insect Kings corresponding to Nascent Soul Stage early phase Cultivators, who, with the empowerment from the insect swarm, even Nascent Soul Stage late phase Cultivators struggle to kill!"
Master Qingwei didn’t hold back at all and quickly relayed all the intelligence she had learned from Yang Kingdom’s envoys to Zhou Chun.
And merely by hearing his recount, Zhou Chun could feel the terror within.
Fast growth and evolution, capable of burrowing and flight, rapid reproduction, and possessing a formidable ability to mutate!
When these capabilities are all combined in one Demon Insect, it becomes incredibly frightening.
He couldn’t help but say, "According to Lord Temple Master, the insect plague is already so vast, I fear that conventional methods of eradication will no longer be effective. Even if we can find a way to counteract those ordinary Demon Insects, dealing with those higher-tier Demon Insects would be difficult!"
However, after hearing his words, Master Qingwei simply shook her head gently and said, "You are mistaken. If we can find a method to eliminate the ordinary Demon Insects, we can fundamentally prevent the scale of the Demon Insect population from continuing to expand, and thus prevent more Demon Insects from evolving into higher-tier ones."
"As long as the number of higher-tier Demon Insects doesn’t continue to grow and the insect swarm’s scale keeps getting reduced, eradicating the plague will not be difficult!"
At this point, Master Qingwei finally revealed her true intention for summoning Zhou Chun.
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"Since Yang Kingdom has already issued the Humanity Aid Edict, for the greater good of the Human Clan, our Green Lotus Temple, along with Moon Wheel Sect and Sunflame Sect, will definitely send people to assist in disaster relief efforts in Yang Kingdom."
"Since your Zhou Family is adept at Beast Taming Techniques and has conducted research on Demon Beasts and Demon Insects, would you consider sending a few people to accompany our temple’s Cultivators to Yang Kingdom?"
"If the Zhou Family truly plays a significant role in eradicating the insect plague, the seniors from Yang Kingdom will surely reward you handsomely!"
It turned out that she wanted the Zhou Family to send people to join the support team for Yang Kingdom, hoping to leverage the Zhou Family’s expertise in Beast Taming to try and find a way to eradicate the plague.
It must be said, Master Qingwei’s strategy was extremely sound.
As a cultivation family under Green Lotus Temple, if the Zhou Family truly made significant contributions to eradicating the insect plague, the Green Lotus Temple would undoubtedly gain benefits that were much greater than what the Zhou Family would receive.
And even if the Zhou Family didn’t contribute much, Green Lotus Temple would suffer no loss.
Fortunately, Master Qingwei’s tone was not strict but rather consultative, which reassured Zhou Chun considerably.
He immediately responded respectfully, "I understand Lord Temple Master’s intentions. I will discuss this matter with the elders in my family upon my return, to see what they think."
