sinovels Chapter 648 Soul-Devouring Gu! Using war to fuel war!
Chapter 648 Soul-Devouring Gu! Using war to fuel war!
A small gap was torn in the scales on the back of the snake gu's head, from which dark green blood seeped out, dripping onto the arena floor and etching several fist-sized pits.
However, its aura did not weaken; instead, it became even more violent!
It was utterly enraged.
The ensuing battle intensified.
The Azure Phosphorous Serpent King no longer held back, pushing its Nascent Soul Perfection demonic power to its limit. Its mouth continuously spewed venom, creating a dark green poisonous net on the arena, constantly compressing the Golden Cicada's space.
Its serpentine tail transformed into a sky full of whip shadows, each strike accompanied by a piercing sound, carving deep furrows into the arena floor.
The cicada darted left and right within it, sometimes slipping through the gaps in the poisonous net, sometimes tumbling in the aftershocks of the snake's tail.
Several more white marks appeared on its shell, but each time it was repelled, it would pounce again from an even more cunning angle.
The mouthparts kept piercing the gaps in the snake gu's scales, each piercing taking away a wisp of insect spirit power. Although each piercing was small, it continuously consumed the snake gu's power like water dripping on stone.
More than half of the time it takes for an incense stick to burn has passed.
No one in the audience dared to utter a word of mockery anymore.
Everyone could see that although the tiny cicada, no bigger than a grain of rice, was consistently at a disadvantage, it had never been truly defeated. Even more terrifying was that its aura, far from weakening during the battle, was slowly and steadily increasing!
With each wisp of insect spirit power it absorbed, its cultivation level increased. Meanwhile, the aura of the Azure Phosphorous Serpent Gu King began to weaken imperceptibly, and the wounds on the back of its head multiplied, its dark green blood staining most of the arena a strange green.
The composure on Snake Spirit's face had vanished, replaced by an unbelievable solemnity.
He rapidly formed hand seals, using his divine sense to urge the snake worm to accelerate its attack. He could feel his own natal worm being weakened bit by bit, while the golden cicada grew stronger with each battle.
This ability to sustain war through war is simply unbelievable.
The snake-like creature let out a violent hiss, its body suddenly expanding, releasing the last of its immense demonic power without reservation.
The entire arena trembled slightly from the demonic power, and the Gu patterns on the barrier light screen flickered violently.
Instead of retreating, the cicada charged headlong into the storm of demonic energy. Its small body swayed precariously in the storm, and several more cracks appeared on its carapace, but its dark red compound eyes shone with astonishing brightness.
Its mouthparts pierced the thinnest seam of scales between the snake-gu's left eye and nose.
This time, it wasn't just a brief taste; the entire pair of mouthparts, along with the pure black whiskers, were completely inserted.
The devouring power erupted without reservation at this moment, like an invisible vortex frantically drawing away the remaining insect spirit power from the snake gu's body.
The snake-like creature let out a shrill hiss that sounded unlike a snake's cry. Its massive body rolled wildly on the arena, its tail lashing out and smashing deep craters into the floor, but it could not shake off the tiny golden worm, no bigger than a grain of rice, that was clinging to its face.
The snake worm's body began to shrivel up at a visible rate.
The emerald green scales lost their luster, collapsing into empty shells like withered leaves.
The light in the dark golden snake eyes dimmed rapidly and finally went out completely.
The Azure Phosphorus Serpent King is dead.
Jin Chan lay on the enormous corpse of the snake worm and began a devouring feast that sent chills down the spines of everyone present.
Its mouthparts are like knives, cutting open the snake's hard scales inch by inch, swallowing the essence inside along with the fragments of its shell.
Although it was small in size, its devouring speed was astonishing; it swallowed the entire snake-gu in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
The moment it finished devouring, the golden cicada's body burst into golden light.
Its size shrank again, from the size of half a sesame seed to the size of a pinhead, but its aura rose at a terrifying speed!
Early stage of Nascent Soul, middle stage of Nascent Soul, peak of middle stage of Nascent Soul, and finally just stopped at the peak of middle stage of Nascent Soul.
The intricate golden patterns on the carapace had spread into a pair of complete wing patterns, the blood-red runes on the edges of the wings were denser, and the pure black tentacles next to the mouthparts were fully formed, with faint dark golden arcs of electricity jumping at their tips.
The entire room fell silent.
Snake Spirit stood on the arena, his face completely drained of color. He opened his mouth several times, only to find that he couldn't even utter a sound.
The Azure Phosphorus Serpent King, which had been with him for over a thousand years and was invincible on the grasslands, was swallowed up by a tiny insect the size of a grain of rice.
Not even a trace was left.
Chen Fan raised his hand, and the golden cicada transformed into a streak of dark golden light, flying back into his palm. He scanned it with his divine sense, confirming that the cicada only had a few fine scratches on its shell and was otherwise unharmed. He then put it back into his sleeve, cupped his hands to the referee, and turned to walk off the stage.
The deathly silence in the square was broken only when his figure disappeared at the end of the passageway in the waiting area.
The Gu cultivators of the Snake Gu Clan were ashen-faced, while the Gu cultivators of the Blood Gu Clan had various expressions. The cultivators from the five kingdoms whispered among themselves, each with disbelief written all over their faces.
On the high platform to the north, the Gu woman slowly stood up, gently tapping her insect staff, which silenced the commotion once again.
Her cloudy old eyes gazed in the direction where Chen Fan had disappeared. After a long while, she looked away and announced in a hoarse voice, "In the fifth round, Chen Fan of Zhao Kingdom wins and advances to the top ten of the Gu Insect Battle."
……
After entering the top ten, the pace of the Gu worm battles suddenly slowed down.
The remaining candidates were all renowned Gu cultivators from the grasslands, and each of their natal Gu worms had reached the late Nascent Soul stage or even the Great Perfection stage.
The drawing of lots became more cautious, with ample rest time allowed between rounds to allow the Gu worms to recover from their injuries and replenish their insect spirit power.
However, Chen Fan's draw number did not appear in the next two rounds. In one round, he received a bye and advanced directly; in the other, both of his opponents were injured and eliminated, resulting in Chen Fan's victory without a fight.
The Gu cultivators in the waiting area were whispering amongst themselves. Some said his luck was outrageous, while others said the Gu King had secretly manipulated the lottery results.
After all, if a Zhao Kingdom cultivator could make it into the top three in the Gu Insect Battle, it would be a disgrace to the grassland Gu cultivators. It would be better to let him sit in the finals with byes all the way, so that at least no more Gu cultivators would die at the hands of his evil Golden Cicada.
Chen Fan ignored these discussions.
He meditated and regulated his breathing in the waiting area every day, occasionally taking out the Golden Cicada to check its condition with his divine sense. After devouring the Azure Phosphorous Serpent Gu King, the Golden Cicada's aura had stabilized at the peak of the mid-Nascent Soul stage, and all the fine marks on its carapace had healed, its dark golden luster even deeper than before.
On the evening of the third day, the final rankings of the Gu Insect Battle were announced.
Chen Fan, having received consecutive byes, tied for the top three with Xue Chanzi with an undefeated record. Ahead of him, besides Xue Chanzi, was a Gu cultivator in the early Nascent Soul stage from the Corpse Gu Clan.
When the Gu Nu announced the rankings, the entire audience erupted in uproar!
For an outsider cultivator to break into the top three in the Gu Insect Battle is unprecedented in the hundreds of years of history of the Hundred Sects Conference.
The Gu cultivators of the Snake Gu Clan had ashen faces, and the Blood Gu Clan was also in a solemn mood. Only Qin Zhan was laughing heartily on the stage, repeatedly saying "good."