Facing the Demon Insect King, Qi Ping felt that no amount of caution was excessive.
The Li Fire Crow absolutely could not be allowed to meet with any mishap.
Therefore, it was entirely necessary to first continuously use the High-Speed Cutting Bees to deplete the Demon Insect King’s strength and force it to reveal its hidden cards.
Upon receiving Qi Ping’s command, the High-Speed Cutting Bees immediately formed into battle groups of thirty. They launched systematic, continuous assaults against the Demon Insect King from all directions.
Inside the cavern, the Demon Insect King was nearly at its breaking point.
First, it had exhausted itself casting its enslavement talent multiple times, yet failed to subdue a single bee. Then, it was merely harassed by three small bees—an annoyance barely more serious than a mosquito bite.
Although it was exceptionally furious, there wasn’t much it could do. After all, the Demon Insect King was trapped by the formation, bullied by mere bees!
But now, these bees were pushing their luck even further—thirty of them were swarming around it, slashing away!
Even with ample spiritual energy and insect corpse essence to replenish itself, allowing it to mostly recover, its innate instincts as a Demon Insect King made it feel profoundly violated. Its vicious and savage nature was completely ignited.
A powerful spiritual sense erupted from the Demon Insect King.
This time, it didn’t attempt enslavement. Instead, it used its spiritual power to brutally crush the consciousness of those thirty High-Speed Cutting Bees!
Although its inherited memories hadn’t yet awakened a true soul attack talent, for a being with such potent innate soul power, capable of manipulating souls to enslave other insects, this level of soul attack was child’s play.
Outside, sensing the sudden disappearance of the thirty High-Speed Cutting Bees’ auras, Qi Ping’s face darkened.
“This Demon Insect King really has other methods!”
He immediately ordered the remaining bees to report any changes in the Demon Insect King’s condition.
Soon, he had his answer.
“Seems somewhat depleted? Good, the attacks are having an effect…”
Confirmed that the strategy was working, Qi Ping issued another command:
“Switch to groups of twenty! Attack at full force! Don’t give the Demon Insect King a moment’s respite!”
Qi Ping hardened his heart, his resolve to defeat the Demon Insect King stronger than ever.
If, after his Foundation Establishment, he could use the Demon Insect King’s bloodline to successfully metamorphose the bee swarm, granting them corresponding physical or soul talents, the potential of his swarm would reach an unparalleled level.
Using the bloodline of a Demon Insect King as nourishment for nurturing spirit insects—how many insect-controlling cultivators could ever achieve such a feat?
Qi Ping then called Crow over and explained the situation inside.
“Crow, if I recall correctly, the innate spirit fire of your Golden Crow lineage is also highly effective against souls and should offer good defense against soul attacks, right?”
While the innate spirit fire of birds like the Solar Fire Crow or Li Fire Crow didn’t directly target the soul, any disembodied soul daring to touch it would be scorched with devastating consequences. With such properties, it should serve as a decent defense against the Demon Insect King’s soul attacks.
“Caw caw! (You’re right, boss!)”
“Caw caw! (If I cover my body with my innate spirit fire, any ordinary soul attack that tries to touch me will get seriously burned!)”
“Good. That’s a relief.”
Hearing this, Qi Ping felt somewhat reassured.
Later, even if the Demon Insect King had strength remaining, the Li Fire Crow’s innate spirit fire should provide excellent defense against its spiritual assaults.
“Crow, when you go down there later, don’t worry about excessive consumption. If you can’t kill it in one attempt, come back up to recover, then go down again. Meanwhile, I’ll have the bees maintain constant harassment.”
“Oh, and try to aim for the Demon Insect King’s head. Preserve the flesh on its body as much as possible. I need it for bloodline extraction.”
After a moment’s thought, Qi Ping added another instruction.
Historical records contained instances of Golden Core and even Nascent Soul stage cultivators falling to Demon Insect Kings of lower cultivation levels. Therefore, when facing such an enemy, excessive caution was simply prudent.
“Caw caw! (Understood, boss!)” Crow nodded gravely.
It understood that this enemy was extraordinary.
After more than a dozen waves of relentless, suicidal attacks from the High-Speed Cutting Bees, the Demon Insect King, under constant interference and assault, finally began to show signs of severe depletion.
Seeing this, Qi Ping hesitated no longer. He immediately dispatched the Li Fire Crow into battle.
Inside the cavern, the Demon Insect King felt like it was going mad. It, a mighty Demon Insect King, not long after its birth, had been tortured into this state by a bunch of insignificant bees!
It glared ferociously at the fearless bees in the distance. Now, whenever any bee dared approach, it would not hesitate to kill.
Although this cost it significant energy, eliminating these bees was still manageable.
Just as it awaited the next bee assault, a pitch-black figure wreathed in golden-red flames shot swiftly into the cavern from the entrance!
Seeing this figure, a sense of crisis surged from the depths of the Demon Insect King’s being!
Its entire body tensed.
The bees had only been a drain on its resources. The spirit stone pillars and insect corpse essence allowed it to replenish its spiritual energy, and its soul power could gradually recover. So the bees didn’t pose a major threat.
But this new arrival was different. Just sensing the powerful aura emanating from those flames made it feel a lethal threat.
There was no time to react. A fierce battle erupted instantly!
Following Qi Ping’s directions, Crow flew straight towards the Demon Insect King the moment it entered and unleashed its strongest attack.
Its innate spirit fire transformed into a pillar of flame possessing immense impact and penetrative force, violently striking and scorching the Demon Insect King’s head!
Wherever Crow’s spirit fire touched, the Demon Insect King’s flesh instantly turned charred black.
An agonized, piercing shriek ripped through the air.
A mix of inherent savagery, raging fury, and the imminent threat of death drove the Demon Insect King into utter madness!
Although it realized the newcomer was formidable, its body was trapped by the formation. It could neither dodge nor use its physical strength to counterattack.
Therefore, it desperately mobilized its soul power to frantically attack Crow, even if the spirit fire would injure its soul—it was beyond caring now.
Under the Demon Insect King’s desperate assault, the layer of innate spirit fire covering Crow’s body rippled violently, and parts of it even began to flicker out!
This startled Crow!
This Demon Insect King’s soul attack power was terrifying!
It had already reinforced its protective Yang Fire aura on Qi Ping’s orders, yet it was almost overwhelmed. Had it charged in unprepared, the outcome would have been truly uncertain.
Crow no longer held back. Gritting its resolve, it crazyly stimulated its bloodline power to intensify both its defensive flames and its offensive fire attack.
Having lost and regained its bloodline once, Crow’s mastery over its bloodline power was now far superior to before.
Amplified by its bloodline, Crow’s innate spirit fire surged dramatically.
The faltering, nearly extinguished flames around its body stabilized instantly, becoming immensely robust. The fiery pillar erupting from its beak also increased drastically in power!
Faced with this scene, the Demon Insect King fell into complete despair.
The power of this crow was simply beyond imagination, especially the force carried by its innate spirit fire, which was astonishingly potent.
To make matters worse, it had only recently been born, its physical body was trapped, it could only rely on soul attacks, and it had already been significantly depleted by the earlier bee assaults.
No matter how hard it tried to squeeze out more power, it couldn’t strengthen its soul attacks further. Amidst excruciating pain and profound resentment, a fiery pillar pierced straight through its head…
