Three years passed in the blink of an eye on Blue Star. In the Water Curtain Cave, a roar that shook the heavens and the earth suddenly echoed through the air.
Chu Xuan leapt to his feet, his expression filled with excitement. His body refinement realm had ascended once again, stepping into the forty-third stage of body refinement!
With the Melting Heaven Technique as his cultivation method, the speed at which he refined demonic beast meat had indeed increased drastically.
Over the past three years, he not only visualized the Dragon Elephant but also the Melting Heaven Furnace, Boiling Sea Flame, and the Unceasing River.
The latter two were the visualization objects of the Boiling Sea Technique and Unceasing Technique, respectively.
Given these circumstances, to still reach the forty-third stage of body refinement showed just how terrifying the Melting Heaven Technique's speed in refining flesh and blood was!
Thinking of this, Chu Xuan suddenly gathered his qi and blood into a furnace, unleashing the Furnace Heaven Strike, and slammed it onto the thick stone slab of the training room.
He performed the technique five times in succession before finally feeling a sense of emptiness within his qi and blood.
A smile appeared on his face.
This was the martial technique he had learned from practicing the Unceasing Technique.
It was called Unceasing Vitality.
It could not be actively released, but whenever his qi and blood were depleted, it would accelerate their recovery.
In the past, he could only perform this technique three times in one breath. Afterward, he would be exhausted and have to wait for his qi and blood to regenerate.
Now, however, he could perform it five times in one go! And his recovery speed had also increased by leaps and bounds compared to before!
These supplementary body refinement techniques had greatly enhanced his overall strength. Whether it was his explosive combat power or his endurance in long battles, both had surpassed his previous limits.
Chu Xuan exhaled, gathering his energy and focus as he turned his attention back to the cave world.
Over the years, under Xiao Renjie's leadership, the Myriad Insects Kingdom had aggressively attacked the Heavenly Cave Kingdom.
In the beginning, the momentum was like a landslide, nearly reaching the royal capital of Heavenly Cave. However, despite the ruler of Heavenly Cave being foolish and the imperial court in disarray, there were still capable people within the kingdom.
Once they recovered, they mobilized a large number of insect masters, managing to halt the Myriad Insects Kingdom's fierce assault. The two sides had since fallen into a temporary stalemate.
The last time Chu Xuan paid attention was half a year ago. At that time, the two sides were facing off at the Copper Pass, five hundred miles from the royal capital of Heavenly Cave.
If the Myriad Insects Kingdom could take the Copper Pass, the road to the Heavenly Cave capital would be wide open.
He wondered how the situation had evolved. If this war between the two kingdoms continued to stalemate, it would be highly detrimental to the Myriad Insects Kingdom.
After all, their supply line was stretched thin, making it easy for small groups of Heavenly Cave insect masters to launch guerrilla attacks, causing shortages of food and supplies on the front lines. But this was not the most troubling issue.
What was truly worrisome was if the two powers remained locked in a stalemate, it might attract the intervention of a third party—now that would be the most dangerous outcome.
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The strength of the Flying Dragon Kingdom could not be underestimated.
"Hmm? The Copper Pass has been taken?"
Chu Xuan's spiritual sense spread out, and he was astonished to find that the insect masters of the Myriad Insects Kingdom had already breached the Copper Pass and were advancing directly toward the royal capital!
On both sides of the road, the bodies of Heavenly Cave Kingdom's insect masters and demonic insects littered the ground. The sight stretched for ten miles of corpses and a hundred miles of blood-soaked land.
At that moment, the ruler of the Myriad Insects Kingdom, Xiao Renjie, sat proudly within his golden palanquin, exuding an aura of triumph. Even the old age on his face seemed to have faded somewhat.
Chu Xuan smiled faintly.
"It looks like I'll be receiving the new Diamond-level Demon Bug Cultivation Method soon."
A few days later.
The royal capital of Heavenly Cave was breached. A large number of noble families fled for their lives.
A few more days passed.
The flag of the Myriad Insects Kingdom hung above the Heavenly Cave royal capital.
Xiao Renjie, in front of the Heavenly Cave kingdom's ruler, shattered the statue of the Heavenly Cave Insect. This act symbolized the complete collapse of the Heavenly Cave Kingdom. Countless people were stunned by this news.
The balance of the three major kingdoms, which had been in place for generations, had been upended in just a few short years. The once vast Heavenly Cave Kingdom was now entirely under the control of the Myriad Insects Kingdom?!
Within the lavish Heavenly Cave royal palace.
Xiao Renjie, now bare-chested except for a soft white robe wrapped around his waist, dismissed the eight beautiful concubines who had served him. He then took out a cherished fragment of a mirror.
"Mirror, oh mirror, I've obtained the Heavenly Cave Insect Cultivation Method. I want the Orifice Opening Scripture!"
Xiao Renjie placed the black crystal next to the mirror fragment, his expression filled with fervor.
Chu Xuan's spiritual sense swept through the fragment, immediately absorbing the Heavenly Cave Insect Cultivation Method. He couldn't help but feel a sense of awe. As expected, this was indeed a Diamond-level Demonic Insect Cultivation Method. Mysterious, obscure, yet strangely powerful!
The Heavenly Cave Insect Cultivation Method focused on the transplantation of demonic insect organs. The founding ancestors of Heavenly Cave Kingdom had experimented with countless combinations before arriving at the best one. By grafting the organs of five powerful demonic insects together, they created an extraordinarily potent mutated insect. This insect was called the Heavenly Cave Insect.
Many years ago, Heavenly Cave Kingdom was the most powerful of the three kingdoms. However, the royal family of Heavenly Cave became indulgent, focusing only on pleasure and neglecting the affairs of the state.
Moreover, the Heavenly Cave insect bloodline was unstable, gradually collapsing, and becoming weaker with each passing year. As a result, Heavenly Cave had fallen to become the weakest of the three kingdoms. This weakness was precisely why Xiao Renjie had set his sights on it, and why it was the first to fall.
"Diamond-level Demon Insect Cultivation Method... The wisdom contained within is comparable to Deity Transformation-level techniques. This method is quite sinister. If it were modified slightly and applied to the cultivation world, it could undoubtedly create a master of the Gu Path!"
Chu Xuan sighed deeply, reflecting on this.
He then focused his spiritual sense and manifested the Orifice Opening Scripture on the surface of the mirror fragment.
"Good, good, good! With this Orifice Opening Scripture, I will definitely reach an even higher realm!"
Xiao Renjie was overjoyed, his voice trembling with excitement.
"Not only can I free myself from its influence... Perhaps, like our founding ancestor, I can ascend from this world!"
Hearing these words, Chu Xuan raised an eyebrow. That was a lot of information to take in. In this Cave World, could it be that some Insect Masters are capable of ascension?
The concept of ascension was familiar in the cultivation world. It was said that those at the Tribulation Stage, after overcoming the greatest and most powerful thunder tribulation, could undergo transformation and ascend to the higher realms—becoming true immortals. But Xiao Renjie's idea of "ascension" likely couldn't be compared to the ascension known in the cultivation world.
Chu Xuan's curiosity was piqued. The matter of Insect Masters flying up likely involved some of the ultimate secrets of the Cave World. However, since Xiao Renjie's cultivation would still take some time, he would need to wait.
Five more years passed in the blink of an eye. Chu Xuan consumed black magic whale meat daily, and his vital energy grew with each passing day. Yet, the leap from the forty-third to the forty-fourth level was a significant hurdle. The cultivation process had become considerably more difficult.
"Perhaps it's time to step out and check. He Zha should have prepared everything for me."
With a firm step, he left and returned to the Tea Appreciation Pavilion on Neon Garment Island.
As expected, just as he returned, the Transmission Jade vibrated lightly. A voice from He Zha came through.
"Senior, the twelve types of Gu insects you requested have been located. Three of them are stored at the He family, while the other nine are with a few of the older Gu Masters."
Chu Xuan nodded slightly.
This was exactly what he had instructed He Zha to do.
He had sent him to collect the necessary Gu insects for the Heavenly Cave Insect Cultivation Method. To be cautious, he had ordered He Zha to collect a few extra types—better safe than sorry.