Where Immortals Once Walked

“Divine blood is an unbearable weight for ordinary living beings. These little cicadas originally shouldn’t have been able to withstand it either, but by laying eggs, they transferred the violent energy in the divine blood to the next generation!”

He Lingchuan understood. “So that’s why the growth cycle of the seventy-year cicadas suddenly shortened?”

“Exactly! Think about it. Their growth period had already extended to seventy years. How much nutrition would they need to absorb during all that time? The power of the divine blood filled them up all at once, and the seventy-year cicadas were forced to develop. From egg to adult, the shortest time was only a dozen breaths.”

“But even then, they still couldn’t withstand the power of the divine blood, so they needed to transfer it again.”

“Oh, and they did that by reproducing again?”

“Exactly. And just like that, generation after generation, the power of the divine blood keeps being passed down, and it grows weaker and weaker.” Dong Rui smiled. “Look, the aberrant cicadas’ growth period has already lengthened to six to ten hours now. I estimate that in another half a month, they’ll stabilize and won’t keep extending any further.”

“The most interesting part is that seventy-year cicadas don’t even count as monsters, yet under the stimulation of divine blood, they actually didn’t suffer excessive deformity. This, this is truly incredible!”

He Lingchuan thought of what those two aberrant cicadas had looked like. “Good grief. That doesn’t count as deformity?”

“They didn’t grow two extra heads, they didn’t sprout four or five extra legs, and they didn’t grow out three or four pairs of wings. How can that count as deformity?”

He Lingchuan touched his nose. Why am I even arguing about this with a mad scientist? The two of them had completely different standards for what counted as “deformity.” Just think about what the ghost ape, werewolf, and spider puppet Dong Rui had successfully modified looked like. As for the ones he had failed to modify, would they not have formed a whole grand lineage of aberrant creatures?

“Growing larger and drinking blood and eating people are all manifestations of adapting to the divine blood. They count as very mild changes.” The larger the body, the more energy it could contain. If it ate both meat and plants, then its food sources became broader as well. When the aberrant cicadas moved out, they blotted out the sky and covered the earth. Every bite of food they took had to be fought over with their own kind.

“Mm-hm, I guess you’re right.”

Dong Rui was full of enthusiasm as he spoke, “I originally thought only monsters could withstand the power of divine blood. Who would’ve imagined that seventy-year cicadas would open an entirely new direction for me!”

Even powerful monsters could not withstand the power of divine blood. He had never imagined that something as weak and insignificant as seventy-year cicadas could actually tame the power of divine blood through the miraculous method of generational inheritance.

Life truly found its own way.

His research into monster puppets had taken on a new direction.

Seeing its master happy again, the ghost ape quietly lowered the claws it had been holding over its head and reached for a small handful of nuts from the table.

Of course, He Lingchuan’s focus was not on Dong Rui’s research. “Then let me ask you. Is there any way to eradicate the cicada disaster?”

“Eradicate?” Dong Rui was still in high spirits and could not shift his thoughts right away. “Why do you want to help Rongshan exterminate insects?”

He Lingchuan coughed. “I came here to borrow people from Rongshan, and I’m very interested in that Qiu Hu. But if Rongshan’s cicada disaster isn’t eliminated, he won’t be willing to leave with us.”

“And?” The He Lingchuan that Dong Rui knew would not do something for just one flimsy reason. “Don’t tell me you love talent as much as life itself.”

“I do love talent as much as life itself.” He Lingchuan smiled. He also had to have the Rongshan Sect owe him a great favor, because he would soon need it.

“Just look at Rongshan’s territory, and you’ll know this is a major local sect with deep foundations. It isn’t comparable to those other tiny Daoist sects or schools.” Rongshan’s territory was not small. In fact, it exceeded even two Xia Provinces. It lay in the northwestern corner of Beijia, sharing a small border with the State of Baling. Although this world had Daoist sects everywhere, sects that possessed their own territory, and territory rich in resources, with fertile fields and mines, were actually not many.

Simply put, the Rongshan Sect had strength.

He Lingchuan patted Dong Rui’s shoulder. “Wouldn’t it be good to let them owe you a bit of favor?”

For independent wanderers like them, when would they usually have a chance to make Rongshan owe them a debt?

This reason easily moved Dong Rui as expected. He thought for a moment. “The aberrant cicadas’ mutation may stop in half a month. Their form will stabilize, but their man-eating habits will remain. I estimate they’ll spend at least two months hidden underground, and their concealment will be very high. At that point, eradicating them will become even harder.”

“It’s already very hard now. Elder Dao said that almost all Rongshan disciples have been mobilized, patrolling everywhere. Whenever they find a nest, they wipe it out. They’ve already been doing this for two months, but the cicada disaster still can’t be fully uprooted.” Pest control was difficult no matter which world one was in, especially when the enemy could blot out the sky and become a true plague.

“The two cicadas Zhu Daniang caught are already dead. I didn’t kill them. It’s because they didn’t get the chance to mate and reproduce, so the power of the divine blood swelled them to death.” Dong Rui pondered. “So after they develop into adults, they have to mate and lay eggs immediately.”

He Lingchuan asked him again, “Right, why did the living creatures and monsters in Wan’ge Swamp go mad too?”

“Isn’t that obvious? They must have eaten the cicada corpses.” Dong Rui rubbed his chin. “I want to go back and take a look at the situation at home.”

He Lingchuan coughed. “Better not.”

“Hm?” Dong Rui looked at him, and an ominous premonition suddenly rose in his heart. “Why?”

“The matter of Wan’ge Swamp’s mutation reached Lingxu City long ago. The Heavenly Palace has already sent people there to investigate. If you go back now, that’s what people call enemies meeting on a narrow road.”

Dong Rui currently wanted nothing more than to avoid the Heavenly Palace. How would he dare go near it? But he also felt suspicious. “Why would the Heavenly Palace pay attention to Wan’ge Swamp?”

“I’m not clear on that.” He Lingchuan lied with a perfectly innocent face. Could he possibly tell Dong Rui that because he had asked someone to take the Dragon Punishment Pillar to Wan’ge Swamp and press it around wildly, it had triggered the heavenly gods’ concern?

Cough...

It seemed he ruined Dong Rui’s affairs every time.

But he had not known beforehand that Dong Rui had built his home there.

“Perhaps because of the divine blood?” He Lingchuan shrugged. “Just because she couldn’t explain the source of the divine blood in her hands, even State Preceptor Qing Yang was imprisoned by the Heavenly Palace. That tells you how seriously the heavenly gods take this stuff.”

Dong Rui gave an “oh,” but after thinking again, something felt wrong. “Wait, before the Heavenly Palace sent people there, how would they know the mutations in Wan’ge Swamp had anything to do with divine blood?”

“I was just guessing.” He Lingchuan’s face remained innocent, his tone utterly justified. “Can you figure out how the Heavenly Palace does things?”

“That’s true.” Dong Rui did not think too much about it and sighed mournfully. “Looks like my home won’t escape their poisonous hands!”

The Heavenly Palace had sent people to Wan’ge Swamp to investigate. Since the first incident had happened near his home, they would definitely dig through his house while they were at it.

“Well, just think of the bright side...” He Lingchuan lowered his voice. “We’ve dug through their house too.”

They had caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace on Mount Xu and blown away the heavenly gods’ earthly residence.

How much junk could Dong Rui’s home really contain? If you compared the accounts, it seemed they still came out ahead.

“Look, Zhu Erniang already paid you compensation by teaching you how to extend the lifespan of monster puppets. You didn’t lose out on this trip.” He Lingchuan steered the topic away vaguely. “Alright, back to business.”