Chapter 85 – All Things Are but Insects

Watching the terrifying scene before him, Li Fan felt something stir in his heart.

So this was the bizarre!

Caught between life and death, between lucidity and confusion, bound by obsession, able only to repeat the same predetermined cycle for all eternity.

Unable to find release.

Qin Tang had been like this, and so too was this Insect Daoist.

Seeing that Li Fan had no reaction, the Insect Daoist held up the two golden pills and waved them before his eyes. “Senior Brother, the pills.”

He looked at Li Fan with a face full of hopeful expectation.

But Li Fan shook his head with regret. “My aptitude is far too poor. Even if I took these pills, my cultivation wouldn’t increase by much. So I definitely can’t take them—save them for future senior brothers with better aptitude. They’ll be of far greater use.”

The Insect Daoist looked somewhat disappointed and was about to try persuading him again.

But Li Fan quickly continued, “However, I’d like to ask Junior Brother for a favor. I wonder if Junior Brother would be willing to agree.”

The Insect Daoist brightened up again. “Of course, of course! Senior Brother, just tell me whatever you need.”

“I’d like to learn that insect-catching method of yours from Junior Brother,” Li Fan said slowly.

The bizarre had its own rules.

If one failed to follow those rules, death at the hands of the bizarre was certain.

But if one figured out the rules, not only could one emerge unscathed from the bizarre, one could even reap all manner of benefits from it.

Take Qin Tang’s stone statue from before, for example.

During Qin Tang’s trial, if one performed reasonably well across all three tests, one could, before leaving at the end, offer a jug of fine wine and request Qin Tang’s guidance.

Qin Tang would then, based on one’s specific performance during the trials, either help boost one’s cultivation or impart a cultivation technique.

And here with the Insect Daoist, if one chose to swallow the golden pills, one could obtain the Insect Daoist’s pill-refining method.

Only…

This pill-refining method was no ordinary alchemy. It was the Dao of Insect Pills.

Not only were the refining ingredients mostly harvested from various bizarre flying insects, but the pills produced also took the form of insects.

What was worse, as one refined more and more insect pills, the alchemist would gradually become just like the Insect Daoist.

A being that was neither human nor ghost.

That was why Li Fan had not chosen the golden pills as his reward. Instead, he had chosen something else—something whose value was in no way inferior to the Dao of Insect Pills.

Hearing Li Fan’s words, the Insect Daoist scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Senior Brother, that Insect-Binding Net is just something I play around with for fun. Why would you want to learn that…”

Li Fan explained with complete seriousness, “Our senior brothers are fighting and killing on the front lines, and inevitably some pesky insects come to harass them. Though my strength is meager and I can’t join the battle myself, if I learn your Insect-Binding technique, I can stand at the flanks and help clear away all those annoying insects for them.”

The Insect Daoist’s eyes lit up with sudden understanding. “I never thought the Insect-Binding Net could be used that way! Senior Brother, you’re truly clever!”

Li Fan said sincerely, “I’ll have to trouble Junior Brother to teach me.”

The Insect Daoist’s face flushed red with excitement. “Alright, Senior Brother, I’ll pass the net-weaving method to you right now.”

With that, a buzzing sound came from behind the Insect Daoist, and four pairs of transparent wings appeared.

He reached behind himself and tore off one of them.

The wing still bore traces of blood as the Insect Daoist handed it to Li Fan.

Li Fan touched it gently, and the transparent wing dissolved into streams of radiance that were absorbed into his body.

At the same moment, before Li Fan’s eyes, countless fine lines seemed to appear across heaven and earth, crossing vertically and horizontally.

And he felt as though he could manipulate these threads at will, weaving them into a vast net that could capture any living creature within his field of vision.

“This is it—innate divine ability: Insect Binding.”

The illusion of the great net gradually faded, but Li Fan knew he had obtained this extraordinarily powerful divine ability.

As long as the opponent’s realm was lower than his own, once he activated the Insect Binding ability, he could instantly immobilize them.

A cultivator bound by Insect Binding, no matter what divine abilities or spells they possessed, would be completely unable to use any of them.

They could only await their fate like an insect caught in a web, utterly at another’s mercy.

At first glance, the Insect Binding ability—usable only against cultivators with lower cultivation than oneself—seemed rather lackluster.

In reality, this was far from the case.

One had to understand that realm did not equate to actual combat strength.

Which cultivator wandering the world didn’t have a trump card or two up their sleeve?

If caught off guard by a sudden eruption of hidden power, even someone with higher cultivation couldn’t guarantee they would escape unscathed.

But with the Insect Binding ability, such worries vanished.

As long as one’s realm was higher than the opponent’s, one could strike from an overwhelming advantage, capturing them alive on the spot.

It was perfectly suited for dealing with those whose realm was lacking but who seemed to carry quite a few secrets…

The figures of Si Kongyi and Baili Chen flashed through Li Fan’s mind.

Having obtained the divine ability, Li Fan was unwilling to tarry any longer.

“Insect Junior Brother, I’ve already learned the net-weaving method. I’ll head to the front lines now to find the other senior brothers. Take care of yourself!”

The Insect Daoist looked reluctant to part. “Then please be careful, Senior Brother. You must come back safely!”

But as Li Fan departed, that look of concern slowly faded from the Insect Daoist’s face.

After an unknown length of time, in the silent Demon-Refining Tower, the Insect Daoist’s murmuring voice sounded once more.

“…I’ve run out of pill-refining ingredients. What am I going to do…”

…

After leaving the Demon-Refining Tower, Li Fan sensed the positions of Si Kongyi and the other.

They were already very close to the central core area of Cloud-Water Celestial Palace: the Taiyi Hall.

Information about the Taiyi Hall immediately surfaced in Li Fan’s mind.

The Taiyi Hall was said to be where Cloud-Water Celestial Palace received honored guests and held sect deliberations.

It couldn’t be called particularly dangerous, but the specific circumstances were rather unusual.

Looking at Si Kongyi and Baili Chen, they seemed to have slowed down for some reason, advancing toward the central area at a crawl.

Li Fan instantly understood the situation.

With a cold laugh, he headed in their direction.

Before the Taiyi Hall, countless broken swords were thrust into the ground.

Their blades crossed and interlocked, forming a forest of swords that stood as a barrier before the Taiyi Hall.

Si Kongyi and Baili Chen were at that moment treading upon the sword hilts, making their way toward the hall.

With each step forward, a phantom corresponding to the broken sword underfoot would appear above them.

Then pierce straight through their hearts.

There was no spray of blood. After piercing through, the phantom simply vanished.

It caused no actual physical harm—only pain.

The agony made their bodies tremble uncontrollably, and sweat poured from their foreheads like rain, dripping ceaselessly.

A long time passed before they could recover from that indescribable pain.

The two took a deep breath and continued stepping forward on the sword hilts.

Another sword phantom pierced through them.

This was why their progress had been so agonizingly slow.

Though the suffering was extreme, there was not the slightest hint of retreat in either of their eyes.

What they had worked so hard to seek lay just ahead, within arm’s reach.

How could they possibly give up now?

The two steeled their resolve, gritted their teeth, and pressed on.

Just then, they sensed someone approaching from behind.

They turned to look, and the shock that surged through them was impossible to suppress. They couldn’t help but cry out.

“You?! How is this possible?”