Lin Xiaotian and Zhou Zhi were currently in high spirits, darting in and out of the newly completed grottoes, full of praise for every detail. Their joy was incongruous with the stillness of the area, making Ruan Minghe’s silence seem even more abrupt.

  "Fellow Daoist Chen, these 'Craftsman Wasps' of yours are truly the most peculiar things I have ever seen in my life."

  "In my sect’s Library Pavilion, I have perused many ancient texts regarding strange insects and exotic beasts, yet I have never seen a species of spirit wasp capable of turning stone into wood with such creative power."

  This guy surnamed Ruan just won't stop causing trouble.

  "I wonder, Fellow Daoist Chen, if you could summon one more wasp for me to observe closely?" Ruan Minghe wore a gentle smile, but the warmth didn't reach his eyes at all. "Of course, I have absolutely no intention of coveting your spirit insects; it is mere curiosity. If it makes things difficult for you, then pretend I never spoke."

  Lin Xiaotian and Zhou Zhi also walked over. Hearing this, Zhou Zhi immediately chimed in. "That's right, Fellow Daoist Chen, let us broaden our horizons again. These bugs of yours are much more interesting than those precious darlings in our Hundred Beast Mountain’s Spirit Beast Garden."

  Chen Gensheng sneered in his heart. These three are truly bastards; it’ll be even more 'interesting' when you're gnawed down to bone shards.

  After hesitating for a long while, he finally nodded with apparent reluctance. "Since you all have such an interest, then I shall show my humble skills."

  He opened his mouth, and a medium-sized Wood-Skeleton Wasp hovered in the air before them. The wasp was emerald-green throughout, its thin wings vibrating silently. Under the sunlight, its jade-like carapace shimmered with a gentle luster. It indeed looked harmless to humans and animals alike.

  Ruan Minghe praised it, but then quickly shifted the topic. "Truly a spiritual creature born of heaven and earth. Fellow Daoist Chen mentioned earlier that these wasps are timid and faint at the sight of blood?"

  Ruan Minghe raised his left hand. With his right hand, he merged his fingers into a sword-shape, and a strand of pale-gold sword-light manifested at his fingertip, slicing across the pad of his left index finger.

  The Wood-Skeleton Wasp, which had been hovering peacefully, suddenly began to fly frantically around Ruan Minghe’s bleeding finger. Its hideous mandibles opened and closed as if it were struggling to restrain something. There wasn't the slightest hint of fainting; it was clearly a hungry wolf seeing fresh meat, excited to the extreme.

  Ruan Minghe withdrew the sword-light and held the bead of blood on his fingertip. "Fellow Daoist Chen, this scene seems to differ somewhat from what you described. This little thing doesn't look like it’s about to faint."

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  The atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point.

  A hideously distorted smile suddenly spread across Chen Gensheng’s ugly face. "Faint? Of course it will faint."

  He took a step forward, his six arms slightly raised. He no longer bothered to hide the grim aura of one who had crawled out of a gutter. "It's just that you haven't shed enough blood, Fellow Daoist."

  "At least three catties are needed."

  "Only when three catties of blood are spilled will it faint properly." Chen Gensheng pressed another step closer, his voice arrogant and laced with a viscous malice. "Why don't you try shedding a bit more blood, Fellow Daoist?"

  "I see the veins in your neck are bulging and your life-blood is vigorous. If you cut from there, the blood will flow fast and plentiful. I imagine reaching three catties would be but the blink of an eye."

  Before his voice had even faded, a small triangular flag appeared out of thin air in one of his hands. The flag fluttered without wind, and a pattern of a hideous fire-fish swam across it. A scorching, violent aura erupted, searing the surrounding grass until it withered and curled.

  The joy on Lin Xiaotian and Zhou Zhi’s faces froze. Especially Zhou Zhi—she looked at the ugly male cultivator whom she had been dragging around just moments ago. Now, with six arms spread wide, a heavy coffin on his back, and a small flag rising with soaring flames, his entire being radiated a murderous aura that threatened to turn the clear daylight into darkness.

  That was not a faked ferocity.

  The gentle smile on Ruan Minghe’s face finally vanished completely. He slowly withdrew his bloodstained finger; the drop of blood did not fall but instead flowed back into the wound, and the tiny cut healed at a visible speed until it was as smooth as before.

  "What is the meaning of this?"

  "The meaning?" The smile on Chen Gensheng’s ugly face grew more warped. He took another half-step forward. As the grass beneath his feet touched the heat waves emitted by the Startling-Flood-Dragon Fire-Fish Flag, it turned charred black with a hiss.

  "Do you 'heavenly geniuses' of the righteous sects truly not understand my meaning? Your way of doing things has really opened my eyes."

  "If you want my insects, just say so. I am not an unreasonable man; if the price is right, selling a few to you isn't impossible. But you just wouldn't do that." Chen Gensheng shook his head, his unfocused right eye sweeping over the three of them.

  "You insist on these roundabout probes, putting on a compassionate act—asking about my appearance, my lineage, and then these insects. You truly want to do filthy deeds while maintaining a facade of purity. It's utterly nauseating!"

  His words were sharp as knives, making Zhou Zhi’s face pale and even causing Lin Xiaotian to look indignant. Only Ruan Minghe, after his initial shock, regained his composure.

  "Fellow Daoist Chen, those are heavy words. We are merely curious about your exotic insects and have no intention of coveting them. As for the probe just now, it was indeed my mistake. I offer you my apologies."

  He spoke of apologies, but he stood ramrod straight, the sharp aura belonging to a core disciple of the Golden Rainbow Valley increasing rather than diminishing. A strand of pale-gold spiritual power seeped from his body, silently clashing in mid-air with the scorching heat from Chen Gensheng’s fire flag.

  "Apologies?" Chen Gensheng suddenly burst into laughter. The muscles on his six arms bulged abruptly, veins throbbing. "Do you great sect disciples think a single apology can wash everything away? If I were just an ordinary rogue cultivator today, after your layers of probing, both I and these wasps would have already become your trophies!"

  He slammed the Startling-Flood-Dragon Fire-Fish Flag into the ground.

  Crimson flames soared into the sky, transforming into a hideous fire-fish over ten feet long. It circled above Chen Gensheng’s head, opening its mouth full of sharp teeth. Its scorching breath burned the air until it warped.

  "What 'Ruan Minghe'? You're nothing but a hypocritical beast."