Boom!!
An aura capable of cleaving the heavens and felling the Great Dao suddenly surged forth. A terrifying sword intent manifested as a blood-red phantom hovering behind Li Guanqi.
Behind him, four layered spiritual rhyme Dao rings emerged!!
The power of flame and thunder erupted with a roar, scorching lightning threatening to incinerate the void.
This strike could be said to be the strongest sword strike Li Guanqi was currently capable of delivering.
Boom!!!!
As the sword tip lightly grazed the bug's flank, it sliced through the carapace in an instant!!
Everywhere the blade's tip passed, space was severed as cleanly as a sheet of white paper beneath a razor.
Carapace of astonishing defensive power was carved through as effortlessly as tofu before the tip of the sword spirit's true body.
Splurt!!!
Yet the spatial gnawing power unleashed by the bug eroded Li Guanqi's arm just the same.
The bug immediately let out a piercing wail of pain, while distorted empty space annihilated half of Li Guanqi's arm in an instant!!
Flesh and blood vanished as though a massive chunk had been devoured out of thin air.
Even a great portion of the bone in his arm had been gnawed away!!
His entire left arm went limp instantly. Gritting his teeth against the agonizing pain, Li Guanqi circulated his immortal primal energy, his vitality surging furiously.
The regenerative power of the Demon King Physique displayed its terrifying might at this very moment.
Li Guanqi shifted the longsword to his right hand!
With a single thought, ten thousand thunders descended!
Heavy, dark clouds coalesced across the thousand-zhang sky in an instant. Amidst the churning thunderclouds, tens of thousands of flaming lightning bolts cascaded from the heavens.
The flaming lightning struck like heavenly retribution, streak after streak linking heaven and earth like chains forged from ten thousand thunders, binding the bug firmly in place!!
Li Guanqi's gaze turned chillingly sharp; he was thoroughly resolved to subdue this creature!
Without pausing to mend his wounds, he slashed repeatedly with the sword in his right hand!
Slash! Slash!!
In barely a breath, Li Guanqi severed every single one of the bug's wings, leaving it grievously wounded.
Flashing beneath the falling lightning, Li Guanqi pressed his sword against the bug's head with his right hand, the tip biting slightly into the shell.
Guiding lightning down with his left hand, he bound the bug fast.
Had any outsider witnessed this scene, they would undoubtedly have been shaken to the core.
Li Guanqi was unleashing his full might now, the Rakshasa Ghost Mask adorning his face.
Behind him, the spiritual rhyme Dao rings of the Heavenly Immortal realm were displayed, the four rings shimmering with purple luminescence, while a condensed ribbon of immortal rhyme drifted above his shoulders.
Boom!!!
Beneath the mask, Li Guanqi's expression was grave as he unleashed the power of the Sword Ruins.
Spirit Absolution blood threads transformed into tens of thousands of crimson strands, surging toward the Black Armor Bone-Eroding Bug King!
Right then, Pengluo groggily regained consciousness. The moment Li Guanqi sensed him waking, he promptly yanked him out.
"Tell it to submit to me!"
Pengluo clutched his head, feeling a sting on his scalp. Before he could even realize what was happening, he caught sight of the dying bug.
Pengluo's eyes went wide as he looked at the injured Li Guanqi, then down at the constantly shrieking bug beneath the blade.
"Holy moly... A Black Armor Bone-Eroding Bug King showing signs of atavism!!"
Smack!
Li Guanqi cuffed Pengluo on the head.
"Stop dawdling. Hurry up!"
Pengluo rubbed his head and crouched down, slowly projecting an extraordinarily profound ripple.
The bug began to struggle violently. Li Guanqi's eyes turned cold, and he slowly pressed down with Red Lotus in his right hand!
If it refused, he wouldn't mind slaughtering it outright to trade for some immortal crystals!
Just then, Pengluo suddenly grabbed toward Red Lotus with one hand!
"Wait, Master!!"
"Give me a little more time, let me talk some sense into it!"
Li Guanqi parted his lips, slowly eased the blade back, and looked down with a distressed frown at Pengluo's hand. "Are you all right? Does it hurt?" he asked softly.
Pengluo chuckled, the wound on his palm healing in an instant.
Squatting with his arms wrapped around his knees, Pengluo looked at the bug.
He picked his nose, then snapped off one of his fingers and held it out.
The Black Armor Bone-Eroding Bug's bead-like eyes darted about, brimming with vigilance.
Pengluo couldn't care less. He pinned its head down with one hand and forcibly shoved the finger into its mouthparts with the other.
Once the Black Armor Bone-Eroding Bug gnawed down the finger, the wounds covering its body began healing at a pace visible to the naked eye!!
Even the four pairs of severed wings behind it sprouted tiny nubs of new growth.
The Black Armor Bone-Eroding Bug's little eyes lit up, and it squirmed forward, rubbing affectionately against Pengluo.
That look in its eyes...
Pengluo balled his fists and gave it two hard knocks, cursing, "Dammit all, I give you a finger to eat, and you're already scheming to devour the rest of me?!"
"A traitorous bone!! This bug is born with treason in its blood!!"
Pengluo jumped to his feet, took two steps back, and pointed at the Black Armor Bone-Eroding Bug. "Master, hack it to pieces. It's completely useless."
His eyes darted around as he spoke, muttering inwardly,
*If Master really takes this thing in, won't this brat spend every day plotting to eat me?!*
*No way, no way... I have to nip this danger in the bud!*
Hiss, hiss!!
The bug was exceedingly clever. Turning its head to look at Li Guanqi, its struggles gradually subsided.
It slowly turned toward Li Guanqi, its eyes half-closed.
Then it opened its eyes, raised a ventral leg, pointed at Pengluo, and then pointed at its own mouthparts.
Pengluo's eyes went round as saucers. Dashing forward, he snatched Li Guanqi's Red Lotus sword, raised it high, and began furiously hacking at the Black Armor Bone-Eroding Bug's head!!
"Dammit to hell! You wicked little bastard, you're up to no good!! I'll show you 'no good'!!"
"Grandpa will hack you to death today!!"
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!!!
Sparks flew in all directions. Pengluo swung his arms in wide arcs, his face twisted in ferocity.
Li Guanqi found the sight somewhat amusing. He let out a long breath and looked up at his surroundings.
He could sense that in the distance, cultivators unable to contain their restlessness were already beginning to venture into the valley.
Li Guanqi took back Red Lotus and said softly, "Follow me, and I won't mistreat you."
Then, he slowly crouched down, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.
He grabbed Pengluo, set him atop his head, and pointed upward.
"I can feed you any heavenly treasure or earthly resource, but... him, you cannot eat! Do you understand?"
At that moment, the bug's small eyes flickered with a bright gleam before it tilted its head.
It could not comprehend why such a weak spirit creature would be perched upon the head of this human cultivator!
Such behavior...
In its mind, only a being of higher status could stand above the weak.
At this moment, Pengluo felt as if his spine had never been straightened so proudly in his entire life!!!
Puffing out his chest, he stood atop Li Guanqi's head with his arms crossed over his chest, looking down at the Black Armor Bone-Eroding Bug with sheer disdain.
Finally, the Black Armor Bone-Eroding Bug lowered its head slightly toward the two,
allowing the Spirit Absolution blood threads to weave into a master-servant contract within its body!!
Throughout the formation of the contract, Li Guanqi remained on edge.
He did not know whether this decision was right, but asking him to abandon a Bug King right before his eyes was something he simply could not bring himself to do!!
That sky-blotting sea of bugs had consisted of weak, first-tier insects.
Yet... this Bug King was merely second-tier!!
If he could nurture it to the third tier or even higher in the future, the sea of bugs it could spawn...
The mere thought was terrifying!
The moment the contract was complete, Li Guanqi felt an instinctual awareness that with a single thought, he could instantly obliterate the Bug King!
And at that same instant, the Bug King sensed Li Guanqi's immense power and surging vitality.
Upon the carapace between the Bug King's brows, a blood-red spiritual insignia appeared—the outward manifestation of the contract between them.
Li Guanqi set the Black Armor Bone-Eroding Bug in his palm, then took out an immortal crystal and offered it.
A single first-tier immortal crystal was devoured completely in barely the span of a breath!!
The Black Armor Bone-Eroding Bug gazed up at Li Guanqi with bright, wonder-filled eyes,
as if thinking, *This person can actually produce something so delicious!!*
Its little head rubbed affectionately against Li Guanqi's palm.
Li Guanqi smiled faintly, then tossed it into the sword coffin space.
Sensing numerous auras speeding toward his location, Li Guanqi instantly concealed his aura and vanished from the spot.
"From now on, it's under your care. If it doesn't behave, beat it."
Tucked inside the black robe, Pengluo grabbed Li Guanqi's hair and grinned foolishly.
"Don't worry, Master! This silly bug isn't very bright anyway. Leave it to me to whip it into shape for you!!"
"Hehe, congratulations, Master! You actually subdued a Nether Bone-Huang Bug with thin ancient bloodline!"
"Let's call it Little Bone from now on, hehe."
Li Guanqi smiled faintly and nodded with a chuckle.
"Since you've already given it a name, Little Bone it is."
Chapter 1682