Every time the Color-Ringed Giant Earthworm surfaced, it did so directly from the mire.
It fed on toxic vapor. Before refining it, a ring of poisonous miasma would form around its body, making it appear swollen countless times over, comparable to a giant python.
This miasma consisted of condensed, pure venomous vapor, far surpassing even the noxious mist of the marsh itself.
As long as the Color-Ringed Giant Earthworm showed itself, it would be easy to spot.
Amidst the toxic mist, Qin Sang could not be certain how far the scent of the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold could disperse. He considered picking several more spots around the core area of the marsh.
The toxic mist drifted like flowing water.
Covering his mouth and nose, Qin Sang swept his gaze back and forth.
Before long, his eyes narrowed as he locked onto the base of a large tree, a flicker of delight flashing across his face.
He had smeared Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold across the trunk of that tree.
At this moment, a patch of grass growing around the base was shaking. It was clearly not from the wind, but rather from force transmitted through disturbed roots below.
Qin Sang hesitated for a moment and refrained from probing directly with his spiritual sense. He decided to wait until the Color-Ringed Giant Earthworm surfaced and its metamorphosis stage could be confirmed before taking action, lest he outsmart himself and ruin the ambush.
*Rustle, rustle...*
The blades of grass shook with increasing violence.
Gradually, the grass parted, and thick mud welled upward. Then, an iridescent, plump, chubby worm crawled out clumsily from within.
The creature was exceptionally plump—essentially a little cylinder of meat. Its entire body looked draped in a robe of rosy dawn clouds, resembling a multicolored silkworm. Its body was divided into several segments like the folds of a fat belly, and with every squirm, a wave of soft flesh rolled across it.
For such a creature, climbing from the mud onto slippery grass stems was truly no easy feat.
Like a mortal struggling after falling into deep water, it rose and sank repeatedly, churning the mire into bubbling gurgles. Finally, gripping two stalks of grass, it hauled itself out of the muck and headed straight for the tree trunk.
Presumably due to the irresistible allure of the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold, the fat silkworm moved considerably faster than before, scrambling upward with surprising agility.
Qin Sang stared at the fat silkworm with utter bewilderment.
Watching it scramble eagerly up the trunk and begin lapping frantically at the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold only deepened his confusion.
This was plainly not the Color-Ringed Giant Earthworm.
Yet Qin Sang could not match it to any recorded spirit insect.
Neither the Witch Insect Registry nor the Exotic Insect Registry contained a single mention of it!
When he first caught sight of the fat silkworm, Qin Sang had thought it was not a spirit insect at all, but merely an ordinary bug that had wandered here by accident.
Yet seeing it make a beeline for the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold immediately overturned that assumption. This was definitely a spirit insect—just one without any known record!
On the Witch Insect Registry, silkworm-type spirit insects were fairly common, but every one possessed distinct, well-defined traits. Even the mythical Insect of the Witch God—the spirit silkworm that achieved immortality through nine metamorphoses—had detailed accounts among the Witch Clan.
Yet not a single detail aligned with the plump creature before him.
None of them possessed such a chaotic blend of colors.
Moreover, setting aside its vibrant hue, the fat silkworm appeared utterly mundane.
It possessed no perceptible power and seemed just like an ordinary insect. For a moment, Qin Sang could not even discern which metamorphosis stage it was in, or whether it truly was a spirit insect at all.
Yet the scene unfolding before his eyes left no room for doubt.
The fat silkworm was blissfully licking up the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold, its tubby body swaying side to side, radiating immense satisfaction.
There had been very little Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold on the bark. Once it finished licking the patch clean, the fat silkworm simply let go of the trunk and fell back into the mud with a soft plop. Flipping over, it wriggled diligently once more, scurrying toward another spot coated with Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold to gorge itself.
Since Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold held such immense temptation for it, it had to be a spirit insect. Perhaps it was a species unseen by both the Witch Clan and humans, or one that had appeared in ancient times only to go extinct, leaving even its records lost to history.
The Color-Ringed Giant Earthworm was fiercely territorial.
If the fat silkworm was indeed a spirit insect, it suggested the Color-Ringed Giant Earthworm had already abandoned the marsh.
Could such an inept-looking fat silkworm truly possess the strength to drive off a Color-Ringed Giant Earthworm? Had the earthworm migrated on its own accord, or was this creature far stronger than it appeared?
Qin Sang grew solemn. Years of hard-won experience had taught him that spirit insects, much like people, could not be judged by appearances alone.
With this thought, he quietly unfastened his mustard seed bag and summoned a refined corpse.
The refined corpse drifted down from the canopy, treading lightly across the mud. Emitting a distinct aura of corpse qi, it closed in on the fat silkworm.
To Qin Sang's surprise, the fat silkworm paid it no heed at all. Without even turning its head, it continued ravenously licking Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold off a grass stalk—until the refined corpse pinched its rear and hoisted it straight up into the air.
The refined corpse turned around and held the fat silkworm out toward Qin Sang's hiding spot, its expression completely blank.
The fat silkworm squirmed in the corpse's grasp, stretching its upper body desperately toward the remaining Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold, but it could not overcome the corpse's immense strength.
It snapped its mouth down on the corpse's iron-hard finger, yet failed to leave even a scratch.
A smear of fluid rubbed off onto the corpse's finger. It was unclear whether it was saliva or venom; it seemed mildly toxic, but the potency was so negligible that the corpse qi easily repelled it.
It seemed to have exhausted all its tricks, yet it refused to give up hope, straining to stretch its chubby body a little further toward the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold.
Witnessing this, Qin Sang was rendered completely speechless.
After a moment's thought, he emerged from concealment and flitted down. Wrapping his fingers in true essence, he pinched the fat silkworm. After inspecting it closely for a time, he confirmed the truth: the fat silkworm was not feigning weakness. It was genuinely this pathetic!
"What on earth is this thing?"
Qin Sang rubbed his temples in frustration, lamenting his terrible luck.
He had wasted Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold and so much time, only to first hook an absurdly overpowered Dark Stinkbug, and now lure out a completely useless lump of a silkworm.
Even a newly hatched spirit insect would not be this helpless.
Pinching the fat silkworm, Qin Sang allowed it to lick away the remaining Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold from the surrounding area. Only then did the creature settle down, sprawling flat across his finger and drifting into a deep, snoring sleep.
It did not look like it was undergoing a metamorphosis; it simply seemed... stuffed.
After gobbling up his precious Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold, it dared to use his hand as a bed.
Qin Sang sorely wished to fling it away, but the thought that this was an unrecorded spirit insect—and one so weak, yet somehow occupying the lair of a Color-Ringed Giant Earthworm and surviving in this perilous marsh—made him hesitate.
One had to remember that aside from the lethal poison mist, numerous poison-loving demon beasts inhabited this place. It was a den of predators.
In the end, Qin Sang dropped it into an insect basket, intending to consult Witch Clan records upon his return to see if he could uncover its origins.
With his setup in this area ruined by the fat silkworm, Qin Sang fastened the basket lid and glanced around.
"Has the Color-Ringed Giant Earthworm really left the marsh?"
Doubtful and reluctant to give up so easily, he circled the core of the toxic marsh and placed bait in three other directions, attempting to lure it out again.
Yet in the end, the Color-Ringed Giant Earthworm never appeared. It was truly gone.
After expending so much effort, all he had gained was a useless fat silkworm.
Without knowing its true nature, Qin Sang certainly would not choose it as his natal insect gu. At most, when it underwent a metamorphosis, he might use secret arts from the Yuling Sect to bind it.
Judging by its current clumsy performance, its future prospects seemed grim.
Another wasted journey!
Qin Sang did not know whether to laugh or cry. Resigning himself to his exasperation, he set off toward his next destination.
Chapter 645