"Fang came for himself, not in response to your invitation," the Dead Leaf Cicada, known to all as Old Devil Fang, transmitted coldly.
The Grand Shaman took no offense at Old Devil Fang's attitude. "With Fellow Daoist Fang here, you serve as a deterrent to them, making things much easier for me. As for what you intend to do upon entering the Hall of Seven Kills, I will not meddle excessively. I only hope that, for the time being, you can play along with my performance in front of Lingzhuzi."
Old Devil Fang fell silent for a moment and said nothing more, seemingly offering his tacit consent.
Seeing this, a hint of joy surfaced on the Grand Shaman's face. "Fellow Daoist has arrived at just the right time. Manipulating this Thousand Swords Formation alone was proving rather strenuous for me; with your assistance, it will be much easier."
Pausing, the Grand Shaman made one final attempt: "Will Fellow Daoist truly not consider collaborating with me this once? If we can find the ancient shamanic heritage, it would benefit our Witch Clan for generations to come, and both of us would reap the rewards, perhaps catching a glimpse of an opportunity for Deity Transformation. Perhaps there might even be great hope of restoring your human body. After all, human cultivation techniques have always been somewhat ill-suited to our Witch Clan. The higher a cultivator's realm, the more pronounced that disharmony becomes. Otherwise, why has our Witch Clan never produced a single Deity Transformation cultivator? Surely Fellow Daoist realized this when attempting your Nascent Soul formation..."
Before the Grand Shaman could finish, Old Devil Fang cut her off. "Fang has meager cultivation and cares only for himself. I lack the Grand Shaman's compassionate heart and grand ambition to bless future generations. What you presented earlier was not enough to convince me. That an ancient shamanic heritage would be hidden within a sacred ground of the human race is utterly absurd! There is no need for further pointless talk. I will play along with your charade, but once inside the Hall of Seven Kills, I will not be bound by you."
"Handling Lingzhuzi already leaves me at my wit's end; how could I have the energy to constrain you?" The Grand Shaman sighed faintly. "Then I thank you, Fellow Daoist Fang!"
Their exchange was brief, and onlookers could not hear a word of it. All they saw was the Grand Shaman personally stepping forward and cordially ushering Old Devil Fang back to their camp.
The other Witch Clan Nascent Soul cultivators bowed to Old Devil Fang one after another with immense deference.
To all appearances, they seemed to have arranged this long ago, causing the expressions of the human Nascent Soul cultivators to sour.
"I did not expect Fellow Daoist Fang to emerge from seclusion in the Spirit Cicada Cave as well! That only makes this old Daoist all the more curious. Setting aside the Inner Hall that opens once every few centuries, the Hall of Seven Kills has long been scoured inch by inch countless times by generations of human seniors. What could there possibly be left that warrants two figures such as yourselves condescending to investigate in person?"
Lingzhuzi narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared at the Grand Shaman and Old Devil Fang, speaking in an indifferent tone.
Old Devil Fang remained silent.
The Grand Shaman spoke up, a trace of mockery in her tone: "Fellow Daoist Lingzhuzi will probably stick to my side like the Demon Lord did last time, will you not? When the time comes, won't you know what I am looking for? Why bother asking such a superfluous question?"
"This old Daoist indeed intends to accompany the Grand Shaman to broaden my horizons. Perhaps I may even lend a hand when the Grand Shaman runs into difficulties."
Lingzhuzi admitted it with utter frankness, before pivoting: "However, what this old Daoist worries about most right now is that the number of Nascent Soul cultivators entering the Hall of Seven Kills exceeds the limit, and the Thousand Swords Formation will be unable to flawlessly conceal our auras. When breaching the barrier, that could trigger the immortal formation's vigilance, creating complications and dragging everyone down."
"Isn't that simple enough?"
The Grand Shaman gave a cold scoff, turning to look at an elderly man. "Elder Feng?"
The old man understood immediately. He took out a jade talisman and presented it to Old Devil Fang. "Fellow Daoist Fang, this is the protective jade talisman. I shall now head outside the storm and await the Grand Shaman and Fellow Daoist Fang."
The talisman looked similar to the one in Qin Sang's possession, but the runes inscribed upon it were several times more complex.
Old Devil Fang accepted the jade talisman without ceremony.
The old man turned and departed, disappearing into the storm within a few flickers.
The Grand Shaman said to Lingzhuzi, "Fellow Daoist need not worry now, right?"
Lingzhuzi did not press the issue further. He said nothing more, and after a moment of quiet contemplation, he suddenly sent a voice transmission to the human Nascent Soul cultivators: "Old Devil Fang's unexpected appearance means we must adjust our strategy..."
Upon hearing Lingzhuzi's words, the Nascent Soul cultivators displayed varying expressions.
A few demonic cultivators looked grim, seemingly very dissatisfied with Lingzhuzi's arrangements.
Old Devil Mou, in particular, looked the most disgruntled.
"Complete these tasks, and afterward you may hunt for treasures as you please. If anyone dares ignore this old Daoist's words and compromises the grand plan, there will be no need for me to act—the Demon Lord himself will not tolerate you..."
Lingzhuzi stared at those demonic cultivators, a cold glint flashing in his eyes as he gave a cold snort.
The demonic cultivators exchanged glances, their expressions shifting several times, but in the end they said nothing more.
A flicker of urgency hid deep within Old Devil Mou's eyes. His gaze flickered as he silently surveyed the other Nascent Soul cultivators, then looked down at the Core Formation crowd waiting outside, lowering his head in contemplation.
Qin Sang and the others naturally had no idea what kind of undercurrents were stirring among the Nascent Soul Patriarchs.
Ever since the Dead Leaf Cicada appeared, the Core Formation cultivators had been buzzing with discussion.
"Is he the Witch Clan's illustrious Fang... the legendary one who failed his Nascent Soul formation and actually merged with his fourth-metamorphosis natal insect gu?"
"That's him! I thought it was just a rumor, but to think we're seeing the man himself!"
Even the human cultivators were shocked by Old Devil Fang's feat, their hearts filled with admiration. One asked a nearby Witch Clan cultivator, "He must be the first and only one in history to pull that off, right?"
The Witch Clan cultivator nodded. "In our Witch Clan, there might have been more than one person who entertained the notion of merging their origin soul with their natal insect gu, but Senior Fang is the only one who actually succeeded. It is said that after Senior Fang pulled it off, many fellow Daoists with no hope of forming a Nascent Soul attempted to emulate him. Every last one of them perished, their cultivation lost. Some even had their souls scattered along with their natal insect gu, losing all chance of reincarnation."
"What a ruthless man..."
...
Qin Sang moved closer, listening to their chatter, and murmured in some astonishment, "It's actually him!"
Back when he had first arrived in the Canglang Sea and landed on the Witch God Continent, he had heard the legend of Old Devil Fang.
What this man had done was utterly astounding; even in the remote Western Frontier, tales of him had circulated. Even more shocking was that he had truly succeeded, turning into a spirit insect body and continuing to live on in good health.
The Grand Shaman had personally welcomed him, evidently regarding him with great esteem.
It seemed that not only had he broken through the Nascent Soul bottleneck by doing this, but his cultivation had not stagnated either, allowing him to stand on equal footing with the Grand Shaman.
"Is Senior Fang also a Great Cultivator of the late Nascent Soul stage?" Qin Sang chimed in to ask.
The Witch Clan cultivator glanced at him. Hearing Qin Sang also address him respectfully as "Senior," his tone softened. "Senior Fang's situation is special and unique; no one can say for sure what his true realm is. However, Senior Fang's fame is no less than the Grand Shaman's, so his strength shouldn't be far off, right?"
After that, Qin Sang overheard a few more anecdotes about Old Devil Fang.
However, with the man himself right in front of them, no one dared speak carelessly, keeping their remarks brief and cautious.
Old Devil Fang possessed not only renown but also a fearsome reputation—an eccentric figure, neither purely righteous nor evil, and utterly ruthless.
Chapter 929