"For ordinary living creatures, divine blood is an unbearable burden. Tiny cicadas like these originally couldn't withstand it either, but by laying eggs, they passed the rampant energy within the divine blood on to the next generation!"
He Lingchuan understood. "So that's why the growth cycle of the seventy-year cicadas suddenly shortened?"
"Precisely! Think about it: their normal growth period takes up to seventy years—how much nourishment would they need to absorb during that time? The power of the divine blood filled them up all at once, triggering the seventy-year cicadas to rapidly develop. From egg to adult, it took merely a dozen breaths at its fastest."
"Even so, they still couldn't bear the power of the divine blood, so they needed to transfer it away again."
"Oh," He Lingchuan said. "By reproducing again?"
"Right. By passing it down generation after generation like this, the power of the divine blood also grows weaker and weaker." Dong Rui chuckled. "Look, now the strange cicadas' growth cycle has already lengthened to six to ten hours. I reckon in another half month, it'll stabilize and won't lengthen any further."
"The most intriguing thing is that seventy-year cicadas aren't even considered monsters, yet when stimulated by divine blood, they didn't suffer excessive aberrations. This—this is truly incredible!"
He Lingchuan recalled what those two strange cicadas looked like. "Good grief, that doesn't count as an aberration?"
"They didn't grow an extra two heads, sprout four or five extra legs, or develop three or four pairs of wings—how could that count as an aberration?"
He Lingchuan rubbed his nose. Why was he even bothering to argue with this mad scientist? The two of them had completely different standards for what constituted an aberration. Just consider what the ghost ape, the werewolf, and the spider puppets Dong Rui had successfully modified looked like. And what about the ones he hadn't successfully modified? Wouldn't they make up an entire genealogical tree of monstrosities?
"Growing larger, sucking blood, eating people—those are all manifestations of adapting to the divine blood, quite mild changes really." The larger the body, the more energy it could hold; eating both meat and vegetation gave them a much broader food source. When the strange cicadas swarmed out, they blotted out the sky and sun, and every mouthful of food had to be contested against their own kind.
"Yeah, yeah, you're right."
Dong Rui was brimming with enthusiasm. "I used to think only demons could withstand the power of divine blood. Who would have thought the seventy-year cicada would open up a completely new direction for me!"
Even powerful demons couldn't endure the power of divine blood. He had never imagined that something as weak and insignificant as the seventy-year cicada could actually tame the power of divine blood through such a wondrous method of intergenerational transmission!
Life truly found a way.
He had gained new inspiration for his demon puppet research.
Seeing its master cheer up again, the ghost ape quietly lowered the paws clutching its head and scooped up another small handful of nuts from the table.
Of course, He Lingchuan's focus wasn't on Dong Rui's research. "Then let me ask you: is there any way to eradicate this cicada plague?"
"Eradicate it?" Dong Rui was still riding his wave of excitement and couldn't shift his train of thought. "Why do you want to exterminate pests for Mount Rong?"
He Lingchuan coughed lightly. "I came to Mount Rong to borrow someone. I've taken a liking to that Qiu Hu, but unless the cicada plague in Mount Rong is eliminated, he refuses to leave with us."
"And what else?" The He Lingchuan that Dong Rui knew would never act on such a flimsy reason. "Don't tell me you prize talent like your own life."
"Of course I prize talent like my own life." He Lingchuan smiled. He also wanted to do the Mount Rong Sect a major favor, because he would soon have use for it.
"Just look at Mount Rong's territory and you can tell it's a major local sect with deep foundations, nothing like those petty Daoist orders." Mount Rong's territory was substantial, larger than two Xiazhou provinces. It sat on the northwestern edge of Beijia, sharing a small border with the Baling Kingdom. Although Daoist orders were numerous in this world, sects that could possess their own territories, rich with resources, fertile farmland, and mines, were actually few and far between.
Simply put, the Mount Rong Sect had real power.
He Lingchuan patted Dong Rui's shoulder. "Wouldn't it be nice to have them owe you a favor?"
For rogue cultivators like them, when would they ever normally get a chance to put Mount Rong in their debt?
As expected, this reason easily swayed Dong Rui. He pondered for a moment. "The mutation of the strange cicadas will probably stop in half a month. Though their form will solidify, their man-eating habits will remain. I estimate that the time they remain burrowed underground will lengthen to at least two months or more, making them extremely covert. By then, trying to eradicate them will be even harder."
"It's already very hard right now. Elder Dao said nearly all the disciples of Mount Rong have mobilized to patrol everywhere, rooting out every nest they find. They've been doing this for two months, but they still can't eradicate the cicada scourge." Controlling pests was difficult in any world, especially when the enemy swarmed in numbers that blotted out the sun.
"The two cicadas Zhu Daniang caught are already dead. I didn't kill them; they died from bursting under the raw power of the divine blood because they had no chance to mate." Dong Rui reflected. "So once they develop into adults, they must mate and lay eggs immediately."
He Lingchuan asked him again, "By the way, why did the creatures and monsters in the Wange Marsh go mad as well?"
"Need you even ask? It must be because they ate the cicada corpses." Dong Rui stroked his chin. "I'd like to make a trip back to see how things are at home."
He Lingchuan gave a dry cough. "Better not."
"Hm?" Dong Rui stared at him, a sudden ominous premonition welling up in his heart. "Why?!"
"Word of the anomalies in Wange Marsh reached Lingxu City long ago. The Heavenly Palace has already sent people there to investigate. Going back now would be walking right into your sworn enemies."
Dong Rui was terrified of the Heavenly Palace right now and avoided them like the plague; how could he dare get close? But he also grew suspicious. "Why would the Heavenly Palace pay attention to the Wange Marsh?"
"I wouldn't know about that," He Lingchuan lied with an innocent expression. Could he really tell Dong Rui that it was because he had someone take the Dragon-Torture Pillar into Wange Marsh and jam it around indiscriminately, thereby attracting the celestial god's loving attention?
Cough, it seemed he managed to mess things up for Dong Rui every single time.
Still, he hadn't known beforehand that Dong Rui had made his nest there.
"Maybe because of the divine blood?" He Lingchuan shrugged. "Just because he couldn't explain the source of the divine blood in his possession, even National Preceptor Qingyang was imprisoned by the Heavenly Palace. That shows you just how seriously the celestial gods take this stuff."
Dong Rui gave an "Oh," but on second thought, realized something wasn't right. "Wait a minute. Before the Heavenly Palace sent people there, how would they know the anomalies in Wange Marsh had anything to do with divine blood?"
"That was just a guess of mine." He Lingchuan remained completely innocent, sounding totally self-assured. "Can you ever fathom how the Heavenly Palace operates?"
"True enough." Dong Rui didn't overthink it and let out a lament. "Looks like my home won't escape their clutches!"
If the Heavenly Palace sent investigators to Wange Marsh and the original incident took place near his home, they would definitely loot his place while they were at it.
"Look on the bright side—" He Lingchuan said in a low voice. "We looted their home, too."
They had wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace at Mount Xu, blowing the celestial god's terrestrial abode sky-high.
How much junk could Dong Rui have at home anyway? If they really calculated the tally, it still seemed they had gotten the better deal.
"See? Zhu Erniang already paid you your reward and taught you the method to extend the lifespan of demon puppets. You haven't lost out on this trip," He Lingchuan said, vaguely steering the conversation away. "Alright, let's get back to the matter at hand."
Chapter 757