Chen Wentian, as Chen Mo, followed the mantis beast to the upper realms of the giant tree where there was a flat platform constructed from branches, leaves, and something that looked like insect spit. It was a wide area that was big as a mansion and was completely protected from the sky above by layers and layers of thick leaves.
The most eye-catching thing on this platform was of course the queen praying mantis, a large beast that was over five meters from head to tail. It had smaller claws than the gray mantis but it had a huge distended abdomen that was greenish-brown. Its carapace was brilliant green and gave off an aura of rich with life, much like the huge tree that was its home.
This mantis queen was the ruler of this endless forest that was as large as two or three human provinces. It was the reason the Glittering Forest was able to stand up against human attacks for five hundred years. It was a supremely powerful insect beast that ruled over all insects within its realm.
The gray mantis wanted to walk up but was stopped by a wall of oppressive energy. The level of spiritual pressure from this mantis queen was even greater than the toad king, by at least a few stages of strengthening.
Nothing was allowed to bother the queen while it was busy… feeding.
It held a naked man in its claws and was taking large bites him. The unlucky victim's head and arms were already gone, leaving half a torso and the dangling legs. The ground around the queen was covered with human blood, much more than what could come from one person. To the side lay ten or so unconscious cultivators in a pile, more food for its voracious appetite.
Once the last bits of the victim went into the beast's stomach, it cleaned its claws and pulled the next one over. The man was awoken but he almost passed out again from coming face to face with a hideous insect.
The man was still a cultivator at the upper Spirit Imitate Realm and he vainly summoned his Dao arts for one last stand.
"Kakaka, you are quite handsome!" A shrill, high-pitched voice came from the queen.
Chen Wentian felt disturbed for the first time. Most beasts cared nothing about a human's appearance, unless…
The queen confirmed his fears when it followed that statement by ripping the man's clothes to dust with spiritual energy. Its green eyes as big as washbowls peered downward, straight at the man's groin.
"Why is it so small??" It asked.
The man didn't answer and only gave a slight whimper in defeat.
"No matter…"
The queen opened its mouth and a glittering pheromone drifted forth. The man's mouth and nose were forcibly opened and forced to inhale. A few seconds later, the man's skin turned rosy and his dick which had shriveled up like tofu skin expanded to full size. His balls which had tried to bury their way into his prostate also loosened and answered the artificial arousal.
The man was now ready to make love to a woman… except what stood before him was no woman.
"That's much better! Although still a bit on the small side…" The queen mused and grabbed the man with its hindlegs.
It shook its large abdomen and turned it to face forward. It shoved the man's naked waist down and lined it up with its…
Chen Wentian watched in disgusted fascination as the queen mated with the man. It shrieked in apparent pleasure, causing the entire platform to shake from the force. The man uttered no sound but tears and snot rolled down his face. It was apparent that the man was aware of his tragic situation. He was not in control of his body and he could only live through the final moments of his life in horrifying pleasure.
The man was forced to ejaculate ten times over the course of about ten minutes. The queen tried several times to coax more out of him but he was completely spent. It gave a look of disappointment and lifted him to its face and…
Chomp!
The man's head was bitten clean off.
"Ahhhh!" The beast gave a satisfied sigh after swallowing. "Human spunk is the best!"
It savored the post-coitus meal and once finished, repeated the same actions with the other captured men one by one.
These cultivators were not just from Beast God Sanctum, they were from at least five different sects. They were probably captured trying to explore the Glittering Forest or during battles with the monster invasion. There were also many more human spiritual energy signatures around, meaning there were more prisoners stashed away to satisfy the queen's appetite and desires.
After finishing with all the men, the queen preened itself and cleaned the platform before landing in the center. It went silent for a few seconds before letting out a ferocious burst of spiritual energy.
Boom!
The beast's body visibly shrank until it was less than two meters tall. Everything shrank down proportionately and its limbs became noticeably less insect-like, losing some of sharp spines and claws. It still had six limbs; a pair of claws and four hind legs, but it tried to stand up straight using only two legs.
It gave another huge blast of spiritual energy and there were a few more transformations. The large abdomen and ovipositor shrank by about half. The middle pair of legs also shrank and folded away. It still definitely looked like an insect with its ugly triangular head and huge wings but if one were to squint from far away, it definitely had a humanoid appearance.
Chen Wentian was astonished. This Spirit King mantis was trying to become an origin beast!
Although it still failed at the head and face which were the most important parts, it still made quite good progress otherwise. For it to make such progress by itself was extremely impressive. It had to have some special attributes or abilities.
He dug into his memory and one name finally emerged, the Verdant Mantis Matriarch!
The Verdant Mantis Matriarch was a rare species with a special ability. It was more similar in habit to humanoid monsters like jueyuan and goblins than insects. While those monsters enjoyed human females, the mantis matriarch liked human males.
It fed off of male yang essence to grow stronger and more intelligent. Physical differences such as size and anatomy didn't matter. It was probably capable of mating with males of other beasts but it preferred humans for obvious reasons.
The evolutions of beasts involved learning human language and gaining human form. Humans were adaptable. They were intelligent. They were one of the premier races in the cultivation world and ruled vast swaths of land with their mind rather than their brute strength.
Humans came up with all sorts of cultivation arts and practiced many different Daos. Beasts, on the contrary, were limited. They were born into a specific path and their cultivation path was set by their innate skills and affinities.
The Verdant Mantis Matriarch could not only cultivate through male essence, it could also absorb the strengths of that male and pass some of it to its offspring. This tree was a huge nursery for its brood and it was able to create a vast army of mantis with different powers. The huge sacs attached to branches all over were the queen's ootheca, containing thousands if not millions of eggs.
The scariest fact was that if the mantis matriarch became an origin beast, it would be able to give birth to extremely intelligent offspring that could easily become wisdom beasts. If it got even stronger and reached the upper realms, it could perhaps even produce origin beasts!