Chapter 1 - Death
In the vast expanse of the cosmos there was a blue planet enveloped in celestial clouds and veiled by a shroud of translucent gases revolving around a majestic and radiant bright star, the golden sun. As the planet slowly danced through its celestial choreography, not one, but two moons lingered around it.
The larger moon, a pearl-white luminary, dominates the cosmic stage with its radiance, bathing the world below in silvery hues during its nocturnal reign. Beside it, a smaller companion, a celestial sibling, gleams with an ethereal, almost iridescent glow—its presence adding an enchanting duality to the nightly spectacle.
The inhabitants referred to this realm as The Mystical Nexus Realm, and they named the blue planet Etheric Gaia. The planet was comprised of five continents, each of them spanning millions of miles, where a vast amount of creatures lived.
In the southern-most part of the eastern continent lay a swamp called The Eversack Marsh. The air there was thick with humidity, and the atmosphere resonated with the sounds of unseen creatures. Massive ancient trees with twisted roots stood as sentinels, their trunks partially submerged in murky waters. Bioluminescent flora illuminated the outer reaches of the swamp, casting an eerie yet enchanting glow.
The vast and mysterious marsh was comprised of hundreds of regions, each boasting unique qualities shaped by the diverse ecosystems within. Yet, despite the allure of its natural wonders, the absence of human settlements across the entirety of the swamp was striking, except for some small outposts that were constantly besieged by monsters. The complexity and diversity of the creatures dwelling in these shadowed realms deterred even the most adventurous creatures.
On the other hand, this very complexity and diversity made The Eversack Marsh highly coveted by sentient creatures dwelling beyond its borders. To them, the swamp was a living, breathing treasure trove—a sanctuary of rare plants, deadly poisons, ancient bloodlines, and formidable beasts. It promised untold riches for those who dared to venture within, a promise that is echoed even through the Green Gateway, the outermost layer of the swamp.
It was commonly referred to as the Green Gateway due to its lower level of danger compared to the heart of the swamp. This region marked the entry point for those bold enough to test their mettle. Here, under the spectral glow of the two moons, two groups clashed fiercely, their shouts echoing through the twisted branches and dense foliage, blending with the cacophony of the swamp's creatures in the midst of the night.
"Zhong Wu, are you out of your mind? We're from the same sect. The elders won't accept this!" shouted a blonde young woman. Her forehead veins bulged, and yet her frightened expression was evident in her eyes contrary the anger that she was trying to convey in her tone as she addressed the group who stood opposite to her.
Facing her were four young men in their twenties, clad in a peculiar dark red uniform comprising a light robe with loose sleeves and regular pants. The young woman's group sported identical outfits, except for the lighter color of their robes.
Two of them were able to conceal their features beneath the hoods, even though the hoods weren't fully extended to cover those parts, a testament to the magical properties imbued in this seemingly ordinary clothing.
The man at the very front of the group which seemed like the leader of the group had short, dark green hair, a hint of facial hair accentuating his rugged appearance, and a distinctive golden earring adorned his left ear. The man stood at the center of the group without a hood, and his mocking tone, dripping with contempt, disrupted the air.
"Shut up, bitch. How stupid are you, really?" he sneered, his friends chiming in with laughter, a collective agreement resonating among them.
"From the same sect? Don't tell me you've spent ten months in the sect, and you still think a lowly, untalented outer sect disciple, no different from a servant, is considered as one of us?" he continued, wearing an incredulous expression as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. To him, the notion of camaraderie that would lead to any form of sacrifice among disciples of the same sect was absurd, be it an outer or inner one it doesn't matter one bit. However, he couldn't voice such thoughts here, surrounded by the other inner sect disciples.
Upon hearing his words and seeing the blatant disregard evident in his eyes, the other two men accompanying the woman couldn't help but tremble, feeling as if their hearts were gripped by an unseen force. One of them appeared to be engaged in a psychological battle within himself, and suddenly, his eyes gleamed dangerously.
He stealthily retrieved a dagger from the back of his pants and thrust it into the back of the other man, who unfortunately happened to be positioned somewhat in front of him, rendering him unable to perceive the impending attack.
Feeling the sharp pain in his back the youth who appeared to be no older than 18 years old turned to look at his "colleague" with a shocked expression. "Huo Jing, you...why?", tremendous amounts of blood made its way into his respiratory tract that he couldn't even finish what he was trying to say and so he just ended it with a single why filled with despair as he fell to the ground with his gaze unwavering from his attacker.
The woman, on the other hand, felt as if she was trapped in some sort of hellish nightmare. She couldn't believe what was happening and was slowly losing hope by the second. Even when intercepted by the inner disciples led by Zhong Wu, she still assumed they'd merely steal their belongings and deliver a beating.
Things escalated far too quickly for her, or perhaps she was the only gullible fool unable to read the room. Her late father had often shared stories about the insanity and bloodthirstiness of most cultivators, but in her teenage dream of becoming an immortal cultivator, she dismissed it as the exaggeration of a worried parent. In the midst of this unpredictable turn of events—at least, that's how she perceived it—she couldn't help but go through this thought process.
Then, her eyes couldn't help but light up one tiny bit as she thought of the other alternative. Maybe Huo Jing is the idiot who couldn't read the room and went overboard? Thinking up to here she couldn't help but remove her eyes from the pitiful disciple who was slowly but surely dying and looked towards the group of the inner disciple.
"Hahahaha, Huo Jing was it?", The man in the lead bellowed with laughter after seeing what happened. "Good, good! You are intelligent I like that, now you know what you have to do right?"
Hearing his carefree laughter as if he was watching a show the woman despaired, even more so when she saw how unperturbed the other disciples who were with him were.
'It seems like I'm the only naive fool here', she thought with a defeated look. Just as she was slowly giving in to her defeat and was about to fall weakly to the ground on her own accord, she saw a dagger swiftly making its way towards her throat.
*Clang*
She raised her right arm and easily deflected the attack coming from someone whom she thought was an innocent disciple from the same sect, someone she considered just like a friend. Seeing the mad and fierce look in his eyes woke her up, directing all of that anger towards him.
She sent a kick to his stomach, which easily landed and sent him flying like a kite. He crashed into the bark of a nearby tree and she immediately fled in the opposite direction, hoping to use the group's momentary pause to reach their sect's outpost in the Green Gateway as it wasn't that far from where they were.
Seeing her run away the group couldn't help but faintly smile at her incessant stupidity thinking she could run from them. Zhong Wu gave Huo Jin who fell one last look before hastily tailing right behind her with a huge grin. "Let's go.", he whispered, and they all ran in the same direction following after her.
The guy who was stabbed was called Lei Yan; he was an outer sect disciple who joined The Red Marsh Sect ten months ago in the last disciple recruitment ceremony. His performance there could be described in one word: average.
Personality-wise, he was somewhat antisocial and always kept to himself. However, only Lei Yan knew that his actual name was Elliot; he was originally from Earth. After his death, he was transmigrated into this world of cultivation one month ago.
He woke up and found himself in a strange forest in the body of a stranger. It was only after going through the memories of the original Lei Yan that he understood he was in a completely new world. And, of course, he also knew how Lei Yan died.
His death could be said to be pitiful and anticlimactic; he was looking for plants in the forest on his own when he suddenly found himself in the middle of a fight between two ferocious beasts: a python and a strange-looking monkey.
Unfortunately, the monsters were so strong that the energy generated by their movements moved whatever there was on the ground at a frightening speed and a small rock made its way into his heart killing him instantly.
Thankfully, the wound healed after Elliot became the main owner of that body, and all that was left of the previous Lei Yan was merely an empty hole in the chest area of the robe he was wearing. All that was left of a person with his own set of dreams, fears, goals, and what have you, was a tattered robe.
"We're both so pitiful," Elliot, or rather Lei Yan now, thought, as a tear couldn't help but fall down from his face to his ears and slowly made its way into the ground.
"Sorry, Lei Yan, but what could I have done? Death was inevitable for all of us as weak Body Forging disciples facing Foundation Establishment inner disciples," uttered Huo Jin after he stood up with a lot of difficulty, grimacing as he felt pain all over his body.
Lei Yan just glanced at him for a second before turning his gaze to look at the brightly lit night sky.
Huo Jin stood up with difficulty and slowly made his way into his direction, and when he reached him, he grabbed the pouch by Lei Yan's waist that was used to store spirit stones and other resources attempting to take it for himself.
Seeing this guy so brazen and unashamedly looting his still-living corpse, Lei Yan couldn't help but become furious even though he was at death's door. He forcefully grabbed and squeezed Huo Jin's arms in an attempt to stop him. Not because he wanted those resources— he who had died previously knew more than anyone that death was coming. He was just so tired of it all and this was his attempt to make one last stand in order not to feel so weak and pitiful even in death.
Chapter 2 - Mission
Due to his injuries, Huo Jin actually felt pain after his arm got grabbed even though Lei Yan's strength was diminishing by the second as he neared his certain death, prompting him to retaliate by kicking the almost dead Lei Yan in the stomach in an attempt to make him let go.
However, this proved to be useless as Lei Yan kept holding on with everything that he had, further enraging Huo Jin. Subconsciously, or perhaps consciously, he felt very guilty, even though to him, the reasoning was crystal clear—they would've died regardless, so he might as well save himself. Seeing Lei Yan being so stubborn and frankly pitiful made him feel even more guilty and thus angrier.
'Why can't you just fucking understand and die like the nobody that you are,' he thought.
Summoning all the strength he could muster in his grievously injured state, Huo Jin forcefully pulled his arm back.
Thud
The force was so strong that Lei Yan's body couldn't help but move, causing his face to crash directly into the earth.
Feeling the life slowly seeping out of his body, Lei Yan lay there in an awkward position that he perceived as shameful in a puddle of his own blood, having died for the second time at the hands of those he considered the lowest of the low.
He couldn't help but harbor some intense self-hatred as well, directed not only at his own weakness but also at the world itself. This hatred, paradoxically, was the only thing keeping him tethered to life. The urge to cry and wail welled up within him, but he resisted, unwilling to allow himself to sink that low even to the end.
Crying in that moment felt worse than death to him—not just because Huo Jin was gradually leaving and would hear him if he did so; that was only a small part of it. After the ordeals on Earth, he had vowed to never let himself be reduced to such a pitiful state.
Yet, here he was, dying in an even more wretched condition by people who didn't pay him any mind whatsoever. Them killing him was apparently so easy and effortless that no one spared him even just a single word, be it out of sympathy or mockery, none.
He clenched his fists with all the strength he had left, an attempt to vent the fury slowly consuming him. His knuckles turned white as his skin stretched, preventing the blood from flowing, and blood slowly dripped down from his palm where his nails had pierced into his own flesh.
Regrettably, his wound proved too fatal, and he lost an excessive amount of blood. His consciousness was slowly but surely fading away. In just a couple of moments, the fist that had been holding on with all of its might slowly opened, as the body it belonged to no longer had a heartbeat.
The complete and utter darkness that Lei Yan was waiting for didn't arrive as expected. Instead, he felt himself getting sucked into a swirling vortex of energy. It was as if he was passing through a cosmic tunnel, surrounded by streams of ethereal light and strange patterns that danced before his eyes.
'What in the world is happening?', he thought. Even for him who had died and transmigrated before this was something that was unexpected, because the last time after the pain subsided it felt like going to sleep as he woke up in a new body and a new world after an unknown amount of time.
Now on the other hand...
The sensation was disorienting, and Lei Yan lost all sense of time and space. He could feel the energy coursing through every fiber of his being, a sensation that was both exhilarating and unnerving. Vague memories of his past life flashed before him like fleeting dreams, and he wondered if this journey through the unknown was the result of some legendary immortal master taking pity on him and thus teleporting him to a safe refuge to be healed.
Just as quickly as it began, the swirling energy subsided, leaving Lei Yan in a suspended state of weightlessness. The darkness lifted, replaced by a soft, diffused light. As he regained his senses, he realized that he was no longer in his human form. Instead, he found himself in a surreal environment, surrounded by translucent walls that pulsed with an otherworldly glow.
Before he could comprehend the nature of his surroundings, Lei Yan felt a strange sensation throughout his entire being. It was as if his very essence was being reshaped. The boundaries of his consciousness blurred, and a profound connection with a new form of existence took hold.
In the next moment, Lei Yan awakened with a jolt. The surroundings were vastly different, and he was no longer in control of a human body. Instead, he found himself as a tiny, squirming creature in a damp and dimly lit environment. The air was thick, and the atmosphere was hot but also cool? Lei Yan, now a mosquito larvae, felt a strange instinct, a foreign knowledge that surged through him, making him acutely aware of his identity. It was as if an innate understanding that had been with him all of his life.
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| Initiating System Sequence... |
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A strange, lifeless, and somewhat robotic sound echoed through his mind out of nowhere scaring him even further.
'System Sequence? What is that?' Just when he thought that the world couldn't get any more bizarre and beyond comprehension after he was transmigrated here, something even more shocking happened. The fact that he was now a mosquito larvae was pushed down the list of priorities for the time being because he had already made peace with the notion of reincarnation, unlike whatever was happening right then and there.
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| System Sequence Complete. |
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A moment of silence followed, leaving an air of anticipation. Lei Yan, now a mosquito larvae, felt an inexplicable surge of alertness and focus. His tiny form quivered with bated breath, awaiting whatever would happen next in the wake of the completed system sequence.
[System can't be bound to host unless a condition is met.]
'System bound to host?' Lei Yan had no idea what that could possibly mean in the context of him dying yet again and getting transported into the body of a mosquito larvae. If his guess was correct, he was still inside the egg.
However, he quickly realized the pointlessness of these speculations for now. Although somewhat freaked out by whatever was happening to him—other than the fact that he was now a mosquito—he needed to swiftly adapt and channel his mental energy and focus on the most crucial matter at hand.
'What condition?', Lei Yan tried his best to communicate with whatever intelligence was operating in the insides of his own consciousness. The voice then continued though he had no idea if he managed to convey his message or it was simply continuing whatever it was going to say regardless.
[Preparing for the mission details...]
Then out of nowhere his field of vision that was previously dominated by what he guessed was the egg encasing was now consumed by a strange and seemingly ancient yet cutting edge technological interface with dark grey color?
[System Integration Mission:
- Kill and consume a mosquito of comparable strength. 0/10
- Kill and consume a mosquito of the Body Forging Realm. 0/1
- Imbibe the crop to full capacity, feasting on the blood of a mortal-level creature. 0/10
- Imbibe the crop to full capacity, feasting on the blood of a creature at the Body Forging Realm. 0/1
(Temporary Talent: Swift Absorption)
Mission Duration: 3 Days.
Failure: Death.
Success: The Insect Sovereign System.
]
The moment he absorbed all of details of the mission, the interface vanished just as abruptly as it appeared. Oddly, though it was gone from his field of vision, he felt an intimate connection to the previously revealed information.
For instance, even though he didn't quite grasp the significance of (Temporary Talent: Swift Absorption), holding it in the recesses of his consciousness brought forth knowledge and conclusions not of his own making.
What became clear was that it was a unique ability embedded in the deepest part of his being as a mosquito, designed to expedite the growth from mosquito larvae to adulthood. Yet, it wasn't limited to that; it also granted him the capacity to efficiently absorb the blood gathered in his crop, strengthening his body.
Although amazed by this novel experience, which felt like absorbing the knowledge of another in his mind, he quickly regained control of himself.
'Are you the one who brought me back to life?' he asked—or rather, just thought? He couldn't tell. He figured since the voice spoke inside his mind, it should at least hear him. However, no one answered. Even to him, that question was somewhat double-layered because, of course, he knew that it was the one responsible for bringing him back to life; he just wanted to see if he could receive a response.
Sadly, he didn't get anything else.
Other than the temporary talent, everything else was crystal clear.
To him, this signified the only, and perhaps ultimate, opportunity to make a comeback and take hold of his own life, living it as he wished without getting trampled on like some sort of undeserving creature under the boots of sick and unforgiving people.
The difficulty of this mission might not seem high to those unfamiliar with the world of cultivation, but to him, who spent a month in this world coupled with the memories of a 17-year-old native, he knew all too well how impossibly difficult this was. Not just the obvious tasks like sucking the blood of a creature at the Body Forging Realm and killing a mosquito at that same Realm.
The fact that he had to survive as a tiny normal mosquito in this crazy and brutal environment from the larvae stage to adulthood, and then accomplish all of that in three days, was insane.
'But wasn't this better than death?' he thought with newfound vigor.
Of course, it was! This was the opportunity given to a weak and pitiful man to change his destiny, and he'd be a fool not to try to the very best of his ability.
Suddenly, amidst the confined darkness of the mosquito egg, Lei Yan began to perceive a disconcerting sound. A series of close, splashing noises echoed through the aquatic environment, sending a shiver down his tiny form. Instinctively, a profound sense of danger gripped him, the urgency escalating with each rhythmic splash.
Chapter 3 - Larva Life
In that suffocating darkness, he felt an innate fear urging him to escape. Without hesitation, he mustered every ounce of strength within his tiny mosquito larva form.
With a burst of energy, he ruptured the eggshell, emerging into the water with a frantic squirm. He propelled himself in the opposite direction of the ominous splashing, seeking refuge from the unseen peril that lurked nearby.
After doing one last squirm in that body of water, since he could only exert force at the lower end of his body, he managed to get a glimpse in the direction where he came from.
The sight that greeted him was something he was certain would stay with him for the rest of his life, even though, in the grand scheme of things, it was such a very small event that probably happened millions of times and more.
Hundreds of mosquito larvae, just like him, were doing the exact same thing he did; some of them had even overtaken him and continued to flee. The place where the eggs were first laid, on the other hand, was nothing short of a carnage.
A colossal pitch-black catfish, at least relative to him, was opening its mouth and devouring dozens of eggs and tiny larvae who were just about to hatch with every bite.
Seeing the shocking scene and feeling the crazy ripples of water, which he had no clue how to properly decipher as to whether they were coming from that catfish, the larvae, or some other fish, he decisively chose to squirm his way to the left, where the body of water ended, instead of following his brethren into the heart of it.
Slowly but surely, he was approaching the edge of the pond in an attempt to hide beneath the grass and wet soil. Just as he was about to make another squirm in that direction, he felt a very slight vibration in the water. He still had no idea from which direction it was coming, only that the water close to him moved. How close? He didn't know, which made him abruptly stop dead in his tracks.
His mind raced, trying to process everything that had just happened, but he pushed it all aside to calm down a bit and focus on the most important part right now.
He needed to have the ability to discern the origin of those movements directly. Although he knew that stopping in that place was dangerous, there was no telling if it was more or less dangerous than moving forward or even backward.
In this moment of confusion, he grasped one simple fact: he was no longer human. What this meant in that moment was the necessity to perceive and explore the world in ways other than just sight and sound. Strangely, his sight and hearing were almost human-like, albeit somewhat inferior, but it did provide him with a comforting reassurance.
Closing his eyes, he moved his tail end from the water to the surface, mimicking the breathing technique of mosquito larvae. Using a specialized siphon tube, he accessed the atmospheric air, ensuring each breath sustained him in the submerged realm.
In that complete darkness where he couldn't see a thing, he calmly breathed and slowly moved his head, plunging directly into the water, leaving only a tiny part exposed to breathe.
The moment he entered that cool and vast expanse, he started paying more attention to how he could feel those water vibrations. After a while, he was no longer just aware of the fact that they were vibrations but also of where they started and in which direction. Although this sounds like it maybe took a while, it was only a matter of a couple of seconds, as this was an ability that was already deeply intrinsic to every mosquito from birth; it was just obstructed by Lei Yan's human habits and tendency to explore the world strictly through sight, sound, and touch.
Forward.
He wasn't going forward but avoiding that direction, as that's where he felt the movement. Of what? He didn't know either, but it was doubtful that it would be anything good; after all, he was a mosquito larvae, and anything that could move at this phase would simply eat him. As he was right now, he was probably at the lowest end of the food chain in the whole world, and especially in this ecosystem.
He changed his direction by twisting his body, making it so that his head was facing where he wanted to go, and moved his lower body to squirm his way out of there.
He went to his right this time, to the other edge of the pond. Now he also changed his strategy a bit.
After every five or four squirms, which made him move not more than the length of his previous body's palm, he stopped so that he could start feeling for any dangerous vibrations because his own movements made it difficult for him to really get a clear picture.
Feeling nothing, he continued his journey forward.
Throughout everything he had done so far, every nerve in his body screamed with fright because he deeply realized one simple fact: his survival in the pond would depend almost entirely on luck.
He knew that the moment almost any kind of monster that eats mosquito larvae targeted him, he would surely die, as he had absolutely no way to evade it. His fastest speed was terrifyingly slow by all measures.
However, he had to get a hold of himself and not let his mind run wild with worries and fears, as that would surely just lower his chances of survival even further. He stopped once again, almost at the other edge, where he could see with his own eyes the grass, the wet soil, and the huge tree to his right.
He breathed in and out of his tail or rather siphon, and dived to feel the vibrations even more closely. Making his body completely still, he once again felt some movements in front of him, making him certain of another simple but unfortunate fact: his sensory range was pitifully small, and the fact that he felt movement there surely meant that something was getting closer, or maybe he was getting closer to something.
Not wanting to find out what that something was, he quickly backtracked from where he came from, as he had nowhere else to go. The pond edge seemed to be always crawling with living creatures; even with his sight and hearing, he could see some movements there—a toad croaking, some grasshoppers jumping, and even some big mosquitoes buzzing up above them all.
To his right was the majestic big tree, its roots reaching towards the pond forming a huge network, creating a natural canopy that looked especially serene and peaceful in this buzzing environment. One would be foolish to go find some sort of refuge there, especially a small mosquito larvae—it would surely be eaten, so that thought never crossed his mind.
Although, to be fair, the mixture of the sounds emitted by all the nearby creatures was strangely mesmerizing coupled with the view of the calm canopy, and he couldn't help but get lost in it for a couple of seconds.
'It's not really the time to relax now.', Lei Yan thought wryly in his mind and no longer paid attention to the beauty of the scene.
Thinking up to there, he gave up any notion of finding refuge somewhere, and seeing how his survival would be somewhat entirely dependent on luck, he chose to stay somewhat close to the edge but not that close as he felt less movements in those areas.
'So... what now?' Lei Yan couldn't help but think.
Of course, he had to eat so that he could grow bigger, and then he would molt and shed his exoskeleton to accommodate his growing size. After reaching an appropriate size, he would enter the pupa stage where he would transform into an adult mosquito.
But what he could eat was the question that stumped him. He knew that small larvae mosquitoes fed off tiny bacteria, microorganisms, and maybe some algae, but so far, he found none of that.
He swiftly immersed himself face down in the water, extending his siphon to replenish his air supply.
Long strands of hair at the tips of the fish-like lobes at the end of his body caught on the luminous, stretched layer of surface tension. At this miniature size, they were as rigid as feet, granting him the distinctive ability to cling to the water's surface, resembling a bat finally finishing a day's work and settling in to sleep.
This time, he didn't close his eyes like he used to do to focus on feeling vibrations but opened them. He didn't know whether it was the fact that it was dark or just because it was a pond and thus not clear or even because his sight was really poor, but he couldn't really see much.
All he could discern was an expanse of darkness, but amidst it, he observed minuscule fragments in motion. With caution, he gently opened his tube-like mouth, apprehensive about choking, and "inhaled" both water and some of those fragments. Quickly, he closed his mouth as the experience felt too bizarre to say the least.
Fortunately, he wasn't some defective mosquito, and everything functioned flawlessly. The water couldn't breach his stomach and naturally flowed out, while those tiny particles were caught and consumed.
To this moment, he still had no idea what they were, but he instinctively sensed that they were somewhat nutritious.
Indeed, soon enough, those particles rapidly dissolved upon entering his stomach and dispersed throughout his body. He sensed a change—very minute and subtle, but a change nonetheless.
Seeing that, Lei Yan's eyes lit up. He finally found what he should be doing. Not wanting to waste any more time, as the fact that he would die once and for all in three days was still weighing on his shoulders, he started eating whatever he felt was edible. As for the origins of what he was eating, it wasn't something he cared about—whether it was waste or whatever, he would just eat whatever he found to grow.
Just as he ate maybe his fourth mouthful, he felt some vibrations, and this time they were strangely coming from above, meaning on the water surface, and they weren't that far from him. Sensing the possible danger, he hurriedly brought up his face to take a look and see what was happening.
The moment his eyes emerged from the water, he saw a relatively big insect dancing towards him with a sharp spear as a mouth.
'Holy shit,' he thought as he swiftly dove down for the first time. The insect that was moving above the surface of the water, as if skiing on ice, stopped where he was and seemed to be waiting for him to reappear.
Chapter 4 - Cannibalism?
'Holy shit,' he thought as he swiftly dived deep down for the very first time whilst letting go of his hold on the water surface.
The insect that was moving above the surface of the water, as if skiing on ice, stopped where he was and seemed to be waiting for him to reappear.
Unfortunately for it, Lei Yan wasn't going to be outsmarted by an insect. Just as his body was about to reach the surface effortlessly, as he seemed to be naturally buoyant, he controlled his body to dive down once again. He repeated this pattern of movement for maybe five to six times before he noticed that the darkness that was the result of the skiing insect was no more, and he let himself slowly rise tail first. Thankfully, his capacity to stay without air wasn't that poor, so he was able to hold on.
Noticing that the predator had gone to find some other unsuspecting prey he deeply sighed in relief, he then continued to feast on tiny matter randomly drifting along this small pond by the big tree.
It didn't take long for him to feel something new.
Lei Yan felt as if he was suffocated by his own exoskeleton, he was bigger than his outward bones so to speak. Understanding that it was time to molt, which he was waiting for, his body naturally, without waiting for him to do anything, started to secrete a strange fluid that slowly spread through every inch of his tiny exoskeleton and it soon started to weaken its hardness.
After a while, it was so soft that he felt if he just squirmed, he'd get out of it, and that is exactly what happened. The exoskeleton that was previously a part of his body, just like his siphon or tube-like mouth, now felt like an accessory that was holding him back, and the moment he jumped forward, it stayed in its place while he moved on his own.
The moment he got out of it, he felt how different the water impacted him without it. The water felt even colder, and he couldn't help but feel especially fragile even to the tiniest ripple in the water. However, this was all temporary as the moment he rested in this new position, a new kind of fluid enveloped his entire body and slowly hardened around his new, slightly larger body. Of course, here, "bigger" was relative, as it was just a small difference between before and after.
His new exoskeleton quickly hardened, and he continued his feasting journey while moving from one place to the next.
He encountered the skiing insect two more times, but understanding how it hunted, he repeated the same old process as last time and managed to evade it easily. He also molted two other times, making him larger than when he first hatched, and even his speed significantly improved.
Now he could dive even deeper and at the same time squirm his way out of trouble with even more efficiency.
Moreover, now that he had finished his final molting, he could enter the pupa anytime he wanted and finish his metamorphosis into a grown adult mosquito that could fly.
However, before that, he thought of something. Thanks to the temporary talent given by the system for the mission and his human intelligence, his speed of growth was worlds apart from the other larvae mosquitoes that hatched at the same time as him. So, he figured, why not use this opportunity and take advantage of the fact that he was much bigger to kill and eat them and finish one part of the mission because 3 days is way too small of a window to do all of that; even now, a whole night had passed, and the sun would start to rise in a little while.
This realization solidified when he noticed a small mosquito larvae squirming in his direction, blissfully unaware of the impending danger.
For a fleeting moment, he entertained the idea that it's technically his sibling, but he promptly dismissed such sentimentalism as pointless. After all, wasn't it just a mosquito?
Reaching this conclusion, he swiftly moved with a single movement of his tail end, and quickly arrived in front of it and gently bumped into it due to his momentum.
The contrast between them was stark—size, speed, everything set them apart. Yet, after his initial gentle collision, he found himself floating awkwardly close to it, unsure of the next move.
The dilemma he faced wasn't born out of a sudden enlightenment urging him to spare the tiny mosquito. Instead, it was a more practical conundrum—how on earth was he supposed to kill this creature, let alone consume it? His body parts lacked any semblance of sharpness, failing to invoke any imagery of lethality.
'Since I can't penetrate it due to the absence of sharpness, I can only use blunt force to take advantage of the size difference and strength,' Lei Yan thought, and indeed, that was exactly what he did.
With a precise and controlled swing of his siphon, he managed to hit the other mosquito larvae exactly on the head, propelling it forward. Seeing his attack land exactly how he pictured, he couldn't help but feel a slight tinge of happiness about his mastery over his new body amid all of this chaos he found himself in.
He swiftly followed it, and after observing its still body for a while, he was shocked.
'It died after just a single swing?' he questioned with both confusion and glee. Not wanting to waste any more time, he got close to it and started contemplating how to eat this thing.
'It's definitely bigger than anything I've ever eaten until now, and I don't really have a way to cut it into small, digestible portions,' he slowly contemplated as he swam around it.
One thing that stood out to him from his observation was how towering he was compared to it. His body was three times larger, and considering the size of his stomach, he wondered about the feasibility of consuming it whole, especially with his talent for absorption.
'Should I really try it snake style? Just swallow the whole thing in one single bite? Hm...,' he pondered with some apprehension.
The reason he was somewhat afraid was that he dreaded the possibility of messing up this opportunity, even though he was just a mosquito.
More so, the fear of choking gripped him, and one couldn't blame him, as almost 26 years of human conditioning wouldn't vanish overnight, even in the form of a mosquito. The idea of eating one-third of his body was frightening, although theoretically seemed plausible.
'Ah, let's go for it,' he thought as he went directly to the tail-end of the mosquito larvae and started from there. The reason for starting from that end was because it felt weird to eat it face-first; he was still hesitant, wanting to delay seeing that grotesque face up close, even if only for a couple of seconds.
Unsurprisingly, the whole operation went smoothly, except from a psychological perspective. The fact that he was eating a mosquito in a dirty pond, swallowing it whole, left him feeling slightly nauseous. He was certain that if he had any human physiological organs by now, he'd be vomiting all over.
The moment the whole mosquito larvae entered his stomach, it began to get absorbed at a rate even faster than those tiny bacteria and organisms he found drifting in the water.
Feeling the strangeness operating inside him, he stood still in his bat-like position and closed his eyes to let it proceed smoothly.
After a while, maybe three to five minutes, the entire body of the mosquito was dissolved, and a strange energy spread all over his body, making it even bigger and stronger. Although technically he could no longer grow beyond the limit of his bloodline, he needed to enter a pupa to become a mosquito and access the next stage of growth, this allowed him to reach an unprecedented size for a mosquito of his species.
Sensing the changes in his body, Lei Yan couldn't help but rejoice in his mind; this signified a way to increase his chances of survival by a significant amount.
'This is great; if I eat the other mosquitoes and then enter the pupa stage, once I become an adult mosquito, I'll definitely be way bigger than what I'd have been normally,' he thought with a metaphorical smirk.
However, his little celebration ended as abruptly as it started when he remembered another key detail.
'At the end of the day, these are still larval mosquitoes. Can they still be considered normal mortal-level mosquitoes and thus be accepted by the mission?' he nervously thought, but he had no way to check whether they would work or not.
He tried to recall the interface and the knowledge that appeared in his mind once it disappeared, and bang! The exact same interface appeared, shocking him out of his wits.
[System Integration Mission:
- Kill and consume a mosquito of comparable strength. 1/10
- Kill and consume a mosquito of the Body Forging Realm. 0/1
- Imbibe the crop to full capacity, feasting on the blood of a mortal-level creature. 0/10
- Imbibe the crop to full capacity, feasting on the blood of a creature at the Body Forging Realm. 0/1
(Temporary Talent: Swift Absorption)
Mission Duration: 2 Days 17 Hours.
Failure: Death.
Success: The Insect Sovereign System.
]
The reason he was shocked was that he was always alert to any small movement in his senses, be it sight, hearing, or the new water vibration sense, and the moment something as significant as the interface dominated his field of vision, he was stunned.
'Thank god it's just that,' he sighed in his mind.
Going over the interface once again and seeing the line about comparable strength, he couldn't help but exclaim in joy.
'Nice.'
Previously, he assumed that he'd have to kill and eat normal mosquitoes, which is, of course, a valid assumption because he imagined himself as a big mosquito going through the mission. Fortunately, now he could hunt other larval mosquitoes, and it'd still be counted. Not just that, this would also bring him the tremendous benefit of extra growth before the pupa stage.
However, when he saw the new mission duration and the fact that he still had to go through another growth phase, he couldn't help but be nervous.
'Will I really make it? What if I spend the next 10 hours hunting other larvae, then two days to grow into adulthood? That will leave 7 hours. Can I do the most difficult part in 7 hours?' his mind couldn't help but jump into the very worst scenario, and he started feeling some trepidation in his heart.
His gaze suddenly became firm and decisive as he moved to hunt for other larval mosquitoes, even though the sun was rising and it was absolutely breathtaking, especially from that small point of view but he understood that contemplating the beauty of nature was at the bottom list of his priorities right now.
In no time at all, he spotted another one by the obvious but small siphon hanging out of the water. Swiftly moving towards it, he swung his tails, hitting it directly in the face and killing it. Just as he was about to swallow it whole, he felt a small ripple from the bottom, moving swiftly in his direction.
Understanding the severity of the situation, he quickly squirmed in the opposite direction, attempting to escape, and he succeeded. Just as he was about to celebrate, his eyes glanced at the top, noticing a dark figure that was growing larger by the split second, heading towards him.
Chapter 5 - Metamorphosis
This sight almost made him lose his composure, but thankfully, it wasn't his first time meeting such a serious danger. Quickly overcoming the temporary stun, he dove down to a depth he had never reached before.
*Splash*
Not daring to stop and take a look, as he could already imagine what happened, he kept fighting against his natural buoyancy and did his best to dive even deeper. After a while, he was able to see the ground below, signifying the end of the pond.
Looking back, he sighed in relief after seeing that the bird that was following him had given up the chase and flown away.
That's right! What chased him was a bird that looked like a hummingbird of sorts, with a long beak and very fast-moving wings. Thankfully, its ability to swim and dive down wasn't that great.
'How am I going to finish this mission if it's going to be just like this from here on out?' Lei Yan thought. He knew that these differences were due to the sun and its light. The fish that attacked him before when he was about to eat also seemed to be another creature that hunted more during the day, and the fact that he was now bigger and thus made noise that attracted even terrifyingly fast birds wasn't a good sign either.
Calming himself down a bit, he started thinking through this new dilemma he found himself in.
The root of both of these problems was his size and his erratic squirming movement. The combination of these two made it so that he attracted a lot of attention to himself.
'Isn't the solution rather simple?' he realized how stupid he was once again and how if he couldn't become dynamic and adapt to new situations easily, he would definitely die here.
The fact that larva mosquitoes moved as such was because they were tiny, and they had muscles just in that lower end part of their bodies, making them unable to do any other movements. After he felt the danger of the catfish that was eating the eggs previously, he moved as if on mosquito instinct and kept using the same way to move. However, now that he was a bit bigger, he had more muscle and control over his body. He could definitely manipulate his tube-like body shape to swim on the surface without making that much noise. With good control, he could even move stealthily.
'Snake style once again?' he thought, amused by it.
Yes! Why not just try to swim like a snake in the sea?
After trying it out for a while, he was overjoyed to find that its success exceeded his expectations. It was incomparable to how he used to move around in terms of both speed and noise. Now he could swim around even more swiftly while making the least amount of noise. He did think of another issue, which is, of course, the noise that would be made once he hit the mosquito. However, he figured he would just move very fast by dragging it, eating it elsewhere, and then resting someplace else.
After finalizing the plan in his mind and seeing that everything looked good, he didn't even wait another second, and he directly went to execute it.
In this way, he managed to consume another eight larval mosquitoes. Stealthily swimming around, he looked for the siphon protruding from the water surface, easily noticeable due to his eye level being directly on the surface. Once he found them, he delivered one swing of his tail to their faces, a technique he had perfected through trial and error, knowing it was the weakest link. He then swiftly carried their bodies with him as he swam away from the crime scene, and the rest went without saying. He devoured them whole and moved to another location to rest, allowing him to absorb their bodies and replenish his strength and energy.
His body size kept growing, reaching about four times its size after the last molting process. The improvement wasn't just in size, of course, but also in speed, strength, and the ability to sense water vibrations, enabling him to avoid danger even more efficiently.
When he finally emerged after completely digesting his ninth victim, the sun was already at its zenith, signifying the middle of the day.
Noticing that it was the middle of the day only made him feel more nervous and agitated. He had anticipated being done by now, but finding other larval mosquitoes was becoming increasingly difficult. Even with his heightened intelligence, sight, hearing, and the talent of swift absorption, he almost died several times. It seemed that, for the smaller mosquitoes, survival was mostly a matter of pure luck.
However, Lei Yan, with his understanding of cultivation, recalled a golden rule:
"The stronger the foundation, the farther one could go."
With this in mind, he promised himself that he would spend another 30 minutes at best looking for the last prey. If he couldn't find it, he would seek a place to enter the pupa stage, hoping to finally move on from this challenging stage. Thoughts of the pupa stage and what awaited him stirred a sense of fear within him.
"It's not the time to fret over that right now," he sighed, and with determination, he continued his search.
After more than 30 minutes of navigating through various dangers— fast birds, skiing insects, flying insects, small fishes, and the crazy of them all, the tadpoles—he finally found the treasure he had spent all this time waiting for.
A single larval mosquito, larger than any he had ever seen before though still smaller than him, was in the middle of molting. As it squirmed out of its exoskeleton, he swam towards it and swallowed it whole without giving it any room to escape and without even bothering to kill it, knowing it was impossible for it to survive once the system's talent kicked in.
Raising his head and glancing at the sun, he estimated it would completely disappear in about 1 to 2 hours, max.
"Perfect timing," he thought with glee.
There was a solid reason he kept searching for the final mosquito instead of directly entering the pupa after he promised himself the opposite. After some scouting and diving in the canopy by the tree that provided shade, he understood why it was always empty, despite being the perfect spot.
The huge pitch-black catfish, which he encountered when he first woke up in this body, resided there and was now peacefully sleeping at the bottom of the pond, right under the canopy.
He knew that once he entered the pupa, he would blend in with his surroundings, becoming inconspicuous. Understanding that the black catfish was nocturnal, he thought it would be ideal to find some hidden branches under the canopy and enter the pupa before the sun went down.
Moving his now larger body, which contained another living mosquito inside of it, he quickly made his way into the branches. After finding a couple of them that formed a natural house-like shape, he didn't hesitate and kicked in the instinct that had been screaming at him the entire day.
In a beautiful dance of nature, the larva Lei Yan attached himself to a submerged surface using a silken thread he instinctively secreted. Slowly, he transformed into a comma-shaped pupa, his once wriggling and squirming form now encased in a protective shell. The pupa hung suspended in the water, connected by the silk thread to the surrounding environment.
Inside the pupa, a remarkable metamorphosis unfolded. Lei Yan's larva body underwent profound changes, reshaping itself for the upcoming transition to adulthood. As the pupa enveloped him, the absorbed essence from the mosquito he had consumed during the larvae stage subtly contributed to the transformation.
Within the protective casing, the pupa remained motionless, a vessel of transformation waiting patiently for the intricate process to reach completion. The assimilated essence played a subtle role, harmonizing with Lei Yan's own essence to facilitate the emergence of a fully developed mosquito.
Lei Yan was conscious throughout all of this because, at the end of the day, a larva mosquito doesn't really have the kind of advanced nervous system that would allow for something like sleep to occur. Still, he could feel that he was able to shut down his sensory inputs so that his mind could rest, and that's what he did.
From time to time, he'd 'wake up' to check on his progress, and predictably, his transformation was going smoothly. He couldn't really say whether it was good or bad, as he had no frame of reference, but it seemed to be going in the right direction.
The sun was already on the verge of rising when he last looked around, as he could feel the environment beyond the casing slowly lighting up.
One time when he woke up, he felt slight vibrations coming from beneath him, which scared him senseless, but thankfully, nothing dangerous came out of it.
As the swamp settled into the evening, Lei Yan felt the end of his metamorphosis. He gently busted out of his pupa, stood above the water with his new six legs, huge mosquito body with dazzling wings, and shook off the leftover casing. It was kind of like shedding an old skin making him feel immensely powerful. Dusk was creeping in, a sign that the whole process took about 25 hours—a relief in his life in this pond of terror.
With wobbly legs and still-wet wings, he stood there completely still afraid that he will drown because the fact that he was now standing on water felt very strange to him.
The swamp was quiet, and Lei Yan took his time drying out. As the last drops slowly but surely evaporated, he gave his wings a good flap, lifting off the water for the very first time. Now, an upgraded mosquito, he buzzed around, getting the hang of his new body in the fading daylight.
After taking a short flight above the pond to test out his wings, Lei Yan decided to take a breather. Instead of perching on a branch like some regular bird, he opted for a laid-back sideways hang on the rough bark of the big tree by the pond. Being a mosquito and all, it seemed like the comfy way to chill out for a bit and warm up in the last rays of the sun.
He had to familiarize himself with this unfamiliar body, as a flood of new sensory information overwhelmed him, leaving him disoriented.
"First off, I'm undeniably a female mosquito, which is pretty funny," Lei Yan mused slowly. Beyond the irony, though, it raised some concerns.
"I hope not," he sighed. The prospect of him dying from male mosquito horniness didn't sound good at all.
The first two had ended tragically, leaving him with numerous emotional scars.
"Third time's a charm, right?" he pondered, clinging to hope.
Chapter 6 - A Mosquito's First Step
"I've got six legs—two up front, two in the middle, and two at the back," he dismissed his initial weird thoughts and got down to business by analyzing his body.
His eyes had undergone a transformation, but he discovered that he had the ability to switch between mosquito and human vision at will. Mosquito vision enabled him to detect warm creatures through their blood and carbon dioxide, offering a nearly 360-degree field of vision with its compound nature.
"But it's too darn strange," Lei Yan couldn't adapt that quickly. He swiftly reverted to his normal vision, which seemed even sharper than when he was in the Body Forging Realm as a human before.
He sported some antennae, and when he closed his eyes and focused on them, he sensed strange inputs that he quickly recognized as the presence of other mosquitoes, revealed through their release of pheromones. Moreover, he could somewhat "smell" blood with them.
For instance, he could sense that about 60 meters to his right, three creatures huddled together radiating strong vitality. Above on the tree, more than nine creatures exhibited varying strengths. Below him, a particularly potent blood vitality which he figured belonged to the black catfish.
He had also acquired a personal weapon, a spear-shaped proboscis. Its sharp tip, coupled with an opening above, hinted at its dual function for both penetration and sucking, he surmised.
"Penetration and sucking? Oh no," Lei Yan was taken aback, but he swiftly pushed the thought aside.
There was also a truly magical organ, at least from a human perspective, the halter—two knob-like structures above his wings. They offered instantaneous information about his rotational movement while flying, providing precise and absolute control in the sky. This allowed him to maintain maximum speed while steadily holding a specific position by adjusting the wings' direction with every beat.
Most crucially, the wings stood out with their striking appearance, dominating his entire body. He was already unusually large for a mosquito below the Body Forging realm, but these wings belonged to a different league altogether.
Observing their size relative to the rest of his body led him to a very interesting conclusion.
Previously, when flying, one of the reasons he stopped, apart from allowing himself to analyze his body, was the noise. His wings, substantial as they were, and coupled with his overall size, produced a distinct sound. Given mosquitoes' natural flight pattern involving rapid wing beats at around 400 per second, the noise was inevitable. Considering his enhanced strength, it was not only excessive but potentially fatal. In fact, he even contemplated running around on his six large legs to avoid making noise.
But now...
Perhaps he could reduce the speed of his wing movement, focusing on precise control. Taking his newfound strength into account, it was theoretically possible to fly while significantly minimizing the previous noise.
Eager not to waste any more time, he bent down his six legs and forcefully pushed against the tree bark, propelling himself backward for a considerable distance. Then, he adjusted the wing beats from around 800 per second to just under 200.
'Thank god, it worked!', he thought with relief. He really was contemplating running around like a grasshopper but who knew how many land insect eating creatures were on these parts?
He hurriedly brought up the mission interface after seeing that everything was in order.
[System Integration Mission:
- Kill and consume a mosquito of comparable strength. 10/10 (Complete)
- Kill and consume a mosquito of the Body Forging Realm. 0/1
- Imbibe the crop to full capacity, feasting on the blood of a mortal-level creature. 0/10
- Imbibe the crop to full capacity, feasting on the blood of a creature at the Body Forging Realm. 0/1
(Temporary Talent: Swift Absorption)
Mission Duration: 1 Day 4 Hours.
Failure: Death.
Success: The Insect Sovereign System.
]
Looking at the golden hue of the first requirement, Lei Yan felt an immediate surge of happiness. However, it was short-lived, quickly replaced by a sobering awareness of the time constraints and the tasks still ahead.
He took a slow breath, his gaze resolute, and ventured out of the pond for the first time, soaring eastward.
-----------------------
In another part of the swamp, two youths walked side by side, their attention focused on the surroundings. One, a tall and slender guy wearing a peculiar black and white hat and a grey sect uniform, appeared oddly tan. The other, of average height, was a black guy with a buzzcut, dressed similarly except for the hat.
"Hey, Xuekang, what do you say we finally do it after we finish this sect mission?" The taller of the two glanced at his friend, nudging him playfully with his elbow.
"Tsk," the guy addressed clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Dude, why do you always unintentionally say things that sound very strange? 'Let's finally do it'—this has a double meaning, who talks like that with another man?"
"Hahahha," the taller guy burst into laughter at the response. He couldn't resist poking fun, "What you just said is even more suspicious if you think about it. I just said 'do it'; it could be anything. Why did your mind go there directly?"
Xuekang felt stumped because his friend's response did make sense, and he was the one who took it in that direction. However, he couldn't concede defeat in this verbal clash. Turning around, he yelled in a hushed whisper, "Xu Yu, cut it out! You're laughing like a mad cow; you'll attract some beast or something."
"Sorry, I forgot." Xu Yu quickly composed himself after the reminder and continued with a low whisper, "I was talking about going to The Red Pleasure Pavilion in Newbourne city."
As soon as Xuekang heard his friend's words, the smug look he had worn after their previous banter quickly faded. He nervously laughed and replied, "You're still thinking about that? I was just joking the other day. Just drop it; our funds are too low, and this cultivation thing is too expensive."
Not ready to let go, Xu Yu pressed on, leaving no room for his friend to change the subject. "You're not seeing the big picture. Look at this."
Xuekang was about to interject when he was abruptly cut off. "Of course, I understand that the funds are low, and we need to pay attention to our cultivation. But think about it, what's a crucial aspect of advancing in cultivation?"
He was about to suggest talent when Xu Yu jumped in, "It's the breadth of one's character."
Noticing the puzzled expression on his friend's face, Xu Yu paused, causing Xuekang to halt as well, intrigued by what his friend had to say.
"You see, talent and resources are undoubtedly crucial, but there's also something to be said for character and drive, which are closely interconnected. Both of which will undoubtedly improve once we have sex for the first time." Xu Yu concluded with an excited tone and expression, as if he had just imparted a nugget of profound wisdom.
"Hmmm... excuse me, what the hell are you talking about?" Xuekang was already regretting indulging in this line of thought with his eccentric friend.
"Wait, wait, wait," Xu Yu noticed the waning interest on his friend's face and stopped him just as he was about to continue moving. He continued, "Think about it. We're healthy, romantic young men. Our bodies are perfectly healthy, our hormones are raging, and our sect is filled with thick, big-boobied beauties. Sex is a vital aspect of every man's life we've been hearing about it since we were young, and we still haven't had that experience, man. Wouldn't you say that we'll become even more mature after getting laid, thus understanding the necessity of cultivation even more deeply and becoming more hardworking? And tasting that sweet, sweet pupu, won't we be even more motivated to achieve success in our cultivation?"
Xuekang was taken aback by his friend's logic, finding it difficult to refute. With a sigh, he replied, "Alright, I'm sold. But there's the issue of ethics, man. You know they use slaves there, right? We vowed to become upstanding cultivators how can we do that?" Suddenly, as if remembering something crucial he asked, "Wait, did you just call it pupu?"
Considering their vow and the events that had shaped it, Xu Yu hurriedly agreed, not addressing the last question. "Of course, you know me, man. I've already considered this and asked around. Senior Brother Yuhan, you know him, he's a good guy. He told me that there are some independent workers who do it willingly after vetting their clients, although it's a bit more expensive. He even said he could vouch for us, and it'll be even smoother sailing from there."
Xuekang was visibly shocked by this revelation. He opened and closed his mouth several times, unsure of where to begin. His friend's commitment to the idea caught him off guard, and he felt a lingering awkwardness about the fact that Xu Yu had discussed their intimate intentions with Senior Brother Yuhan.
Above all, the rapid escalation of the situation left him feeling uneasy. The prospect of engaging in such matters was intimidating for a young man with low self-confidence who tended to overthink things.
After a moment of contemplation, anger welled up in him. Angry at himself for always being afraid and nervous, his gaze turned resolute, and he whispered with determination, "Alright, let's do it, man! By the way, how much did you say it was?"
Xu Yu was delighted to see his friend overcoming his fear, but when he mentioned the price, an awkward tension filled the air. Nervously whispering with a low voice, Xu Yu replied, "N..not Not much, just 50 low-grade spirit stones."
"What?" Xuekang couldn't help but shout, his surprise evident. He continued, "Damn, is this the price of morality? Last I heard, the cost at the Red Pleasure Pavilion was 5 low-grade spirit stones and up." However, this time his friend didn't respond; instead, he was gazing into the distance towards the west, leaving Xuekang feeling uneasy.
Turning to follow Xu Yu's gaze, Xuekang spotted a sizable mosquito slowly zigzagging between the trees. The insect's size was not the shocking part; he had seen mosquitoes as large as his palm before. What struck him was the absence of any Qi – it was just an ordinary mortal-level insect.
Xu Yu's face lit up with delight. He turned to his friend and exclaimed, "Xuekang, it seems like the heavens have finally approved of our righteous way of living and taken pity on us. The gods definitely want us to get laid; this is too much of a coincidence."
Still not fully grasping his friend's excitement, Xuekang asked for an explanation once again.
Wearing a smug expression, Xu Yu clarified, "You might not know this detail, but I heard from some disciples that the Alchemy Elder loves to collect strange items. And is there anything more peculiar than a palm-sized mosquito without Qi? I've never seen one like it in my whole life!"
As the realization dawned on Xuekang, his eyes lit up. "Quick, quick, take this jar and capture it. Your speed is faster than mine; don't you dare lose it. That mosquito is definitely our ticket out of virginity."
Chapter 7 - Human Disciples
After Lei Yan roughly grasped the mechanism behind flying and how to do it with less noise, he embarked on his journey. However, a sense of despair began to creep in, as he had no idea how to accomplish the mission assigned to him.
He still needed to extract the blood of ten mortal-level creatures, including both humans and animals, and then obtain the blood of a Body Forging creature. Additionally, he had to locate, kill, and consume a mosquito at that realm. It all seemed impossible to him.
As he aimlessly flew, contemplating his next move, he felt a sudden shift in his surroundings, accompanied by a whooshing sound, and his vision became blurry.
The abrupt change left him momentarily stunned, and it was only after seeing a man with a peculiar hat grinning widely, revealing his molars, that Lei Yan understood.
'It's over, it's over...' he thought, and with that, a surge of emotions overwhelmed him, leaving him feeling hopeless and miserable. Once again, he found himself trapped in the same pattern that had haunted him before – losing before even starting, and now captured by some individual, destined to be sold or dissected.
Lei Yan recognized that his size had made him a target, a possibility he had considered when contemplating ways he could meet his end. However, he deemed it unlikely, thinking he would more likely be eaten by a random bird or swatted to death before this scenario unfolded.
'Fuck this,' Lei Yan attempted to calm himself, hating the sensation of weakness and helplessness. He concluded that if he was going to die, he might as well go out with a bang, at least emotionally speaking and not feel so small.
Additionally, he chided himself for getting over himself and tried to find a way to salvage it since he was still alive, after all.
In a brief moment, he noticed another person entering his field of vision with the same excited expression. He could even faintly hear their conversation through the glass.
"Good god, what a weird mosquito," Xu Yu exclaimed while observing the motionless insect inside the glass jar.
Xuekang, the overthinker, was initially happy, but his joy turned into concern. "Why is it so still, though? Did you kill it?"
"No way, I made sure to capture it alive," Xu Yu retorted. Then he pondered another possibility and continued, "Maybe it's so scared it couldn't move?"
"Why are you so dumb sometimes? It's just a stupid mosquito. No matter how you look at it, it's very strange for it not to struggle. Quick, put the jar above this rock, and let's wait for it to move." Xuekang hurriedly ordered.
Little did they know, Xuekang's suspicion was accurate. Lei Yan was indeed scared at first, but afterward, he stood still, intent on listening to their conversation and not missing a single thing.
Understanding what they were discussing, his mind raced, thinking of ways to save himself.
'Maybe I should stay still, and when they open the jar, I'll escape,' he contemplated before quickly dismissing such a ridiculous idea. He had been aware of their existence before they caught him, but he didn't know they were human. To him, they were just moving warm creatures, albeit stronger than the rest, so he didn't pay them much attention.
Yet, the speed with which that guy moved to capture him was so fast that it even escaped his detection, so he knew that running away was futile.
As Lei Yan pondered his predicament, he couldn't help but feel perplexed. He had considered another way to move forward, but it was a risky and dangerous proposition. It could either help him survive or ensure he would never see the light of... in this case, life. It was a dangerous gamble.
Sitting with their legs crossed around the rock where they placed the jar, both Xu Yu and Xuekang were taken aback when the mosquito suddenly moved. The moment it did, they were momentarily speechless.
"Xuekang, are you seeing this?" Xu Yu couldn't help but ask his friend, stupefied by the sight before him.
The mosquito, which had been still, started bobbing its head up and down. Then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, it began swaying its middle legs in opposite directions while moving its abdomen from left to right.
Xuekang, shocked by the mosquito's unexpected movement, replied with a tone filled with disbelief, "It's actually dancing? No, is it dancing?"
"No, no, impossible. Why would it dance? There's no music," Xu Yu responded with complete seriousness.
Hearing the nonsensical reply, Xuekang was once again left speechless. "What? No, you see, that's..." Just as he was about to argue against the absurdity of the response, he decided it wasn't worth it and said while rolling his eyes, "No, I meant it might be doing some obscure form of communication that belongs to its species because it's feeling danger."
"What obscure communication or species? This is just the good old mosquito, man. If they did have such a way of communication that looked so novel, we'd have heard of it from those guys," Xu Yu refuted without taking his eyes off the still-dancing mosquito.
Xuekang thought it made sense. As for who those guys were, he knew he was referring to a group of alchemy students who studied entertaining beasts and insects. One time, they even showed the duo a butterfly that excreted a very sweet candy, among many other things.
How did he know the poop was sweet? He tasted it, of course.
"It doesn't matter, anyway, now we know that it's definitely alive. Moreover, seeing how it's dancing, it'll definitely fetch us an even higher price." Xuekang immediately saw the bright side of what was happening and said with an excited tone.
Xu Yu agreed, and he couldn't help but think of the woman his senior brother showed him. He lost himself daydreaming, and blood couldn't help but flow to his nether regions.
"Alright, let's go," Xuekang was impatient.
"Ah, no, no, wait," Xu Yu awkwardly stopped him. He didn't want to be made fun of, seeing the strange gaze his friend was looking at him with. He quickly added, "Let's observe it for a while; it's so beautiful."
Xuekang was about to refute when they both noticed that the mosquito was no longer dancing but moving its head and forelegs from left to right with a scared, human-like expression. Looking at the peculiar mosquito, he turned to his friend and asked, "What's wrong with it now?"
Xu Yu couldn't help but smile faintly, noticing the comical way the mosquito was behaving. He joked with his friend, "Maybe it heard we're gonna sell it and got scared."
Just as they were about to laugh, they noticed that the mosquito was now moving its head up and down as if it was agreeing with what they were saying.
Once again, they were both rendered speechless.
Nervously, Xuekang asked, "Hey, hey, what is this? Could it be a coincidence?"
In deep thought, as if he remembered something, Xu Yu replied, "Yeah, probably, but let's make sure."
He went down on all fours, getting his face very close to the glass startling the mosquito inside. Xu Yu said loudly, "Mosquito, can you understand me?"
To both of their surprise, the mosquito hurriedly nodded with vigor, as if its life depended on it.
"What in the world...?" Xuekang was stunned. It really did understand them!
Xu Yu, on the other hand, was delighted. "I think I know what this is; I've heard of it before." Seeing the questioning look on his friend's face, he continued, "You know how creatures at the Mortal Foundation Tribulation realm are very intelligent, and then those at the Nascent Soul realm are somewhat intelligent, but those below are just beasts of varying degrees of intelligence?"
Seeing his friend nod, he continued his explanation, "Among those below the Nascent Soul, there are some called Awakeners due to their ability to experience the world just like a human can, with the same intelligence and capacities. This even includes mortal-level ones. This is where the famous story of Haba and the donkey came from."
The story he referred to was a well-known book in the south of the eastern continent about a man named Haba and his intelligent donkey. The story, in essence, was humorous as it narrated the journey of a very stupid farmer and a sarcastic donkey getting into all kinds of troubles.
As for the term "Awakeners," it was given to those creatures who were gifted with intelligence from birth regardless of their strength. In this context, intelligence didn't mean cleverness and a wise way of thinking but more so the ability to be aware and think like humans.
"Shit, seriously? Of course, I've heard of that before. Doesn't Jin Heng, the first elder's disciple, have a Foundation Establishment awakened tiger?" Xuekang asked.
"Yes, yes, exactly. So, you know how precious this is," Xu Yu replied with shining eyes.
However, Xuekang quickly reminded them of a key point, "Still, it's just at the mortal level. It has no actual value besides novelty."
Not wanting to let his friend's negativity affect him, Xu Yu shrugged it off and looked at the mosquito as if he were staring at a treasure.
Lei Yan, on the other hand, was also stunned, but for completely different reasons. He felt that things had gone completely out of his control when he heard what they were talking about.
Originally, he just thought that if they saw him doing something completely unexpected, they might stop and try to communicate. He'd see if there was any possibility of negotiation, reaching a deal that would leave both parties satisfied. Who knew that there was such a thing as an Awakened insect and that it was valuable? Definitely not him.
Just as Lei Yan was contemplating his next move, he heard the shorter black guy talking, and his blood ran cold.
"It's getting late; let's get out of here. We'll talk about what to do next when we get to the outpost."
With that, he saw the taller guy agreeing, grabbing the jar and putting it inside a big pouch by his waist, making Lei Yan unable to see anything.
Without wasting any more time, both of them moved in the same direction with terrifying agility.
As Xu Yu and Kong Xuekang hurried through the swamp, the dense forest gave way to a clearing.
There, standing tall, was their sect's outpost. A sturdy wooden fence surrounded the area, marking the boundaries of their haven.
Wooden houses dotted the landscape, and disciples stood guard, vigilant in the fading light. The outpost's large wooden gates loomed ahead, a welcoming sight for the incoming disciples.
Inside, tents were set up, creating a makeshift camp within the safety of the outpost. The atmosphere was practical and functional, a bastion against the challenges of the swamp.
They quickly nodded toward the disciples in charge of guarding the gates and made their way inside.