"You don't need to know that."
Su Jie's gaze drifted to the ground below, suddenly propelling himself into a leap with one push of his legs.
Across from him, Meng Dongge did the same, his body rapidly retreating several steps backwards.
Just as Su Jie was jumping, seven or eight earthworms as thick as arms burst from the soil beneath, their round razor-sharp mouths snapping at the air.
While in front of Su Jie, the spot where Meng Dongge had stood was engulfed by a swath of fiery lines.
The Yin Fire Blood Bees commanded by Su Jie launched a stealth attack from hiding, the flames burning fiercely and illuminating the dark night sky.
"Despicable."
Meng Dongge's face, under the glow of the firelight, was exceptionally grim.
"You're no better."
Su Jie sneered coldly, the two had the same idea, trying to engage in talk to delay and turn the tables on their opponents.
"Brother Gu."
Seeing that the sneak attack was unsuccessful, Su Jie gave a signal with his eyes.
Gurgle, gurgle!
Gu Weonian knew that battle was inevitable, his stomach swelling violently as strange noises emanated from it.
Then, opening his mouth, a swarm of black mosquitoes flew out through his gullet, like dense steel needles they whooshed toward the three people opposite Meng Dongge, breaking branches and shattering bark as they flew.
Meng Dongge flung out a Low Grade Basic Talisman, erecting a reddish Spiritual Power net that intercepted the black mosquito attack.
But the two disciples accompanying him weren't so lucky.
As they tried to dodge, standing by Su Jie's side, Chen Yun also made her move, the Ming Sheng Bat emitting a piercing screech.
A subsonic wave swept over them, striking their internal organs like a tsunami, immediately causing them to vomit blood. Their movements slowed a beat, and half their bodies were pierced like a wasp's nest.
But the real killing move was several Silver Winged Golden Line Cicadas slicing down through the air, piercing through the two disciples' skulls in an instant, killing them before they could even summon their poisonous insects.
This coordinated attack by the trio of Su Jie was specially practiced, and it seemed very effective now.
Of course, if they hadn't been previously fighting with the Alien Ghost, exhausting so much of their energy and their poisonous insects, it wouldn't have been so easy to succeed.
"I don't have enough Spiritual Power left, I need to rest for a while."
Panting heavily, the elderly Gu Weonian lacked Spiritual Power, having launched such a forceful attack he now found it difficult to continue.
Chen Yun was in an even worse state, already heavily injured. She forced her body to command her Lifebound poisonous insect, causing it to lose half its life right then and there.
She herself collapsed to the ground, many wounds on her body split open again, blood seeping through her clothes.
"I'm going to kill you all, Fire Poison Cockroaches!"
Upon witnessing the demise of his last two teammates, Meng Dongge first paused in shock before exploding in rage, his face contorted with hatred, as if wishing to tear Su Jie and his team limb from limb.
Countless cockroaches emerged from the legs of his pants.
The tails of these cockroaches shone like fireflies, a ghastly green light flickering as they immediately took to the skies and swooped down.
Boom, boom, boom!
Upon getting close, the Fire Poison Cockroaches self-detonated in mid-air, emitting a corrosive liquid that left pits and potholes in the rocks and trees, its power undeniable.
Su Jie had to employ a Golden Vortex Talisman to protect himself, its shimmering golden light deflecting the corrosive liquid.
The older Gu Weonian found it difficult to dodge in time, his lower leg getting corroded, flesh dissolving significantly to reveal pale, terrifying bones while he screamed in agony.
Chen Yun, standing by Su Jie, thankfully wasn't affected by the explosions.
"He's going all out."
Locking her gaze on Meng Dongge, just as Chen Yun thought he would fight to the death, preparing to control the Ming Sheng Bat to deliver a death strike—
She saw Meng Dongge not looking back, using the delay caused by the Fire Poison Cockroaches' self-detonation to escape towards the dense forest.
"I already figured someone like you wouldn't fight to the death."
Su Jie followed unhurriedly, with his Insect Control Technique for reconnaissance, he wasn't worried about Meng Dongge getting away at all.
He actually hoped Meng Dongge would keep running; with the injuries and blood loss he was sustaining, just continuing to run could be fatal.
The chase continued, with Gu Weonian and Chen Yun quickly left behind.
In the midst of pursuit, half an hour vanished in the blink of an eye; Meng Dongge, looking wretched from his escape, suddenly stopped.
Su Jie approached with measured steps, and with a lifted eyebrow asked, "Why have you stopped running?"
"I didn't expect you to actually dare to chase after me alone, hehehe! You thought I was fleeing, but you fail to realize that I was simply dividing your team to defeat you one by one."
A cruel smile spread across Meng Dongge's face, and out of his sleeve crawled a grey mantis that visibly swelled, growing to the size of a person. Its forelimbs glinted with a cold light, looking like sickles.
"Iron-Eating Scythe Mantis, a Low Grade Poisonous Insect, and also my Lifebound Poisonous Insect. Today I'll show you the gap in our strengths. Even wounded, I can still effortlessly slaughter riff-raff like you."
No sooner had Meng Dongge's words fallen than the giant Iron-Eating Scythe Mantis let out a violent shriek, gliding with a flap of its wings, and its sickle-like forelimbs slashed towards Su Jie.
On their path, ancient trees touched by the forelimbs were cut in half at their trunks, showcasing extreme sharpness.
Boom!
In the next moment, a ripple surged around Su Jie's waist.
The terrifying body of the Thousand-Handed Centipede slithered forth, countless eerie pale corpse hands reaching towards the Iron-Eating Scythe Mantis.
The sickle blades came down and severed several of the corpse hands.
Enraged, the Thousand-Handed Centipede swiftly coiled around the assailant like a giant python, immediately entwining the Iron-Eating Scythe Mantis.
Filled with terror, the mantis tried to escape, but an onslaught of corpse hands churned and pushed, swiftly wrapping the Iron-Eating Scythe Mantis into a Corpse Hand Ball, layer upon layer of corpse hands concealing it until not even a glimpse of the mantis could be seen.
"Low Grade One Refining Poisonous Insect, impossible, absolutely impossible. How could an Outer Disciple like you possess such a Poisonous Insect."
Meng Dongge's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he incredulously watched the scene before him.
This was a Low Grade One Refining poisonous insect. Even as a Fifth Level of Yunling Realm Disciple, it took him the strength of nine oxen and two tigers, along with a bit of luck, to barely cultivate a Low Grade poisonous insect.
As for further refining a Low Grade poisonous insect through Spirit Refining to catalyze its abnormal development, he dared not even consider it.
How many resources would that require! Only inner disciples could afford such an expense.
And yet, he now saw that Su Jie, who was clearly only at the Third Level of Yunling Realm, possessed a Low Grade One Refining poisonous insect.
This completely surpassed his understanding. How could a mere Outer Disciple have so many resources to cultivate?
"People are not all the same, just as you thought you could defeat us one by one. Isn't it also intentional on my part? I certainly don't want my Lifebound poisonous insect to be seen by others."
With a light chuckle, Su Jie expressed that combat between Gu Masters is all about the poisonous insects; there is not much fanfare of magic colliding or Magic Artifacts and Flying Swords clashing.
Even if Su Jie's cultivation was lower than Meng Dongge's, the Thousand-Handed Centipede was enough to easily close the gap.
"Impossible, how could I lose, how could I die here, I haven't become an inner disciple yet, I can't die."
Meng Dongge roared in frenzy, his only trump card, the Iron-Eating Scythe Mantis, was utterly countered, he didn't bring the poisonous earthworm this time, and the Fire Poison Cockroaches had self-destructed and been used up. Having used up his talismans and left with no other means, he actually charged forward, using his fists to attack, a Gu Master being forced into hand-to-hand combat.
"He who kills must be prepared to be killed, no one is invincible."
Su Jie had no intention of engaging in close combat.
Although he had specifically learned the Tiger Roar Fist, it was only a superficial understanding, and close combat involved too many uncertainties.
In the face of Meng Dongge's madness, Su Jie merely hooked his finger slightly.
The Silver-Winged Golden Line Cicada darted forward, piercing his legs and causing him to fall to the ground, unable to get back up.
At the same time, the battle between the Thousand-Handed Centipede and its opponent also concluded.
The Iron-Eating Scythe Mantis, a species fond of consuming metal, had a body hardness three times greater than steel after ascending to Low Grade.
But all of this was insignificant before the Thousand-Handed Centipede.
Corpse Hands continually pressed inward, trapping the Iron-Eating Scythe Mantis and inhibiting its movements. When the pressure reached its limit, the body of the Iron-Eating Scythe Mantis instantly cracked under the strain and was torn apart by dozens and hundreds of Corpse Hands, with its muscles, viscera, and carapace all reduced to a pile of minced meat.
Puft!
As his Lifebound poisonous insect was destroyed, Meng Dongge's aura withered, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
The Thousand-Handed Centipede swiftly crawled over, and in the midst of Meng Dongge's unwilling gaze, bit into his neck and snapped it.
At last, carrying his head, the Thousand-Handed Centipede returned to Su Jie's side.
"Good girl, go ahead and eat."
Su Jie patted the Thousand-Handed Centipede on the head, letting it enjoy the Iron-Eating Scythe Mantis.
Searching the body, Su Jie found fifty Blood Marrow Crystals on Meng Dongge, nothing else of note.
Meng Dongge had used up all the resources he could during the fight and left nothing for Su Jie.
Fortunately, the fifty Blood Marrow Crystals were enough to satisfy Su Jie. After the Thousand-Handed Centipede finished off the Iron-Eating Scythe Mantis, Su Jie burned the headless corpse and left with Meng Dongge's head in hand.
...
In front of the wooden hut, Gu Weonian and Chen Yun listened for footsteps coming from the darkness and hastily looked around in alert.
Su Jie had gone chasing for a long while without return, and both were afraid of an accident occurring. However, their physical conditions didn't allow them to keep up with Su Jie's pace. Now, they feared that Meng Dongge might not be dead and could come back for revenge.
The footsteps grew closer and before long, a figure appeared before them.
As though granted a pardon, Gu Weonian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Brother Su, are you alright? Did you catch up to Meng Dongge?"
"Here."
Su Jie casually tossed a dark object towards Chen Yun.
Chen Yun instinctively caught it, and upon seeing it clearly, her tears could no longer be held back.
For it was indeed Meng Dongge's head—her brother and husband's vengeance was fulfilled.
"Sob sob, Kou Dang, Chao Xian, do you see this? Meng Dongge is dead, I have avenged you both."
After a burst of crying and releasing all her emotions, Chen Yun suddenly knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to Su Jie.
"Mr. Su, my life from now on is yours. Whenever you need me, I, Chen Yun, will be there, even at the cost of my own life."
"There's no need for so many words. When I need help, I will certainly not be polite."
Su Jie did not decline but nodded and accepted the offer.
Afterwards, the three of them cleaned up the battlefield. The gains weren't much apart from the scene of the battle.
Besides the scattered insect corpses and some still-live captured Poison Insects, there were two corpses of Alien Ghosts, their combined worth exceeding a thousand Blood Marrow Crystals—an overnight fortune.
Following the principle of distribution according to contribution, and according to the rules previously agreed upon, Su Jie could claim eighty percent of these spoils of war, while Chen Yun and Gu Weonian would share the remaining twenty percent.
After all, it was Su Jie who personally dealt with the strongest and most troublesome Meng Dongge; no one else had the capability.
With the spoils of war harvested, the remnants of battle were meticulously wiped clean, and then the corpses of all disciples were incinerated, leaving no evidence of their deaths.
"Brother Gu, regarding tonight's events, I will write a detailed report to the Command Hall: Meng Dongge and others bravely sacrificed themselves in the battle against the Alien Ghosts. As we are now short-handed and have many injured, we're unable to maintain our guard duty and request to be temporarily withdrawn back to the Sect for recuperation."
With a keen gaze, Su Jie looked at Gu Weonian, aligning their stories.
"I understand, Brother Su, I won't let a single word slip from my side," Gu Weonian hurriedly nodded, indicating he got the message.
"Fine, let's head back then."
Satisfied, Su Jie nodded and, taking the two Alien Ghost corpses, returned to their own wooden hut.
The battle that night was the most intense Su Jie had experienced since his transmigration, and it was also a supremely thrilling victory.
After selling the two Alien Ghost corpses, Su Jie's wealth could easily increase more than tenfold.