Chapter 1557 Beast Spirit News

After asking his questions, Ye Jingcheng felt much more at ease. The situation in the Eastern Domain, in particular, remained surprisingly stable—like the calm before a storm.

"Let me see your Spirit-Slaying Locusts," Ye Jingcheng said, finally turning his attention to Ye Jingchong’s swarm.

The Ye Family had many Spirit Insect colonies, but the Spirit-Slaying Locusts were by far the most numerous. Their reproductive capabilities were truly terrifying. Even with the Ye Family actively controlling their population, their numbers had already reached a massive six hundred thousand, far exceeding the Sand Ginseng Scorpions the family bred.

Hearing Ye Jingcheng’s request, Ye Jingchong waved his hand. Instantly, over a hundred Spirit-Slaying Locusts appeared in the air. However, these locusts weren’t the usual pale green or light gold; they were crimson red. Each one was the size of a basin, sporting sharp fangs, massive mandibles, and spiked, locust-like legs. Their auras were all at the Late Stage of Tier Two, with a few even at the Tier Two Peak, not far from reaching Tier Three.

"These Spirit-Slaying Locusts have mutated," Ye Jingchong explained from the side. "Now, aside from being invulnerable to conventional weapons, they’ve mastered the ability to release Spiritual Fire. While this Spiritual Fire currently only poses a significant threat to Foundation Establishment Cultivators, once their numbers increase drastically, even Purple Mansion and Golden Core Cultivators will find these locusts incredibly troublesome in the future!"

Ye Jingcheng couldn’t help but take another look. Speaking of which, the Spirit-Slaying Locusts had initially been brought to the Ye Family by a group of mysterious Spirit-Summoning Cultivators. At the time, their goal was to lure away the majority of the Taiyi Sect’s Golden Core Cultivators, thereby helping the Qinghe Sect test whether the Taiyi Sect had a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

Looking back on it now, Ye Jingcheng suspected that the group had likely been from the Beast Spirit Sect of the Han Kingdom Cultivation Realm. Back then, the opposing party had also used this suicidal tactic to filter out the most outstanding mutated Spirit-Slaying Locusts and boost the overall strength of the swarm. It was precisely that incident that had given Ye Jingcheng a great deal of inspiration.

"As for the Soul-Devouring Insects, although we’ve also conducted tests, this species only possesses tough carapaces; their resistance to Magic is quite poor," Ye Jingchong added, shifting the topic after finishing with the locusts.

The insect the Ye Family most wanted to mutate was actually the Soul-Devouring Insect. The fact that they could reach a maximum of Tier Four was enough to prove their inherently immense potential. Coupled with their terrifying soul-annihilating properties and their ability to nourish a cultivator’s Divine Soul, they were exceptionally valuable. They were considered the Ye Family’s most important Spirit Insect colony. If the Soul-Devouring Insects could undergo further mutation, the Ye Family’s proficiency with Spirit Insects would jump several levels.

"Eleventh Brother, although the Soul-Devouring Insects haven’t mutated, through special nurturing and training, their Soul-annihilating Sounds can now form a Battle Array," Ye Jingchong elaborated. "When tens of thousands of them combine their efforts, they can even wipe out the Divine Sense that a Golden Core Cultivator has attached to their Magical Treasure!"

He patted his waist, and hundreds of Soul-Devouring Insects flew out. They immediately formed a Battle Array and began to release their Soul-annihilating Sound. As they executed it, the Soul-annihilating Sound indeed swelled like overlapping ocean waves, growing increasingly ferocious. Ye Jingcheng tested it briefly and found that this Soul-Devouring Insect Grand Array could actually shake his own Divine Soul slightly. This was only because Ye Jingchong didn’t have Tier Four Soul-Devouring Insects. Otherwise, if hundreds of thousands of them formed an Insect Array, they might even be able to somewhat affect a Tier Five Treasure.

"You’ve done well, but don’t use this unless it’s a critical moment," Ye Jingcheng said, patting Ye Jingchong’s shoulder.

In truth, his Treasure Book was far better suited for cultivating Spirit Insects. However, since his own Cultivation and that of his main Spirit Beasts were already taking up all his time, he naturally didn’t have the bandwidth to raise them. Thus, Ye Jingchong had been the one breeding and taming them all these years.

Given that the Soul-Devouring Insects were one of their trump cards—and directly tied to the Forbidden Land of Fallen Souls beyond the Teleportation Array—the Ye Family naturally had to keep them hidden for as long as possible. As for the Spirit-Slaying Locusts, there was no need for such caution. Their reproductive capabilities were so strong that as long as they could cultivate a mutated variant, even sacrificing them entirely would be exceptionally worthwhile.

After giving Ye Jingchong a few more instructions, Ye Jingcheng waved him off, letting him go familiarise himself with the city. Meanwhile, he began communicating with Ye Jingyu and Ye Xuefan.

When Medicine King Valley was attacked previously, the Ye Family hadn’t immediately assaulted the Beast Spirit Sect because the latter possessed numerous Nascent Soul Cultivators and a Demon Emperor. At the time, his Red Flame Fox was breaking through, and the Golden Scale Beast and Six-Colored Cloud Deer were also preparing to enter Seclusion consecutively. Not being at his peak combat strength—and worried about an ambush by the Demon Sect—he had refrained from taking action.

But now that many years had passed, Ye Jingyu should have deduced the approximate location of the Teleportation Array and gathered substantial intel on the Beast Spirit Sect’s Nascent Soul Cultivators and Demon Emperor. Coupled with the fact that his Red Flame Fox had now successfully broken through, his strength was remarkably formidable. Naturally, it was time for Ye Jingcheng to start making plans.

The Profound Celestial Demon Sect had already made their move, which meant Penglai’s intervention was not far off. It was highly unlikely that Ye Jingcheng could wait much longer. Especially if True Monarch Bai Yao failed his breakthrough, the Ye Family would need to make extra preparations. They couldn’t afford to literally wait until the last possible moment.

The current tranquility in the Eastern Domain was nothing but the calm before the storm. Once chaos truly erupted, it would likely be even more complicated than the True Demon conflict here in the Central Domain. For the Ye Family to destroy the Beast Spirit Sect, seize the Demon Beast Essence Blood, and expand their influence over Spirit Beasts and Spirit Insects, they needed to make an early decision.

According to the intelligence the Ye Family had gathered, the Beast Spirit Sect had very likely obtained the inheritance of the Ancient Beast Sect. There was a chance they possessed some Secret Techniques that could be useful to the Ye Family.

After communicating via the Clan Token for a while, Ye Jingcheng learned that the family had already dispatched members to scout out several vital Spirit Mountains in the Han Kingdom Cultivation Realm. They had even managed to plant Ye Family operatives within some of the sect’s Hall Entrances. Although these cultivators were only at Foundation Establishment, they could still play a crucial role for the Ye Family at the critical moment, especially when it came to dismantling the Teleportation Array.

Besides this information, the Ye Family’s investigations had also uncovered details about the Beast Spirit Sect’s genius cultivators over the past three hundred years. They had at most three Nascent Soul Cultivators. This included the one from last time, assuming he had already undergone Possession to be reborn and had recovered his strength. Adding the Demon Emperor to this equation, they likely possessed a total of five to six Nascent Soul Combat Powers.

This number was definitely not small. It made Ye Jingcheng involuntarily frown. After all, this was only what the Ye Family had managed to find out. If there were obscure figures who had quietly broken through to Nascent Soul, or if a Demon King had advanced to become a Tier Five Demon Emperor, it certainly wouldn’t be something they could just uncover through simple inquiries. This was something they needed to think through carefully and prepare for in advance.

As such, if the Ye Family were to act, they would either have to enlist the Taiyi Sect and Medicine King Valley to lure away a few Nascent Souls—just like how they had dealt with the Celestial Water Sect in the past—or they would have to wait for the Golden Scale Beast to break through, or wait for his own Lifebound Magical Treasure and the commissioned Ancient Crow Wing Treasure to be successfully refined.

Finally, Ye Jingcheng also learned from Ye Jingyu that the latter had already forged his Lifebound Magical Treasure. Furthermore, Ye Jingyu had predicted the exact date when a small clan in the Zhao Kingdom, under Medicine King Valley, would stir up trouble. The calculated time frame roughly pointed to eight years from now, which made Ye Jingcheng’s heart skip a beat.

He knew that even if this date didn’t perfectly align with True Monarch Bai Yao’s breakthrough, it wouldn’t be far off. In other words, the Ye Family only had about six or seven years left.

"That will be the perfect time to cause a huge commotion here in the Central Domain!" Ye Jingcheng muttered.

Although he had already gathered all the Advancement Pills and Advanced Demon Blood needed for his Jade Qilin Flood Dragon and the Earth Dragon Demon Emperor, it was a known fact that the Beast Spirit Sect possessed a Demon Emperor from the Qilin Lion Race, which carried the Qilin Bloodline. This was precisely the Essence Blood the Golden Scale Beast required to advance. Naturally, Ye Jingcheng wanted to obtain it as soon as possible before heading to the Earth Immortal Realm.

At this thought, Ye Jingcheng observed Demon-Vanquishing City for a long time. He even flew out and briefly inspected Jiayuan Prefecture. Upon learning that the Demon Cultivators likely wouldn’t launch another large-scale offensive in the short term, Ye Jingcheng returned to his palace and began refining Spirit Pills.

These weren’t just Tier Five Spirit Pills meant for Nascent Soul Cultivators; this time, he also planned to refine Healing Elixirs meant for Golden Core and Purple Mansion Cultivators. It was highly probable that the Demon Cultivators were conducting Blood Sacrifices for the war, which would take a considerable amount of time. While Ye Jingcheng couldn’t guarantee a 100% survival rate for the majority of his clan members, he could at least ensure that the Ye Family cultivators wouldn’t have to worry about a shortage of Spirit Pills!

Moreover, this would also help him hone his Alchemy Skill, serving as preparation for refining the Tier Five Advancement Pill! Although six or seven years wasn’t enough time to consume the pill and advance, Ye Jingcheng could refine it in advance. This way, after dealing with the Beast Spirit Sect, he could immediately have his Spirit Beasts enter Seclusion, all in preparation for their journey to the Earth Immortal Realm.

Aside from Advancement Pills and restorative Healing Elixirs, Ye Jingcheng also intended to refine some Blood-Rocking Pills. These would be extremely effective for Ye Jing Hu and Ye Yunxi. As for the required Demon Pills, Ye Xuecang had slaughtered plenty of beasts and amassed a substantial amount during the Ye Family’s time in the East Wuyu Sea Domain.