Chapter 36: Subduing the Beetle
"Is Brother Zhang okay?" Zhang Xiangling, who was standing outside Zhang Tiedong Mansion, was walking back and forth anxiously with a look on her face, muttering to herself as she walked.

"Senior Qiong said that the insect consciousness in Brother Zhang's body will be devoured by the spirit of the weapon in two days, and then everything will be fine." Han Li said calmly.

Ever since Han Li brought Zhang Tie back to Yanyue Sect that day, Old Man Qiong immediately checked on Zhang Tie's condition. However, the worm was in Zhang Tie's heart, and Old Man Qiong could do nothing about it.

Fortunately, Old Man Qiong was a cultivator close to the Nascent Soul Realm after all, and he was able to see Zhang Tie's situation at the time. After observing for a while, he finally discovered that the little insect actually had the soul imprint left by the Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.

That’s why the little bug was able to come back to life. If it weren’t for Zhang Tie’s strong blood and energy, none of the three would have been able to escape and would have become food for the little bug.

"Can that sword spirit really devour the consciousness of that Nascent Soul? That's a Nascent Soul!" Zhang Xiangling asked worriedly.

"It will definitely be no problem. Didn't Senior Qiong say that the sword spirit was born from an ancient treasure? Its spiritual power is almost comparable to that of a late Jindan cultivator. It should be able to deal with the mark left by a Yuanying cultivator."

Han Li went on to explain, followed by a wave of envy.

Since entering the Yanyue Sect, this beautiful female cultivator named Zhang Xiangling has asked Han Li about Zhang Tie's situation more than once. Looking at Zhang Xiangling's affectionate eyes, Han Li would think of the woman in the forbidden area that day, and could not help but become distracted.

While the two were waiting for Zhang Tie with their own thoughts, Zhang Tie was sitting in the cave with his eyes closed. Then Zhang Tie's heart moved slightly, and a black beetle suddenly rushed out from Zhang Tie's chest.

The beetle, which was originally only the size of a thumb, has now become the size of a fist, and its entire body is shining with the luster of metal plates.

"At this moment, Zhang Tie suddenly opened his eyes, then he used the Qingyun Sword to stab the little bug."

The Qingyun Sword was extremely fast and arrived in front of the little bug in the blink of an eye. However, the little bug rolled its eyes slightly, as if mocking Zhang Tie's speed, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

boom!
The black beetle suddenly appeared behind Zhang Tie, and with just a slight bump, it knocked Zhang Tie off balance and almost made him fall to the ground.

“Alright, alright, I can’t beat you!” Zhang Tie, who had adjusted his balance, said hurriedly, “Qingyun, your insect body must be as strong as a fifth-level monster. I really can’t beat you!”

When the beetle heard Zhang Tie's praise, it circled around with great joy and then landed on Zhang Tie's shoulder.

"You really don't want to return to the Qingyun Sword?" Zhang Tie touched the beetle's tip and asked.

Seeing Xiao Chong shaking his head, Zhang Tie did not ask any more questions, "Alright, at worst, I can control the Qingyun Sword myself in the future."

After taking back the Qingyun Sword, Zhang Tie felt his current level of cultivation.

"I'm already in the middle stage of foundation building!" Zhang Tie was pleasantly surprised to find that after the insect biting his heart, his cultivation level not only did not decline, but it actually improved a lot. "Is it because of this insect?"

Just after Zhang Tie's weapon spirit destroyed the little bug's consciousness, the Yuanying ancestor of the Yuling Sect suddenly frowned, "It turned out that it was able to wipe out my consciousness!"

"Master, you said that the consciousness of the black-armored blood-sucking insect has been wiped out? How is that possible?" A thin old man with a pale face opposite the old man exclaimed in surprise.

"That's an ancient strange insect that can help cultivators advance to the Nascent Soul stage! After being fed with the special blood essence of the Lu family, it has become a fourth-level monster. Moreover, your spiritual awareness is extremely powerful. Unless you encounter a Nascent Soul cultivator, how could there be an accident?" "I'll send someone to investigate!"

“No need,” the Nascent Soul cultivator waved his hand, “I’ll go myself. The war is about to begin anyway, so killing a few Nascent Souls from Yue in advance is also a good option.”

Looking at the Nascent Soul cultivator who turned into a streak of light and flew away, the thin man bowed and then began to summon his disciples to prepare for war.

"Master is in seclusion?" As soon as he went out, Zhang Tie ran into Han Li and the other man who were waiting outside. After a brief greeting, Zhang Tie realized that Old Man Qiong was in seclusion.

“That’s true. This is a chance to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. How can an old man not be anxious?” Zhang Tie thought with ease.

Looking at Zhang Xiangling and Han Li in front of him, Zhang Tie found that he really seemed to have no worries now!
Old man Qiong is about to break through, and Han Li is also practicing step by step. There are still many years before the invasion of demons, which is enough time for them to make all preparations to develop in the Chaos Star Sea!

"Brother Zhang, are you okay?" After seeing that Zhang Tie was fine, Zhang Xiangling's original worry was swept away, and now there was only joy in her heart.

Although Han Li was not good at speaking, he could see the abnormality between the two of them. He coughed lightly and said, "Brother Zhang, I have something else to do, so I won't stay for long!" Then he left in a hurry without waiting for Zhang Tie to speak.

At this moment, only Zhang Tie and Zhang Xiangling were left in the cave. Suddenly, the atmosphere in the cave became subtle.

Zhang Xiangling was wearing a plain dress at the moment, which outlined her curvy figure. Her originally cold face was flushed, and her eyes drifted towards Zhang Tie from time to time.

"You have reached the ninth level of Qi training!" Zhang Tie's exclamation immediately destroyed the atmosphere in the cave.

This was not intentional on Zhang Tie's part, he was truly shocked! In just one year, Zhang Xiangling went from being a mortal to a ninth-level Qi training cultivator. Even a person with a natural spiritual root couldn't achieve that!
"How do you practice this?" Zhang Tie asked in surprise.

"I, I don't know either. I just feel that cultivation is very easy. I can break through by practicing casually." Zhang Xiangling winked playfully, "Brother Zhang, isn't that right?"

"Of course I'm not!" Zhang Tiexin said, I'm not as fast as you even when I cheat!
"Do you have any special physique?" Zhang Tie tried hard to recall the memories in his mind, but he didn't remember that there was a genius like Zhang Xiangling in the mortal world.

"She is a five-element spirit." A cold voice suddenly came over. Zhang Tie looked up and saw a very tall woman in palace dress slowly walking towards them.

The inverted five elements formation set up by Zhang Tie actually had no effect on the woman in front of him!

“Hello, Uncle Master!” Zhang Tie had been in the Yanyue Sect night market for a long time. He recognized the person in front of him at a glance. It was the Sect Master of the Yanyue Sect!
He just smiled and said to Zhang Xiangling, "Would you like to be my disciple?"

Zhang Xiangling was a little at a loss at the moment, and hurriedly turned back to look at Zhang Tie.

The cold woman saw Zhang Xiangling looking at Zhang Tie, then glanced at Zhang Tie and continued to speak softly to Zhang Xiangling, "You are a child of destiny, a future Nascent Soul cultivator. I suggest you don't waste your time on him."

Then, without even looking up, he said to Zhang Tie, "A hundred years later, when you see Xiang Ling has reached Nascent Soul stage, do you really think you are worthy of her?"

(End of this chapter)