Under the deep-blue sky, white asteroids penetrated the sea of clouds, gradually accelerating and heating up as they rubbed against the air, slamming into the endless sea of insects one after another with faint-yellow tails.

  There were a total of thirty-three consecutive rumbles. Each rumble could make an entire swarm of insects collapse. They targeted the points of weakness among the clouds.

  Yue Wuyang and the others still had no idea what was going on, but Northmoon’s clone let out a sigh of relief. “They’re finally here!”


  The Soaring Locust King was alarmed. He was overwhelmed by an extremely uneasy feeling.

  A sharp, vicious bone claw suddenly extended out from a deep pit, and a Skeleton Demon stood up. The Samādhi Flames of White Bone burned in its skull, ready to strike.

  It opened its mouth and let out a soundless roar. An invisible ripple swept across the ground, all of them resonating together.

  The thirty-three Skeleton Demons assembled the Skeleton Demon Formation and spat out the Samādhi Flames of White Bone at the same time, sweeping towards the sea of insects.

  Xiao An’s Samādhi Flames of White Bone were most suited for dealing with enemies that were weak as individuals but amounted to a tremendous number. Even though every single locust was imbued with daemon qi, they could not contend against the Samādhi Flames of White Bone. There was no demon qi here to interfere with the flames either.

  In the blink of an eye, fire rose up from across the swarms, reflecting in the Soaring Locust King’s compound eyes. He could not help but become both startled and furious. He swooped down, grabbing a Skeleton Demon by the skull with a claw.

  Bang! The Skeleton Demon was shoved into the ground. It became gilded with a layer of faint, buddhist light, which fended off the Soaring Locust King’s demon qi.

  Bang! The Soaring Locust King launched another strike. The Skeleton Demon’s skull split open, revealing the fire inside.

  Bang! Only with a third strike did the Skeleton Demon’s head rupture. The Samādhi Flames of White Bone exploded, sweeping out as sparks and setting a great swathe of the insect swarm alight.

  The Soaring Locust King moved extremely quickly. Destroying a tough Skeleton Demon would only take him a few seconds, except there were thirty-three of them in total here. Gu Yanying and the others would not just stand by and allow him to do as he pleased either. They all encircled him and attacked him as well.

  The Soaring Locust King was not afraid of being surrounded, but the flames spread at a startling speed. It was basically like thirty-three sparks landing in a pot of oil. Before he could even respond, the sea of insects had already turned into a sea of flames.

  The Samādhi Flames of White Bone did not have the power to harm the original body like the Buddha Slaying sword, but having so many clones destroyed in a split second still made the Soaring Locust King’s blood boil. His emotions were in turmoil.

  Without any regard, he broke out of the encirclement and crushed three Skeleton Demons consecutively, but he was unable to stop the spread of the fire. The insect swarm he had spent all these years accumulating was incinerated in the flames. His hatred of several thousand years was reduced to nothing in a single day.

  “No!” He roared hysterically.

  Without the insects causing trouble, the heavenly tribulation of ascension immediately stabilised. The Golden Cicada Spirit King used the tribulation of the world to free himself from the cicada skin, and his body began to grow as well, going from an infant to a child, then to a young adult. He was brimming with spirit—handsome, clever, and pure in appearance. His eyes were dark and clear. If it were not for the slightly wrinkly cicada wings on his back, he was no different from a human enlightened monk, even surpassing them in bearing.

  He was like an egg that had waited in the dark earth for all these years, just for the joy of bursting forth from the ground, breaking free from his restraints and soaring through the air one night.

  Everyone could sense it. His aura was changing in a qualitative manner. He had already reached the final juncture of the tribulation.

  “Don’t even think about it!” The Soaring Locust King controlled his remaining locust Daemon Commanders and charged at the tribulation lightning without any regard.

  Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

  The Skeleton Demons turned back into the pure-white Skull Prayer Beads and zoomed over, killing all of the remaining Daemon Commanders before turning into skulls and tightening the formation. They cackled away as they surrounded the Soaring Locust King.

  Xiao An had just not sent her entire string of Skull Prayer Beads here to help the Golden Cicada Spirit King ascend, but also to completely eliminate the problem that was the Soaring Locust King.

  The developments occurred so quickly that they were like a plunging waterfall, swift, flexible, and as smooth as possible. She had reversed the entire situation in a single instant.

  Yue Wuyang and Jin Fugui exchanged glances, almost unable to return to their senses. They obviously also managed to recognise that this was that “princess Xuanyue’s” handiwork. The battle on Great Buddha mountain had already left them extremely shocked, but they never thought she had not even been using her full strength.

  As it seemed, it was not a rumor that the Umbral Yin sect had been destroyed by her alone. It made sense when they thought about it too. Throughout history, were there any of the people who were worthy of the title “buddha nemesis” that were not supreme cultivators?

  They, who had just been outnumbered by the Soaring Locust King earlier, used this opportunity to converge around him. They wanted to end the locust plague that had wreaked havoc across the Green province from the very source, to avenge all the people that had fallen.

  With each turn of the skulls, the Skeleton Demon Formation became tighter. None of them were in a hurry to strike either, only holding their ground and plugging up any possible holes. They pressed closer to the Soaring Locust King slowly, just in case he wanted to throw his life at any of them.

  Having been forced into dire straits, the Soaring Locust King seemed to be dumbfounded. He ignored everything going on around him, gazing at the sky. His eyes became bloody as the corner of his eyes split open, allowing two streaks of blood to run down as tears. He roared hysterically, “Golden Cicada!”


  The fierce wind whistled and moaned like the accumulation of hatred, blowing across the ground, blowing across the sky. This was fury and hatred that he could never be freed from.

  The Golden Cicada Spirit King looked back. He seemed to let out a sigh, recalling those matters of the past.

  A cicada nymph that was drawn to the spiritual qi but refused to crawl out of the ground and a locust that refused to go with the autumn wind like the millions of others of its kind met at the same spiritual vein. They endured countless springs, summers, autumns, and winters together, unlocking a ray of intelligence within their consciousness.

  They were insects, ignorant, foolish insects, feeble, fleeting insects, ones that managed to emerge and stand out among their species. The chances for them to become daemons was negligibly small, yet among the millions, the billions of choices that the will of the heavens could make, they became friends, spending their lives together.

  ……


  “Look at you, you bumpkin. Do you know the delight that comes from soaring through the air? When I become a Daemon King, I’ll call myself the Soaring Locust King!”


  “There will be a day when I fly too, but before that, I need patience!”


  “What patience? I’ll take you flying right now!”


  “Don’t… Stop… It’s too high!”


  ……


  “That damned baldy. It hurts so much!”


  “That’s a monk.”


  “What monk? If I ever see a baldy again, I’ll eat them. I won’t spare a single one!”


  “Stop moving around. Let me heal you.”


  ……


  “Hehe, I’ve assumed a human form. When I eat humans, I won’t be discovered so easily.”


  “If you didn’t eat humans, those monks wouldn’t have pursued you so relentlessly.”


  “Is there something wrong with your head? If I don’t eat humans, what am I supposed to eat? If I just drink tree sap, how long will that take before I become a Daemon Commander? Speaking of which, don’t you think humans taste better?”


  “Whatever. If you die, don’t blame me!”


  ……


  “Sigh, I almost faced annihilation this time. Sure enough, the King of Chu’s estate is not an easy enemy to face. Fortunately, you warned me.”


  “Just stop already. If you continue like this, you’ll be killed.”


  “Hmph. Do the likes of them really think they can kill me, the Soaring Locust King? Speaking of which, I have you helping me out, don’t I? Those monks would never think of your identity. Alright, stop showing me a long face. Once you obtain the Chant of Deva-Nāga and I get my revenge, let’s ascend together!”


  ……


  “Push over the Demon Suppression hall? What a good idea! Let’s make a mess!”


  ……


  “Golden Cicada! Why? Why!?”