Perfect World - Chapter 428
Divine Insect’s Food
It was extremely small, and its entire body was golden and chubby. It had a special medicinal fragrance. It moved around Shi Hao’s neck in a shy manner as if it was expressing intimacy.
“What do you want?” Shi Hao’s neck felt extremely itchy. A translucent divine insect was attached to him, which made him excited and a bit worried at the same time.
More than one person said that this little thing wasn’t easy to raise. Under normal circumstances, it couldn’t survive at all. Only heaven knew what it was going to eat and how he was going to take care of it.
It was an Emperor Butterfly, and once it matured, it would be comparable to the Archaic Vicious Ten. However, if it died before it could grow up, then not only would that be a crime, it would also be a joke.
“You aren’t allowed to be picky about food. Just live well,” Shi Hao said softly. He pinched it, feeling it again and again. It was cool to the touch and left a fragrance on his fingers.
Why did it feel like a divine pill had developed intelligence? The group of people were all suspicious. This fragrance was extremely intoxicating. It refreshed their minds, making them feel as if they were completely relaxed. They felt they were floating.
“Legend has it that when the most divine and holy creatures are born, they’ll retain their clan’s most primitive innate aura,” Yun Xi said. She had once seen an anecdote on a bone piece that matched the characteristics of the divine insect in front of her.
The Emperor Butterfly could find all types of spiritual medicines in this world, so the eggs it laid would naturally be tainted with medicinal fragrance. Only then would the worm be born, and as a result, the fragrance didn’t dissipate. This was an innate divine essence.
“Come, let me take a look.” The big red bird drooled. It was a bird, and when it saw a larva, it couldn’t help but want to eat it, not to mention a divine insect with such an alluring medicinal fragrance.
Shi Hao slapped it to the side, thinking to himself that he shouldn’t stay here for too long. It was too conspicuous in the ruins.
Soon after, they entered an extremely large inn. They booked a courtyard and used formations to seal off all entrances. They began to carefully observe this larva.
“Hey, the medicinal fragrance isn’t that strong anymore.” Everyone was astonished. Even the divine insect’s body became a bit dimmer.
“Is this the result of the innate aura disappearing? It absorbed the impure energy of the mortal world. However, this is also good. It’ll avoid drawing attention,” Huo Ling’er said. She was extremely fond of this golden larva.
Slurp! Slurp!
Unfortunately, the divine insect didn’t buy it. It didn’t pay attention to others and was only sucking on Shi Hao’s skin. It was attached to him.
Yun Xi’s expression changed. “Hey, something’s not right. The golden color is fading. It really needs the divine objects of heaven and earth to replenish itself. Otherwise, there will be a huge problem.”
To put it simply, the creature was so powerful that even the heavens were jealous of it. It was simply too difficult to raise. Unless there was something astonishing to feed it, it would die prematurely before it could make it through its infancy.
When everyone heard this, they were shocked, and all of them became anxious.
It had been sealed since ancient times and only appeared today. If the Emperor Butterfly died because of them, that would be a great regret. It would be better if they didn’t find it.
“It should be fine!” Shi Hao searched through all the things on him, trying to find which one was the most suitable for it. The gray-clothed woman had said before that he could raise divine insects.
Shi Hao put all of his good stuff into the heaven and earth pouch. Then, he grabbed the divine insect and stuffed it inside, letting it choose for itself.
He felt sorry for himself. That little golden creature was extremely fast. It quickly rushed to the two crystal balls. Each crystal ball had a drop of divine liquid sealed within.
That was the Immortal Spring. It was dazzling like a small sun. After sharing it with the villagers and taking some himself, there were only two drops left. They were separately sealed.
It was priceless. Even if one searched the great wastelands, it would be difficult to find it again. Perhaps it could only be found in the Hundred Shattering Mountains. Unfortunately, he only obtained five drops in total.
When Shi Hao saw it stop in front of the two crystal balls with an intoxicated expression, his heart was bleeding. It had its eyes on the two drops of Immortal Spring right away. That was just too extravagant!
“I can’t even bear to use it myself.” He sighed with admiration. This was a life-saving divine liquid. If there was a day when his life was in danger, drinking a drop would definitely bring him back from the dead.
“What?” What left him shocked was that even though the divine insect stopped in front of the crystal ball for a moment, it still left in the end, not touching that divine liquid right away.
Yun Xi, the Nine-Headed Lion, and the others moved closer to take a look. They looked into the Heaven and Earth Pouch, and when they saw Shi Hao’s collection, they were all rather shocked. Even though there weren’t many things, they were all extremely precious.
“Why is everyone after my good stuff?” Shi Hao ground his teeth.
There was a jade cauldron with a seal. Inside was True Supreme Water that he obtained from the Hundred Shattering Mountains. However, such precious liquid could weigh a few kilos, so there was no need to worry too much.
The silkworm-like golden larva was charmingly naive. It released a gentle radiance and stayed there for a bit before leaving again without taking action.
“Hey, did you guys see? It left behind a mark. Regardless of whether it is the Immortal Spring or the True Supreme Water, it likes them both. Only, it won’t eat them today,” said the big red bird.
Shi Hao grimaced. Would they all be eaten one day? That definitely wouldn’t do. He couldn’t let the divine insect in and randomly eat his stuff.
“What a drunkard.”
The divine silkworm rushed towards a wine pot as if it was going to crawl into the mouth of the pot. It was enjoying the moment and seemed intoxicated. It didn’t move for a long time.
This was something he brought out from the Kun Peng nest. There was a drop of archaic wine inside, and it was exceptional. Its effect was even stronger than all types of wondrous medicines.
Everyone clicked their tongues in wonder. Sure enough, the insect wouldn’t miss out on anything good. The things it set its eyes on were extraordinary.
Soon after, it changed its target, rushing toward a praying mat woven from branches. It was the praying mat the Kun Peng used to meditate on, refined from Kun wood.
The Kun wood connected the realms of god and mortals. It was a bridge between heaven and earth, known as the Immortal Divine Wood. Unfortunately, it was ultimately cut down by an archaic taboo existence.
Crunch!
This time, everyone was stupefied. The golden divine insect took a bite, nibbling with relish. It bit off a small piece of Kun wood.
“Does it actually need Kun wood?” Everyone was stunned, but they also felt troubled.
How precious was the Kun wood? Back then, it could pierce through heaven and earth, allowing one to enter the God Realm through it, so it was a priceless treasure. This was especially the case after it died. Its leaves and branches were all divided up during the archaic years, and every single piece that appeared in the present world was incomparably precious.
The divine insect wasn’t greedy. After eating a small piece, it immediately stopped. It shone and was no longer dim.
Whoosh.
Suddenly, it turned into a streak of golden light and flew toward the sealed stone box, looking overjoyed. With a crack sound, it quickly opened the box, looking intoxicated.
“No, I can’t give you that thing!” Shi Hao was shocked. He tried to stop the insect.
The others’ eyes widened, amazed by Shi Hao’s numerous divine treasures. Any random stone case could be a treasure. They really didn’t know what other treasures he had.
When that stone case was opened, it was green and sparkling, releasing a wave of gentle light. There was actually a branch inside, sparkling green buds hanging from it. It was full of divine aura.
It was something the Willow Deity gave Shi Hao. It had previously warned him that if there was any terrifying danger, by holding this branch and chanting an incantation, he could use it to escape the calamity.
It was a life-saving item bestowed by the Willow Deity, yet now, the golden divine silkworm was hugging that willow branch, not letting go no matter what. Its eyes were full of little stars.
Crack!
It bit off a tender willow tree bud, quickly chewing and swallowing it. At that moment, it surged with golden multicolored light that was extremely resplendent.
The divine insect was no longer picky. It hugged the willow branch and refused to let go. Gold and green interweaved, and the radiance was divine. Even without anyone saying anything, Shi Hao knew what it was like.
“Wastrel, this branch isn’t for eating. There are other uses,” Shi Hao complained.
He felt a great headache. Did this thing want to eat Willow Deity’s branches? Was it tired of living? In the future, if it had to feed on the branch and needed to eat willow leaves from time to time, that definitely wouldn’t do.
Crack!
The divine insect ate another two tender shoots, making the golden multicolored light even more gorgeous. It stabilized its innate divine essence, obtaining the nourishment of heaven and earth’s precious treasures.
After eating the three tender shoots, it stopped moving and was swaying about as if it was drunk. It just wouldn’t let go of the willow branch.
In the end, a layer of gorgeous golden radiance surrounded the insect. It fell into a deep sleep, not moving at all.
“What kind of branch is that? Is it a holy medicine? Why would the divine insect like it so much?” Flame Crow was astonished.
Shi Hao shook his head. There was no way to tell them about the Willow Deity.
Everyone looked at each other in dismay. This little thing was too picky and extremely difficult to raise. This gave Shi Hao a huge headache. If he only ate the Willow Deity’s tender shoots, then that would be troublesome.
“My guess is that it doesn’t always eat that green branch. It only eats once in a while. It mainly uses this holy branch to stabilize its innate essence,” Yun Xi said.
Everyone discussed it among themselves. After seeing the Emperor Butterfly’s larva, they were all extremely excited and moved. However, when they thought of what it ate, they all felt troubled. It was too difficult to raise.
Even if it didn’t have to eat the willow tree’s tender shoots every day, it was likely still very particular about eating other things.
Three days later, Shi Hao was shocked by a wave of strange fluctuations. He knew that the divine insect had woken up. The moment he looked at the Heaven and Earth Pouch, he felt a headache. Hot blood surged, and he almost reached out to strangle it to death.
It turned into a streak of golden lightning and was moving fast. It surrounded the four stalks of wondrous medicine from Lin Kun. After a bit of chaotic chewing, more than half of it was eaten in an instant.
Only half of the Golden Grass remained, and its golden leaves were in tatters. A portion of the Fallen Moon Flower had been eaten, and more than half of its leaves had disappeared. Fortunately, the moon-shaped flower was still there. The Purple Star Orchid was also in a miserable state, and only a third was left. As for the Flowing Gold Age, its aura pervaded the air like specks of gold. This stalk wasn’t too damaged, and only a small part was eaten.
The divine insect was plump, golden, and shining. It looked harmless. However, just now, it was eating like a little bandit. It was only the size of a lychee, so how could it have such a huge appetite?
Shi Hao was furious and took it out. That was too much. The four stalks of wondrous medicines were rarely seen in this world, and even if he searched the great wastelands, he still wouldn’t find many.
Fortunately, the four stalks of medicine weren’t completely eaten, and their roots were still there. They took root in the spiritual medicine basin, and if they were nourished by the soil of the Immortal Spring, they could still flourish.
“What powerful fluctuations! It’s transforming! That’s so fast! As soon as it ate the spiritual medicine, its aura became much more powerful.” The Nine-Headed Lion was shocked.
The golden larva’s body didn’t change, but the golden light became a bit more resplendent. After Shi Hao took it out, he stuffed it into a magical artifact jar, and it simply went through the wall.
“It’s so powerful!” Everyone was shocked.
It was still a little work, yet it already had such a divine ability. A rather good magical artifact was pierced through right away. If it was used to attack someone, it would probably do the same thing.
It was extremely innocent. It blinked its large sparkling eyes as it looked at Shi Hao as if it didn’t know what to do. It didn’t understand why it was locked up.
Whoosh.
The divine insect was extremely quick-witted. It turned into a streak of golden light and flew into Shi Hao’s hair. Its body curled up and hugged a lock of black hair. Then, it turned into a golden bead.
“Hey, I can’t tell that it’s a divine insect anymore. I can’t feel its aura. That’s so impressive.” Everyone was amazed.
“I’ve decided. I’m going to sweep through an Archaic Divine Mountain. When I reach the foot of the mountain, I’ll place the worm on the mountain and let it secretly eat the plants in the spiritual medicine field,” Shi Hao’s eyes lit up as he spoke. Then, he looked toward Yun Xi and said, “Can you introduce one or two Archaic Divine Mountains with many spiritual medicines?”