Immortality begins with Swallowing the Stars.

Chapter 21 The Corpse of the Mysterious Insect Monster

Deep in a canyon in Wushan.

Jiang Mu, his shoulder soaked with blood, asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "Are you sure the source is here?"

Zhai Kong, the deputy captain who looked even more disheveled than Jiang Mu, nodded: "I conducted three measurements with the instrument, and the source of the infrasound was always here."

"My senses are also here." Jiang Mu nodded, his tense expression showing some relief.

"Well, we actually turned misfortune into blessing. We never expected that being chased here by that swarm of moths would not only allow us to reunite with you, Captain, but also confirm the location of the Insect King..."

Another team member with a bandage wrapped around his head sighed, but his voice grew softer and softer.

Although they finally found the King of Insects' lair, the price they paid was heavy; the original team of twelve was reduced to only four.

"How about we wait for the others, until all the surviving team members have gathered here, before we go to the insect king's lair together?" Zhai Kong suggested, cautiously looking around.

"No!"

Amidst the astonished gazes of the other three, Jiang Mu remained calm and his voice was firm: "You all need to leave here immediately. Zhou Mingsheng seems to be in trouble; his location hasn't moved at all. Go check on them while you're at it, and if you can resolve the situation, take them with you!"

"Captain! You—"

"listen to me!"

Although Jiang Mu's eyes were closed, his sharp gaze still swept over the three team members as if they were real.

"My prepared mental attack only has the power for two strikes!"

"If the first attack fails to destroy the insect king's soul, it means Plan A has failed."

"Plan B is for me to use a second mental attack to briefly entangle the insect king's soul, rendering it unable to move or escape for a short period of time."

"Then the military will use my location coordinates as the center to carry out a precision-guided nuclear strike! In the center of a nuclear explosion at tens of millions of degrees Celsius, let alone an insect king, even a third-tier demon beast would be reduced to ashes."

"This..." Zhai Kong's face was filled with horror: "But if this continues, Captain, you will also..."

Experience in wars with monsters shows that nuclear weapons are not very effective against monsters of the second tier and above.

The main reasons, besides the fact that the exoskeleton of the monster's scales makes it difficult to accurately guide the missiles due to their shielding against heat radiation, are that the missiles are too slow—relative to second-tier monsters.

At the speed of a second-tier monster, it could escape at least one kilometer before the nuclear missile arrived and exploded.

The power of a nuclear explosion decreases exponentially from the center outwards, quickly dropping from tens of millions of degrees Celsius to several thousand degrees Celsius.

While the power from one kilometer away from the center point can still kill first-tier monsters, it is no longer enough to harm second-tier monsters. As for nuclear radiation, which is most lethal to humans, it may even promote mutation in second-tier monsters.

However, if the monsters can be restrained and prevented from escaping the nuclear explosion's epicenter, even powerful third-tier monsters would find it difficult to survive under such circumstances.

What shocked Zhai Kong and the others was that the military actually attached great importance to this Wushan Insect King, even sacrificing a precious second-tier mentalist.

Jiang Mu smiled slightly: "Don't overthink it. It was all my own choice. No one can force me. This is the price I'm willing to pay. Let's go. Wushan is a mountainous area that can effectively block the impact of a nuclear explosion. As long as you can escape to a distance of more than two kilometers, you will not be seriously injured given your physical condition."

After persuading Zhai Kong and the others to leave, Jiang Mu turned to look at the mountains in front of the canyon. His eyes suddenly opened, and his bright, sun-like eyes were filled with boundless hatred.

"Dad...Mom...you wait, I'll avenge you today!"

After waiting for a quarter of an hour, the shield made of the insect monster's exoskeleton floated up under the influence of mental power. Jiang Mu leaped up and shot into a huge hole in the cliff above the canyon like an arrow.

Entering the cave entrance felt like falling into an endless tunnel.

No, it's not just one tunnel, it's countless tunnels! Like an enlarged anthill.

"These insect monsters actually dug so many tunnels?" Jiang Mu was somewhat shocked.

However, her intrusion clearly alerted the insect monsters inside the "ant nest," and one after another, the insect monsters rushed out from many tunnels, trying to intercept the uninvited guest.

Jiang Mu was like a swimming fish, his agile and nimble figure dodging the insect monsters that tried to ambush him at an extremely fast flying speed, including some of the second-tier insect monsters.

Fortunately, the special environment of the "ant nest" also restricted the insect monsters, preventing them from gathering and forcing them to try to intercept and kill Jiang Mu one by one through the complex network of tunnels.

Jiang Mu rarely made a move, focusing instead on dodging at an ever-increasing speed. Her mental energy was extremely precious and could not be wasted on dealing with insect monsters other than the Insect King.

"We're almost there!"

Jiang Mu saw the light before him, and immediately thrust his right hand, which was made from the limbs of the insect monster, backward. His entire body was struck as if by a heavy blow, but he also blocked the attack of the second-tier insect monster from behind and used the force to rush out of the tunnel.

"This is……"

Before Jiang Mu appeared a vast space, illuminated by many minerals embedded in the mountain wall that glowed like luminous pearls.

"They actually carved out such a huge space in the middle of the mountain range?"

Before Jiang Mu could be shocked, he immediately saw a red and black sphere in the center, and behind the huge sphere was a giant worm with a ferocious and terrifying appearance, its body seemingly incomplete.

"A corpse! It looks like the remains of some kind of insect monster?"

Jiang Mu's thoughts surged, and then his heart trembled.

Even though it was just a mangled body, it still shook Jiang Mu to her core. It was as if she were facing a terrifying life form. Her limbs were stiff, and if it weren't for her mental strength maintaining the shield, she might have fallen.

Seemingly also out of fear of the aura emanating from the corpse of the unknown giant insect, the insect monsters chasing Jiang Mu could only hiss and dared not take a single step out of the tunnel.

"Third tier? No, much stronger than third tier... There can actually be an insect monster stronger than a third tier demon beast? And only a mangled body remains... Could it be... Wait... Where is the Insect King?"

Jiang Mu suppressed his shock and looked around for the Insect King.

Suddenly her pupils dilated.

The black and red sphere standing before the remains of the unknown giant insect monster was slowly wriggling!

Do not……

It's an expansion!

Amidst the chilling rustling sound, countless hideous insect legs emerged.

The sphere was actually formed from a long worm that looked like a centipede or a millipede, coiled up!

After the serpent unfurled its body, its two enormous compound eyes looked at Jiang Mu in the air, and a sharp aura suddenly spread out!

"Insect King! High-level Tier 2!"

Thankfully, it's not at the third tier yet!

The worst-case scenario did not occur!

Jiang Mu's expression was solemn. Although her physical attributes were only equivalent to a first-level high-grade martial artist and her mental strength was only at the second-level medium strength, she had already mastered the secret technique of mental attack and was not afraid of second-level high-grade demonic beasts at all.

Monsters below the third rank have weak souls and lack the talent for soul defense; they are certain to die when faced with mental attacks.

"Go to hell!"

An invisible wave, far exceeding the speed of sound, entered the Insect King's body almost instantly.

Immediately, the terrifying worm let out a scream like a baby, its body, which was more than ten meters long, twisted back and forth, and its powerful body kept slamming the ground, sending stones flying everywhere.

But it quickly calmed down, raising its ferocious head high, its compound eyes filled with rage as it stared at the humans who had just attacked it.

"How is that possible?!"

Jiang Mu looked horrified.

"How could its soul be so strong? It's already at the level of a third-tier demonic beast!"

Jiang Mu closed his eyes in despair: "Looks like we still have to execute Plan B..."

A resolute glint flashed in her eyes as she prepared to unleash her second, pre-prepared mental attack—one designed to trap the opponent's soul—and send a nuclear strike message to the military via her watch.

Suddenly, countless panicked hisses attracted Jiang Mu's attention and that of the insect king, which was about to launch an attack.

Inside the tunnel entrance, the hissing of the insect monsters abruptly ceased, and two beams of dark light pierced through all the insect monsters along the way, rushing into the mountain's belly like lightning.

Immediately afterward, a figure rushed out of the cave.

"Captain Jiang."

"Lu Jing?!"

Jiang Mu stared in disbelief at the figure who, like her, was suspended in mid-air on something that looked like a fragment of an eggshell.

The young first-tier martial artist she had once noticed turned out to be a mentalist?

However, at this moment, the figure that she found unbelievable also suddenly showed a look of shock.

After greeting Jiang Mu, Lu Jing's attention was completely drawn to the terrifying worm in the center of the mountain's interior, and the strange, mangled remains of the worm behind it...

"That is..."

Lu Jing stared in astonishment at the terrifying corpse of the enormous insect monster.

(End of this chapter)