Chapter 645: Chapter 645
The Rainbow-Ringed Giant Earthworm always surfaced from the depths of the mire.
It fed on poisonous qi, and before it could refine the poison, it would emit a ring of miasma across its body. From a distance, this made it appear several times larger, comparable in size to a giant python.
That miasma was composed of highly concentrated poisonous qi, even more potent than the toxic mist that hovered over the swamp.
As long as the Rainbow-Ringed Giant Earthworm appeared, it would be easily noticed.
Within the poisonous fog, Qin Sang could not be sure how far the aura of the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold would spread. He considered circling the core region of the swamp and choosing several spots for bait.
The mist drifted and swirled like flowing water.
Qin Sang covered his nose and mouth as his gaze swept from side to side.
Before long, his eyes suddenly locked onto the base of a large tree, a flicker of joy flashing across his face.
He had smeared Crimson Fire Gilded Gold along the tree’s trunk.
Now, a patch of green grass at the base of the tree was swaying, not from the wind, but from force rising through the disturbed roots below.
Qin Sang paused for a moment of thought. He didn’t immediately extend his spiritual consciousness to investigate. Instead, he decided to wait for the Rainbow-Ringed Giant Earthworm to appear, planning to act only after confirming its level to avoid a misstep.
The grass shook more violently.
Soon, the clump of grass parted, and mud began to bubble up. A plump, rainbow insect clumsily wriggled its way out from beneath the earth.
It was plump to the extreme, practically a small column of flesh. Its entire body shimmered as though draped in a robe of rainbow light, resembling a colorful silkworm. Its segmented body, like a fat man’s belly, rippled with waves of flesh each time it twisted.
For this creature, crawling from the thick mud onto the slick grass stem was clearly no easy task.
Like a drowning mortal flailing in the water, it flopped and floundered, stirring the swamp until it bubbled loudly. After finally gripping two grass stems, it managed to hoist itself free and immediately began crawling toward the tree trunk.
Perhaps the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold was simply too tempting. The fat silkworm moved much faster than before, ascending the tree with surprising speed.
Qin Sang stared at the fat silkworm, his face full of suspicion.
And when the creature reached the tree trunk and eagerly began licking at the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold, Qin Sang became even more baffled. He had no idea what he was looking at.
This was clearly not the Rainbow-Ringed Giant Earthworm.
Yet Qin Sang could not match it to any known spiritual insect.
He searched his memory. Neither the Witch Insect Register nor the Supernatural Insect Register had any record of such a creature.
At first sight, Qin Sang had assumed it was just a common insect that had stumbled in by chance.
But the moment it charged toward the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold, he immediately dismissed that thought. This was definitely a spiritual insect but one entirely undocumented.
There were many silkworm-type spiritual insects recorded in the Witch Insect Register, including the legendary Witch God’s insect and the celestial silkworm that ascended to become an immortal after nine metamorphoses. Even the witch race had records of them.
Yet none of those descriptions matched this fat bug in the slightest.
None mentioned colors this chaotic.
Aside from its vivid hues, the fat silkworm seemed utterly ordinary.
It emitted no force at all and appeared no different from an everyday insect. Qin Sang couldn’t even determine how many metamorphoses it had undergone, and at one point he even doubted whether it was a spiritual insect at all.
But what lay before his eyes allowed no room for disbelief.
The fat silkworm was happily licking the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold, its plump body swaying side to side in bliss.
The Crimson Fire Gilded Gold had been applied in small amounts. Once it finished licking the tree trunk clean, the fat silkworm immediately let go and dropped with a plop back into the mud. Rolling over, it began wriggling once more, heading straight for the next patch of Crimson Fire Gilded Gold to feast again.
With such a strong reaction to the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold, it had to be a spiritual insect. Most likely, it was a species neither the witch race nor the human race had ever encountered before, or perhaps it had existed in ancient times and gone extinct, along with all documentation of it.
The Rainbow-Ringed Giant Earthworm was known for its strong territorial nature.
If this fat silkworm truly was a spiritual insect, that could only mean the Rainbow-Ringed Giant Earthworm had already left the swamp.
But judging by its clumsy movements, there was no way this fat creature had the strength to drive away the Rainbow-Ringed Giant Earthworm. So had the latter migrated of its own accord, or was this little thing far more powerful than it appeared?
Qin Sang’s expression grew solemn. His years of experience told him that, just like humans, spiritual insects should never be judged by their appearance.
With that in mind, Qin Sang quietly opened his Mustard Seed Pouch and summoned a refined corpse.
The refined corpse leapt from the tree and began walking across the swampy ground. The corpse qi emanating from its body was clear and heavy as it approached the fat silkworm.
To Qin Sang's surprise, the fat silkworm completely ignored the threat. Without so much as glancing back, it kept licking the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold on the grass stem in large, greedy mouthfuls right up until the refined corpse pinched its backside and lifted it into the air.
The refined corpse turned and raised the fat silkworm in its hand toward the spot where Qin Sang was hiding, its expression blank and innocent.
The silkworm wriggled in the corpse’s grasp, its upper body straining toward the direction of the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold, but it stood no chance against the corpse’s overwhelming strength.
It sank its mouth into the iron-hard fingers of the refined corpse, yet failed to leave even a single bite mark.
Some fluid oozed onto the corpse’s fingers—perhaps saliva—and seemed to carry a hint of toxicity, but it was so weak that the corpse qi on the refined corpse easily neutralized it.
The creature truly appeared to be out of tricks, but still it didn’t give up. Its chubby body stretched a little longer, desperately reaching for the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold.
Seeing this, Qin Sang was completely speechless.
After a brief moment of thought, he stepped out from his hiding place and flew over. Wrapping his fingers in true essence, he pinched the fat silkworm and examined it for a while. He eventually confirmed that the silkworm wasn’t pretending. This was simply how weak it was.
"What on earth is this thing?"
Qin Sang rubbed his forehead, his head pounding with frustration. It really felt like a streak of bad luck had fallen over him.
So much Crimson Fire Gilded Gold and time wasted. First luring out a terrifyingly powerful Twilight Stink Bug, only to now draw out a useless fat silkworm.
Even newborn spiritual insects weren’t this pitiful.
He pinched the fat silkworm and let it lick up the surrounding Crimson Fire Gilded Gold. Only then did it settle down, curling up on his fingertip and falling fast asleep with soft snoring breaths.
It didn’t seem to be undergoing metamorphosis. It simply looked... full.
It had devoured his Crimson Fire Gilded Gold and still had the nerve to fall asleep on his hand.
Qin Sang nearly flung it away in anger. But then he recalled that this strange creature was an unrecorded spiritual insect, not even listed in the Witch Insect Register. Somehow, despite being so weak, it had managed to occupy the Rainbow-Ringed Giant Earthworm’s lair and survive in this deadly swamp. That gave him pause.
After all, this place wasn’t just filled with toxic mist, plenty of poison-loving demonic beasts roamed the area. It was a domain of predators.
In the end, Qin Sang tossed the silkworm into his insect basket, planning to consult the witch race's records later to investigate its origins.
The setup in this area had already been disrupted by the fat silkworm, so Qin Sang covered the basket and glanced around.
"Has the Rainbow-Ringed Giant Earthworm really left the swamp?" The source of this content ɪs novel·fıre·net
Doubt rose in his heart. Unwilling to give up so easily, he set additional bait in three more directions around the core of the swamp and continued attempting to lure it out.
But even after all his efforts, the Rainbow-Ringed Giant Earthworm never appeared. It was truly gone.
After everything, all he had to show for it was a useless fat silkworm.
Without knowing the silkworm’s origins, Qin Sang naturally wouldn’t consider making it his life-bound insect gu. At most, he could use Yuling Sect’s secret techniques to take control of it during its next metamorphosis.
But judging from how clueless it seemed now, its future prospects didn’t look promising either.
Qin Sang shook his head in exasperation. With no choice but to swallow his disappointment, he set off for the next location.