The sheer number of Nether Ghost Bugs was beyond counting. Wherever one looked, they filled the sky densely, like a tide of blue fire sweeping across the air, leaving virtually no room to dodge. Their speed was ghostly, swift and uncanny, nearly impossible to evade. It was precisely due to these attributes that the Nether Ghost Bugs were revered as a sacred relic of the Ghost Cavern Clan.
Splat! Splat! Splat!
One after another, the ghost bugs charged at Yi Tianxing, colliding into him with force rivaling sniper armor-piercing rounds. This was no exaggeration—it truly was that powerful.
Yet Yi Tianxing didn't dodge, nor did he activate any protective astral energy. He simply stood still, letting the bugs strike him. Upon impact, a ghostly blue flame ignited on his body—the Nether Ghost Fire, a parasitic flame that clings like a bone-burrowing worm. To any living being, it was a mortal threat.
However, despite their speed and power, the ghost bugs couldn't pierce Yi Tianxing's flesh. His physical defense had reached a terrifying level. As for the flames, the moment they appeared, his Innate Yin-Yang Eyes activated instinctively, emanating a powerful devouring force. The ghost fire was immediately pulled into the Yin-Yang Space and absorbed by the Innate Yin-Yang Diagram without mercy.
Each cluster of ghost fire contained pure Yin energy—a potent refinement supplement for the Yin-Yang Eye's origin force. To Yi Tianxing, it was a nourishing delicacy.
The bugs were, at their core, spirit creatures of Yin, and their ghost fire was their essence. Using this ghost fire against someone like Yi Tianxing—who possessed the Innate Yin-Yang Eyes—was the same as delivering a feast to his door.
With a mere thought, clusters of ghost fire were absorbed into the Yin-Yang Diagram, refining into origin energy and enhancing his Life Apertures (命窍).
As their ghost fire was consumed, the Nether Ghost Bugs instantly lost their vitality, falling to the ground with a thud, completely lifeless.
The Yin-Yang Space expanded.
Corpses of the ghost bugs carpeted the area.
In just moments, their numbers were wiped out.
"What are those things?" Song Yuting asked, her voice tinged with fear. "Those flames they give off... they gave me this terrifying premonition of disaster when I first saw them."
"They're the Nether Ghost Bugs, sacred relics of the Ghost Cavern Clan," Jiang Ni explained. "They're guardians blessed by ghost deities, born with Nether Ghost Fire. Once it erupts, it can instantly burn a person to ash—utterly terrifying. The clan's nobles often use them as guardians after death to protect their corpses from intrusion. I didn't expect to see so many here."
The ghost bugs were swift and deadly. Their flames were not something ordinary people could resist.
"But even these can't touch my Lord," the Unsurpassed Ghost Eye remarked with admiration.
Watching the endless corpses on the ground, even without knowing what had just happened, she was certain that Yi Tianxing had the power to wipe out the entire swarm—without even moving.
Song Yuting knew that had she faced the ghost bugs alone, she would have died.
Time passed.
At last, the ghost bugs vanished.
In Yi Tianxing's Divine Sea, a radiant beam of starlight shot out from the Life Star representing the Yin-Yang Aperture, casting a brilliant reflection into the sea—a mirrored moon.
This marked his breakthrough into the Mirror Moon Realm (镜月), the third stage of the Life Aperture Realm. At this level, the origin power of the Life Aperture completely merges with the true essence in the Divine Sea, essentially creating a second energy sea that could be accessed freely.
This was a milestone—total unification between the Divine Sea and the Life Aperture.
In emergencies, when the Divine Sea ran dry, the Yin-Yang Aperture could instantly replenish it.
"Excellent. The energy from those ghost bugs allowed my Yin-Yang Origin to break through to the Mirror Moon Realm."
This was an immense boost. He had been cultivating and accumulating for a long time, waiting for this breakthrough.
Now, his attention turned to the nearby Kunlun Divine Tree.
This was a divine tree, a potential Innate Spiritual Root, exceedingly rare and precious.
"Collect!"
Now that the ghost bugs were eliminated, Yi Tianxing placed his hand on the divine tree and, with a thought, it vanished—transported directly into his Dantian Life Aperture.
As soon as the tree entered, a wave of mysterious life force spread through the Life Aperture, rapidly expanding the spiritual field (lingtian). Then, water from the Fountain Spring Aperture poured over the divine tree.
With a loud crack, the tree shattered into countless divine wood fragments, which quickly merged into the spiritual field.
The divine vitality in these shards was so overwhelming that the field expanded rapidly—three li, four, five—until it reached ten li in radius in mere moments.
But that wasn't all.
At the center of the shattered tree, a tiny green sapling took root—just two leaves, yet pulsing with life. Its roots immediately embedded into the soil, stabilizing and reinforcing the entire spiritual field.
This sapling began naturally absorbing the world's spiritual energy, feeding the field and accelerating the growth of all spirit herbs, spirit rice, and medicinal plants within.
"It's... Ruomu," Yi Tianxing murmured in awe.
The divine tree had not truly died. Most of its vitality had converged into this new sapling—a miracle born of destruction.
Though he'd planned to store it in the Primordial Heavenly Emperor's Pagoda, his instincts had directed it into the Dantian Life Aperture. There, with the help of spiritual spring water, the tree's vitality was triggered, birthing this seedling.
According to the Wordless Heavenly Tome, this really wasRuomu, the legendary divine tree—the Kunlun Divine Tree.
It had the power to:
Draw elemental energy from the void to enrich the Dantian Life Aperture
Stabilize and anchor the spiritual field with its roots
Accelerate the growth of spirit herbs and grains
And eventually... produce the mythical Water of Life
Though that last feature might be slow at first, once the tree matured, it would become a limitless source.
Every one of these abilities was invaluable.