Secondly, rearing a large number of Demon Insects requires the consumption of an immense amount of resources, far more than what is needed to support a Demon Beast, and much greater at that.
Third, apart from some extremely rare and unusual strange insects, the strength of the vast majority of Demon Insects is not too great.
Even those Demon Insects carefully cultivated by Golden Core Stage Cultivators from the Thousand Spirit Sect are hardly able to withstand the power of Dharma Treasures.
In battles against Cultivators of the same realm, barely any Golden Core Stage Cultivator from the Thousand Spirit Sect can claim victory solely by using Insect Expelling Techniques.
The same goes for them, no matter how many insects they breed!
Similarly, Demon Insects that pose a threat to Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators essentially only exist within certain records of the Thousand Spirit Sect, and the vast majority of them have long been declared extinct.
In other words, the Insect Expelling Technique is a formidable combat art below the Golden Core Stage.
However, after reaching the Golden Core Stage, if there are no especially powerful strange insects to manipulate, then the usefulness of the Insect Expelling Techniques greatly diminishes.
Perhaps it was because of this flaw that Golden Core Stage Cultivators like Han Yuan from the Thousand Spirit Sect became obsessed with researching Taboo Arts, vainly attempting to cultivate powerful Demon Insects that could threaten the lives of Golden Core Stage Cultivators through the Forbidden Arts.
In a sense, he actually managed to do it.
The Demon Insects now ravaging the Yang Kingdom are the product of his experiments.
But Zhou Chun knew that the current situation of these Demon Insects wasn’t what Han Yuan had intended.
The reason why the Demon Insects can now form a plague that even Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators can’t extinguish is due to their unrestricted expansion into massive swarms and the emergence of powerful Insect Kings among them.
But if any Cultivator thinks of using these Demon Insects as their manipulated subjects, they are bound to regret it.
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Because a swarm of Demon Insects manipulated by a Cultivator will never give birth to a true king of their species.
At the same time, a Cultivator’s Divine Sense is limited; even a Golden Core Stage Cultivator can at most manage to simultaneously manipulate hundreds of thousands of first-order Demon Insects.
Yet hundreds of thousands of first-order Demon Insects can’t pose any threat to a Golden Core Stage Cultivator.
So the kind of Demon Insects that would truly satisfy a Golden Core Stage Insect Cultivator like Han Yuan should be those with powerful individual strengths and that can also reproduce into small-scale swarms.
Take for instance a strange insect recorded in the classics of the Thousand Spirit Sect, a creature called the "Heaven Fire Purple Centipede."
Once this strange insect reaches maturity, it grows to a length of nine feet, can fly and burrow, and the purple flames it spits from its mouth can’t even be touched by Golden Core Stage Cultivators, burning through Dharma Treasures!
If a Golden Core Stage Cultivator could cultivate a hundred or so mature "Heaven Fire Purple Centipedes," they would be invincible amongst their peers, taking on ten at once without issue!
Unfortunately, creatures like the "Heaven Fire Purple Centipede," whose existence in this world is unknown, are as difficult to find as a needle in a haystack, let alone the slightly less powerful ones which are also rarely seen now.
Han Yuan even wrote in his personal memoir that his greatest regret in life was not being able to return to his Sect before the Thousand Spirit Sect was destroyed; his second biggest regret was that he had never truly found a strange insect from the "Heaven and Earth Strange Insects List."
The so-called "Heaven and Earth Strange Insects List" is also an exceptional book left by Han Yuan, compiled by a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator known as the "Hundred Insects True Person."
The Thousand Spirit Sect’s ancestor had received a part of the "Hundred Insects True Person’s" legacy teachings.
This "Hundred Insects True Person" had compiled information from various classics, in addition to their first-hand experience, and recorded a total of one hundred powerful Heaven-Earth Strange Insects, ranking them based on their personal insights.
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Even the mighty "Heaven Fire Purple Centipede" only managed to climb to fifty-third place in that "Heaven and Earth Strange Insects List."
Most of the Demon Insects listed in this exceptional book have already been confirmed extinct in this realm, and even the remaining ones are mostly on the brink of extinction, unseen even by a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator like the "Hundred Insects True Person."
Only a small part of them has been confirmed to still exist, sporadically appearing in some rarely visited wilderness and forbidden lands.
Zhou Chun had also browsed through this "Heaven and Earth Strange Insects List," and the myriad strange insects recorded within, with their immense strength and mysterious Divine Skills, had broadened his horizons and even made him question their existence.
For example, a Strange Insect known as the "Void Hidden Profound Crystal Cicada" is said to possess the ability to become invisible in space, making it difficult for even Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators to detect its presence.
And this Strange Insect’s cicada wings are said to possess the sharpness to tear through space, that it could decapitate a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator without them realizing!
There’s also a Strange Insect known as the "Sky-Capturing Dragon-Eating Spider," which is said to weave webs strong enough to ensnare and subsequently capture and devour even Flood Dragons.
These incredibly powerful Strange Insects had caused a major disaster in the Cultivation World every time they appeared, causing numerous high-level Cultivators to perish or suffer injuries.
Unfortunately, it is not known whether it was because they were too powerful, so powerful that they disrupted the Heavenly Balance, making this world no longer able to accommodate them.
Gradually, their presence disappeared, and living specimens became increasingly rare to see; only some classics about them were passed down to later generations, letting future Cultivators know that such powerful Demon Insects once existed in this world.
When Zhou Chun read the "Heaven and Earth Strange Insects List," he treated it purely as a story.
He was well aware that whether or not these Strange Insects had indeed existed, he most likely would not have the chance to verify it, let alone encounter them.
Furthermore, his current Cultivation Level was not nearly enough for him to concern himself with these Strange Insects.
"Luckily my cultivation level isn’t high now, these insect eggs left behind by Senior Han Yuan should be enough for me to use until I reach the Golden Core Stage!"
Zhou Chun’s mind moved, and he looked over at the jade boxes inside his Storage Pouch.
Zhou Mingde had a high opinion of him and had given him the insect eggs, allowing him to use them as he saw fit.
Perhaps, in Zhou Mingde’s heart, he had no intention of being distracted by studying Insect Expelling Techniques anymore.
However, Zhou Chun didn’t mind having an additional method at his disposal.
Now, by comparing them to the Demon Insect guide left by Han Yuan, he easily identified the origins of the insect eggs he had inherited.
Without doubt, these insect eggs deliberately left behind by Han Yuan were the fine products in his collection.
To a Golden Core Stage Cultivator like Han Yuan, these might seem somewhat unnecessary.
But for a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator like Zhou Chun, they were treasures of great value.
Amongst the most precious insect eggs were the unique Demon Insects cultivated by Han Yuan himself, named "Mystical Armor Golden Feather," and another known as the "Silver Thread Silkworm."
The "Mystical Armor Golden Feather" needs no further explanation. Once matured, it has the strength to injure Purple Mansion Phase Cultivators. If one could cultivate thousands of mature "Mystical Armor Golden Feathers," even a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator like Zhou Chun would have the means to contend with Purple Mansion Phase Cultivators.
The "Silver Thread Silkworm," on the other hand, is an economically beneficial Demon Insect.
The silk produced by this insect is incredibly tough, immune to water, fire, and strong acids. Just by weaving it into a vestment robe, it’s equivalent to a second-grade low-quality vestment robe, and if refined by a Cultivator skilled in crafting vestment robes, it can easily become a second-grade high-quality vestment robe.
A Thousand Spirit Sect Cultivator like Han Yuan, in order to support the huge swarm of insects he was breeding, often raised economic Demon Insects like the "Silver Thread Silkworm" to earn Spirit Coins.
Zhou Chun himself had other ways to make wealth and thus did not need to raise "Silver Thread Silkworms" to generate income.
For the Zhou Family, however, possessing "Silver Thread Silkworms" undoubtedly meant another special Spiritual Object and an additional point of economic growth.
After identifying the various insect eggs, he put away those he presently had no use for, leaving only three types in front of him.
The three types of insect eggs were those of the "Mystical Armor Golden Feather," "Flying Sky Fire Scorpion," and "Blue Moon Butterfly."
Each of these three Demon Insects had unique characteristics, and if cultivated properly, they could all greatly enhance his combat power.
ps: It’s snowing today as I type, affecting my speed, so I’m writing a bit late. Tomorrow I’ll be going out for a housewarming dinner; I won’t take a leave of absence, and I will try for two updates the day after tomorrow!!