Chapter 696: Chapter 696: The Gravedigger’s Mark
Ethan arrived at the dark fissure within seconds, his boots skidding slightly against the loose gravel as he dropped to one knee. He ignored the frantic shouting of the vanguard guards who were rushing to catch up, his focus locked onto the narrow gap beneath the massive boulder.
[Master, processing the localized thermal variance and biological density now,] Crul reported smoothly inside his mind. [Target identified exactly twelve centimeters beneath the upper loose sediment. It is a dormant organic entity carrying a high-potency toxic signature linked straight to the subterranean miasma.]
Following the precise data provided by Crul, Ethan brushed away a layer of gray dust with a silver clinical rod. Tucked deep within the stone recess, a small, obsidian-black insect materialized. Painted directly onto its hardened shell was a natural, bone-white marking that perfectly mirrored a human skull.
"The Gravedigger Beetle..." Ethan murmured, his gravelly voice echoing sharply in the enclosed crevice. "This is irrefutable biological proof that a high-tier ancient tomb is located within our perimeter."
The Vice Sect Leader rapidly approached, his interest intensely piqued as he caught sight of the bizarre insect. Entranced by the strange marking, the old master instinctively extended his hand, his fingers reaching down into the crevice to pick it up for a closer look.
"Do not touch it!" Ethan barked, his voice snapping like a military command as he instantly shot his hand out, firmly grabbing the Vice Leader’s wrist in mid-air to halt his advance.
The elite guards surrounding the crevice instantly stiffened, their breath catching at the young doctor’s sheer audacity to restrain the second highest authority in the pavilion. However, Ethan’s expression remained cold and professional.
"The Gravedigger Beetle sustains itself by feeding directly on the raw, unrefined miasma of the five-thousand-year-old tomb curse," Ethan explained, his amethyst eyes locking onto the old master’s face. "Do you see the shape of the skull marking on its carapace? It is formed, and if you look closely at its mandibles, it possesses exactly three separate structural divisions. This is a fully matured adult specimen."
He slowly released the Vice Leader’s wrist, pointing the tip of his silver rod toward the insect’s twitching mouthparts.
"If that creature bites your flesh, the concentrated toxic agent stored inside its glands will instantly flood your nervous system," Ethan warned grimly. "While the dosage within a single insect is admittedly not high enough to be structurally mortal to a master of your caliber, the sheer, agonizing neural pain it inflicts will violently make you wish you had never laid a single finger on it."
The elite disciples standing in the immediate perimeter instinctively took a synchronized step backward, their faces twisting with a sudden, tense discomfort. Hearing the young doctor detail the gruesome effects of the tiny creature’s bite made every soldier in the clearing feel an immediate itch crawl right up their spines. Several cultivators nervously rolled their shoulders or reached back to check their armored collars, utterly terrified that one of those skull-faced insects had silently crawled onto their gear while they were securing the ravine.
"Master Ethan," the Vice Sect Leader said, his hand remaining perfectly still where Ethan had stopped it as he stared intensely at the tiny black shell. "If this creature is a biological product of the burial site, can we use its tracking instincts to directly localize the entrance of the tomb?"
"Unfortunately, no," Ethan replied, shaking his head as he smoothly stood back up to his full height. "Adult male Gravedigger Beetles travel immense distances away from their origin point, spending months or even years searching for a suitable mate to bring back down into the dark. Even the ancient tomb-hunting syndicates couldn’t track a lone male; instead, they kept captured females in specialized cages."
He adjusted his robes, his gravelly voice calm. "The old raiders would place dozens of females near a known male outpost. The exact millisecond after mating is completed, the males will fly in a flawless, straight trajectory back to the core of the tomb so the female can utilize the dense miasma to properly incubate her larvae. However, looking at the localized biological indicators, there are zero signs of a female beetle anywhere within this canyon sector."
The General stepped forward, his eyes narrowing as he gripped the hilt of his heavy blade. "What do these females look like? If they are the key to forcing a direct path, perhaps I can order the four hundred men of the vanguard to execute a widespread sweep of the mountain range to capture one."
"The female specimen possesses a different structural outline," Ethan explained, his amethyst eyes sharp and clinical. "She is roughly the same physical size as the male, but she lacks the bone-white skull marking on her carapace. Furthermore, her outer shell is not obsidian black—it is a distinct, vivid shade of blood red."
The moment the words left Ethan’s mouth, the elite disciples didn’t even wait for a formal command from the General. They simultaneously broke their rigid defensive formation, scattering outward across the rocky canyon walls and plunging their hands into every deep crevice and shattered stone pile in a desperate, highly coordinated effort to locate a blood-red female beetle.
While the vanguard tore the ravine apart, Ethan calmly retrieved a thick glass vial from his high-tier spatial ring. He placed the open rim directly over the crevice, and the obsidian-black insect crawled smoothly inside without offering a single shred of resistance. It settled onto the bottom of the glass motionless.
"He isn’t moving at all," the Vice Sect Leader noted, watching the creature with fascinated curiosity. "Does it not realize it has been captured?"
"The Gravedigger Beetle possesses zero evolutionary fear regarding confinement," Ethan explained smoothly, capping the vial with a heavy rubber stopper. "As long as nobody attempt to crush or harm their shell, they will remain immobile. The ancient tomb raiders were incredibly reckless, aggressively seizing them with bare hands and causing the species to develop a severe behavioral trauma toward human touch. But if handled with care they are perfectly docile."
Ethan bent down one last time, snapping off a few brittle, gray root fibers that were clinging to the underside of the massive boulder. He popped the stopper open, dropped the roots into the vial, and sealed it.
"These roots have been thoroughly saturated by the low-level energy bleeding through the stone; they are the primary food source for this specimen," Ethan muttered, tapping the glass. "With this small allocation, he will remain perfectly tranquil and sustained for at least a couple of days."
-------------------
From this moment forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.
Note: These are only the ranks mentioned so far to avoid spoilers.
Body Refinement Realm
Skin Refinement / Bone Refinement / Organ Refinement
Spiritual Gathering Realm
Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation
Spiritual Core Realm
Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)
Spiritual Soul Realm
Spiritual Soul Awakening / Soul Nourishing / Soul-Core Fusion
Golden Core Realm
Prime Fusion / Core Perfection / Core Destruction
Spiritual Sea Realm
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
Dao Manifestation Realm
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
Spiritual Transcendence
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
------
Sword mastery levels
Sword Intent.
Sword Aura.
Comments