The Dao Sovereign of Shennong

Fifty mother insects floated downstream.

Throughout the process, Zhao Ke and the ten insect shamans barely emitted any aura. Most of the time, they simply steered the enchanted boat. Only when they encountered obstacles or ran aground did their energy fluctuate significantly, using the water currents to readjust the boat's course toward their destination.

The boat moved slowly, covering only about 20 li per hour. Though slow, it was steady.

Whether it was the enchanted boat, the mother insects, or the shamans, the energy fluctuations from their spellcasting were minimal. The traces were so faint they were almost impossible to detect. This was the troublesome aspect of insect shamans—they could launch attacks on enemies from a great distance, without leaving any noticeable signs.

The 100-li stretch of the river took Zhao Ke and his team over five hours to cover.

By the time the fifty mother insects reached the outskirts of Yuncheng, it was midnight.

This was the time when defenses were typically at their weakest.

"Yuncheng's boundary marker."

At that moment, a unique life force emanated from Zhao Ke's body. Far downstream, aboard a small enchanted boat, a mother insect the size of a fist, with two pairs of compound eyes, suddenly stirred to life.

The mother insect began to awaken as Zhao Ke strengthened his control over it, his energy fluctuations growing more pronounced.

This was the only time the process required Zhao Ke to expend significant energy—to guide the mother insect to find a suitable environment to lay eggs and reproduce.

"Enter Yuncheng from the Mei River's entrance. You'll drift straight into the heartland. You two, control the mother insects from the Mei River entrance. The rest, look for other tributaries."

"Yes, sir."

Zhao Ke and the other insect shamans cast their spells together.

Of the fifty mother insects, ten drifted toward the Mei River entrance, while the remaining forty were sent to other tributaries leading into Yuncheng.

Some of the insect shamans believed there was no need to divide their forces, thinking they could simply send all the mother insects through the Mei River.

But Kel, ever cautious, chose to split their forces.

Splash~

At the Mei River entrance, two pieces of driftwood floated toward the checkpoint.

Just as they were about to pass through the entrance into Yuncheng's borders…

Splash!

Suddenly, the current slowed, and two whirlpools appeared in the water.

The two pieces of driftwood were immediately pulled toward the center of the whirlpools.

"Hmm?"

The two insect shamans frowned in confusion.

"What's going on?" Zhao Ke asked.

"Perhaps we've hit an undercurrent," one shaman replied. "My mother insect's boat is drifting backward."

"My boat has sunk, but it should float back up soon," said another, dismissing the situation as trivial.

Zhao Ke nodded, but within a quarter of an hour, the two shamans' expressions grew grim.

"Master Kel, something seems wrong."

"My boat hasn't resurfaced."

"Neither has mine."

Zhao Ke immediately ordered, "Destroy the boats if you encounter a formation. Focus on getting the mother insects inside."

"Yes, sir."

The markings on the two shamans' faces lit up, as though insects were wriggling beneath their skin.

The compound eyes of the ten mother insects reflected the images of the two shamans.

At the same time, the enchanted boats carrying the mother insects sped up.

Splash!

One of the boats, using the current to gain momentum, attempted to crash toward the shore.

But the water seemed to resist, pushing the driftwood back with wave after wave.

Whoosh!

In the next instant, the driftwood was completely sucked into the whirlpool.

Buzz!

The first shaman trembled, his face paling.

The other piece of driftwood had already sunk into the riverbed, seemingly stuck in black mud, unable to float despite numerous attempts to manipulate the spell.

Buzz!

The second shaman also lost his connection to the mother insect and the boat.

"Hmm?"

Seeing the expressions of his elders, Zhao Ke realized something had gone wrong.

Sure enough, the two reported that they had lost contact with their enchanted boats and the mother insects.

"Whirlpools and black mud?"

Just as Zhao Ke was about to ask for details, two more insect shamans grunted in pain. They faced the same issue as the previous two.

"Stop!"

"All remaining thirty mother insects and boats, halt and remain silent! Do not proceed further!"

Zhao Ke immediately realized the gravity of the situation.

If it had only happened to one or two boats, it could have been considered an accident. But for four shamans to encounter the same issue meant Yuncheng had highly effective defenses in place.

"Can they really defend against the stealth of insect shamans?"

"Weren't the reports saying Yuncheng was weak?"

"Master Kel, what should we do?"

Zhao Ke thought for a moment before standing up. "The Divine Envoy's task must be completed unless we encounter something beyond our abilities."

"We are too far to fully assess the situation. Let's follow the Canglan River downstream and investigate."

One of the elder shamans cautioned, "Master Kel, isn't that too risky? We're not force shamans. If we suddenly run into the Fortune Dynasty soldiers, we'll be easy prey."

Zhao Ke replied sternly, "Failing the Divine Envoy's task would be worse than death. As the heir of the Hana tribe, I may be exempt from punishment, but half of you would be sacrificed to the insects."

The ten insect shamans fell silent. The sacred mountain had been heavily investing in the cultivation of insect shamans in recent years, providing them with more resources than other shamans. But such generosity came with a price.

Zhao Ke ordered, "Hatch two flying mother locusts. We'll monitor the surroundings carefully as we move forward. If we're cautious, we should be fine."

"Yes, sir."

Yuncheng, Mei River entrance.

Ling Yuan was directing the engineers to use the dragon boat's three-tier crane to lift a black box from the water.

Whoosh!

Zhao Xing and Xia Jing descended from the sky aboard the Arrowfish airship.

"Lord Ling, what's going on?"

Seeing them arrive, Ling Yuan quickly ran over. "Lord Zhao, Lord Xia, I received a report from the night shift that the Water Purification Primordial Array at the Mei River entrance activated at the third quarter of midnight. I rushed over immediately."

"The array's box has captured something unusual, but I can't identify what it is."

"Let me take a look." Zhao Xing walked forward, covering a distance of a dozen meters.

The black box had been hoisted from the water.

Inside, two pieces of driftwood were thrashing violently against the black walls.

But the Water Purification Primordial Array's internal mechanism was like a maze—once something was inside, it couldn't get out. No matter how hard the driftwood thrashed, it couldn't escape the array's confines.

Seeing the driftwood, Zhao Xing's expression became serious. "Be careful when you open it."

Xia Jing, sensing the shift in Zhao Xing's demeanor, asked, "What is it?"

He had never encountered insect shamans before and was unfamiliar with their methods.

Zhao Xing pointed at the driftwood. "It's an insect shaman's mother insect nest. The wood is made from fourth-tier Yuansang Wood. Inside, there are at least ten mother insects, though I can't determine their exact type yet."

"What?!" Xia Jing was startled. "That many?"

During their breakout drills, Xia Jing had witnessed the horrifying swarms of insects controlled by the Southern Barbarian insect shamans. Thousands of tiny insects had filled the air, impossible to kill, like a living nightmare.

However, he had never seen the mother insects that gave birth to such swarms.

Crack, crack, crack~

As soon as the driftwood was released from the box, it immediately shattered.

Whoosh!

Two droplets of water appeared at Zhao Xing's fingertips. The water droplets rapidly expanded and, in the instant the driftwood exploded, they enveloped the debris completely.

"Freeze!"

The two spheres of water floated in mid-air, trapping everything inside.

"It's blood-sucking mother locusts," Xia Jing said, taking a deep breath. "And there are ten of them."

"Lord Zhao, what exactly are these creatures?" Ling Yuan asked curiously. Inside the water spheres, strange insects wriggled, their grotesque bodies visible.

Each insect had a pair of thread-like antennae, compound eyes, and sharp mandibles. Near the front of their heads, where the antennae met, there were three simple eyes arranged in an inverted triangle.

Zhao Xing pointed at one of the mother insects. "These are blood-sucking mother locusts. Their thorax is divided into three sections, with eight legs. They have two pairs of wings on the second and third segments of the thorax, and spiracles that allow them to absorb natural energy."

"Their abdomens are as tough as their heads and thoraxes. Even a third-tier divine weapon would struggle to cut through them."

"This is a mother insect. That protrusion at the end of its abdomen is its ovipositor."

"Each blood-sucking mother locust can produce millions of blood-sucking locusts in a very short time."

"They feed on the blood of livestock, and their mandibles are venomous. A fully grown blood-sucking locust's venom can easily paralyze a ranked martial artist."

The officials around them turned pale, and Ling Yuan cautiously asked, "Do they… eat people?"

Zhao Xing replied calmly, "To a blood-sucking locust, humans are much tastier than livestock."

Everyone shuddered at the thought.

"Don't panic. Your night shifts weren't in vain. Catching these mother locusts proves that."

"As long as they don't swarm, individual blood-sucking locusts are easy to kill."

With a wave of his hand, Zhao Xing compressed the nests and mother insects into tiny fragments within the water spheres.

At that moment, another airship arrived, reporting strange activity at another tributary.

Zhao Xing and Xia Jing quickly boarded the Arrowfish and headed to the new location.

There, they found a second species of mother insect.

"These are sword poison mother locusts."

"It seems the insect shamans are launching a locust plague against Yuncheng."

"This must be part of the Ten Locust Plagues."

Xia Jing, looking at the mother insects, felt a chill. "Good thing you foresaw this. If these creatures had made it into Yuncheng, all our hard work would have gone to waste."

Zhao Xing shook his head. "It's far from over. So far, we've only intercepted two types of locusts. The insect shamans won't give up so easily."

"You mean…?"

"The insect shamans must stay within a certain range to control the mother locusts," Zhao Xing said, looking up at the sky. "Waiting here passively won't do. Xia, mobilize all your men from the Martial Division and hide them in my cloud formation."

"Once we find the shamans, we'll strike and eliminate them."

Xia Jing nodded. "Understood. I'll gather my men immediately. When do we move?"

Zhao Xing thought for a moment. "Two hours from now. But before we go, there's something else we need to do back in the city."

"If the Southern Barbarians are training for war, they won't just deploy one tribe."

"Defending Yuncheng alone isn't enough. We need to alert the other counties and prefectures. If the locust shamans start their plague, we'll still be on the defensive."

"We'll file a joint report to the capital, detailing the dangers posed by the insect shamans."

"And beyond that, we'll inform the neighboring counties and prefectures."

"You have more connections than I do and more credibility."

"Even if the higher-ups don't take it seriously, as long as the others from the Ten Sun Cave-Heaven are prepared, the damage can be minimized."

"Agreed." Xia Jing nodded and left on his airship.

Meanwhile, Zhao Xing activated his Earth Mirror and sent messages to all the Shennong officials he knew from the Ten Sun Cave-Heaven.

Shi Yong, Zhuang Zhiqing, Feng Qiu, Cai Jin, Jiang Tianming… He sent the warning to everyone on his contact list.

Although there was competition between them, sharing the information was in his best interest. If Yuncheng was safe but the neighboring areas fell, it would still affect him.

"Now is the best time to send out this warning after our first encounter with the insect shamans."

"One step ahead is all I need."

Zhao Xing put away his Earth Mirror and glanced at the sky before leaving quickly.

In the Military Realm, inside the High Tower.

A massive Earth Mirror displayed Zhao Xing and Xia Jing's actions by the riverbank.

Seated in front of the mirror were Lord Tianyan, Lord Luohou, and Lord Lingde, watching closely.

Two Dukes and a Prince—this was the caliber of people overseeing the Military Realm's trials for the new recruits.

Only such high-ranking individuals could ensure the fairness of the trials, keeping out favoritism and external pressures. None of these nobles had direct involvement in the Nine Heavens Yingyuan Prefecture campaign, allowing them to resist political influence and ensure impartiality.

Lord Lingde pointed at the mirror. "The insect shamans' locust plague on Yuncheng has been detected by Zhao Xing. He's already alerted the others. His vigilance is impressive. Not only did he have the Tiangong Workshop set up arrays to counter the insect shamans, but he also prepared for other disasters."

Lord Luohou shook his head. "It's not just that. He completed the first two tasks quickly, arriving in Yuncheng ahead of schedule and eliminating the internal threat. This gave him ample time to consolidate forces and protect the city."

"The Military Realm's missions are derived from the Dao Source Disk's calculations. Being ahead of the curve gives him a significant advantage. Not only is Zhao Xing faster than Shi Yong and Zhuang Zhiqing from the Ten Sun Cave-Heaven, but none of the recruits from the other four Cave-Heavens are ahead of him either."

"Hmm?" Lord Tianyan suddenly furrowed his brow.

"Lord Tianyan, what's wrong?" Lord Luohou and Lord Lingde both turned to him.

Lord Tianyan thought for a moment. "The Dao Source Disk's war simulation just shifted slightly."

"For a brief moment, the term 'insect shaman' surged in frequency during the projections of the Southern Barbarian War, reaching a pre-battle peak."

Lord Luohou's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying this shift is related to Zhao Xing and Xia Jing's report, as well as the messages they sent out through their Earth Mirrors?"

Lord Tianyan shook his head. "Not necessarily. The surge only lasted for a moment, and insect shamans were already something the Military Realm had anticipated... Let the Hall of Heaven's Secrets deal with this. Exploring the source of the Dao's mysteries is their job, not ours."

Lord Luohou and Lord Lingde nodded in agreement. The Great Zhou Dynasty had restricted predictive cultivation techniques, forbidding others from learning them. However, the royal family maintained a group of specialists known as 'Fate Officers.' In the Military Realm, this mysterious group operated out of the Hall of Heaven's Secrets.

"Look, Zhao Xing and Xia Jing are already on the move," Lord Tianyan said, his gaze returning to the Earth Mirror. "They're only 20 li away from the Southern Barbarians' insect shamans."