vstars Chapter 641 The Great Perfection of Core Formation! Han Cen has arrived!
Chapter 641 The Great Perfection of Core Formation! Han Cen has arrived!
The cicada's reaction to the Soul-Devouring Elixir was more intense than ever before.
As soon as the medicine was dripped into the cage, it pounced on it like a dark golden lightning bolt, frantically sucking up the dark golden medicine with its mouthparts.
As the medicine entered its body, its body shone with a brilliant golden light. The golden patterns on its carapace seemed to come alive, twisting and writhing, radiating a scorching heat. Its dark red compound eyes flashed with intense red light, and the black tentacles beside its mouthparts trembled rapidly, emitting a series of low, buzzing sounds.
It is breaking through.
Chen Fan used his divine sense to closely monitor the changes within the golden cicada's body.
He could feel that the golden vortex in the Golden Cicada's dantian was expanding and contracting at an astonishing speed. Each pulsation brought out a domineering devouring force, absorbing the medicinal power and demonic power in the Soul Devouring Liquid and refining it for his own use.
After a short while, the cicada suddenly flapped its wings and took flight, frantically circling within the insect cage.
Its size shrank as it spiraled, from the size of a soybean to the size of a grain of rice, while its aura rose at an alarming rate.
He progressed from the late stage of Core Formation to the Great Perfection of Core Formation, and finally stopped at the peak of the Great Perfection of Core Formation, just one step away from the Nascent Soul stage.
When it fell back into the insect cage, its entire body had completely changed.
The carapace changed from a dark gold color to a texture that was almost red gold, and the gold patterns on its back had spread into a pair of intricate wing patterns, with the blood-red runes on the edges of the wings becoming denser.
What's most astonishing is its mouthparts. The pair of black tentacles, which were originally as thin as hair, have now become thick and powerful, with a faint dark golden light shimmering at their tips. This is a sign that the Soul-Devouring Gu has mastered the power of devouring.
Chen Fan summoned the golden cicada from the insect cage, examined it with his divine sense, and a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips.
Although the Golden Cicada is only at the Great Perfection of the Core Formation stage, its Devouring Divine Power is already enough to threaten Gu worms at the Nascent Soul stage.
If I can devour a few more Nascent Soul level Gu worms at the Hundred Sects Conference, breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage will be just around the corner.
He put the cicada back into his sleeve and checked the ant colony again.
Under the continuous nourishment of the golden armor quenching liquid, the carapaces of more than 200,000 flying ants had completely turned into a light gold color, and their mouthparts had become increasingly sharp.
During this period, the queen ant laid tens of thousands of eggs, and before long the ant colony will exceed 300,000.
After finishing all this, Chen Fan was about to refine another batch of Soul Devouring Liquid for later use when he suddenly sensed two familiar auras approaching the side room from outside the courtyard.
He produced the golden bowl with a thought, and had just settled down on the futon when a knock sounded at the door.
"Is Chen Gongfeng here?" It was Han Cen's voice.
Chen Fan got up and opened the door.
Han Cen and Ouyang Ye stood outside the door, both looking rather tense, clearly having something to discuss.
"Lord Chen, Elder Ouyang and I have come here with the presumption to discuss the competition tomorrow." Han Cen sat down on the futon and got straight to the point. "Tomorrow is the start of the Hundred Sects Tournament. Elder Ouyang and I have carefully studied the competition schedule issued by the Gu Maiden and found that there are some details that need to be explained to you in advance, so as not to be caught off guard tomorrow."
Ouyang Ye sat down to the side and, unusually, took the initiative to speak: "The rules for the Gu Insect Battle and Gu Array Battle are very different from those of the Zhao Kingdom's selection process. In the Zhao Kingdom, Chen Gongfeng participated in the selection for alchemy and array formations, but this Hundred Sects Conference is the territory of Gu cultivators. The competition is not for alchemy, but for Gu insects and Gu arrays."
Chen Fan nodded and poured a cup of spiritual tea for each of them: "Please speak, elders. I am all ears."
Han Cen stroked his beard and said slowly:
"The Gu Insect Battle, as the name suggests, is a competition where participants use their own cultivated Gu worms to fight. The rules are quite simple and brutal: both sides' Gu worms enter the arena and fight to the death; whoever's Gu worm survives to the end wins. The winner advances to the next round, while the loser is eliminated. Participants can control their Gu worms with their divine sense from the sidelines, but they cannot directly intervene in the battle between the Gu worms. Each round of the battle is limited to one incense stick's time. If neither side's Gu worms are dead within one incense stick's time, the winner is determined by the severity of their injuries. The Gu Insect Battle has no restrictions on the grade or number of Gu worms. However, there is one rule: each participant can only send one Gu worm into the arena. Therefore, Gu cultivators who are skilled in swarm tactics are actually at a disadvantage in the Gu Insect Battle. The key is the individual combat strength of the Gu worms."
Chen Fan nodded slightly after listening.
The fact that he could only send one Gu worm into battle was not bad news for him. The Golden Cicada was a Soul-Devouring Gu embryo at the Great Perfection of Core Formation, and its Devouring Divine Power was already highly developed, making it a rare opponent among Gu worms of the same level.
Even a Gu worm at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm might be a match for the Golden Cicada.
"What about the Gu formation?" Chen Fan asked.
Ouyang Ye picked up the thread, his voice hoarse, and said, "The Gu Formation Battle is the most complex of the three rounds of competition in the Hundred Sects Tournament. Its biggest difference from ordinary formation competitions is that a Gu formation must have a Gu worm as its core or spirit. In other words, participants must not only be proficient in formations, but also have Gu worms that can integrate into the formation. The compatibility between the Gu worm and the formation directly determines the power of the Gu formation."
He took out a jade slip, infused it with spiritual power, and projected a light and shadow array diagram. Pointing to several key nodes on the diagram, he said, "According to the competition rules, the Gu Array Battle is divided into two rounds. The first round is array setup. Participants must set up a complete Gu array within three hours using the array flags, array plates, and Gu worms provided by the organizing committee. The judges will score based on the Gu array's grade, power, stability, and the compatibility between the Gu worms and the array. The second round is array breaking. Participants must enter the Gu array set up by their opponent and break out within the allotted time. The final ranking will be determined by the sum of the scores from both rounds."
Han Cen picked up the conversation, his tone becoming more serious: "The power of this Gu formation lies in the fact that Gu worms are incorporated into the formation, creating countless variables. No matter how powerful an ordinary formation is, it is ultimately inanimate; once the core is broken, it dissipates. But the Gu worms in a Gu formation are alive; they can move around, attack, and repair the formation's patterns on their own. If the person setting up the formation uses their own Gu worm as the core, the formation's power will more than double. I have studied formations in the Hall of Offerings for hundreds of years and have also read several ancient books on Gu formations, so I know a little about them. But when it comes to truly setting up and breaking a Gu formation, I dare not say I am 100% certain."
Chen Fan remained silent for a moment, his mind racing with calculations.
The Gu formation was not entirely unprepared for him.
He possesses the art of pinpointing characters, giving him a perception of formation nodes far exceeding that of his peers. In his eyes, ordinary Gu formations are no different from ordinary formations.
Moreover, he had read some records about Gu formations in the notes of Master Chong, although they were not detailed enough, but at least he could get a general idea of them.
As for the Gu worms, although the Golden Cicada is not a formation spirit specifically cultivated for the Gu formation, its devouring ability can still play a miraculous role in the formation!
Imagine if you put a cicada into your opponent's Gu formation and it devours all the Gu worms in the formation, then the Gu formation will collapse on its own.