Han Li narrowed his eyes. Under the onslaught of the Shihjin insects, the toxic dragon's scales finally gave way. However, the dragon's body was torn open and its flesh ravaged, with countless streaks of blood jetting out from within, turning vast numbers of flying insects into toxic streams. Soon, the dense layer of insect armor covering the dragon's body was reduced to mere remnants. By now, the dragon was battered and wounded throughout, with abundant waves of emerald blood seeping from its body, and its gaze upon Han Li filled with deep resentment. Han Li felt a sudden sense of awe—indeed, the dragon's name was no empty title. The Shihjin insects had evolved to be nearly impervious to ordinary法宝, yet they were easily extinguished by the dragon's toxic beams, demonstrating the potency of the poison. Yet, just then, a cold smile spread across Han Li's face. The dragon was unaware that its flying insects were far more numerous than he realized—despite suffering significant damage to the Shihjin insects, these three dragons would still manage to eliminate one by one. With this thought, Han Li swiftly turned his attention to the turtle dragon on the other side, completely enveloped by a thick swarm of The sound of the insects feeding continued without pause, yet the pile of insects remained utterly still. Had it not been for the faint traces of spiritual aura pulsing within, and the way it was swelling and rising, he would have thought the spirit creature had already perished. Though his doubts grew stronger, Han Li did not pause for further thought. With a serious expression, he raised both hands toward the sky and summoned several more bags of spiritual beasts. Instantly, the chorus of insect movements and wingbeats filled the entire alchemy chamber, with up to one hundred and fifty thousand three-colored gold-devouring insects spreading across the ceiling and completely concealing the roof. Seeing such a vast swarm, the venomous dragon first frowned, then grew visibly despondent. Even Feng Xi, glowing with white light, showed a sudden change in expression, her face filled with astonishment. After all, while group-living spiritual insects reproduce more quickly than ordinary spiritual beasts—laying large numbers of eggs in a relatively short time—their reproductive cycle still spans hundreds of years. Even after establishing a bond and hatching, it takes several decades of training and nurturing before they become truly useful. Moreover, the greater the power and the higher the rank of the spiritual insects, the longer it naturally takes to cultivate them. Thus, although many cultivators throughout the immortal realm are familiar with insect-summoning techniques, few have gained renown specifically for their mastery of this art in the Chaotic Star Sea—especially after achieving the Dan Stage, where such cases are exceedingly rare. Most insect-summoning cultivators, even if fortunate, only manage to accumulate a thousand or more insects during their lifetimes. Even then, these numbers are typically passed down from master to disciple, and then from disciple to the next generation, making such achievements quite modest. Furthermore, spiritual insects are notably more fragile than other spiritual beasts; it is not uncommon for all of them to be wiped out during a single battle. This fragility explains why, despite recognizing the considerable strength of these insects, other cultivators still remain relatively few in their pursuit of insect-summoning techniques. Han Li's prowess in commanding golden insect hosts has already been demonstrated by Feng Xi and the toxic dragon. Even as powerful, tier-level immortal beasts, they found the feat profoundly awe-inspiring. Thus, when Han Li released such a vast number of insects, the two beasts found it utterly difficult to believe. Yet they did not know that these gold-devouring insects were still immature spirits—had they matured, they would have been even more terrified. Han Li paid no heed to the shock, anger, and resentment flickering in the toxic dragon's eyes. With a mere thought, the insects erupted into a chorus, coalescing into several streams that surged downward, in waves, toward the dragon's body. As a result, fresh streaks of blood gushed from the dragon's wounded form, and the insects struck upon it were instantly consumed. Yet the swarm above remained resolute, continuing to spiral downward without hesitation. Within just a moment, the blood streaks began to fade and diminish. A little while later, as the dragon's face turned pale with death, the blood flow completely ceased. Han Li's eyes brightened at this development. The insects descended without mercy, swiftly engulfing the dragon. Not long after, the towering mound of insects gradually shrank, growing shorter and smaller. The toxic dragon, its scales breached, could not withstand the onslaught and was finally devoured by the swarm. Upon seeing this scene, Feng Xi's face slightly paled, but quickly settled into calm, his gaze now cold and steady upon Han Li. Han Li murmured a low incantation, and the swarm of insects lifted from the ground, revealing scattered remains of the toxic dragon. Among these remains, a blood-colored immaterial dragon embryo, roughly the size of a clenched fist, flickered steadily. Han Li's expression briefly changed, yet before he could act, the embryo suddenly flashed with a blue glow and shot upward, racing toward the door. Without hesitation, Han Li flicked his finger, and a streak of jade-blue sword energy launched forth, striking the embryo directly. The embryo spun wildly upon impact, then suddenly emitted a burst of blue light, within which emerged a small, miniature dragon about an inch long—precisely the essence of the toxic dragon. As soon as the dragon's spirit became visible, it flashed with a startled surge of blood light and instantly vanished. Han Li's face flashed with cold light. Suddenly, he tapped a spiritual beast bag at his waist, and a green glow shot out, landing on the ground to reveal a lazy little monkey, clearly displeased—none other than the Ti Hu Shen beast. Han Li paid no attention to the creature's mood, gently patting its head. The Ti Hu Shen beast automatically snorted, a stream of yellow light erupting from its nostrils, spiraling through the air before instantly covering an otherwise empty spot beside it. After the yellow glow faded, a blood-red miniature jiao spirit emerged. Then, the yellow light curled backward, pulling the toxic jiao spirit toward the Ti Hu Shen beast's nostrils. Naturally, the jiao spirit refused to be swallowed whole, emitting a brilliant blue light along its body that momentarily held its own against the yellow glow, remaining motionless in place. Indeed, as a fully manifested celestial spiritual beast, its spiritual power far surpassed that of even six- or seven-tiered beasts. Of course, this is also because the Ti-Hun Beast is still young; otherwise, it would truly be a shame to live up to its considerable reputation. Yet from the very beginning, Han Li had never truly intended for the Ti-Hun Beast to absorb the essence of this蛟. The spirit of an eight-tiered mythical beast is exceptionally rare in this realm—he simply wouldn’t waste it. As the Ti-Hun Beast’s yellow aura and the toxic蛟’s spirit remained locked in a stalemate, Han Li suddenly moved, stepping to the side. With a composed expression, he extended his five fingers, and in a flash of emerald light, he effortlessly captured the spirit that could not possibly evade him. Though only an inch or so in length, the蛟’s spirit writhed and struggled vigorously within his fingers. But with a simple flip of his other palm, a jade vial, already prepared in advance, appeared in his hand. He then swept his arm out—“whoosh!”—and the spirit was instantly enveloped in a sphere of emerald light, launched directly into the vial. Han Li swiftly sealed the vial and carefully stored it in his storage bag. Only then did he take a deep, relieved breath In one turn, he headed toward the turtle demon. But at that very moment, a sharp crack echoed from the sky, and the light shield finally shattered under the combined force of the two great swords. Han Li didn't even lift his head—he simply extended his hand, and a broad surge of emerald light shot out, instantly engulfing the exposed wind-and-thunder wings and drawing them back to his grasp. He barely glanced at the scene, and with a swift motion, he stored the treasure in his storage pouch. This action left the split-wind beast beside him nearly gasping in dismay, its previously calm expression now filled with intense resentment. Yet Han Li's gaze remained fixed on the towering pile of insects. With a low murmur, he spoke, and the insect swarm immediately rose from the ground, revealing the turtle demon beneath. Upon seeing it, Han Li drew in a sharp breath. The demon was covered in wounds, its flesh torn and mottled, yet it radiated a soft, earth-yellow glow. The exposed flesh beneath constantly quivered, and even as Han Li's eyelids fluttered, the creature rapidly regenerated and healed itself. In an instant, the wound had already healed to a large extent. Han Li was stunned, his mouth now tasting bitter. The term "self-healing body" was not uncommon among beasts, especially among lower-tier ones, which often possessed the strange ability to heal wounds and regenerate limbs. However, such an innate talent was rare among higher-tier beasts. Indeed, even after defeating numerous six- and seven-tier beasts, Han Li had never encountered a single one with this regenerative ability. Now, witnessing this eighth-tier turtle beast possessing such a rare quality, he was truly taken aback. Yet this development now posed a significant challenge for him. Unless he could sever the turtle beast's head or shatter its golden essence, the golden insects alone would not be sufficient to bring it to its knees in the short term. At least, as long as the turtle beast's innate ability remained active, Han Li would find it difficult to make any real headway against it. Alas, his Qingzhu Fengyun Sword had only been refined for several decades, and the time he devoted to cultivating it was especially limited. Even though the sword was crafted from the "Heavenly Thunder Bamboo" among the Three Divine Woods, and later enhanced with the exceptionally rare "Lianjing," its single-blade power, when compared to the life-essential artifacts of fellow cultivators of the same stage, was not particularly outstanding. In the past, he had defeated six- or seven-tiered beasts primarily due to the sheer number of swords he wielded, which made a dramatic impact. When several swords—sometimes even a full set of twelve—combined to form a single massive blade, the resulting power became truly formidable, which was the very essence of the strength of a complete set of artifacts. Nevertheless, clearly this time, even with the full display of his Great Sword Technique, he was still unable to penetrate the unique, evolved bodies cultivated by these two eight-tier beasts.