I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 743 Corpse Worms

In the following days, Zhang Chen's life became easier. In addition to exploring the spiritual world every day, he would search for information about the insect in the academy's library.

A month passed in the blink of an eye. Zhang Chen sat in the library and put down the books expressionlessly. In this month, he had not seen any records about that kind of insect.

“Although there are 100,000 books in the library, such ancient secrets are extremely rare.” Zhang Chen muttered to himself.

Just as he was about to go downstairs to leave, the chief steward Chen Qi came to the library and bowed respectfully to Zhang Chen: "Greetings, Master Zhang."

"It's Manager Chen. What's the matter with you coming to see me?" Zhang Chen looked at Chen Qi and asked.

"The master invites you over for a chat." Chen Qi said.

Zhang Chen put down the books in his hand, put them in order, and put them back in place before saying, "I'll go right away."

Zhang Chen came to Zhou Qiucheng's study and saw Zhou Qiucheng practicing calligraphy. The door was open. Zhang Chen walked in and bowed to Zhou Qiucheng: "Disciple greets you, sir."

"You came just in time. Last time, I asked my old friend to find clues about the news you wanted to find out, and finally I got some results." Zhou Qiucheng put down his brush and handed a book of letters that he had prepared long ago to Zhang Chen:
"The kind of bugs you're talking about are called corpse-eating bugs. They are usually born in some extremely rare ancient tombs. The owner of the tomb had a very impressive cultivation level during his lifetime, reaching an incredible realm. Only after his death can the corpse qi evolve into corpse-eating bugs."

"Corpse-eating insects?" Zhang Chen took the letter and began to read it.

Zhou Qiucheng nodded. "In the past, the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty excavated a tomb. The owner of the tomb was a peerless strongman of an unknown realm, and corpse-eating worms appeared in the tomb. In order to suppress the weirdness of the tomb, the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty forced the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Demon-Slaying Shuttle to drop in level, and only then did they suppress the abnormal movement in the tomb. Later, after research by the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it was found that corpse-eating worms are only born on the corpses of peerless strongmen. With the appearance of corpse-eating worms, there are usually great fortunes and great crises."

Zhang Chen's expression became more cautious when he heard this, and a hint of seriousness appeared in his eyes.

"You are so lucky, kid. Did you dig up the ancient tomb of gods and demons?" Zhou Qiucheng looked at Zhang Chen with curiosity. "If you find any ancient tomb, you must hide it well and don't leak any information. Otherwise, you will get into big trouble. If you are not careful and get targeted by others, you may end up dead."

Hearing Zhou Qiucheng's words, Zhang Chen's eyes moved slightly, and then he covered it up without leaving a trace: "It was a friend of mine who asked."

Zhou Qiucheng looked at Zhang Chen seriously and said, "This matter ends with me. You must not leak the news to avoid causing more trouble."

Zhou Qiucheng's words were very serious, and Zhang Chen understood what Zhou Qiucheng meant. That is to say, now that the news has been leaked, Zhou Qiucheng has taken the blame for him, and Zhang Chen must not expose himself again.

Zhang Chen was very grateful to Zhou Qiucheng for what he said and bowed: "Thank you, sir."

Zhou Qiucheng shook his head: "You are my student and have done a great favor to my family. Why should I thank you?"

Zhang Chen was no longer polite, and lowered his head to continue reading the letter in his hand. Although he did not say it, he knew in his heart that Zhou Qiucheng must have blocked a "big trouble" for him. Of course, this "big trouble" might not be a trouble for Zhang Chen. But it was still good to have less trouble, and Zhang Chen had to accept it.

Zhou Qiucheng was very satisfied with Zhang Chen's casual attitude. Being casual meant that everyone was a family.

"You can understand the so-called corpse-eating worms as 'maggots'." Zhou Qiucheng said.

"Maggots?" Zhang Chen raised his head and looked at Zhou Qiucheng in surprise. He didn't understand in his heart, how could that worm look like a maggot? Its shape was not similar to that of a maggot at all.

"When the bodies of ordinary people decay, maggots are born, which decompose the bodies. However, when those with great supernatural powers die, their bodies are indestructible. They have been tempered by earth, water, wind, and fire, and have survived countless calamities. They are truly indestructible and hard to be buried by the earth. Corpse-eating insects are a kind of creatures born under the operation of the rules of the universe, and they are specifically designed to decompose the bodies of those with great supernatural powers. However, once corpse-eating insects are born, they can not only decompose the bodies of those with great supernatural powers, but can also devour ordinary creatures. These creatures are very strange and should not be touched casually. If you have a chance to escape, escape as soon as possible and do not confront them head-on." Zhou Qiucheng reminded.

"This thing is invulnerable to water and fire, and its magical powers are hard to destroy. If you come across it, it's best to stay as far away from it as possible and never touch it casually." Zhou Qiucheng reminded Zhang Chen tirelessly.

Zhang Chen nodded upon hearing this: "Disciple understands." Zhang Chen talked to Zhou Qiucheng for a while, then turned around and left with the letter, leaving Zhou Qiucheng standing in the study room. He looked at Zhang Chen's back and sighed softly, his voice full of emotion: "I hope you can really listen to what I say."

Zhang Chen returned to his own house and looked at the letter from the corpse-eating worms in his hand. It was more like a book than a letter, as thick as ten pages of paper.

"Corpse-eating insects? I wonder if the water bears I obtained can restrain them?" Zhang Chen's heart moved.

The level of the corpse-eating worms was not high, but they were huge in number and occupied the entire spiritual world. With such a large number of corpse-eating worms, even if a twelfth-level strongman came, they would be eaten clean and killed alive by the corpse-eating worms. But I am different, right? I have water bears, which can devour everything in the world and everything with mysterious power.

"Interesting!" Zhang Chen felt that this plan was more feasible. The most important thing was that water bears were also immortal and indestructible to water and fire. He wondered which one was more powerful between them and corpse-eating insects.

“Besides, the tardigrades have been recorded in my Ice Hell, and I have control over them. I am not afraid of them causing harm.” Zhang Chen thought about it and his soul appeared in the eighth heaven.

Entering the spiritual world from the material world is a random entry. Zhang Chen dare not enter the seventh heaven directly. What if he falls into the lair of the corpse-eating insects? Wouldn’t he be in trouble then?

Even though he had the true fire of the sun, he would still be consumed to death by the corpse-eating worms.

After Zhang Chen arrived at the eighth heaven, he went all the way to the sky-supporting pillars, and then from the sky-supporting pillars to the seventh heaven. Looking around, it was still a world densely packed with corpse-eating insects. The corpse-eating insects that had been revived before had fallen into sleep again and turned into lifeless rocks.

Zhang Chen stood on the top of the mountain, and his eyes swept across the world. He saw that the whole world was full of ups and downs, and it was a world completely built by corpse-eating insects. With so many corpse-eating insects, let alone a twelfth-level strongman, even if he was a being beyond the twelfth level, he would not be able to kill them all.

Zhang Chen equipped Tongtian Jianmu again, and his wood element authority stepped into the law level. He stretched out his hand and grabbed a corpse-eating worm, held it in his hand and examined it carefully. At the same time, he used the law of life to sense the structure of the corpse-eating worm and the mystery of its life.

“Corpse-eating worms are lives completely born from death. They don’t have three souls and seven spirits, and they don’t even have real intelligence. They only have the instinct to devour and decompose. They were created by the way of heaven to deal with those powerful beings at the level of gods and demons.” Zhang Chen crushed the corpse-eating worm casually, and saw that the corpse-eating worm turned into powder and dissipated into dust in front of the pillars supporting the sky.

As one corpse-eating insect died, the corpse-eating insects within a hundred miles of the Sky-Supporting Pillar seemed to have received some information. They all revived at this moment, flying anxiously in the air and charging back and forth in groups, as if searching for the enemy's scent.

Zhang Chen did not delay any longer upon seeing this. The next moment, the area around him opened up, and the prison door deep in the Ice Hell slowly broke apart, revealing a passage connecting the outside world and the Ice Hell.

In the ice hell, the frozen tardigrades seemed to sense the breath of the outside world. At this time, the entire colony began to gradually revive. The next moment, a large number of tardigrades flew out of the ice and rushed to the outside world in a mighty manner.

Zhang Chen saw that after the water bear flew out of the ice hell, it flew towards the corpse-eating insects without hesitation. Then, in an instant, the two groups collided with each other and began a fierce fight.

Zhang Chen stood on the top of the mountain, closed the ice hell, and looked at the insects that covered the sky. The collision of the two groups of insects was a spectacular sight.

"Corpse-eating insects have the advantage in numbers, but water bears are not simple either. Not only is the individual strength of a water bear stronger than that of a corpse-eating insect, but the water bear can also rapidly reproduce while devouring. It won't be long before, with the killing and devouring, the number of water bears will one day be greater than that of corpse-eating insects." Zhang Chen watched the two sides fighting, and an idea arose in his mind.

However, the water bears were indeed ferocious. They were not afraid of the remaining divine power of the pillars supporting the sky. After sensing Zhang Chen's breath, some of them actually pounced towards Zhang Chen with great momentum, as if they wanted to devour Zhang Chen.

"What a ferocious bug." Zhang Chen looked at the tardigrades that pounced on him. The measuring ruler slipped out of his sleeve and then evolved into a space barrier to isolate the tardigrades. No matter how ferocious the tardigrades outside were, Zhang Chen standing inside the barrier seemed to have been cut out, and the two sides were separated by the ends of the earth.

Seeing that it could not kill Zhang Chen, the water bear continued to rush towards the corpse-eating insects, and the two groups started a fierce fight.

Zhang Chen watched for an hour and felt that it would take at least a year or two for the two sides to decide the winner, so he flashed and his spirit returned to his body.

"Now I really want to know what kind of strong person's body can give birth to something like corpse-eating worms. Of course, I have to keep a close eye on the spiritual world, lest the water bears swallow the corpse-eating worms and then gobble up the corpses of the ancient gods and demons. If that happens, my work will be in vain." Zhang Chen muttered to himself.

(End of this chapter)