Chapter 6: Golden Fiend Mosquitoes (Part 1)

The waterfall-like curtain formed by magma was not a single continuous piece but consisted of dozens of streams, with many gaps through which one could pass. However, with so much magma splashing around and no adequate protection, anyone hit by the magma flow would likely not survive. Eagle Demon said, “I’ll clear the way! Follow me.”
With a single slash, they cut through the waterfall, and the three of them rushed in like lightning.
It was a fully metallic cave, with cave walls glowing with a metallic sheen. Guo Shieru examined it carefully and exclaimed in surprise, “Strange, how was this formed? Completely metallic… It seems the magma here must contain a large amount of metallic minerals. Then why no Golden Fiend? Never mind, let’s go deeper to see if there’s a passage.”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan also didn’t understand the situation; they just followed Guo Shieru. Eagle Demon said, “Let’s go down and take a look. This passage is quite wide—unknown where it leads.”
The three of them flew quickly deeper into the passage.
Although the metallic cave walls were naturally formed, the reflected light kept the interior from being dark. After casting a vision-enhancing spell, Guo Shieru could see everything clearly inside. Sitting on the reduced-sized altar, he kept charging forward, flying down a large slope.
Suddenly, the handsome old man appeared and said, “I can smell the scent of Golden Fiend!”
Guo Shieru laughed, “What a keen nose! I can also sense a strong presence of Golden Fiend. It might be right ahead. Hehe, I thought there was no Golden Fiend here, but it seems we have such a surprise waiting for us.” With that, he gently tapped the altar, which suddenly accelerated, speeding through the passage.
A faint buzzing sound came from afar. Guo Shieru said with a smile, “I didn’t expect there to be Golden Armored Beetles here too.” He didn’t care about these beetles at all, knowing they posed no threat to him, and he led Eagle Demon and the others through.
Eagle Demon said, “Golden Armored Beetles—no matter how many come, it doesn’t matter.”
Luo Zhan, being more observant, said, “This sound is a bit different from the buzzing of Golden Armored Beetle wings…”
Suddenly, the three of them saw a deep pool, about a hundred mu in size. Instead of water, the pool was filled with Golden Fiend, swirling slowly like a liquid. Before Guo Shieru could exclaim in joy, countless fist-sized insects flew out of the pool.
Upon closer inspection, Guo Shieru couldn’t help but shout, “Mosquitoes?” Those insects resembled mosquitoes greatly, only much larger in size, with their entire bodies shining gold, as if made of metal.
The handsome old man recognized them at once and shouted, “Golden Fiend Mosquitoes! Be careful and protect yourselves!”

Guo Shier’s scalp tingled. Of course he knew what the Golden Fiend Mosquito was—just never seen one before. It was the third most troublesome insect among the Ancient Secret Insects, growing in either the Golden Fiend region or the Fire Fiend region. If it grew in the Fire Fiend region, it became a Fire Fiend Mosquito, slightly inferior to the Golden Fiend Mosquito, which was the truly formidable insect.

The Golden Armored Beetle was also a powerful insect among the Ancient Secret Insects, but it paled in comparison to the Golden Fiend Mosquito. Guo Shier immediately activated the Soul Suppressing Cauldron. Streams of colored light swept through, sucking away the incoming Golden Fiend Mosquitoes, but they couldn’t seize their souls at once; the captured mosquitoes merely appeared listless.

“Amazing!”

The souls of the Golden Fiend Mosquitoes couldn’t be taken away instantly by the Soul Suppressing Cauldron, which surprised Guo Shier—though this was also partly because he hadn’t fully activated the cauldron. A group of Golden Fiend Mosquitoes, not many—only a few thousand—circled around the three of them, with a few attacking from time to time and being sucked away by the cauldron’s colored light.

Guo Shier felt a slight stir in his heart. He said, “Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo, don’t attack yet. These things are really rare. I want to capture some.”

The Golden Fiend Mosquitoes weren’t very high in rank, only around level nine, and not even mutated ones. Still, Guo Shier found them precious. If professionals who specialized in cultivating insect talismans saw these, they would consider them absolute treasures.

Staring at the Golden Fiend Mosquitoes, Guo Shier swallowed hard and said, “Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo, climb onto my altar. Hehe, I’ll catch the mosquitoes!”

Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan were already used to sitting on Guo Shier’s altar. Hearing this, they immediately put away their own altars and flew up. Their speed was lightning-fast; the surrounding Golden Fiend Mosquitoes didn’t even have time to react before they disappeared and reappeared on Guo Shier’s altar.

No matter how hard the Golden Fiend Mosquitoes attacked, against the defense of the Soul Suppressing Cauldron, they were powerless. They flailed around in panic in the air.

Most Golden Fiend Mosquitoes had silver bodies covered in tiny light blue runes, translucent wings with fine black veins forming natural runes, a needle-thin proboscis on their silver heads, and two sesame-sized eyes that resembled gems. They exuded an extremely dangerous aura yet were also very beautiful.

Among these Golden Fiend Mosquitoes, there were also a hundred or so particularly special golden ones. The difference between them and the silver ones was that their bodies were golden in color. These golden Golden Fiend Mosquitoes were slightly larger than the silver ones. It was these hundred golden ones that Guo Shieru coveted the most; in his view, only these golden ones were the true Golden Fiend Mosquitoes.

Guo Shieru tried slashing at them with his Moon Blade several times. Instead of transforming into a giant blade, it used its normal form to attack. This attack was extremely sharp but could only barely kill a few silver Golden Fiend Mosquitoes; it was difficult to kill the golden ones. After a few attempts, Guo Shieru realized he needed another method to kill them.

Eagle Demon said, “Wow, are these things that hard?”

Luo Zhan knew how powerful the Moon Blade was. He nodded and said, “Yes, even the Moon Blade can’t kill them… No, it can’t kill the golden ones. The silver ones are a bit weaker.”

Guo Shieru said, “Heh, even though they’re hard, they pose no threat to me. They can’t break through my defenses at all.”

Elder Shuai asked, “Do you want to capture them alive?”

Guo Shieru nodded. “It might have been difficult before, but now that I have the Soul Subduing Cauldron, it’s not a problem.” Saying this, he chanted a series of spells. Immediately, the Cauldron emitted countless colored lights that spread outward in layers. Any Golden Fiend Mosquito that came into contact with them was forcibly dragged into the Cauldron.

In an instant, the Cauldron cleared all the Golden Fiend Mosquitoes from the Golden Fiend Pond. Eagle Demon asked in confusion, “Once they’re inside the Cauldron, what will you do with them? These things aren’t easy to subdue.”

Guo Shieru said, “There’s no need to subdue them. I can control them by sealing them in insect talismans. Heh, this is a technique I learned before. It should work against Golden Fiend Mosquitoes. I don’t have time to deal with them now, so it’s fine to just store them in the Cauldron for now.”

At that moment, another group of Golden Fiend Mosquitoes flew up from the pond, mostly silver ones with few golden ones. Elder Shuai pointed at the flying mosquitoes and said, “There are a few special ones… Look, they’re neither golden nor silver… They’re actually black… How strange!”

Guo Shieru said, “Regardless of their type, capture them first.”

The Soul Subduing Cauldron swept again, capturing the flying mosquitoes. Elder Shuai said, “That’s enough. I don’t think any more Golden Fiend Mosquitoes will appear. You can collect the rest now.”

Under Guo Shieru’s command, the Cauldron gradually descended into the Golden Fiend Pond, quickly collecting more of them.

Eagle Demon laughed and said, “Even if we don’t find anyone this time, just having captured the Fire Fiend and Golden Fiend Mosquitoes makes this trip worthwhile.”

The Soul-Calming Cauldron descended as the Golden Fiends in the Golden Fiends Pond sank. Guo Shieru, hovering above the cauldron, also went deeper into it as it descended. A large amount of Golden Fiends was absorbed by the cauldron, and he could even feel its weight.

Elder Shuai sighed, “I don’t know how these Golden Fiends were formed here. They’re so pure—truly rare.”

Gradually, the three of them went deeper. The Golden Fiends Pond wasn’t very deep; the bottom became visible after about a kilometer. Elder Shuai said disappointedly, “As expected, not much… But it’s enough. Hey, what’s that?”

On the metal wall beside the bottom, there were several honeycomb-like structures adhering to the metal surface. Guo Shieru turned to look and immediately moved his altar closer. Eagle Demon said, “It seems to be the nest of Golden Fiend Mosquitoes.”

Guo Shieru rejoiced, “It really is their nest! Hehe, if I can capture them, I can raise Golden Fiend Mosquitoes…” The Moon Blade flew out, digging up the nests from the metal wall. With a swirl of colored light, they were absorbed into the Soul-Calming Cauldron.

Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan left Guo Shieru’s altar and each activated their own. Eagle Demon said, “There’s no path here. It doesn’t seem to be the way to enter the Golden Flame Plain Well.”

Guo Shieru smiled, “It’s still worth it. This is a pretty big treasure trove. Let’s leave.”

Elder Shuai said contentedly, “With the blessing of Fire Fiends and Golden Fiends, your Soul-Calming Cauldron will become even stronger. It’s a pity we can’t find many Wood Fiends, Water Fiends, and Earth Fiends.”

Eagle Demon laughed, “Haven’t we obtained those from other sects?”

Elder Shuai replied, “That’s right, we’ve gotten quite a few. But the more of these, the better. The ones we extorted are still a bit few. After all, it’s not as satisfying as collecting them on our own. Besides, those… were all used for the altar; not much for the Soul-Calming Cauldron.”

Guo Shieru said, “As long as we’re still in this world, we still have a chance to find them. Elder Shuai, there’s no need to rush.”

Elder Shuai nodded and said, “Bring the Soul-Calming Cauldron back to the altar. I’ll take care of the Fire Fiends and Golden Fiends.”

Guo Shieru agreed and placed the cauldron back on the altar. Elder Shuai retracted inside it, entering the Soul-Calming Cauldron directly. He knew the entire altar better than Guo Shieru, and it was thanks to him that the cauldron was created. With Elder Shuai around, Guo Shieru avoided countless troubles.

The three of them retraced their steps and returned to the huge vortex pit where they had collected the Fire Fiends.

Looking at the churning magma below, Eagle Demon said, “It seems there’s no path. Should we go back up to the Magma Sea and continue searching?”

Guo Shieru said, “I still feel there must be a path here. Let’s split up and search.”

The three of them dispersed and flew around the magma waterfall. After a while, Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan returned. Eagle Demon said, “Twelve, there’s no exit.” Luo Zhan also said, “It’s all magma… no other holes or passages.”