Chen Zhou could see that all the demons were very happy.
Over the past few days, the number of General Believers and Shallow Believers had been shooting up, especially when Chen Zhou distributed first-stage Flesh-Reconstitution Pills every day, the growth rate was terrifying.
Meanwhile, the hundred corpse patchwork on the surface did not seem to have any large-scale abnormal movements, and Wan Xiu seemed to be in a deep sleep, completely unresponsive.
At the same time, Chen Zhou's cultivation was steadily recovering.
With Su Xue desperately converting death qi in the City of the Wrongfully Dead, he had recovered to the level of seventh-stage third-contract after seven days, just a bit short of his peak.
But this small gap no longer mattered to him.
On the morning of the seventh day, the tunnel was finally completed, and Chen Zhou looked at the giant Earth Cicada, whose body had grown significantly larger, and asked calmly.
"How are the preparations going?"
Upon hearing this, Chan Yi was so excited that his carapace rattled as he knelt on the ground, showering Chen Zhou with effusive flattery.
"It is all thanks to your life-giving grace, Lord!"
"You are the benefactor of our entire Mingchan Clan, the guiding light of our lives!"
"Your divine might is matchless, and even a tiny bit of your blessing has allowed me to be completely transformed."
"I feel terrifyingly strong now, filled with power!"
"Forget emergence, even if I were sent to fight those hundred corpse patchwork in hand-to-hand combat now, I could tear them apart!"
After speaking, he looked at Chen Zhou expectantly.
"Lord, do you think..."
Chen Zhou smiled. "Then undergo emergence."
Chan Yi's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously.
"Understood!"
He turned around and immediately let out a sharp, long hiss.
The hissing echoed through the intricate underground caverns, and soon, dense crowds of Earth Cicadas swarmed out from the tunnels in all directions.
They lined up in a neat formation, gathering in the widest open space in the center of the cavern.
Countless small demons responsible for guard duty and manual labor also gathered around curiously, peeking out from behind stalactites.
"Begin!" Chan Yi shouted from the front.
The other Earth Cicadas followed him, forming a circle with him in the center.
All the Earth Cicadas closed their eyes at the same time, and a low hum rose from the depths of the earth, beginning to resonate throughout the cavern.
The sound was faint at first, like a breeze brushing through withered leaves, but gradually, the humming converged to form an ancient and mysterious melody.
It was crisp and long, melodious yet sorrowful.
Crack...
A crisp sound of cracking carapace rang out.
A straight rift split down the middle of Chan Yi's back.
Then, the sound of cracking echoed in succession as rifts appeared on the backs of all the Earth Cicadas.
Under the shocked gazes of the surrounding small demons, a series of brilliant figures, carrying a faint silver-white glow, slowly struggled out from those ugly husks.
Their wings were thin and soft, covered in delicate patterns.
In the shimmering light, they sparkled with iridescent colors, like a fragment of a rainbow.
It was a baptism of rebirth.
The Earth Cicadas, having shed their mud and ugliness, revealed their true forms.
Their bodies possessed a translucent jade-like luster, and as their wings fluttered, they scattered specks of light like fireflies, illuminating the dim cavern like a dream.
The surrounding small demons were stunned; they had lived their whole lives and had never seen anything so beautiful.
There was only darkness, rot, and death in the underground caverns.
The most beautiful thing they had ever seen was the faint glow emitted by moss.
A few small mouse demons even began to drool, unable to tell if they were hungry or simply mesmerized by the beauty.
Buzz—
When the last Mingchan finally broke free from its shackles, Chan Yi was the first to take flight, followed by hundreds of beautiful Mingchan rising into the air together.
They flew gracefully in mid-air, then reached out to one another, holding hands to form a massive, glowing ring.
"Lord, we are beginning!" Chan Yi bowed slightly toward Chen Zhou from the air.
As his voice fell, the humming changed its tone, merging with the vibration of countless wings to become a joyful song that spread toward the endless depths of the earth.
It was the second part of the 《Ode of the Three Dukes》.
The surrounding small demons held their breath, not daring to make a sound.
Jing Hui watched Chan Yi with a solemn expression.
He knew what the divination of the Mingchan Clan entailed.
Everything in the world followed the principle of equivalent exchange; where there is gain, there must be loss, let alone such a profound and divine racial talent.
Communicating with spirits through sound and divining the heavens through song cost one year of lifespan for every attempt.
Divining major events could cost decades or even centuries.
Chan Yi was utilizing the massive resonance generated by the entire clan's emergence to attempt to communicate with the ley lines of Tianchi Province, trying to capture the location of the hidden Eternal Scars.
Time passed second by second, and sweat began to bead on his forehead while his wings vibrated faster and faster, until they were almost a blur.
Then, he suddenly opened his eyes, his expression changing drastically.
Without warning, a wisp of green foul gas erupted from the underground rock layers, spreading along his wings and across his entire body.
His body began to tremble, and his wings grew stiff as he plummeted straight down from the air.
"Ancestor!" the Mingchan cried out in alarm, flying over to catch him.
But the foul gas spread too quickly, forcing them back the moment they got close.
Jing Hui's expression shifted as he immediately opened his mouth, exhaling a large cloud of thick gray-yellow smoke.
The smoke caught the falling Chan Yi in mid-air, firmly enveloping him.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle—
The moment the smoke made contact with the green foul gas inside Chan Yi's body, sounds of corrosion erupted.
Jing Hui let out a muffled groan and gritted his teeth, using Great Plague Heaven to draw out all the filth and absorb it into his own body.
With the corrosive filth removed, Chan Yi's body finally stopped deteriorating, and he fell to the ground, gasping for air.
However, Jing Hui's paper body turned a sickly green color in an instant, looking exceptionally eerie.
The sudden turn of events terrified the watching small demons, and in the chaos, several panicked demons crashed into the edge of the rock wall, accidentally activating a few of the human-shaped markings left on the ground.
Instantly, several hundred corpse patchwork covered in pustules crawled out from the markings, waving their sharp claws as they lunged at the small demons.
The Scorpion Demon, who had been standing guard nearby, immediately flicked his tail, and after several dull thuds, the hundred corpse patchwork were pierced through the heart by his venomous stinger, dissolving back into the ground to become new markings.
Having dealt with the danger, the Scorpion Demon led his security team to clear the area again, bringing the commotion under control.
Chan Yi slowly woke up on the ground, weakly propped himself up, and knelt before Chen Zhou with a face full of guilt.
"Lord... please punish me for my incompetence, I have failed..."
Chen Zhou stepped forward, his brow furrowed as he asked, "What exactly happened? With the strength of your entire clan and the fortune from your recent emergence, how could the backlash be this severe?"
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