Zheng Yi became interested; he didn’t expect that in the vast harem, there would still be someone hiding a Spirit Root.

Thinking back, about four or five years ago, during his first selection of Concubine Candidates, he chose over five hundred beauties to enter the palace.

Over the years, most of the women had already been visited by him, leaving only about fifty little girls who were then just thirteen or fourteen years old untouched.

After all, no matter how eager he was, he still hesitated when faced with such young girls, and couldn’t send them back home either.

So Zheng Yi gathered these young girls together in the palace and raised them for so many years, just like Dongyun Jie and Dongyun Yu.

Could it be that the one the Consort Yu mentioned with the Spirit Root is among these girls?

Reckoning the time, those little girls who were only thirteen or fourteen years old back then are now seventeen or eighteen young maidens.

Dongyun Jie and Dongyun Yu are also almost sixteen and can be made consorts.

“Is it the girls from Youwei Palace?”

Youwei Palace is the palace where Zheng Yi raised these young girls.

Vaguely remembered, there seemed to be fifty-two of them.

A large number of eunuchs and palace maids were assigned to take care of them.

Additionally, several Shadow Guards were secretly hidden among them, monitoring many girls and subtly changing their views on Zheng Yi.

“It’s not them,” Consort Yu said, “but the newly entered Princess Lingyin.”

“Princess Lingyin… so it’s her!”

Princess Lingyin, the princess of Nanzhao Country, was initially intended to marry Xu Xuanwu, hoping to use Xu Xuanwu’s power to carve out Yunzhou and Yuezhou of Great Yu.

Unfortunately, who would have thought that Xu Mujun would single-handedly foil it.

The entire Nanzhao Country was trampled under the feet of Xu Mujun.

Even she herself was forced by Xu Mujun, in the name of national duty, to be presented by the King of Nanzhao to the Emperor of Great Yu, namely Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi originally intended to treat her as a pawn and a hostage, but unexpectedly, she possessed a Spirit Root!

“Right, what type of Spirit Root does this Princess Lingyin have?”

“In response to Your Majesty, she possesses a Three-attribute Middle-grade Spirit Root, with the Fire Attribute accounting for about fifty percent. The remaining Spirit Root attributes are Gold Attribute and Earth Attribute.”

“Fire Attribute!”

Zheng Yi’s eyes flashed intensely.

His Five Elements Spirit Root includes Gold, Wood, Water, and Earth, lacking only the Fire Attribute Spirit Root.

Unexpectedly, he obtained it so soon?

“When you interacted with her, what did you think of her nature?”

Consort Yu hesitated: “Princess Lingyin… is a person of affection; if Your Majesty wishes to bring her into the harem, it will take some effort.”

“A person of affection?”

Zheng Yi became intrigued, “I like that. When I return to the palace, I shall meet this Princess Lingyin properly.”

“Your Majesty~ I have found some items that will surely interest you,”

suddenly shouted Yue Chan from afar, and Zheng Yi and the others looked up.

She was standing in front of a row of wooden shelves, holding a wooden box in her hands.

As a few people walked over, they found as many as ten large bookshelves with rows of similarly styled wooden boxes on each one.

“What are these things?”

Casually, Zheng Yi picked up a wooden box and tried to open it.

Yue Chan said: “Your Majesty, these are Spirit Insects~”

“Hmm? Spirit Insects!”

Zheng Yi’s eyes flashed, and he quickly looked over.

Just as expected, in the wooden box he held, there was indeed a black insect with special patterns on its back, resembling a cricket.

“This is…”

According to the piece of “Record of Strange Insects” left by the Grand Ancestor, this should be a Spirit Insect called the ‘Heart-drilling Insect.’

This insect particularly enjoys inhabiting the hearts of living creatures, residing in the heart area, breathing with the heartbeat.

If threatened, this insect can release toxins to affect the heart of living creatures, causing intense heart pain.

It is the best Spirit Insect for killing or controlling subordinates!

Unfortunately… this Heart-drilling Insect is dead.

Zheng Yi touched it; the body was all dried up.

“Unfortunately, it’s dead.”

Yue Chan also showed the wooden box in her hand to Zheng Yi: “Your Majesty, the ‘Hidden-winged Insect’ I have here is also dead.”

“It is said that once the Hidden-winged Insect reaches its maximum flight speed, it can even achieve invisibility, making it invisible to the Divine Thought of ordinary cultivators, ideal for sneak attacks as a Spirit Insect!”

“Could it be that all these wooden boxes are filled with Spirit Insects…”

Zheng Yi nodded and continued to browse other wooden boxes.

Just as Zheng Yi expected, these rows of wooden boxes were indeed filled with various types of Spirit Insects.

“Golden Light Insect.”

“Silk Spider.”

“Chaotic Flying Mosquito.”

“Six-winged Frost Centipede…”

As he checked them one by one, Zheng Yi couldn’t help but feel a bit heartbroken.

If only these Spirit Insects were alive!

Cui Xiabing wondered: “Why are there so many Spirit Insect corpses here?”

Zheng Yi explained: “This continent used to be the territory of the Mayfly Sect and the Netherworld Sect. The Mayfly Sect was an Insect-controlling Sect. Since the ancestors of the Zheng Clan were able to replace it, there would certainly be a large number of Spirit Insects in the clan’s storage.”

“But unfortunately, after more than three hundred years, all these Spirit Insects have starved to death!”

With thoughts racing, Zheng Yi suddenly said, “I remember ‘Record of Strange Insects’ records that several Spirit Insects have a lifespan of over a hundred years; quickly search to see if there are any living Spirit Insects or eggs!”

“Yes!”

Everyone quickly moved in different directions and began searching through the bookshelves.

Soon Yue Chan shouted, “Your Majesty, over here!”

“I’ve discovered… a huge insect!”

Zheng Yi and the others quickly ran over to take a look, and they were startled to find an exceptionally large spirit insect, as big as an adult’s head, right there.

Beside it, piles of different spirit insect corpses lay scattered.

Some had been entirely devoured, while others had leftover remains nearby.

Even stranger, beneath it was spread a massive animal hide.

On the hide, there were countless tiny insect eggs, the size of sesame seeds.

“These are… spirit insect eggs!”

This insect’s corpse was larger than any they’d seen before.

However, the eggs it produced were no different from ordinary spirit insect eggs.

“What kind of spirit insect is this?”

Yue Chan came over and examined it closely.

“It looks like a Gold-devouring Insect?”

“Black Fire Ant?”

“Ghost-faced Bee?”

“And why are there so many other spirit insect corpses here?”

“I suspect, the spirit insects gathered here were meticulously selected by the Grand Ancestor. Using the Netherworld Sect’s secret technique, they were put into slumber, intended to last a millennium, but some woke prematurely for unknown reasons.”

Zheng Yi speculated, “Without food, they could only turn on each other, treating each other as sustenance.”

“Until there was only one species, or perhaps one remaining insect, which laid so many eggs.”

“This must be the Spirit-devouring Insect.”

“Spirit-devouring Insect?”

“Yes.”

Zheng Yi nodded, “It’s a fearsome insect that feeds on Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, fiercely aggressive, its body as hard as iron, impervious to weapons, fire, and water, extremely troublesome.”

“As long as an object contains spiritual energy, it can devour it.”

“And it will gradually evolve according to the type of spiritual energy consumed, transforming into a Gold-devouring Insect with a myriad of abilities.”

“According to the Record of Strange Insects, such insects are believed to be extinct, yet there’s one here.”

“It’s a pity it’s dead…”

“Not completely dead!”

Yue Chan suddenly exclaimed, “Those eggs, I can sense many still have life energy, perhaps they can hatch!”

“Hm? The eggs have life energy? Are you sure, my dear?”

“Yes, we often hatch Gu Insects in our clan. These ones, these, and these have life energy. If placed in a warm environment, they might hatch into Spirit-devouring Insects.”

“The life energy of these eggs is too weak, though. We don’t know if they can hatch.”

Zheng Yi immediately collected these eggs, finding there were a total of twenty-seven surviving ones.

What if the life energy is weak?

With a sacrifice of essence blood, he can surely hatch them eventually!

He surveyed the surrounding items, mostly ordinary cultivator materials and tools.

Unfortunately, most had lost much of their spiritual energy, with only a portion still usable.

Despite this, the three women were thrilled, browsing through the treasure vault like they were shopping, selecting items they desired.

Finally, they reached the deepest part of the vault, where several seemingly important wooden boxes rested on a platform.

Zheng Yi said, “Seven wooden boxes, five jade bottles, these must be the most valuable items in the Grand Ancestor’s Treasure Vault.”

“I wonder, what could be inside?”

“Let’s each pick one box and see what’s in these blind boxes.”

“Blind boxes?”

Noble Consort Cui asked curiously, “Your Majesty, what is a blind box?”

“It’s these boxes, we don’t know what’s inside, everyone picks one blindly to see what’s inside.”

“Wow! Sounds fun! I’ll go first!”

Yue Chan clapped her hands excitedly and rushed to the platform, puzzled by the various sizes and shapes of the wooden boxes and jade bottles, unsure of which to choose.

Zheng Yi laughed from the side, “Just grab one, they’re not going anywhere.”

“Alright then.”

Yue Chan glanced at the items on the platform again, finally choosing the largest wooden box and pulling it to her side.

The wooden box was black-red overall, and it stood taller than Yue Chan herself.

The petite body leaped up, sitting right on the box, swinging her legs, and said, “I’ve chosen, your turn now.”

“My dear consort, Elder Chen, you may go ahead.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Noble Consort Cui and Consort Yu stepped forward, carefully selecting their choices.

However, Chen Liancang hesitated, “Your Majesty, this old servant need not partake.”

“No need for formality, Elder Chen. Between you and me, there’s no need for such doubts.”

Zheng Yi said, “Once we achieve mastery in cultivation, I will rely on you greatly.”

Chen Liancang said gratefully, “Thank you, Your Majesty! This old servant will do my utmost to serve you!”

He casually picked up a jade bottle from the platform, the nearest to him, without knowing its contents.

Soon, all five had made their choices.

Even Zheng Yi picked up a palm-sized wooden box, looking at the others with interest.

“Alright, the blind boxes are chosen, let’s see what’s inside.”

Zheng Yi asked, “Who wants to go first?”

“Me, me, me!”

Once again, Yue Chan was the first to raise her hand, “The box I picked is the largest, its contents must be the most precious!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep