The Shapeshifter

Upon hearing this, another woman with her hair in two buns blushed with anger and shouted in a delicate voice.

"You're talking nonsense! My sister and I clearly discovered this spiritual fruit first!"

"Third brother, why waste words with them? Just snatch the spirit fruit!" a sinister-looking man said in a sinister tone.

The thin, pale-faced man no longer concealed his thoughts and said with a sinister laugh.

"Haha, Second Brother is right! But while we're going to take the spiritual fruit, we can't let these two sisters go either!"

Upon hearing this, the woman with the lily-shaped bun changed her expression immediately and gripped the magic weapon in her hand even tighter. The younger sister with the double buns turned pale with fright, her eyes filled with terror.

Both of them were at the tenth level of Qi Refining, which was considered a minor expert in Ningzhou. However, the five people surrounding them were all at the eleventh level of Qi Refining or higher. The lowest-ranking person among them was a tenth-level Qi Refining cultivator like them.

It's safe to say that if no one had come to their rescue, the two sisters would have undoubtedly met their demise at the hands of the five men today.

However, these people did not know that on one of the peaks of Twin-Headed Mountain, Li Yunfan was quietly watching them. With his cultivation level, he used the nameless concealment technique, and these Qi Refining stage cultivators could not detect his presence at all.

"I never expected to run into something like this here. I don't know if it's just my bad luck or yours..."

Li Yunfan murmured something to himself, then his eyes shifted slightly to a patch of bushes next to the group, and his expression became somewhat strange.

Because lurking in those bushes was a level one demon beast, and a high-level one at that, showing signs of reaching level two.

A level one demon beast is equivalent to a Qi Refining stage cultivator, while a high-level level one is equivalent to a Qi Refining 12th stage cultivator. Moreover, demon beasts are naturally stronger than human cultivators, and at least several cultivators need to join forces to kill one of them.

The demonic beast below has already shown signs of advancing to level two, and its strength is much greater than that of the cultivators in the depression. It is estimated that only if these people join forces can they contend with it.

However, there are significant differences between different monsters. The monster below is only about ten inches in size and has the shape of a silkworm. It is clearly not a monster with strong attack power. Otherwise, given its level, it would not need to hide at all and could just rush in and kill everything.

"This monster lay there motionless, and it was impossible to see with the naked eye. Even if one scanned it with divine sense, it would be easy to miss. If I hadn't cultivated the Great Evolution Technique, and my divine sense strength far exceeded that of ordinary late-stage cultivators, I really wouldn't have been able to detect this monster."

While thinking to himself, Li Yunfan took out the jade slip containing the list of strange insects from his storage bag and began to search for the monster's appearance.

The monster below was clearly not an ordinary monster; rather, it resembled some kind of spirit insect monster. That's why Li Yunfan took out the Strange Insect Ranking to see if it was recorded there.

"Huh, it's actually on the list!"

Li Yunfan's expression brightened with joy. The demonic beast was indeed an ancient, wondrous insect called the Illusionary Form Insect, ranked 317th on the list of wondrous insects. Although its ranking wasn't high, he was still very pleased after reading the introduction to the Illusionary Form Insect.

This shapeshifting insect is an ancient and extremely rare creature. Although it is not as powerful as those barbaric species, its abilities are quite unique. The reason it is ranked so low is simply because, compared to other demonic beasts, its attack power is quite ordinary and it cannot provide much assistance in battle.

This insect, true to its name, is adept at changing its form and blending into its surroundings, making it indistinguishable from others. It is naturally proficient in some water-based magic, and its body produces a special fluid that, when applied to ordinary fruits, imbues them with a spiritual aura and fragrance similar to that of spiritual fruits.

This is also the main way that shapeshifters hunt.

According to the records on the list of strange insects, the Phantom Insect can only cultivate to the early stage of Core Formation, which is equivalent to a level 5 demon beast. It is precisely because of this characteristic that this insect has a hard time surviving in the cultivation world. However, its ability to transform its form still allows it to evade the detection of a large number of demon beasts.

Moreover, the shapeshifters are female and can lay eggs without mating. Their eggs are usually buried deep underground and can remain dormant for a long time before hatching. So even though they are few in number, some have survived from ancient times to the present day.

"The Shapeshifter can transform its form and conceal its aura, making it invisible to the naked eye and imperceptible to divine sense. Once it reaches the fifth level of demonic beast, its transformed form is difficult for even early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators to detect. Furthermore, the Shapeshifter is quite intelligent; even at the second level of cultivation, it can understand some human speech. After reaching the fifth level, it can even communicate with its master's soul without transforming into a physical form..."

Li Yunfan was secretly delighted. It was truly a lucky thing that he had encountered such a rare insect.

At this moment, he had already formed the idea of ​​capturing this insect. Although it could not help in battle, this peculiar ability might come in handy in the future. Since he had the chance to encounter it, he naturally wanted to make it his own.

Just as Li Yunfan was checking the list of strange insects, the five cultivators in the depression also began to attack the two sisters.

However, only three people took action; the other two stood on either side to prevent them from escaping.

"Heh heh, you two young ladies, you'd better hand over the spirit fruits and surrender! As long as you serve us brothers well, we'll let you go, how about it!"

The thin, pale-faced man attacked the two sisters while using foul language to influence their emotions.

His words clearly affected the two sisters, with the younger sister, who had the most pronounced influence. Her pretty face turned bright red, and even the magical artifact she was controlling was affected and began to fly around wildly.

The three attackers kept changing positions, trapping the two sisters firmly in the center, and the distance between them was constantly closing. It seemed that it wouldn't be long before they could capture the two sisters alive.

However, just as the pale, gaunt man, with a lewd grin, changed positions again, the shapeshifter that had been lurking in the bushes began to capture its "prey."

Suddenly, a pale blue spiritual energy flowed through his concealed figure. Then, several crystal-clear water spikes, each three inches thick and ten inches long, materialized out of thin air behind the gaunt man and shot towards him at high speed.

"Watch out, fourth brother!"

The Taoist-robed man who hadn't participated in the attack immediately warned the attacker the moment he saw the water spikes.

The gaunt man was taken aback when he heard his second brother's shout. He didn't understand what the other man was telling him to be careful about. Just as he was about to ask, his remaining spiritual sense suddenly detected the abnormality behind him, and he was immediately alarmed.

In such a short time, he didn't have time to retract his offensive magic weapon and switch to a defensive one; he could only erect a spiritual energy shield for defense.

The Phantom Worm is already a high-level Level 1 demon beast, about to enter Level 2. How could a spiritual energy shield possibly block its attack?

With a few "splashing" sounds, several water spikes pierced through the gaunt man's spiritual energy shield, emerging from his chest and spraying out a cloud of blood.

The gaunt man screamed, his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground. After convulsing a few times, he was completely lifeless.