Chapter 129: Red Sun VS Void Energy
The swirling mist parted to reveal a beast that was impressive…impressive in the way that made you wish you were anywhere else.
Unlike her smaller kin, which were merely the size of my forearm, the queen wasp was as large as a horse. Her jet-black carapace seemed to absorb the light around us and the air distorted around her massive stinger.
Dozens of smaller wasps orbited around her in perfect formation, their movements so synchronized it was almost beautiful – in a terrifying, probably-about-to-kill-us kind of way. Their smaller stingers pulsed with the same strange energy as their queen's.
Lin Mei's sharp intake of breath told me she recognized them before I did. "Voidneedle Wasps," she whispered. "Most are at stages three and four, with only three at stage five. But the queen..." she trailed off, staring at the massive insect.
"Stage six," I finished for her, watching the swarm draw closer.
Lin Mei nodded. "Their stingers are infused with void energy, they drain qi with each strike, and they can work together to trap prey in a qi-blocking cocoon. Their hive mind lets them coordinate perfectly." Her eyes narrowed. "The good news is they're weak against fire attacks. The bad news is, none of us use fire."
"Void energy at the qi condensation realm?" I directed the thought to Azure. "That seems... unusual."
"Not for species that evolved in void-touched areas," Azure explained. "These wasps likely originated in a region where reality had worn thin, allowing void energy to seep through. Over generations, they adapted to channel it naturally."
I made a mental note to have Azure add every little piece of information he could from the beast lore section of the library after this. Not knowing basic information about local threats was the kind of oversight that could get you killed in a cultivation world. It was something I should have done sooner.