Chapter 139 - Parasitism
Soon, the three of them gathered together.
"I observed the growth of some of those water spirit peaches, and from the outside, there is nothing abnormal."
Yan Ping, who looked ordinary, said in a deep voice.
"Indeed, it doesn't look like they have been infested by insects at all."
Lu Xuan nodded and agreed.
"Is there a protective formation outside the Zhang family's spiritual plant garden?"
Senior Sister Yao asked Zhang Yutang.
"This... is not very realistic."
The white-haired old man shook his head.
"There are hundreds of water peaches planted in this swamp, covering dozens of acres. Low-grade protective formations are completely unable to cover such a large area of spiritual plant garden."
"As for high-grade formations, with the financial resources and strength of the Zhang family, there is no way to get a formation of that level."
"In addition, the water peaches grow in such a special environment, and the swamps and lakes are connected everywhere, which is completely unable to block the invasion of various alien insects."
"Therefore, the spiritual plant garden is simply arranged with some mechanical formations to block the invasion of cultivators or water beasts. On weekdays, there are also Zhang family cultivators patrolling."
"This is the protection measure for the water peaches."
Hearing the words of the white-haired old man, Lu Xuan and the other two nodded to show their understanding.
"Does the Zhang family have any living alien insects?"
Lu Xuan asked Zhang Yutang.
The old man called a middle-aged cultivator of the middle stage of Qi training behind him, asked a few questions, and shook his head to deny it.
"The alien insects that were found were killed on the spot, and no one was left alive."
"If you want to catch a live alien insect, you can ask Cheng Ning to take you to the spiritual plant garden to try.
He often comes to the spiritual plant garden to play, and he knows which area is most likely to have alien insects."
"That's troublesome."
Lu Xuan and Senior Sister Yao said, and then, led by a handsome boy, they went deep into the peach forest.
"Senior Lu, are we going to catch a live alien insect now?"
On the way, Zhang Cheng Ning's handsome face showed a hint of curiosity.
"That's right, there is nothing wrong with the Shuize Lingtao. It's best to catch a live alien insect and see if we can learn something."
Lu Xuan said to the boy in a gentle tone.
Of course, his main purpose is not this. He wants to catch alien insects and master the detailed status of alien insects through breeding, so as to make targeted responses.
"This area should be very likely to hide that kind of strange insect."
The handsome boy Zhang Cheng Ning took Lu Xuan into the depths of the peach forest and pointed to the front.
Hearing this, Lu Xuan nodded and walked quietly to a Shuize Lingtao.
The leaves on the peach tree swayed gently, like rippling water.
He extended his spiritual consciousness gently, searching carefully on the branches and leaves of the peach tree.
For a long time, there was no movement.
Lu Xuan had to change his target and shift his attention to another Shuize peach tree.
Suddenly, a branch of the peach tree attacked Lu Xuan like a poisonous snake. He was well prepared and activated his spiritual power. A vine-like green spiritual power trapped the branch of the peach tree.
"So it looks like this, no wonder it's almost unnoticeable."
The strange insect in front of him kept struggling. From the outside, it looked the same as the branch of the Shuize peach tree. When it attached to the peach tree, it seemed as if the two had merged into one, so it was extremely difficult to detect. Only when it tried to attack could the strange insect's body be clearly seen.
A flash of red light passed by, fixing the body of the strange insect on the branch of the peach tree.
"Which part of the peach will these strange insects devour?"
Lu Xuan asked the handsome boy.
"Ah, I remember that the branches of the peach tree where the strange insects were found were hollow, so they should devour the peach branches."
"Okay."
Lu Xuan cut off a small piece of the peach branch and placed it near the mouth of the strange insect.
Under the effect of the red needle, the strange insect regained its composure after struggling for a while, and the pattern on its body changed quietly. If the red needle had not remained the same, it would probably have thought that the strange insect had escaped.
"Senior Lu, what is the purpose of feeding this strange insect with the peach branch?"
"Knowing yourself and the enemy, you can win every battle. Only by understanding the living habits and state of the strange insect can you make the right response."
Lu Xuan replied casually, staring at the small piece of peach branch placed in front of the mouth of the strange insect.
Soon, the peach branch disappeared from his sight little by little, and the strange insect was still well hidden.
However, Lu Xuan no longer cared about its ability.
His mind was focused on the strange insect, and suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.
[The mimic insect is a first-class exotic insect with low reproductive capacity. Its eggs parasitize on spiritual plants. The hatched larvae feed on the branches and leaves of spiritual plants. When they grow up, they will slowly imitate the shape of the spiritual plants they parasitize, which is extremely difficult to detect. ]
"It will imitate the shape of the spiritual plant it parasitizes during its growth? That's interesting."
Lu Xuan was amazed in his heart, and marveled at the strangeness of this mimic insect.
"It parasitizes on the water-marsh spiritual peach, and when it grows up, it will become the shape of the spiritual peach branch. If it parasitizes on other spiritual plants, it will probably grow into the shape of the corresponding spiritual plant."
"It will slowly become your shape in the true sense."
Lu Xuan took the half-dead mimic insect and returned to the crowd under the guidance of the handsome boy.
Senior Sister Yao, Yan Ping, and a group of cultivators from the Zhang family gathered together and discussed something in a low voice.
On the wet ground, there were several mimic insects, which at first glance looked like several branches of the water-marsh spiritual peach.
"Junior Brother Lu, you're back? Did you find anything?"
"We just caught a strange insect, but nothing new."
Lu Xuan concealed the information he had learned and didn't tell Senior Sister Yao and the others directly.
"We also caught a few together, and it took a lot of effort."
"These strange insects are indeed very hidden, so it is difficult to solve the problem from the root."
"The most important problem now is to confirm the species of the strange insects and understand their detailed information, so as to find a way to easily find them or kill them."
The beautiful woman said calmly.
Lu Xuan and Yan Ping nodded in agreement.
"These strange insects seem to be able to disguise themselves as spiritual plants. Perhaps we can find a breakthrough from here."
Lu Xuan suddenly said.
Although he had mastered the species and survival methods of the mimic insects, he still didn't know how to solve the mimic insects.
He was not in a hurry to tell Senior Sister Yao about the information about the mimic insects. The Zhang family had such a large-scale insect infestation, and the problem didn't seem to be as simple as it seemed.
"The reproduction capacity of the mimicry is low, so it is difficult to gather a large number of eggs. However, there are obviously a large number of mimicry in this area of the water peach."
"So, are so many mimicry naturally generated or caused by humans?"
Lu Xuan thought secretly. As for solving the problem of insect pests, he has to start with the water peaches parasitized by mimicry.
"Find an opportunity to dig out a parasitic peach tree to see what the specific problem is and how to solve it."
(End of this chapter)