The one causing chaos in the Spirit Field and injuring Li Ziqi and Zuo Luo was an Insect King resembling a locust.
This Insect King was about half the size of a human, with a back of alternating red and green colors, a white abdomen, a pair of filamentous antennae, and deep green compound eyes accompanied by three simple eyes near the antennae.
Its most distinctive feature was its pair of sharp, long scythe-like forearms, with the lower body resembling that of a locust.
This pest's appearance was fierce and terrifying, easy to identify.
As a Golden Core Ancestor, Lu Ping naturally had considerable knowledge.
With just one glance, he recognized the origin of this pest, belonging to the Mantis Locust tribe.
Mantis Locust, as the name suggests, is a hybrid of mantis and locust. The only difference is that this creature is indeed a species, not a crossbreed of locusts and mantises.
Adult Mantis Locusts are the size of sparrows, with living habits similar to locusts, enjoying living in groups and feeding on grains, firmly belonging to the pest category.
The Mantis Locust in front of him had reached half the size of a human, naturally not due to mutation, but because it was an Insect King.
Within a group of Mantis Locusts, there is always a giant Mantis Locust Insect King leading them.
Lu Ping roamed around the Spirit Field, quickly discovering many Mantis Locust corpses scattered in the field, either slain by the Golden Needle Technique or split by a sword.
Evidently, these Mantis Locusts had already been cleared by Li Ziqi and Zuo Luo, becoming nutrients for the Spirit Field.
However, the most troublesome Insect King, even with their combined magical combat, they failed to defeat.
So within the entire Spirit Field, only the Insect King remained unhandled.
As Lu Ping understood the situation on site, the system also provided a prompt.
[Mantis Locust: Tier One Middle Grade (Fifth-Layer Qi Cultivation)]
[A pest born from the Spirit Field's upgrade, please promptly clear pests to protect Spirit Rice growth]
So that's what was going on.
Lu Ping suddenly realized, wondering how a group of Mantis Locusts and such a large Insect King suddenly appeared.
He originally thought that after optimizing the tier of the Spirit Field, the production capacity of Spirit Rice would steadily rise, and the Spirit Field tier would also move up a small level.
In truth, it was exactly as he anticipated, and Lu Ping was quite lucky.
But after achieving this upgrade effect, he also paid a certain price, giving birth to more troublesome pests.
Pests were originally present in the Spirit Field, hidden in the soil, Spirit Rice branches and leaves, and roots, difficult to find, requiring cultivators to carefully search to eliminate them.
When Lu Ping raised the Spirit Field's tier, the Spirit Rice nourished back, upgrading along, during which pests in the Spirit Field couldn't be excluded.
Originally just inconspicuous weak spirit worms, with insignificant combat power, posing no threat to cultivators.
But as the Spirit Field upgraded, the concentration of Spiritual Qi increased, optimizing the living environment of some pests, allowing them to absorb stronger, purer Spiritual Qi, giving rise to stronger pests.
When this Tier One pest advanced, Zuo Luo and Li Ziqi guarding the Spirit Field soon discovered it, taking immediate action, striving to eliminate the Mantis Locust group.
Fortunately, they acted in time, resulting in minimal damage to the Spirit Field, only about half an acre was fully devoured, without severe loss of vitality.
It should be mentioned here that when they first discovered this pest, both of them were quite taken aback.
Having guarded the Spirit Field for years, it was the first time they encountered such a large pest in the field, and one that appeared so challenging to deal with.
Unlike previous pests, the size of a thumb, easy to crush.
With a touch of caution, when they engaged, the conclusion was evident.
This Tier One Mantis Locust King was far superior in strength, indeed not so easy to defeat.
It was not only agile in movement, attacking with great speed, but its pair of scythe forearms was also quite formidable.
The strength of these scythe forearms was comparable to a Tier One Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact, sharp enough to cut through iron like mud. A slight misstep, and heads would roll.
Using their Tier One Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts, the two waged an aerial battle for dozens of rounds without gaining an advantage, soon falling into a disadvantage, both getting injured.
After all, tasked with guarding the Spirit Field, they were not exactly the sect's key cultivation targets, with their cultivation standards being quite average.
One was in Third-Layer Qi Cultivation, the other in Fourth-Layer Qi Cultivation.
Fortunately, as the two were injured, before perishing under the pest's blades, the system promptly alerted Lu Ping.
Lu Ping dared not delay, urgently calling Lu Zhiwei to deal with the pest.
Such was the situation.
Seeing Lu Zhiwei, who had been absent for a long time, arrive at the Spirit Field, Zuo Luo and Li Ziqi had no intention of continuing the deadly conflict, of course, shouting for Elder Lu to save them.
They were quite experienced in guarding the Spirit Field, but when it came to combat, that was beyond their expertise.
Then, Lu Zhiwei saw the Insect King wreaking havoc in the Spirit Field, recalling his father's sudden communication to head to the Spirit Field, instantly understanding his father's intention.
The disciples couldn't overpower the Mantis Locust King, but as a sect elder, she could.
Thus, when Lu Ping arrived, Lu Zhiwei was already in fierce battle with the Insect King, and judging by the situation, she had gained the upper hand.
What a joke, after all, Lu Zhiwei was a Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation cultivator, even though years without cultivation or combat had reduced her combat power.
But she still matched the Seventh and Eighth-Layer, more than sufficient.
Armed with a Tier Two Zhaoyun Sword, dealing with a Fifth-Layer Qi Cultivation Insect King, Lu Zhiwei found it quite manageable.
While dodging and attacking with Lu Zhiwei, the Mantis Locust King vigorously flapped its pair of transparent wings, producing a continuous buzzing sound, ringing in the ears unpleasantly.
It moved extremely fast, leaving trails of turbulence from its wings that toppled the Spirit Rice, leaving chaos in its wake.
In the realm of pests, it was indeed quite large, hovering over the Spirit Field like a small helicopter, inducing gusts of strong winds, making the environment chaotic and noisy.
The Insect King vibrated its wings and suddenly appeared to the side of Lu Zhiwei, taking advantage of her inattentiveness, it swung its scythe-like forearm at Lu Zhiwei's side face.
Don't be deceived by the simplicity and brutality of this strike; there was no flashy maneuver.
But should it land, disfigurement would be the least concern; death could be instant.
"Elder, watch your right side!"
Seeing the Insect King's fierce attack, even resorting to ambush, Li Ziqi, who was watching from not far away, suddenly grew tense, unable to refrain from shouting a warning.
Lu Ping also felt his heart leap to his throat, wanting to strike the Insect King with a palm, ending its life outright.
But realizing he was merely a consciousness body, he thought better of it, staying put to watch.
Fortunately, with Li Ziqi's warning, Lu Zhiwei timely dodged, narrowly escaping the attack from the right side, leaving the Insect King striking at air.
Near her ear, only a few strands of blue hair were snipped and slowly fell.
"Stay sharp!"
Seeing Lu Zhiwei almost getting wounded, Lu Ping then initiated communication, reminding her not to be careless.
"Don't let it go wrong here."