Jacob didn't know that the scene of him jumping off the cliff, despite the mist and his stealth, was visible to those insects' single multifaceted eye, and those visions were equally shared by none other than Mother Insect!
The Mother Insect had a terrifying cognitive ability to see everything without leaving behind anything, and she saw Jacob's figure, which was infrared red in the insect's eye, jumping off the cliff.
But unlike those insects, the mother insect could see something that they can't. She instantly noticed a faint violet aura around Jacob's red silhouette, making her eye shimmer with viciousness.
She directly issued a command, "He has the aura of Frigid Soul Saxifrage. He's the thief! Go, my children, and bring this thief to me!"
Like electricity, her command instantly passed through millions of insects, and like a waterfall, they directly dived after Jacob!
---
The moment Jacob touched the water's surface, he instantly used the Water Spirit Escape and escaped toward the depth of the ocean.
But then, very soon, he noticed power ripples from behind. When he looked behind, he was shocked because all those insects were coming right after him like gigantic maw.
'They can see through my stealth!! ' Jacob's expression turned grim. 'But why are they coming after me so relentlessly? Did I provoke them somehow by venturing into their territory?'
Jacob thought that they might give up after some time, but even after he reached the hundred-mile depth of the star ocean, those insects were still hot on his heels, just a menace.
"Cursed Immortality!"
Jacob now had no choice but to call Immortika and waste this chance. He had really started to feel worried, as his water mana was going to run out in a few minutes.
"What the hell are those?" He quickly asked agitatedly.
"Hahahahaha… now this is what I call entertainment!" Immortika wrote in relish, completely disregarding Jacob's current situation.
"Do you really have time to fuck around?" Jacob roared with indignation.
"Hehehehe, alright, alright. Those insects, as you might've guessed, belong to the Fantastic Insect race and are naturally born in Purple Ice Essene. They are called the Snow Acrididae, commonly known as the Ice Fiend Locusts, and they are not in the top hundred fantastic insects list.
"Here, things become interesting. You see, the Ice Fiend Locusts didn't have the ability to reproduce, but this was only until a 'Queen Ice Fiend Locust' was born among them.
"The chances of a Queen Ice Fiend Locust being born are less than 1% because the moment a Queen Ice Fiend Locust, she will be ranked 33rd on the list of top hundred fantastic insects!
"This is because a Queen Ice Fiend Locust is like a Queen Ant who has absolute control over the ant colony, in this case, the Ice Fiend Locust colony. She can breed 100,000 Tier-1 Common Rank Ice Fiend Locusts while being herself in Tier-9 Common Rank, 1 million in Tier-1 Rare Rank at the peak of Rare Rank, 10 Million Tier-1 Epic at the peak of Epic Rank, and 100 million at the Tier-1 Unique at the peak of Unique Rank!
"Not only that, but she has almost perfect sensory abilities that let her share the vision with every Ice Fiend Locust she births. Not to mention, her congestive abilities can rival even legendary existences, and she is no less intelligent than you. All in all, she is a perfect controller!
"Although an Ice Fiend Locust only has the ability to devour physical matter and turn it into Yin Snow, with Queen Ice Fiend Locust in command, they are like an army that can maneuver with just a thought without caring about their lives!
"But despite her intelligence, she had a huge flaw, just like any other fantastic insect: her vengeful, greedy nature! You see if the Queen claimed something to be hers, she would protect it until she died, and if she felt provoked, she would not stop until she took her vengeance, hence the name Fiend!
"If we start to go into the arrangement of Ice Fiend Locust Colony, our time will not be enough. Lastly, despite the Queen Ice Fiend Locust's powerful mentality, she has almost zero defense, and even a normal mortal can kill her. But this is only if you manage to reach her and her guards are not around.
"Now, you should understand what kind of existence you have provoked. Oh, and even if you manage to evade those Ice Fiend Locusts somehow, the Queen has already marked you with her most powerful connate ability, which can only be awakened after she goes beyond the unique rank, the Fiend Mark!
"All I can tell is that this Fiend Mark will remain with you unless you can completely get rid of any kind of magic you have. The more you use the magic, the more she'll be able to deduce your location and even tell if you are in a location that can threaten her or is good enough to hunt you down.
"To summarize it, she will never stop coming after you as long as she's alive. This is her true flaw and your doom if you can't kill her. Hahahahaha, I'll advise you never ever to underestimate the Queen Ice Fiend Locust; she's like a vengeful spirit and always finds a way towards you because the more you evade her, the deeper her hatred for you grows. It's almost romantic! Hahahaha…!"
Jacob has an ugly expression at this moment, and at this moment, he feels nothing but utterly speechless!
"Isn't it too excessive? I just invaded her territory, and I didn't even kill any of her damn minions, yet you're telling me she'll not stop hunting me until she or I die?" Jacob asked with indignation as he felt this was simply too ridiculous.
He was just here to pick up the legendary key. He never had any intention of provoking this calamity star, but somehow, he ended up doing exactly that.
"Hahahaha, just invade her territory? Maybe you'll understand after hearing this; you see, the Ice Fiend Locust can only evolve by absorbing soul-type natural treasures. Hahahahaha…!"
Realization finally struck Jacob at this moment, and he was utterly baffled when he remembered that exotic plant that evaluated his soul.
"Fuck my life!" He couldn't help but curse furiously and no longer found that 'free fortune' likable anymore.
"Hahahaha…" Immortika laughed with relish as if it was having the best time of its life.
"You literally cut off her path of legend when you unbeknownst devoured that Inspection Legend Rank Frigid Soul Saxifrage. Even if it were someone else, they would do anything to hack you in millions of pieces!"
Jacob's expression grew even darker since Immortika directly confirmed it, and couldn't help but looked behind, the army of millions of Ice Fiend Locusts were relentlessly pursuing him.
"There has to be a way to get rid of this Fiend Mark, right?" Jacob asked after calming down, but his expression was gloomy to the extreme.
"Didn't I've already told you? Just kill her, and those locusts will lose their intelligence and be scattered throughout the unique plains. Furthermore, you might be able to get a very useful reward for your efforts. While the other method is too far away from you. Hehehehe…"
Jacob sighed ruefully in resignation as he knew his life was going to be extremely harsh from now on!