Chapter 2998: The Seven-Star Mantis

The jiao soon arrived at the lowest landmass.

A dim light covered the land, and cities and villages could be seen scattered across the land. It looked quite normal, but as the jiao passed by the settlements, the expressions of Arch-Elder Zen and Jiang Qingyue fell, and even Ghost Monkey and Dragonturtle grew upset.

This place was not a continent, but rather a hell.

The humans living on this continent were not living in these settlements, but instead fleeing for their lives. They were all being chased by creatures that looked very similar to praying mantises. The creatures were all at different levels of strength, and the more powerful ones would destroy the cities, while the weaker ones would go after the villages. Lu Yin and his group watched with their own eyes as the mantises hunted and killed the humans for pleasure. They deliberately killed the last person to escape, and they only killed one person at a time. The people at the front were able to escape without any problem, as only the last person to escape would be killed.

This was not a massacre or a slaughter, but a game. Humans were being forced to play a game of survival.

The humans were permitted to resist, and there were people who fought back and even killed the mantises, but whenever that happened, a more powerful mantis would soon appear and take over the role of hunter in the survival game.

Everyone with Lu Yin clearly saw how, close to every human settlement, there was also a large group of mantises eager to attack. Seeing their own kind killed by the humans only further excited the mantises, and more of them would go out to slaughter humans. Regardless of whether the mantises killed or were killed in return, all the death excited them.

They were a revolting species of astral beast.

Jiang Qingyue's eyes grew cold, and she was unable to resist attacking and eliminating an entire group of the mantises. Unfortunately, there were so many of them spread across the seven continents that it was impossible to even count them.

None of the people living in this place had any idea just how many praying mantises were staying out of sight, just waiting to join the game. Killing a mantis gave people hope, which simply transformed into despair with a bit more time. This survival game forced people into true desperation, and it was impossible for the humans to ever defeat their conquerors.

Lu Yin let the jiao move upwards towards the sixth continent, where they found the same situation as on the lowest landmass. The only difference was that there were fewer mantises and the humans’ situation was not quite so desperate. Still, the death game was also being played on the sixth continent, and humans were being slaughtered everywhere.

The same was similarly true of the fifth, fourth, and third continents. Only on the second continent did the slaughter stop.

Lu Yin and his group clearly understood that everyone from the bottom to the top of the tower of continents were part of a game of death. They were all able to protect themselves and kill the mantises, but there was also another option open to them, which was to climb to a higher continent. Each continent was a bit better than the one below, and the people who were capable of ascending were not weaklings, but rather those capable of fighting back against the mantises.

Whenever someone arrived at the second continent, they no longer needed to participate in the survival game. The game did not exist on that continent.

This stack of landmasses seemed to be arranged with the same philosophy of raising gu. It looked as though the mantises were specifically trying to rear strong humans.

The second continent was nothing less than a paradise, and it was entirely different from the lower continents.

The people who lived on the second continent still wanted to ascend further and reach the first continent, as there were legends that the first continent held wonderful food, wine, beauties, and more things that they would otherwise never be able to enjoy. The treasures of the first continent were enough to tempt anyone.

The people of the second landmass were free from the survival game, but that did not satisfy them. They wanted more, and they wanted to pursue greater comforts and pleasures. They had been cursed by their ascension of the continents, as they had developed a habit of wanting to climb higher and further.

As for the top landmass, Lu Yin and the others were able to see that it was where the real game began. There was a mantis there with the strength of a Progenitor, and it hunted any and all humans who managed to ascend to the first continent. There were no survivors. There was too vast a gap of strength between a creature with the strength of a Progenitor and the human cultivators.

This game allowed the humans to escape from death to life, but then it would force them from life back to death. They rose to heaven from hell, and then were cast back into hell.

This was the cruelest game imaginable, as people were given hope, only to be plunged back into despair.

This game tested human nature. It was clear to all that they could live and enjoy a good life on the second continent, but people were not satisfied with that, and they wanted to climb higher.

No one had ever returned from the first continent, but as far as the occupants of the second continent were concerned, why would anyone return when they had every pleasure imaginable on the first continent?

This kind of thinking had already become the standard for most people in the seven continents of the universe, and it was also why they felt compelled to rise up to the first continent.

"Seven-Star Mantis!" Still on the jiao’s back, Jiang Qingyue mentioned a name, her expression solemn.

Neither Lu Yin nor Arch-Elder Zen had ever heard of this name before. "Seven-Star Mantis? Qingyue, do you know what these creatures are?"

Jiang Qingyue answered in a low voice, "The Seven-Star Mantis is an outsider powerhouse, but one that enjoys manipulating the desires of other living creatures. Regardless of whether one is a human, astral beast, or even a plant, as long as they have thoughts and desires, the Seven-Star Mantis will enjoy manipulating them. It’s one of Aeternus’s allies.”

Lu Yin frowned. He had not seen any mantises among the outsider powerhouses that had appeared to help defend the Scourge.

"How strong is the Seven-Star Mantis?" Arch-Elder Zen asked.

Dragonturtle was uncommonly serious. "Very. While my Whitecloud City has never fought it, we know of several outsider powerhouses who have been killed by it. This guy excels at using its blade-like arms, and it is also incredibly fast. Master once mentioned that the Seven-Star Mantis can move at the speed of time."

Lu Yin's heart sank. It was the power of time yet again. The moment he had started to interact with sequence powerhouses, the powers of time and space no longer seemed as mysterious anymore, as anyone with that level of strength could interact with those powers.

However, this did not mean that the powers of time or space were by any means weak. On the contrary, it was precisely because of the power that time and space held that they were so valued by sequence powerhouses. This also made those two powers more focused upon.

Undying God had managed to repeatedly escape by skipping time, while the Seven-Star Mantis was able to move at the speed of time. Lu Yin did not even understand what sort of speed that was.

Jiang Qingyue looked at the first continent. "Father wanted to deal with the Seven-Star Mantis a long time ago, but he held back. He didn't want to start a war with Aeternus, and he also wasn’t sure that he could instantly deal with the mantis, so he didn’t attack it. The monster is very sensitive, and any time it encounters an opponent like Father, who’s too strong for the mantis, it escapes. It’s very difficult to kill.

"Father was also afraid that he might force it to fully side with the Aeternals."

Lu Yin was surprised. "This Seven-Star Mantis hasn't completely allied with Aeternus?"

Jiang Qingyue shook her head. "It’s helped the Aeternals before, but it’s different from Jing Zhe. The Seven-Star Mantis helped the Aeternals because it lost a bet. There was a bet regarding the desires of human nature.

"The mantis likes to manipulate desires, and the greater the intelligence of its target, the greater its pleasure. For that reason, its favorite pastime is to manipulate human desires. It also sees the Aeternals as humans, but what kind of desires can a corpse king have? However, compared to the Seven-Star Mantis, the Aeternals have a far better understanding of human nature, and because of that, it’s lost several wagers, which is why it’s only helped the Aeternals a few times. Still, Whitcloud City views this mantis as one of the Aeternals’ allies.”

Dragonturtle sighed. "We can't let it join us either, because of how it likes to manipulate human desires. It only enjoys that and killing. That’s why Master wanted to get rid of the monster rather than win it over. This beast is impossible to have as an ally."

Lu Yin stared at the seven continents. Did this mantis like to manipulate human desires? That was precisely what the seven continents of this universe were doing. The bottom landmasses brought out true human nature, while the top continent tested human desires. In the end, almost every decision the humans could make would result in their deaths. It was truly pitiful.

Beasts were beasts. If humans lacked desires, how could they have emotions? How could there be any motivation to grow and develop? Desires were not wrong to have. After all, the desire to survive was a basic instinct of all creatures.

"So it likes to toy with people’s desires and play them to death? I want to see just how this mantis begs when it faces its own death," Lu Yin muttered to himself. His voice was soft, but his words were incredibly cold.

Dragonturtle was startled. "You don't need to fight it, and you’re better off not even trying. Master said that this mantis can move at the speed of time, and he wasn’t exaggerating. Even if the mantis isn’t a sequence powerhouse itself, the fact that it can move faster than such powerhouses makes it an even greater challenge.”

Arch-Elder Zen was taken aback. "It isn’t a sequence powerhouse?"

Jiang Qingyue answered, "No, and that's exactly why it’s so afraid of meeting Father. Regardless of whether someone is the mantis’s enemy or not, any time a sequence powerhouse appears, it will run away. What’s more, no one has ever managed to find its lair. I didn’t expect us to randomly stumble upon it."

"It would be best to report this to Master and ask him to deal with it. That would be the safest," Dragonturtle suggested.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Jiang Qingyue frowned. "Father is already dealing with the Ancient Lightning Locust, so I have no idea when he’ll be free. It might be a very long time."

"Since it's not a sequence powerhouse, there's nothing to worry about. If it’s fast, then we just need to dig its grave first." Lu Yin’s tone was vicious.

Everything he had seen on the seven continents had roused his anger and bloodlust. Regardless of whether the Seven-Star Mantis was one of Aeternus’s allies, even if it was an ally of the Sixverse Association, it still needed to die.

Lu Yin’s words made it clear to Jiang Qingyue that she would not be able to stop him from trying to deal with the mantis, but she also had no intention of even trying to stop him. Anyone who had witnessed the hellscape on these seven continents would want to kill the mantis.

The only question was how to go about doing that.

The jiao wandered across the continents again.

"The Seven-Star Mantis is not here right now, or else it would have discovered the jiao the moment it approached the continents," Jiang Qingyue commented.

They discussed things for a bit and decided to set a trap for the Seven-Star Mantis based on its desires and habits. To begin with, they could not fight it in the universe that they were in, as the battle would kill everyone on the seven continents.

Lu Yin had Ghost Monkey go across the seven continents to spread rumors. He was to tell people that he had discovered a parallel universe with many other humans in it, as that would draw the Seven-Star Praying Mantis’s attention when it learned of those rumors. Jiang Qingyue worked with Ghost Monkey, while Lu Yin and the others started searching for a parallel universe that could be used to lay a trap for the Seven-Star Mantis. They would also need to take a group of people to that universe.

"The rumors can’t spread too quickly. I’m sure that at least a few people on the second continent have already realized the reality of this place, and they have chosen not to ascend to the first continent. All of those people have to be under the Seven-Star Mantis’s observation, which means that they’re the best way to get the rumors to the mantis. Don’t worry about taking too long. Time passes eighty times faster in this universe, so we have plenty of time to work with,” Lu Yin warned.

Jiang Qingyue replied, "We don't know when the Seven-Star Mantis will return, so there’s no need to be in a hurry."

"Seventh Bro, you have to keep an eye on Little Monkey at all times! Little Monkey doesn't want to die!" Ghost Monkey wailed. He was going to move about in the Seven-Star Mantis’s territory, and if that creature waved its blades just once, Ghost Monkey would die.

Dragonturtle looked down upon the monkey. "Coward!"

Ghost Monkey instantly jumped up. "You damn turtle! Your shell is so hard, I bet that that mantis can’t do anything to you. But how can I be like you? You are a coward and a turtle."

"That's Ancestor Tortoise, not this Dragonturtle!" Dragonturtle snapped back.

Jiang Qingyue shouted, "Just shut up and go!"

Dragonturtle glared at Ghost Monkey and then headed towards the second continent with Jiang Qingyue.