Chapter 3321: Cang Xiaoxue

In the Heavens Sect’s main hall, a grim expression was on Lu Yin's face. In front of him stood the Wen family’s patriarch, Wen Zizai, as well as Wen Sansi and Wen Qian'er. On a table before Lu Yin was the torn picture of a young woman, who had a quite adorable appearance.

"When did this happen?" Lu Yin asked.

Wen Qian'er, her face pale from fear, spoke up to answer. "I don’t know. This morning, I was supposed to teach the Literary Prison technique to Xiao Li, but she never showed up. Last night was the last time that I saw her."

Lu Yin turned to Wen Sansi.

Wen Sansi explained, "I heard Qian’er kicking a door in and was worried that she would be too harsh on Xiao Li, so I went over. Right when I arrived, I saw a jade centipede lunging at her. I immediately intervened, knocking it aside and using the barrier to block it. After that, Patriarch arrived, and the Wen family went on high alert. The centipede hasn’t appeared again."

Lu Yin turned to Wen Zizai.

The man’s voice was respectful. "The Wen family is still on high alert. Everyone has gathered together and is avoiding any flat surfaces: walls, floors, everything."

Lu Yin narrowed his eyes as he fell deep into thought.

At that moment, the Second Nightking reported that similar incidents had occurred not only at the Wen family, but also in other regions of the Origin Universe. Clearly, there was more than one Scrollbane Centipede. There were many, and they were all scattered across the universe.

The worst-case scenario had arrived.

Lu Yin ordered for someone to summon Great Elder Shan Gu.

The old man arrived quickly and said, "Have Scrollbane Centipedes appeared? We’re too late."

Lu Yin sighed. "There’s nothing we can do. Some people think that they can hide Nests and quickly rise to power. If the Wen family hadn’t been targeted, we wouldn’t even know that the Scrollbane Centipedes were already here.

"By the way, the Scrollbane Centipede is as strong as a Semi-Progenitor, so why would it hesitate to attack the entire Wen family?"

This was something that Wen Zizai and the others also did not understand. The Heavens Sect had previously sent out notices that informed all the major powers about the Nests’ eight primary insects. Thus, the Wen family knew that Scrollbane Centipedes possessed Semi-Progenitor-level strength.

The moment the Scrollbane Centipede appeared, the Wen family had already abandoned hope. However, even after they waited for some time, the creature did not attack them again. It was very strange.

The Great Elder explained, "That’s simple. It’s just the nature of the Scrollbane Centipedes. They avoid direct combat and only launch sneak attacks. If they’re discovered, even if it’s by an ordinary human, they rarely ever attack. Instead, they’ll slip away, using flat surfaces.

"The Scrollbane Centipede was not meant for combat, but rather to destroy civilizations’ inheritances."

Lu Yin's somber asked. "Now that the Scrollbane Centipedes have appeared, how do we deal with them?"

The old man massaged his temples. "They’re very difficult to deal with. Back in our old megaverse, we were forced to destroy almost all written records to stop them. Scrollbane Centipedes prefer to move through texts and books. Only occasionally will they move through walls or floors. It’s similar to how humans can swim but can’t live in water. For Scrollbane Centipedes, written works are the land where they can live indefinitely. Walls and floors are like rivers. While they can swim through them, they can’t stay there for very long."

Lu Yin understood. "Humans might have a great number of books and texts laying around, but they don’t keep them too close. That’s why the Scrollbane Centipedes prefer to launch sneak attacks rather than direct confrontations."

Shan Gu nodded. "It’s much like how ordinary people don’t like to fight in the water, as it’s not easy to do. Even the most powerful individuals struggle with that. It’s just basic nature."

"Are you saying that we need to destroy all written records and books in order to stop the Scrollbane Centipedes’ sneak attacks?"

"That was our solution in the past. Scrollbane Centipedes aren’t really a threat to peak powerhouses, but they pose a terrible danger to anyone who’s not at least at the Semi-Progenitor level. That’s the purpose of these bugs.

"Also, Dao Monarch, now that the Scrollbane Centipedes have appeared..."

Lu Yin looked up. "Sky Orchids and Ghost Orchids have both already been born."

These words caused silence to fall upon the room. The Sky Orchids and Ghost Orchids were particularly troublesome insects, mostly due to the fact that they were nearly impossible to find.

Lu Yin tapped his finger on the table. "Release an announcement ordering everyone to stay away from books and written records. We need to make sure that everyone throughout the Origin Universe avoids any form of writing."

With the Heavens Sect's announcement, every civilization that was connected to the rest of the universe took steps to ensure that their people avoided all written materials, such as books and documents.

As for civilizations that were not connected to the rest of the universe, the Heavens Sect did its best to intervene. Since those civilizations were weak and typically did not even know about cultivation, it was not particularly difficult to get their people to avoid books.

For humanity, the appearance of the Scrollbane Centipedes was a disaster. If these insects were not dealt with, human civilization would not merely stagnate; progress would start regressing.

The regression of civilization was a terrifying thing to consider.

If the Scrollbane Centipedes were unable to attack humans through books and writings, there was no guarantee that the bugs would not evolve and find other means to attack. After all, they were nothing more than insects.

Lu Yin had not forgotten what Great Elder Shan Gu had once said about how the nine insects were just the basic species. Once Sky Orchids appeared, the other insects would start mutating and evolving, which meant that even more bizarre and deadly creatures would soon appear. That was the real danger.

The most urgent task for the time being was to find the Nest producing the Scrollbane Centipedes.

The Heavens Sect was the master of the megaverse, and any order from them produced endless ramifications.

Lu Yin ordered people to search at the place where the Scrollbane Centipedes had appeared, and countless people across the Origin Universe were mobilized.

At the same time, other parallel universes were sealed off. Lu Yin had no intention of allowing Scrollbane Centipedes to spread across the entire megaverse.

However, after several days of searching, nothing at all was found. The first Scrollbane Centipede that had appeared had done so on a planet where Explorers were the strongest cultivators. This was troubling because it was virtually impossible to keep track of planets that were not in contact with the rest of the universe.

The person with the Nest was likely hiding on one of those planets.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Great Elder Shan Gu suddenly arrived to speak with Lu Yin. "Logically, while cultivating a Nest is quite easy, it takes a great deal of time. How could Scrollbane Centipedes have appeared so quickly? Even Yu Leng, the first person known to have a Nest, shouldn’t be able to produce Scrollbane Centipedes so soon. The timing doesn’t add up."

A light went off in Lu Yin’s mind. "The Five Spirits Alliance!"

It took time to produce Scrollbane Centipedes, and the only way to change that was by altering how much time the Nest experienced.

The Heavens Sect had forbidden entry into parallel universes where time flowed faster. In recent years, the only such universes to have accepted a number of newcomers were the ones that belonged to the Five Spirits Alliance. There were many researchers in those universes who were studying energy converters, microarrays, and mechas. If any of those researchers had picked up a Nest, they could have produced Scrollbane Centipedes.

The Five Spirits Alliance’s universes were all connected to the Origin Universe, which would have allowed Scrollbane Centipedes to reach the Origin Universe. Lu Yin had a lot of respect for Backyard’s researchers. Therefore, he had not pushed for much of an investigation to be conducted on them.

His arrival in the Five Spirits Alliance’s universes was not accompanied by some grand ceremony. Instead, he discreetly sneaked in. He tore through space to expose the Hollow and searched for any Sky Orchids and Ghost Orchid that might be hidden there.

After finding nothing, Lu Yin went to meet with Director Zhi, Biao Zi, and the others in their group. Their research focused on weapons and tools that used combined microarrays, such as universal armor. The department consisted mostly of ordinary cultivators, which made it the most likely place for someone to be hiding a Nest.

Lu Yin told Director Zhi to summon every member of his department for individual meetings. Lu Yin personally observed each interview, ready to capture anyone who displayed any sort of suspicious behavior.

It took several days for everyone to have their meetings. A few suspicious people were arrested, but they had nothing to do with the Nests. They had simply been embezzling resources that they intended to sell after they left the Five Spirits Alliance’s universes.

Lu Yin had no interest in such petty matters and left these people for Director Zhi to handle.

Next, he visited the department responsible for producing energy converters, which was headed by Zi Jing. On the third day, they found the person that they had been searching for. She was a woman by the name of Cang Xiaoxue.

...

My name is Cang Xiaoxue, and I come from the Transcendent Universe. When I was young, I lived with my older brother. Our lives were uneventful, until one day, my brother was selected to join the Energy Research Group, and he took me with him.

The days we spent with the Energy Research Group were calm and predictable, and I was content. While the leader of the researchers was strict, we were given a great deal, and we also enjoyed a high status. Even nobles in the Transcendent Universe did not dare to provoke us.

I liked that life. Yes, it was boring, but it was enough.

Then, one day, my brother secretly confided in me that he planned to replace the head researcher and intended to reach the peak of the Transcendent Universe. I was terrified. I had no idea what my brother was up to, but I knew that, whatever he was doing, the head researcher could not learn about it.

I tried to stop him, but my brother would not listen. He was obsessed with his grand plan, and he constantly spoke about reaching the peak and leaving behind our mundane lives.

I was not able to stop him, so all I could do was hope for his success.

Many things happened in the Transcendent Universe. Zi Jing defected for a time, but she eventually returned and regained the head researcher’s favor. During that time, I saw less and less of my brother, until one day, I received the devastating news that my brother was dead.

I remember clearly the day I received that news. The head researcher was indifferent, and the way he looked at me sent chills down my spine. I could not accept it. My brother was my only family in the entire megaverse. I had no friends, no one at all whom I was close to, and certainly no lover. Such things were too distant from the life that I had known. There had only ever been my brother.

Why did my brother die? I went mad in my search for answers. Eventually, I learned the truth: people from the Cloudflow Universe had been trying to rescue someone from that facility, and that had led to my brother’s death. I wanted to destroy the Cloudflow Universe in order to avenge him, but I failed.

Later, I learned that the You family was why the Cloudflow Universe had learned of the location of the research facility where my brother was stationed. They had also dealt with the hyper-analysis mode to let the Cloudflow Universe launch their rescue attempt. Still, I could do nothing at all. I could not fight the Cloudflow Universe or the You family. I had no way to avenge my brother.

Day after day, I lived, numb to the world. I went through the motions of research, acting like nothing more than a cog in the machine. Sooner or later, I would rot away and fall apart. Maybe then I would be able to see my brother again.

I was eventually taken from the Transcendent Universe to the Origin Universe, but my life remained the same. No matter if I was in the Transcendent Universe or this place, nothing mattered to me. No matter how much Lord Lu transformed the megaverse, such things meant nothing to me. All I wanted was my brother, and every day, I lived in my memories of him.

Then, one day, I found a jade-colored orb. I had no idea when it had fallen to the ground, but it landed right in front of my brother’s portrait. Had he sent me a gift? It was such a beautiful gift. I was enamored with it, and I carried it everywhere with me.

Later, I followed the Energy Research Group to the Five Spirits Alliance’s universe, where time flows faster. This move was so that we could produce a large number of energy converters as quickly as possible. I heard that the Heavens Sect wants 100 black energy converters, but how could that be possible? Where would we get the necessary materials? Still, none of that mattered to me. All I wanted was to lose myself in the memories of my brother while staring at the gift that he had given me.