Chapter 3331: The Attempt

Hui Can shook his head. Tuo Lin was always talking about mystical, philosophical matters while analyzing human nature. What did human nature have to do with Hui Can? He could see through such things in an instant. Even when he had been as weak as an ant, he had gone ahead and schemed against a massive power like the Wang family.

“If that’s the case, then let’s separate for now. It won’t be for long, I’m sure. Senior Brother, where will you go to next?” Hui Can asked.

There was no hesitation. “The Sixverse Academy.”

Hui Can was left speechless. Yet another place devoid of any people.

It had been a long time since the people at the Sixverse Academy had been slaughtered and the school emptied. Even if a new one was built, it would be in a new location.

Tuo Lin watched Hui Can leave, and then he shook his head. “Junior Brother, you have been blinded by the temptation of prosperity. Little does he know, he’s progressing slower and slower down the path of following Master.

“That’s right, it’s just you and me now, Yan Ruyu. Master will be pleased. We’re walking in his footsteps, retracing the path that he once took.

“Your suggestion’s excellent! I didn’t even think of that. Let’s carve a statue of Master and carry it on our backs. That way, we’ll truly be able to feel his greatness. Yan Ruyu, you’re wonderful.”

In one of the Tianyuan Megaverse’s parallel universes, Progenitor Chen, Chu Yi, Progenitor Ku, and Mu Zhu were all together. They were working on tracking down True God and those with him.

Progenitor Chen was always able to locate Forgotten Ruins God, even after True God’s group changed locations multiple times.

Just as the men were about to continue on, Chu Yi stopped them. He was staring at something in the far distance; a pale jade-colored ribbon was drifting by. The men all looked over, and their eyes bulged. They were not looking at a ribbon, but rather Sentinel Waltzs that had filled an entire region of outer space. Were they looking at 100,000? 1 million? Countless Sentinel Waltzs were linked together, and their pale jade glow illuminated the darkness of outer space.

Chu Yi casually eradicated the bugs.

Nothing was said as the men continued their pursuit.

Some time later, Progenitor Chen and the others suddenly felt a spike of agony envelop their bodies. This was the pain induced by Thousand Shards, which had been left behind.

For peak powerhouses, it was easy to remove the Thousand Shards’ spines, and the pain did not last long. Still, their expressions fell. While the pain itself was not important, it carried a message, or rather, a warning. If they continued their chase, True God and the others would leave behind more insects as they traveled.

This was not merely a threat to the pursuers, but rather a threat to all the parallel universes that True God passed through.

What sort of disaster would it be if Thousand Shards and other insects were spread across various parallel universes?

Should they continue the chase or not? The group only hesitated briefly before continuing on. There were some things that they could not abandon, even if doing so would bring about severe consequences. Nothing was more urgent than eliminating True God and his followers.

A great distance away, True God looked back.

As expected, they haven't given up. They’re still after us. Well, in that case, let the games begin.

They had been carrying Yan Gang with them for quite some time, and during their travels, Yan Gang’s Nest had spawned many insects, including even Scrollbane Centipedes. Only the Nest’s Verdant Sage was missing.

Given the sheer numbers of the insects that they had spawned, it would be a pity not to leave something behind for their pursuers to play with.

It was not long before a Lithic Drake calamity appeared in a nearby universe. Tens of thousands of Lithic Drakes rampaged through the universe, wreaking havoc on everything they saw. While the universe had cultivators, the strongest was only equal to a Semi-Progenitor, which was not nearly strong enough to deal with a horde of Lithic Drakes.

Each Lithic Drake was as strong as an Envoy. While a Semi-Progenitor could easily destroy one of the bugs on their own, the sheer number of insects was more than enough to bury them.

The Lithic Drakes did not move together in the form of a massive flying dragon; instead, they had spread out to cause mass destruction across the entire universe. Their purpose was simple: prevent Chu Yi and the others from easily eliminating the insects.

When Progenitor Chen and the others arrived in the parallel universe with the Lithic Drake calamity, Progenitor Ku volunteered to stay behind and handle the bugs while everyone else continued on.

In the next universe, they found countless Thousand Shards, whose presence caused people to suffer in agony and seek death for relief.

Next, they found Seven-Star Swords.

Each of the three types of insects could produce catastrophic devastation across multiple universes on their own.

With no other choice, Progenitor Chen and the others reached out to the Heavens Sect. They requested reinforcements to help deal with the swarms of insects.

Lu Yin contacted Big Sis and Mu Shen. The twelve peak powerhouses who had obtained their strength with symbiotic corpses, along with the Scourge Occupation, moved out to deal with the swarms of insects as Progenitor Chen's group continued chasing after True God.

The other insects were manageable, but the Thousand Shards proved to be the most troublesome. Mechas were able to sweep the Thousand Shards away, but there was no way for the machines to alleviate the pain that the bugs inflicted on a universe’s occupants. Only a true peak powerhouse could do such a thing, which was the reason why Lu Yin had also sent twelve peak powerhouses. Using the symbiotic corpses method had granted the cultivators access to Progenitor’s worlds.

As for the Scourge Occupation members, it was inevitable for them to get involved. There was no way Big Sis would ever work with Ce Wangtian, and trying to force such a thing would be suicide.

Time passed in the Heavens Sect. Near the Origin Universe’s Cosmic Sea, Lu Yin’s deep voice rang out. “Time’s up. You still haven’t found that Verdant Sage.”

Bloodlust filled the area, and the Verdant Sage trembled in fear.

For two years, the Verdant Sage had been secretly cultivating. Exploring the Origin Universe with Lu Yin had given the creature a profound understanding of both the universe and of humanity. Such knowledge had allowed the insect to evolve, and it had also managed to find a path to cultivate even further.

Despite its progress, the Verdant Sage understood that there was no way its increased strength would be enough for it to escape from Lu Yin. The gap between them was simply too immense.

“Master, I’m still useful to you! I can help you find more Nests! The other Verdant Sage definitely isn’t in this universe, which is not my fault, Master,” the Verdant Sage begged, terrified as it felt Lu Yin’s killing intent grow heavier.

Lu Yin stared at the Verdant Sage. “Your strength’s improved quite a bit these last two years, hasn’t it?”

The Verdant Sage started to panic. “Master, that has nothing to do with me! I never meant to hide anything from you, but my body naturally adapts to whatever universe I’m in so that I can cultivate more efficiently. I never meant to deceive you, Master! Please, spare me!”

In general, insects were known for their overwhelming numbers, not their intelligence. However, the Verdant Sages were different, as they were disturbingly intelligent. They were much more clever than what one would expect of an insect.

Lu Yin could not help but admire the Immortal Lord who had created the Nests. Only an Immortal could create such extraordinary lifeforms.

“The year that I gave you to accomplish your task ended a long time ago. I only gave you some extra time because you found the Scrollbane Centipedes. But now, your time is out. You can’t expect me to go back on my word,” Lu Yin calmly stated. Despite his composure, his bloodlust had become palpable. He was clearly ready to strike at any moment.

The Verdant Sage trembled. “Master, I can definitely find the other Verdant Sage! Let me go to other parallel universes! I’ll help you find it! As long as we’re both in the same universe, I can succeed, Master.

"Without me, even if the other Verdant Sage stood right in front of you, you wouldn't know it, Master. Also, you can’t forget about the Scrollbane Centipedes and the Nests. I will definitely help you find them all.

"Given the number of parallel universes in this megaverse, there must be many hidden Nests. Master, I can be very useful to you! Please, don’t kill me..."

Lu Yin stared at the begging Verdant Sage and sighed. "You certainly are quite useful, and I don’t want to kill you. On the other hand, the more useful you prove yourself to be, the greater the threat you pose. Am I wrong?"

"But I am yours, Master! I’m no threat to you."

"What about the Immortal Lord?"

"I know nothing about the Immortal Lord! They’ve never appeared before me. You must believe me, Master! That being is definitely not in this megaverse, and if the Immortal Lord never shows up, then what difference does it make whether they exist or not?"

Lu Yin laughed. "That’s a fair point. If you will only ever truly submit to the Immortal Lord, then as long as they never show up, there’s no difference between them existing or not.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Fine. I’ll give you one more chance."

The Verdant Sage heaved a sigh of relief. After two years, its vines had long since grown back, and they now covered its body. The creature bounced twice on the ground. "Thank you, Master! Thank you."

Lu Yin raised a hand, and a small stream of energy swirled at his fingertips. "This energy is called Cloudflow. Master it as quickly as possible."

The Verdant Sage felt nervous and confused. It could not understand why Lu Yin wanted it to cultivate this particular energy, but it had no choice but to comply.

Lu Yin’s intentions were quite simple; he would have the Verdant Sage cultivate Cloudflow, and then he would use his die’s Possession to merge with the Verdant Sage and observe the creature’s memories. After that, Lu Yin would decide whether or not to kill the Verdant Sage.

...

Beneath a starry sky, dark-red earth stretched far and wide. Sweat dripped from Yan Gang’s forehead as he constantly stroked his Nest. He was ready to draw out the final insect. It had been two years, and that was not including the time that they had spent in universes where time passed more quickly. It was finally time for the last insect to emerge.

Is it called a Verdant Sage? You’re such a good child! Come on out

.

True God and the rest quietly observed from where they stood a short distance away.

For two years, they had remained informed about the Heavens Sect’s activities.

They had learned that the Heavens Sect had discovered a Nest that had spawned a Verdant Sage. The universe where that Nest had come from had not been connected to any of the Heavens Sect’s parallel universes. Finding it had been pure coincidence.

A great battle had been fought, and dozens of the Heavens Sect’s Progenitor-level mechas had been revealed during the pursuit. The Heavens Sect had then sent out dozens of peak powerhouses, all of whom were unfamiliar faces.

"Merging the resources of so many universes is allowing humanity’s strength to soar. Lu Yin's mirebound artifact is perfect for boosting the overall power of a civilization," True God remarked.

Forgotten Ruins God chuckled. "The difference in personal power is not a gap that can be crossed with sheer numbers, is it?"

"That depends on how Lu Yin plans to use his numbers," True God replied.

Blackless God scoffed. "The Spirit Nidus possesses immense power. They have their Ascendant Hall, ten sequence bases, eighty-eight sequence techniques, and also a number of unfinished sequence bases. Their Ascendant Hall alone contains all of the powerhouses in their entire megaverse under one roof. They have multiple powerhouses like Tian Ci, as well as their Seven Seraphs and their High Seraph. Any one of those experts can be considered invincible.

"Such people can't be countered by mere numbers."

Forgotten Ruins God let out a flirty laugh. "Right, I forgot. You joined the Spirit Nidus, Blackless God. Haha, so does your loyalty lie with the Ascendant Hall, or with Lord Yong Heng?"

Blackless God’s eyes flickered. "I could ask the same of you, Wang Miaomiao. Does your loyalty lie with Lord Yong Heng... or with humanity?"

Woof!

Skydog barked, which drew everyone’s attention. Yan Gang was excited, and his breathing quickened. It was coming. Finally, it was emerging.

The jade-colored orb that was the Nest emitted a gleam of light. This color was indiscernible, and yet it seemed to contain all the colors that existed. They were interwoven to produce a soft, beautiful light.

The light slowly drifted out from the Nest to hover in the air. Everyone watched carefully as the light started to take shape.

A human?

Yan Gang was stunned. How could his insect be a human?

True God and the others all stared at the Verdant Sage. A human? They were far more knowledgeable about the Nests, as most of their information came from what the Heavens Sect had compiled.