Sage of Humanity

The strength of the Insect Race could generally be gauged by their size, those the size of a fist posed no threat to cultivators, while those as big as a basin were roughly equivalent to Level 2 or 3 cultivators, and those as long as a person needed to be handled with caution, as they were likely Level 6 or 7 Insect Race.

Half a day after Lu Ye ordered the disciples to retreat, the valley below was swarming with Insect Race, among which were many the length of a human.

The cultivators watched with hidden alarm, all feeling fortunate they hadn't ventured into the insect cave earlier.

The average strength of the Insect Race here was not just one grade stronger than that of the Righteous Blood Sect; if they had recklessly entered the insect cave earlier, it would have surely resulted in heavy casualties.

And that was just the situation in Insect Valley. Inside the insect hive, things would certainly be more severe, with the presence of Level 8 Insect Race, and perhaps even the birth of Level 9 Insect Race.

Lu Ye gave a few instructions to Hua Ci and hailed Amber, before mounting the tiger's back.

Under the gaze of many cultivators, he rode Amber and thundered down into the valley.

When he was at the right distance, he raised his hand and cast the Fire Phoenix Technique, blasting it into the swarm. Spirit force burst forth, causing the bodies of several insect creatures to tumble through the air.

Insect creatures were highly sensitive to the fluctuations of spirit force, so after Lu Ye cast a spell, a great number of Insect Race immediately surged toward him, crawling with rustling noises so dense that it made one's scalp tingle. Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

Amber roared, carrying Lu Ye around the perimeter of Insect Valley. As Lu Ye launched spell after spell, the number of Insect Race following him grew and some spider-like Insect Race even shot webs at them.

Viewed from the mountaintop, the group of cultivators from Righteous Blood Sect were sweating for Lu Ye. From their perspective, Lu Ye was riding Amber alone, challenging and drawing a vast number of the Insect Race to pursue him.

No one knew why Lu Ye was doing this.

After one incense stick's time, Lu Ye circled the valley, rousing most of the insects within, who followed him relentlessly, while those that had not managed to keep up appeared restless.

The Insect Race had a strange way of sensing each other, which allowed them to communicate over a certain range in ways unique to their kind.

So, generally, provoking one Insect Race meant provoking a group.

And if you incited a group, it usually meant you had incited them all.

Countless Insect Race crawled in pursuit, led by Lu Ye to the north, while the valley did not become empty due to the departure of the swarm, for more of the Insect Race continually emerged from the insect cave, joining the chase.

From the sky above, one could see a long train of Insect Race stretching all the way back to where the insect cave was located, drawn by Lu Ye.

"Impressive," muttered Hua Ci after a moment of stunned silence.

When Lu Ye had shared his plan with her earlier, Hua Ci had felt it was unreliable, knowing that the Insect Race lacked intelligence and acted purely on instinct. Now, it seemed that their lack of intelligence made them easier to manipulate.

With determination, she followed Lu Ye's previous orders, leading hundreds of Righteous Blood Sect cultivators also toward the north, where, ten miles away, lay the base of the Sky Fiend Hall.

In the base, Deputy Governor Cheng Bo and a group of the Sky Fiend Hall cultivators were still engulfed in an atmosphere of sadness and anger, with none of them expecting that a calamity was thundering toward them, and that this calamity was a 'gift' from the very Lu Yiye whom Cheng Bo was obsessively fixated on.

At this very moment, Cheng Bo was using his sect's insignia to communicate with the hierarchy at sect headquarters, reporting the situation within the base. Upon hearing that the losses here were so severe, one of the elders spat out blood and fell to the ground, unable to rise.

The losses were too great; nearly five hundred cultivators had been wiped out in the insect cave, an event that had never happened before.

As more than a hundred Sky Fiend Hall cultivators remained immersed in their sorrow, unable to extricate themselves, a sudden explosion rang out, followed by chaotic spiritual energy fluctuations.

Cheng Bo's head snapped up, first in confusion then anger, as he roared furiously, "How dare they!"

Somehow, someone was attacking the protective array of their base.

With grief and fury in his heart, though Sky Fiend Hall was but an 8th-grade power and had been established for decades, it had never suffered such humiliation. No sooner had hundreds of their cultivators just died than someone came to attack their array, treating Sky Fiend Hall as if it were a soft persimmon, easily squashed.

He flashed out, followed by a group of cultivators with grief-stricken and angry expressions.

Looking up, he saw a figure dancing in the sky, veiled by a pair of fiery red wings of spirit force.

"Who goes there?" shouted Cheng Bo furiously.

His shout seemed to frighten the intruder, who flapped the fiery red wings once and rapidly retreated, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"The audacity!" Cheng Bo was beside himself with rage, somewhat baffled by the intentions of this individual.

"Elder... Elder brother!" a cultivator behind him suddenly cried out, his voice trembling with fright and terror as he pointed forward: "Insect Race, Insect Plague!"

Cheng Bo now also realized something was wrong. His field of vision was filled with a massive tide of insects, swarming towards them from Insect Valley in a dense, unending stream that snaked its way and had no end in sight.

Cheng Bo's face turned suddenly pale, finally grasping what had happened.

It was impossible for the insects to have reached their station so quickly. Normally, the Insect Plague would spread out from Insect Valley, radiating outward in all directions, and for the Insect Race lacking spiritual intelligence, their movements had no clear purpose. They would gnaw at any life and energy encountered along the way.

But what if someone deliberately lured them here?

"The treacherous dogs of the Righteous Blood Sect!" Rage welled up in Cheng Bo's chest, with no outlet for release, and the situation was worse than if the Righteous Blood Sect had truly come to attack their station. Cheng Bo would not have been as infuriated.

Being from opposing camps, it was normal to attack each other—that was the natural order of things.

But what had those scoundrels from the Righteous Blood Sect done? First, they ambushed at the insect cave entrance, leading to the complete annihilation of hundreds of Disciples led by Governor He Meng, and then they turned around and actually led the Insect Plague right to their very own station. Was this the act of humans?

Since beginning his cultivation journey, Cheng Bo had never encountered such vicious-minded individuals. People like that must have pitch-black organs.

"Senior brother, what should we do?"

The cultivators of the Sky Fiend Hall were in panic. The attackers of the protective array had already left, but the insects had not. They were now throwing themselves against the array outside, gnawing at the spiritual energy that flowed through it.

For the Insect Race, the surge of spiritual energy from the protective array was incredibly attractive.

For the moment there was no worry, since there weren't many insects arriving, but just looking at that never-ending stream of insects made it clear that the number of arriving insects would continue to increase over time.

"All array protectors, fully activate the protective array's might. The rest, follow me and fight the enemy!" Cheng Bo immediately issued the command.

The protective array was always active, since the spiritual energy on the Spirit Stream battlefield was rich. Therefore, the arrays set up in stations could normally draw nature's spiritual energy to sustain their operations without additional consumption. Better protective arrays could even store excess spiritual energy for later use.

Under normal circumstances, protective arrays maintained the lowest level of consumption. Only when under attack would they be fully activated, which would then consume some Spirit Stones.

Many sect stations had more than one protective array. Wealthier sects could set up several, interconnected, so if one were breached, another could take over.

However, outer circle sects generally only had one set because an array covering an entire station was quite expensive and they didn't have the financial capacity.

Besides, there was no point in setting up more.

The strength of the outer circle cultivators was generally lower, and it was rare for a sect's station to be breached. The reason why Xuanmen's attack on the Nine Stars Sect's station was so widely discussed and caused a stir was precisely because such occurrences were uncommon.

At this moment, Sky Fiend Hall's station was faced with an unprecedented crisis. Those attacking the station were not cultivators but the Insect Plague, an event that had never happened before.

Even though there were only about a hundred sect cultivators left, Cheng Bo couldn't just abandon the station. It was his responsibility as Deputy Governor. His life could be lost, but the station must not fall!

Clear and precise orders were given, the protective array's power was activated, and just as Cheng Bo was preparing to lead the remaining Disciples to fight the enemy, a disorderly fluctuation of spiritual energy suddenly arose from behind the station.

Cheng Bo was shocked and quickly commanded his Disciples to fight the enemy here while he led a few men to investigate.

Before long, a group of Sky Fiend Hall cultivators, led by Cheng Bo, looked ahead in terror. Outside the protective array, countless figures had appeared out of nowhere. Those people were feverishly attacking the protective array with magic and spells and Spiritual Artifacts, causing ripples to spread across the array's glowing barrier.

With the Insect Plague coming from the front and hundreds of cultivators attacking from behind, Cheng Bo felt enveloped in darkness, almost fainting on the spot.

He staggered, supported by a junior brother beside him, then with a fierce wave of his hand, he bellowed, "Lu Yiye, come out!"

Although he did not recognize any of the cultivators here, he was certain that these people must be from the Righteous Blood Sect!

The Insect Plague had just been led here, and now hundreds of cultivators were attacking; if this wasn't premeditated, who would believe it?

Only at this moment did he realize that he had underestimated the ruthlessness of the Righteous Blood Sect.

The complete loss of their hundreds of sect cultivators being trapped in the insect cave was not enough to satisfy the Righteous Blood Sect. They were intent on taking over the station, as seizing a station was a temptation that any sect found difficult to resist.

The station was likely lost. Cheng Bo was clearly aware of this. If he had faced either the Insect Plague or the Righteous Blood Sect's attack alone, he might have been able to think of a solution. But with this pincer move, no one could withstand it.

All was dark before his eyes, and his future was shrouded in darkness...

"Righteous Blood Sect, by kicking us while we're down like this, aren't you afraid of being struck by heavenly lightning?" A Sky Fiend Hall cultivator roared in grief and anger.

Immediately, a Righteous Blood Sect cultivator responded, "When you guys bullied us before, how come you didn't talk about heavenly lightning? The kid talking, stand there nicely and wait. Once the array is broken, I'll grant you a swift end!"