Star Odyssey

Chapter 3328: Bait

Chapter 3328: Bait

Ce Wangtian had heard that Verdant Sages were the final form of the insects that the Nests could spawn. He knew that they were capable of taking on various forms, depending on what the previous eight insects types had experienced. Verdant Sages would adapt to the universe, always choosing the most suitable form. Additionally, Verdant Sages possessed all the abilities of the other eight insects. The speed of the Verdant Sage facing Ce Wangtian clearly came from the Septastar Blades and the Lithic Drakes, but its strength surpassed both of those insects. Born with the strength of a Progenitor and a peerless learning ability, Verdant Sages were incredibly intelligent and very difficult to deal with.

Ce Wangtian had not expected to be the first person to go up against a Verdant Sage, and he had to admit that the bug was very ugly.

Suddenly, a sharp pain ran through his entire body.

The pain immediately reminded him of the Thousand Shards.

There were no Thousand Shards in the sea of insects that surrounded Ce Wangtian. Whenever those insects appeared, they would inflict unimaginable pain on living creatures. Since it was clear that the universe was under the control of the Nest's master, the Thousand Shards and their pain were not allowed to appear.

Rather, Ce Wangtian’s pain came from the Verdant Sage and the vine that he had grabbed.

Another vine attacked. Black and white chess pieces swirled around Ce Wangtian, and an indistinct chessboard appeared beneath his feet. Chess was not just a hobby for the man; it was his law of the universe.

The nature of chess meant that cultivation did not improve Ce Wangtian’s chess skills, which could not even measure up to an ordinary cultivator’s. This was why he had developed his secret technique, Board Manipulation. However, when it came to using his sequence particles, the Progenitor was a true master.

"Pieces can be destroyed, but the board cannot be broken."

As these words were spoken, the pain instantly left his body, and the vines disappeared. The chessboard beneath Ce Wangtian’s feet was solid and unbreakable, and beyond the board, the vines lay severed.

The Verdant Sage was astonished. Was this human this powerful? It clearly still had more to learn.

Ce Wangtian stepped onto his chessboard and then charged at the Verdant Sage.

The insect’s body suddenly vanished, as it had fled into the Hollow.

You want to run? Ce Wangtian waved his hand, and his chess pieces shot into the Hollow, repeatedly attacking the Verdant Sage and dealing immense damage. Right after that, an endless horde of Ghost Orchids shot out of the Hollow, charging at Ce Wangtian with the intent to kill.

Seeing the Sky Orchids and Ghost Orchids in such vast numbers made Ce Wangtian’s scalp go numb. On top of that, since he had entered the Hollow, he could not stay there for very long. His only choice was to frantically expand his chessboard as much as possible in an attempt to trap the Verdant Sage.

As his chessboard trembled, everything that entered Ce Wangtian’s area of control was obliterated.

He left the Hollow and stared into the distance. Was the Verdant Sage dead?

In an adjoining universe, two of the ten-ring mechas were simultaneously destroyed by Septastar Blades and Ghost Orchids.

All of the mechas had already escaped from the West Mountain Dynasty's universe, but countless insects were still chasing after the mechas. Their numbers filled outer space with the color of jade.

Di Yan stared in horror at a massive dragon formed from tens of thousands of Lithic Drakes. The jiao formation moved closer by the second, and the pilot’s heart sank. This was the end for him. The mechas would not be able to withstand this assault.

At that moment, a strange sensation swept the battlefield. Right after that, all of the jade-colored insects were reduced to dust.

A figure appeared, only to disappear in a flash. Di Yan failed to make out who it had been.

Then, another person appeared: Xia Shenji.

The sight of Xia Shenji allowed Di Yan and the others to breathe sighs of relief. Could that first person have been the Dao Monarch?

Lu Yin passed through the parallel universe to enter the West Mountain Dynasty's universe. He could see an endless horde of insects, despite the fact that Ce Wangtian had already destroyed an incredible number of bugs.

Lu Yin released his inner universe, and wherever it touched, the sea of insects vanished, annihilated by a vast power. Both a Champions' Stage and an Investiture of the Gods appeared, and figures emerged from both. The summons charged in every direction to slaughter the insects.

Ce Wangtian glanced back. The most important thing at this moment was to find the master of the Nest.

The crown prince had already disappeared from the West Mountain Dynasty's imperial palace, and the Verdant Sage was still alive. After fighting against Ce Wangtian, it had realized that it was no match for the man. This was the first time the bug had encountered anything like sequence particles, and Ce Wangtian was a true powerhouse. The insect had been left with no choice but to flee.

As for the sea of insects, it had been left behind simply to delay Ce Wangtian and the mechas.

The fact that Ce Wangtian was unfamiliar with the West Mountain Dynasty prevented him from immediately appearing at the imperial palace. By the time he found the palace, the crown prince had already been taken away by the Verdant Sage.

Lu Yin arrived right behind Ce Wangtian. While he had moved later, Lu Yin was much better at scanning an entire universe.

The insects all flooded into the imperial palace.

Within the building, the citizens of the West Mountain Dynasty were being slaughtered. Without the crown prince to control the insects, the bugs showed no concern for the lives of the humans.

A chessboard appeared beneath Ce Wangtian's feet. It encompassed the imperial palace and stabilized the space in the region.

Lu Yin quickly found the crown prince’s mother, as she was dressed in the most luxurious clothes of anyone else in the palace. After his tenure as the Great Yu Empire’s Royal Regent, Lu Yin knew exactly whom to look for in an imperial palace.

Outside, the summons from the Investiture of the Gods and the Champions' Stage continued to slaughter the insects. Xia Shenji had also arrived, bringing more experts from the Heavens Sect with him.

Inside the palace, the old woman collapsed to the floor, muttering, "Such sin, such sin…"

Lu Yin stared at the woman. "Who controls these insects? Where are they? Speak quickly."

The old woman looked up at Lu Yin. "Are you from another universe?"

"Speak now!" Lu Yin shouted. Every second that they wasted could be a moment that allowed the Nest to slip from their grasp.

Frightened, the old woman stammered, "It’s- it’s my son! The crown prince. He- he found those insects from somewhere."

"Where is he now?"

Lu Yin’s killing intent fell upon the old woman, causing her face to grow pale. "In the Auric Universe, a small parallel universe connected to our West Mountain Dynasty. He should be there."

Lu Yin made his way to the Auric Universe the moment he learned its location. He left the West Mountain Dynasty’s main universe to Ce Wangtian.

The Auric Universe could be accessed from the northwestern corner of the West Mountain Dynasty’s universe. The two parallel universes were not artificially connected, as they were part of the same universe that the mechas had been working on destroying. The West Mountain Dynasty’s universe had just happened to overlap with both of the other universes.

Lu Yin raced into the Auric Universe, where he was met by a variety of different insects charging at him. However, these insects were different from the ones that the Nests normally spawned. They were visually very different, and their abilities were also different.

The sight of such bugs caused Lu Yin’s heart to drop. This Nest had entered its second stage of development.

Great Elder Shan Gu had mentioned that the first stage of the Nests was when they spawned nine different types of insects. When a Verdant Sage emerged, it marked the start of the second stage, at which point no one knew what sort of insects might appear. They were insects that had adapted to the challenges of the current universe, which was similar to how the trademark ability of the Verdant Sages.

The difference was that each Nest could only spawn a single Verdant Sage, while the second-stage insects, like the earlier eight types, could spawn in endless numbers, as long as there was enough time.

The Auric Universe was small, but after Lu Yin glanced around, he saw no one at all.

The crown prince had already escaped.

After eliminating all of the insects in the Auric Universe, Lu Yin returned to the West Mountain Dynasty's universe. Ce Wangtian hurried over to the younger man. "We're missing a ten-ring mecha."

Lu Yin was shocked. "When did that happen?"

"I don’t know." Ce Wangtian blamed himself. "It must have been that Verdant Sage. It definitely took the ten-ring mecha."

At birth, Verdant Sages were gifted the most suitable abilities possible for the universe that they had appeared in, while also possessing incredible intelligence. They started with the strength of peak powerhouses, as well as the abilities of the other eight insects types. With enough time, the heights that such a creature could reach were unimaginable.

In Shan Gu's original megaverse, many battles had been fought against Verdant Sages.

Verdant Sages were the most troublesome insects to deal with. Simply finding one was already difficult enough, but even if they were found, it was an entirely separate question as to whether the insect could be eliminated.

If a Verdant Sage escaped, it would spell disaster.

No one had expected the Verdant Sage to steal a ten-ring mecha during the battle. It was also possible that it was not even after the mecha itself, but rather its pilot.

"The Infinity Empire," Lu Yin muttered. He immediately returned to the Origin Universe and then moved to the Infinity Empire.

Lu Yin arrived in the Infinity Empire’s universe just in time to see a sea of insects emerge in every direction. Their sudden appearance threw the Infinity Empire into panic.

Lu Yin's expression fell. Damn it!

He immediately ordered the Infinity Empire’s universe to be sealed off so that no insects could escape.

The insects had managed to locate the Infinity Empire so quickly because of the ten-ring mecha’s pilot. Fortunately, Lu Yin had reacted quickly. The moment he had learned that a mecha had disappeared, he had raced to the Infinity Empire. Despite the fact that only a short bit of time had passed, the insects had already arrived. The pilot had most likely led the insects back to the universe by tearing through the void.

However, mechas could only be piloted by regular humans who were incapable of cultivating. It was impossible for such a person to tear through the void, unless…

Lu Yin thought of the Jade Warden. Those dragonflies’ role was to assist with cultivation.

The crown prince had spawned an absurd number of insects. With enough Jade Wardens, it was certainly possible to quickly raise the mecha pilot’s cultivation. After all, the time in the West Mountain Dynasty’s universe flowed five times faster than normal, and that difference in time could explain many things; it was also why the Verdant Sage and the crown prince had never left the West Mountain Dynasty’s universe.

Lu Yin’s expression remained grim as he released his inner universe and searched for the crown prince. Ah, found him.

The Infinity Empire had not expected to be invaded by a sea of insects.

Countless mechas were fighting against the insects. The emperor’s Supreme struggled to maintain control. Ten-ring, eleven-ring, and even the enormous twelve-ring mechas formed a defensive line. They prevented any of the insects from breaching that perimeter.

However, everything changed with the sudden onset of excruciating pain. The agony induced by the Thousand Shards plunged the Infinity Empire into a hopeless state. Countless people could not bear the pain, and they resorted to suicide.

In one corner of the universe, the West Mountain Dynasty’s crown prince’s face twisted with madness. It had all been a lie. He had never been the master of the insects. That role had always been held by the Verdant Sage.

He had thought that the Verdant Sage had taken him away because the crown prince was the master of the insects, but the truth turned out that the crown prince’s only purpose was to draw the attention of the technological civilization so that the Verdant Sage would have a chance to escape.

Blood trickled from the man’s mouth. His tongue had been removed, and his limbs had also been severed. His body was only being held together by the Verdant Sage’s vines, which could not be seen from the outside.

The man was incapable of uttering a word. Above him loomed the massive shadow of a Lithic Drake. It was not there to protect him, but rather to keep an eye on him.

The crown prince had always seen the Lithic Drakes and all the other insects as his, so at this moment, they looked like monsters to the man’s eyes.

The void trembled as all of the insects were obliterated. Only shards of their jade-colored bodies remained.

Jade fragments rained down on the crown prince. The Lithic Drake that had been above him had also been destroyed.

It looked as though a jade rain was falling down on the entire Infinity Empire.

Lu Yin appeared in front of the crown prince. "Are you the master of the Nest?"

At the same time, a spacecraft flew through the connecting portal between the Infinity Empire and the Origin Universe. It was protected by ring energy.

When Lu Yin had ordered the Infinity Empire’s universe to be sealed off, this vessel had continued to fly from the empire towards the entrance to the Origin Universe.

However, no one had noticed the wriggling marks on the ship’s hull. They were not from a Scrollbane Centipede, but rather the Verdant Sage.

Still in the Infinity Empire, Lu Yin frowned as he stared at the crown prince. "You?"

The crown prince’s body fell apart, his limbs collapsing. Blood leaked from his mouth as he coughed up blood with his pitiful gasps for air. He stared at Lu Yin, his eyes begging desperately.