Sage of Humanity

After deducing the Chains of Life in the All Phenomena Ocean, Lu Ye had never used it. This spirit rune was different from others; once used, it meant giving half of his life to someone else.

If there were any other choice, he wouldn't have bound his life and death with the Insect Matriarch like this.

But what surprised him was that the Chains of Life not only closely tied their lives together but also their cultivation practices.

Lu Ye was puzzled because not long ago, he had secretly cultivated, yet the Dao force obtained from his cultivation showed no signs of being shared!

What was the reason for this?

Was it distance? Or cultivation level?

At that time, although he was also within this core area, there was still some distance between him and the Insect Matriarch, unlike today, where they were merely a few yards apart.

With this thought, Lu Ye quickly shifted his position, moving closer to the Insect Matriarch.

He carefully sensed, but the speed at which his Dao force increased did not change.

This undoubtedly indicated that the problem wasn't the distance.

If not distance, then was it cultivation level?

The Insect Matriarch's cultivation level was much higher than his, so the results of her cultivation could be shared with him, whereas his lower cultivation level prevented her from sharing in his gains!

It was like water, which always flowed downward.

If this were true, then he had made a great gain!

The most troubling aspect of being trapped inside the insect hive was not the safety issue. The Insect Matriarch wouldn't do anything to him in the short term unless she sought death.

What worried him was his cultivation, as relying solely on hard work was far too slow. Now, using the Chains of Life to share in the Insect Matriarch's cultivation results, although not as effective as refining Dao Bone himself, the situation was still greatly improved.

And this was free!

As long as he didn't dissolve the Chains of Life, he could continuously benefit from a portion of the Insect Matriarch's cultivation. Lu Ye had no idea what level of Dao Fusion the Insect Matriarch had achieved, as he had never asked, but he was sure her cultivation level wasn't low, and her cultivation efficiency was not something an average cultivator could match.

"What did you do?"

The voice of the Insect Matriarch suddenly sounded at his ear; she had evidently noticed something amiss.

The Dao force obtained from refining Dao Bone today was less than before. Initially, she didn't understand why, but upon careful sensing, she found that the missing portion had somehow been shared with Lu Ye.

"I didn't do anything!" Lu Ye looked up at her innocently.

The Insect Matriarch's voice was somewhat through gritted teeth: "You never said something like this would happen!" She had stopped her refining of the Dao Bone, and such a feeling of being passively shared with made her feel quite vexed.

Feeling like a laborer for Lu Ye.

"This is the first I'm hearing of it too."

It wasn't a lie; he truly had just found out about this occurrence.

The Insect Matriarch was silent for a moment. Under the Chains of Life, she could sense Lu Ye's state of mind and naturally knew he wasn't lying.

"Find a way to resolve this." She slowly spoke.

Lu Ye spread his hands: "Unless we dissolve the Chains of Life, there's no resolution."

But there was no way he would dissolve the Chains of Life; his survival depended on it now. If he were to dissolve it, he would likely die right here immediately.

"Don't test my limits!" The Insect Matriarch was at the end of her patience.

As a Peak Dao Fusion cultivator, to be thwarted repeatedly by Lu Ye was truly frustrating. If not for the secondary soul's affinity for Lu Ye, she would have already been unable to tolerate it.

"Say what you want, but this situation can't be resolved. You could choose not to cultivate!" Lu Ye sat comfortably, as if saying, "I'm definitely taking advantage of this."

The Insect Matriarch was ultimately helpless.

She couldn't afford not to replenish the Dao force she consumed; although she never went out to contend with others while stationed here, monitoring the entire war zone consumed a great deal of her Dao force.

Lu Ye was in high spirits, secretly refining Dao Bone while enjoying a portion of the Insect Matriarch's cultivation achievements. The Dao force on the Talent Tree increased rapidly.

However, this growth rate slowed down as the Dao Bone in his hand was exhausted.

Without Dao Bone, his Dao force enhancement would solely depend on the Insect Matriarch's cultivation.

Comparatively, it wasn't as good as refining Dao Bone himself, but it was far more efficient than his personal cultivation efforts.

Since that day, Lu Ye settled down peacefully beside the Insect Matriarch, and she never spoke to him again. Lu Ye was happy with the peace.

Over the months, the Insect Matriarch refined Dao Bone a few more times, and each time Lu Ye reaped significant benefits.

Moreover, the Insect Matriarch also engaged in routine cultivation, but even as a Dao Fusion expert, her cultivation efficiency paled compared to refining Dao Bone. Thus, the gain shared with Lu Ye wasn't as apparent; the daily incremental Dao force compared to the accumulation on the Talent Tree was indeed difficult to notice, which was why he hadn't realized it before.

The existence of the Chains of Life effectively provided Lu Ye with a cultivation assistant, allowing him to enjoy benefits until his cultivation surpassed the Insect Matriarch's.

This set Lu Ye's thoughts in motion. If one Insect Matriarch could bring him benefits, what if he could bind with several Dao Fusion cultivators using the Chains of Life?

Wouldn't it mean being seated at home while Dao force fell from the sky?

But on second thought, it seemed unrealistic.

The Insect Matriarch was reaping what she had sown, having been taken advantage of by him. Even if it were another Dao Fusion, no matter how much weaker than the Insect Matriarch, it wouldn't have been so easy to succeed.

Moreover, under the Chains of Life, each other's lives were interconnected. Lu Ye dared not casually apply the Chains of Life to others; having one more connected individual would present an additional risk.

Unless forced, who would willingly entrust their life to someone else?

He also vaguely felt that the sharing of cultivation results from the Insect Matriarch was related to their proximity. At present, they were close enough to share, but if the distance exceeded a certain limit, it definitely wouldn't work.

Almost half a year after being captured into the insect hive.

Lu Ye's strength finally broke through the 100th Dao level!

Compared to when he was with the battle alliance, the advancement over the past half year had undoubtedly been slow, but given the current situation, it was entirely acceptable.

On this day, as Lu Ye was intensely cultivating, a voice from the Dark Butterfly reached his ear: "Brother Ye!"

The voice was soft and pleasant to hear, but Lu Ye couldn't help but shiver.

The Insect Matriarch seemed to have two attitudes toward him: one more friendly, and the other more aloof. He roughly guessed that this was related to the Secondary Soul of the Insect Matriarch.

The Chains of Life were constructed on one of the Insect Matriarch's Secondary Souls. She hadn't yet allowed that Secondary Soul to merge with the psyche's main body, fearing that once merged, even the main psyche would be restricted by the Chains of Life.

The one who called him Brother Ye was undoubtedly the Secondary Soul.

"Speak!" He gritted his teeth, unable to avoid responding. If it were the Insect Matriarch's main psyche talking to him, there would be no such courtesy.

"That Dao Rune you gave me, is it really without any issues?" Dark Butterfly asked.

After half a year, the Insect and Blood Races had been researching the array runes of the Crane Wings Array but hadn't made much progress.

It was confirmed to be an array rune, but they couldn't establish a proper formation as Lu Ye had. The news was relayed to Dark Butterfly, who asked on their behalf.

"The human race's battle alliance also obtained this array rune, earlier than you did. Have any other Crane Wings Arrays appeared on the battlefields?" Lu Ye did not directly answer the question.

Dark Butterfly thought for a moment and said, "No."

"Then there you have it." Lu Ye snorted coldly, "This array rune is extremely intricate. Constructing it alone is difficult, let alone maintaining it during combat."

"Then how did you lead those humans to form the Crane Wings Array?" Dark Butterfly asked.

Lu Ye chuckled, "Haven't you seen my skills?"

Dark Butterfly fell silent.

She certainly had seen, and suffered from it. Even with her knowledge and vision, it was hard to imagine such a complex Dao Rune being constructed in the blink of an eye.

Lu Ye, capable of constructing the Chains of Life, could certainly build the array rune and maintain it at all times for combat purposes.

The Insect and Blood Races inherently had less knowledge of Dao Runes than the human race. Even the battle alliance on the human side hadn't implemented this array rune in practical combat yet, making it even less likely for the Insect and Blood Races.

However, both the human and the Insect and Blood Races had begun developing array discs centered around this array rune. The human side hadn't seen results because they hadn't found suitable materials for crafting array discs yet. Once suitable materials are found, various formations will appear on the battlefield, which, even if not as powerful as the Crane Wings Array, would enhance cultivators' survival and ability to kill enemies.

But these matters were beyond Lu Ye's awareness.

As for the Insect and Blood Races, studying pre-evolved spirit runes would yield results only by chance.

"Brother Ye is indeed exceptionally talented," Little Butterfly praised.

Lu Ye was about to speak when he suddenly frowned, as the surroundings shifted at that moment.

Originally at the core of the insect hive, he now found himself in front of a thatched hut. Not far ahead, stood a familiar, graceful figure—none other than Dark Butterfly?

She wore a coarse, tattered robe, and Lu Ye immediately recognized this as her appearance from the first life cycle.

And this hut was the home of the couple from the first life cycle.

Lu Ye frowned: "What kind of trick is this?" Nostalgia? Being enemies, there was no need for such sentimentality. Despite Dark Butterfly calling him Brother Ye affectionately, if Lu Ye agreed to dissolve the Chains of Life, she'd be the first to kill him.

He became inwardly vigilant.

Dark Butterfly's psyche cultivation was indeed something he looked up to; he was entirely unaware of being dragged into this Illusory Realm.

Her not speaking to him for several months and now doing this was undoubtedly unusual.

"Nothing much." Dark Butterfly smiled, "I haven't spoken with you for a while, and since you dislike my main form, this is the only way."

Saying so, Dark Butterfly affectionately took Lu Ye's arm: "Let's go."

Lu Ye tried to shake her off, yet in this Illusory Realm, he was just an ordinary villager. With Dark Butterfly exerting a little force, he was powerless to resist and could only be led forward by her.

"Where to?" Lu Ye asked.

"You chop wood, I'll pick wild vegetables." Dark Butterfly turned her head, giving him a sweet smile.

Lu Ye felt a chill run through him. What was this person... planning?

Uncertainty is the source of unease, and Lu Ye had a vague sense that something significant and troublesome was about to happen. After months of peace, perhaps the Insect Matriarch was finally going to make a move against him!

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!