Sage of Humanity

The insect hive core; almost at the same time Lu Ye fell into the Illusory Realm, a figure stepped in.

"I have seen the Insect Matriarch." The newcomer stopped a dozen zhang away from the Insect Matriarch; it was Li Qi, the one who had previously captured Lu Ye and brought him here.

"You should already know the specific plan." The Insect Matriarch's voice sounded.

Li Qi said, "Yes, take him to the altar and send him into the ruins."

"Is everything over there ready?" the Insect Matriarch asked.

"Everything is prepared, just waiting to send him over."

The Insect Matriarch said no more, seeming a little hesitant, but things had come to this point and there was no other way. In the end she still opened her mouth: "Go, and make sure nothing goes wrong."

Lu Ye's life was tied to the survival of that Secondary Soul of hers. If she had not been forced, she would not have taken this risk.

For this past half year, she had been trying to解除 the Chains of Life. Being a Peak Dao Fusion, how could she be willing to be so constrained by an Enter the Path cultivator? Yet in the end, she still failed.

Because the intricate patterns of those Chains of Life had completely merged into her Secondary Soul. To解除 them, she could only have Lu Ye cooperate.

But how could Lu Ye possibly cooperate?

If it were only that, it would be fine; at worst she would just keep Lu Ye trapped in the insect hive. She was confident she could protect Lu Ye and not let him encounter danger.

However, another trait of the Chains of Life made her somewhat unable to tolerate it: the fruits of her hard-earned cultivation actually had to be shared away by Lu Ye.

The Insect Matriarch had never expected that, all because of a single array rune, she had even gone so far as to expose a Dao Fusion spy to seize a small Enter the Path cultivator, only for him to become her shackle.

She couldn't beat him, couldn't kill him; it was truly awkward.

Thinking it over and over, the Insect Matriarch came up with a possibility—if she and Lu Ye were in different spaces, would the Chains of Life lose their effect?

This Dao Rune was indeed wondrous; it could tightly bind two completely unrelated individuals, making them share life and death, but in the end it was only a Dao Rune.

Now, while they were in the same space, it could exert its effect. If they were not in the same space, would this Dao Rune collapse on its own, or perhaps their connection become faint?

This was undoubtedly a good line of thought for a solution.

She had no way to send Lu Ye out of Banlan, because since ancient times no one had ever escaped, but she could send Lu Ye into the ruins!

That was Banlan's greatest secret. No one knew when those ruins had been left behind, nor what secrets they hid, but since ancient times it had been rumored that within the ruins there was a method to escape Banlan.

For countless years, whether it was the human race battle alliance, the Insect and Blood Races, or the Giant Race, all had invested enormous effort into exploring the ruins, but to this day, progress was minimal, because there were great and ferocious dangers within, absolutely not something ordinary cultivators could withstand.

The Insect Matriarch's idea was very simple: send Lu Ye into the ruins and use this to observe the changes in the Chains of Life. If, because they were in different spaces, the Dao Rune lost its effect, then she could rid herself of this shackle named Lu Ye.

If even different spaces could not resolve the Dao Rune, then she would have to think of something else.

It was just a tentative try; after all, there was no real loss.

And in order to send Lu Ye into the ruins smoothly, the Insect Matriarch could only pull him into the Illusory Realm, lest he stir up trouble.

Inside the insect hive, Li Qi urged his power, wrapping the already unconscious Lu Ye as he flew outward, disappearing from sight very quickly.

In the Illusory Realm, Lu Ye knew something was wrong, yet there was nothing he could do. The enormous gap in strength made it so he couldn't even discern the flaws in this Illusory Realm, much less break free.

Within this Illusory Realm, the Insect Matriarch could do whatever she wished to him.

He did not show the worry in his heart; Dark Butterfly also had no intention of making things difficult for him. The little couple chopped firewood and picked wild vegetables by day, and at night shared a bed but dreamed different dreams.

In a flash, several days passed.

Until this morning, after the two finished their vegetable porridge, when Lu Ye, as usual, picked up the wood-cutting knife, he found Dark Butterfly standing to the side, looking at him with a smiling gaze.

Her expression was somewhat oddly complicated, making Lu Ye's heart sink.

He was silent for a moment, then said, "Looks like you've found a solution."

The Insect Matriarch could not possibly be content with being bound by the Chains of Life; this much Lu Ye knew. So during this period she must have been trying to解除 that Dao Rune. This time, when the Insect Matriarch suddenly pulled him into this Illusory Realm, Lu Ye had already made some guesses.

Dark Butterfly smiled faintly and did not hide it: "I don't know yet if it will work, I'm just giving it a try."

As she spoke, she took step after step toward Lu Ye, her expression carrying a hint of playfulness: "Brother Ye, if it doesn't work, we'll see each other again in the future."

The implied meaning was that if it did work, there might never be a chance to meet again.

Lu Ye's expression did not change: "Then you'd better be careful." He knew his own Chains of Life well; unless the Insect Matriarch abandoned this Secondary Soul, she could not解除 them. The bond of ten lifetimes of reincarnation made the effect of this Dao Rune far greater than under normal circumstances.

"I'll borrow your auspicious words!" Dark Butterfly smiled, raised a finger, and tapped it against Lu Ye's forehead, gently pushing backward.

Lu Ye's entire body involuntarily toppled backward.

It was as though he fell into a Bottomless Abyss; the Illusory Realm before his eyes shattered, and his awareness suddenly returned to his body.

What entered his sight was Li Qi's figure. At this moment, there was also a Blood Race cultivator standing beside him, looking over with great interest.

Lu Ye sensed something was wrong and immediately tried to move, but light suddenly surged all around, firmly pinning him in place.

He turned his head to look around, only to see that he was no longer in the insect hive without knowing when, but had come to an ancient altar.

The ground he stood on was covered in intricate patterns, and dazzling light burst out from those lines.

The next instant, his vision blurred; heaven and earth shifted.

When Lu Ye came back to himself, he was already standing in a passage. The passage was extremely long, with no end in sight, and he had no idea where it led.

Almost at the same time Lu Ye entered the relic, Li Qi contacted Dark Butterfly and reported the progress on this side.

Inside the insect hive, the Insect Matriarch silently sensed. According to her original conjecture, success or failure depended on this very moment.

Yet to her disappointment, that mysterious Dao Runes did not change in the slightest because Lu Ye had entered another space. Let alone collapsing on its own, there wasn't even the slightest sign of weakening.

A few breaths later, her Mental Consciousness surged, and an order was transmitted to Li Qi's side.

Another breath, and Li Qi turned his head toward the Blood Race cultivator waiting off to the side and said, "Save him!"

The relic contained great danger. Now that the Dao Runes had not changed, Dark Butterfly's previous plan had failed. Lu Ye had to be rescued immediately. Otherwise, if Lu Ye died in the relic, she wouldn't have a good end either.

That Blood Race cultivator twisted his neck and let out a cold laugh. "Just a mere one of the human race…"

Li Qi's expression sank. "This is an order from Insect Matriarch Dark Butterfly. If that man dies, you know the consequences!"

The Blood Race cultivator frowned. Of course he had heard Dark Butterfly's great name. Anyone who could sit in command over a major war zone was Peak Dao Fusion. Even though he was Blood Race, if he provoked such a powerhouse into displeasure, he wouldn't have any good outcome.

"Got it!" The Blood Race cultivator stepped onto the altar. Light flashed, and he vanished.

In the passage, Lu Ye turned around to look back, but could not see anything at all. Behind him was actually a stretch of pure void. He did not probe it, but instinctively felt that if he touched that void, nothing good would happen.

What did the Insect Matriarch bring him here for?

And what was this place?

His head was full of confusion, but after half a year, he had finally shaken off the Insect Matriarch, and that still made Lu Ye feel excited.

No matter what the Insect Matriarch was trying to do, for now he could be considered free.

There was no going back, so he could only go forward!

Steadying his mind, Lu Ye stepped forward and walked ahead.

However, before he had gone more than a few steps, a disturbance suddenly came from behind him.

He hurriedly turned to look, only to see a figure that had somehow appeared at the spot where he'd just been standing.

It was that Blood Race cultivator who had been standing at Li Qi's side just now!

The moment he appeared, he looked at Lu Ye with arrogant disdain. "Count yourself lucky. Lord Dark Butterfly has ordered me to rescue you!"

Lu Ye blinked, suppressed the restless stirrings in his heart, and asked, "What is this place?"

That Blood Race walked straight past him without even looking at him, merely saying, "Follow me!"

Lu Ye thought for a moment, then followed, his doubts multiplying.

Dark Butterfly had brought him to this place clearly with no good intentions, yet now she was actually having this Blood Race come save him. This undeniably showed that this place was no benevolent land.

Dark Butterfly was not so kind. She was definitely afraid he would suffer some accident that would implicate her, so she sent the Blood Race to rescue him.

This Blood Race… what cultivation?

Since no one had made a move earlier, Lu Ye couldn't judge his cultivation for the moment, but the feeling the other gave him did not seem like Dao Fusion.

Why was it him coming to rescue Lu Ye instead of Li Qi? Li Qi was 6th Order Dao Fusion, definitely stronger than this Blood Race.

They hadn't gone far when the Blood Race suddenly stopped and slowly said, "Stay put, don't move!"

Lu Ye tilted his body, letting his vision skim past the Blood Race to look forward, and saw that at some unknown point, a towering figure had appeared in the passage ahead.

That figure was clad in a full-faced suit of armor, so his face was completely obscured. What made Lu Ye feel even stranger was that he could not sense the slightest trace of life from that armor.

The other seemed to be something dead!

The Blood Race had already rushed forward, and the armored figure moved as well. The two instantly clashed into a brawl in the passage.

Once the Blood Race made a move, Lu Ye immediately used Insight to gauge his cultivation. As expected, he was not Dao Fusion, only Enter the Path.

But this Enter the Path's strength… seemed somewhat off.

Not only was the strength this Blood Race displayed abnormal, that armored figure was strange too. The force scattering from their collisions gave Lu Ye the feeling that it was like two cultivators of the 4th-5th Dao fiercely contesting.

No, that Blood Race was not just 4th-5th Dao!

They'd barely been exchanging blows for a moment before the armored figure was beaten to pieces by the Blood Race, leaving only a dim cluster of phosphorescence in place.

Lu Ye stared blankly. It reminded him of those shadows in the Asura Field; when those shadows were killed, they looked almost the same.

In that case, that armored figure really was no living thing, but a projection of some kind of power.

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