Sage of Humanity

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A moment later, Lu Ye returned inside that special building.

It wasn't that the Insect Race had been wiped out, but rather that more and more of them were amassing, already causing Lu Ye to feel some threats. To avoid any accidents, he had to hide back inside.

The thoughts in his mind were confirmed, and Lu Ye was undoubtedly exhilarated.

But he soon realized that things weren't as simple as he thought.

Because the brief battle had unexpectedly given rise to a sense of weakness within him.

This weakness wasn't quite the same as the debilitation from injuries he had experienced before—it was more like an overexertion.

He immediately understood that, although the special environment and his own condition had allowed him to employ means usually reserved for strong cultivators of the Divine Sea Realm, his psyche's foundation was still too weak.

Indeed, compared to cultivators of the same realm, his Psyche Force was extremely powerful, but it still wasn't sufficient to support him in continuously constructing divine runes to kill enemies for a long time.

In such an environment, with his condition, when spirit force was depleted, one could consume elixir pills to replenish it, but if the Psyche Force was severely exhausted or injured, then he would have to use Soul Cleansing Water.

The quantity of Soul Cleansing Water he had was limited; he had already consumed a drop previously. Therefore, unless it was absolutely necessary, Lu Ye didn't want to continue taking it.

That is to say, this effective method of killing the Insect Race couldn't be used frequently. Otherwise, once he ran out of Soul Cleansing Water, there'd be no way to continue.

Inwardly, he couldn't help but feel regret because, in just that short moment earlier, he had gained nearly two thousand battle merits. If he could freely employ divine runes, his speed of acquiring battle merits would undoubtedly reach a frightening pace.

From outside came the noise of the Insect Race ramming against the doors and windows. Lu Ye wasn't panicked; buildings with lanterns hanging at the entrance were protected by a miraculous power that made them impossible to destroy, no matter what.

As for where this miraculous power came from, Lu Ye had an answer in his mind.

The noise outside lasted a while before gradually subsiding. The spiritual intelligence of the Insect Race was just like this; even if they saw Lu Ye rush in there, after a long time of not finding him, they would gradually forget and go about their business.

Lu Ye silently recovered indoors, waiting until everything outside was completely quiet, and after a long while, he approached the door and peeked through the crack.

The corpses of the Insect Race on the street had disappeared, leaving only the emerald green blood splattered along the thoroughfare as testimony of the fierce battle that had just taken place.

As for where the killed insect bodies had gone... naturally, they had been consumed by the surviving insects. The Insect Race would eat anything as long as it contained energy.

Lu Ye had also experienced the Insect Plague on the Spirit Stream battlefield; wherever the Insect Race went, they left no trace of life, not even a blade of grass.

However, that being said, the presence of the Insect Race means there is an insect hive. Where is the hive in Xianyuan City?

Lu Ye immediately remembered the gap he had seen in the sky from which Insect Race members kept falling...

The hive might just be inside that gap!

Under normal circumstances, to deal with the Insect Race, one must first destroy the insect hive to eliminate the problem at its source; but the issue in Xianyuan City had clearly exceeded Lu Ye's capabilities. Thus, upon realizing the location of the insect hive, he abandoned any thoughts of dealing with it.

Not to mention anything else, Xianyuan City had a Great Sky Prohibition Array. He could at most soar ten Zhang into the sky, while the gap above was at least hundreds of Zhang off the ground; even if he was more powerful, it would be impossible for him to fly up there.

There were still a few members of the Insect Race roaming on the streets outside the door. Lu Ye applied Concealment and Breath-concealing Spirit Runes to himself and quietly pushed the door open to walk out once more.

This time his goal wasn't to kill the Insect Race but to find an insect that suited his requirements.

Regardless of why he had entered Xianyuan City, now that he was here, he could only think of ways to acquire some benefits.

Soul Cleansing Water, battle merits from killing insects—these were advantages out of reach for the average cultivator. While crises existed, so did the potential for huge gains.

He couldn't continually activate divine runes due to the excessive consumption. Although Lu Ye had Concealment and Breath-concealing Spirit Runes to move stealthily, trying to break through the blockade line of the Insect Race to reach the City Lord's Residence was still exceedingly challenging.

Moreover, with his state, there was no way for him to kill the Insect Race to earn battle merits.

To resolve these issues, he had to take a gamble.

He was uncertain if it would work, but one always had to try.

With his form concealed, he moved through one street after another and saw Insect Race members one by one until Lu Ye gradually figured out his current location.

It was probably the outermost area of Xianyuan City.

The scope of the entire Xianyuan City was still quite vast. When he first entered with his Spirit Stream Level 8 cultivation, he hadn't managed to traverse the whole city, so he wasn't exactly sure how extensive it was.

But now, the center of Xianyuan City should be in the direction of that gap in the sky.

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It's worth mentioning that now, there are hardly any insects appearing at the breach in the sky, possibly because all the insects from the hive have been deployed.

While the spiritual intelligence of the Insect Race is not high, their other abilities are difficult to assess. Generally speaking, each type of insect creature has one particular strength.

Take, for example, the Mantis Insect Race, which Lu Ye is most familiar with. Among all the types of insects he had seen, they possessed the highest combat skills, wielding their mantis sabers as if they were true saber users.

And then there's the type of insect that resembles a hunting dog, known for its extremely sensitive sense of smell.

Even with Concealment and Breath-concealing Spirit Runes to help, Lu Ye had several close calls with this type of insect, so he would avoid it entirely if encountered.

Another kind is like a hedgehog, covered in sharp bone spikes all over, almost without any weaknesses. Lu Ye felt that only with a Psyche Attack could he possibly defeat such an insect, otherwise, he wouldn't even know where to begin.

There's also a kind that looks plump and round like a silkworm, its entire body filled with deadly poison – even the fine threads it spews are extremely toxic.

This type poses the least threat to Lu Ye, with the Talent Tree by his side fearing poison the least. However, these insects not only have poisonous bodies but can also spin their threads into a net capable of trapping enemies, which is quite troublesome.

As he passed by, Lu Ye also carefully noted those buildings with lanterns hanging at the doorways, considering them as potential retreats.

Overall, such buildings were rare; it was common to find only one within several streets.

After searching for four hours, Lu Ye finally found an insect that roughly met his criteria.

It wasn't that he hadn't encountered suitable ones before, but most were gathered with other insects making it difficult for Lu Ye to apply his methodologies.

Now, at last, he had come across a solitary one.

This insect was not small, at first glance, it resembled an octopus spider, its back and even underbelly encased in thick carapaces for protection, with a menacing mouthpiece like a saw blade that chilled the onlooker.

Without engaging in combat, Lu Ye could tell it was an insect of the True Lake Realm just by looking.

The main reason he was interested in it was because of its large size and spacious back, allowing him to sit securely atop it once he concealed himself.

Of course, this was contingent on the success of his idea; if the reality differed from his expectations, then his subsequent plan wouldn't unfold as intended.

But that shouldn't be a major issue; the mental prowess of the insects was their Achilles' heel. Such methods might not be very effective against cultivators of the same realm, but against insects, they should work wonders.

He silently approached the direction of the spider insect, stopping two yards in front of it.

This distance was already dangerous. Even though the spider insect was not known for its keen sense of smell, being so close could make it sense something awry.

Before the insect could react, however, Lu Ye had already intentionally revealed himself.

In an instant, Lu Ye's eyes met the compound eyes of the spider insect. His large hand rested on the hilt of the Boulder Mountain Saber, power surging through him, ready to unleash at a moment's notice should the situation turn sour.

The spider insect's forelimbs were also raised high, looking extremely sturdy due to being covered in bone-like material, and with its innate sharpness, its stabbing power was no less than the full-force blow of a True Lake Realm combat cultivator.

A major battle seemed imminent.

However, the spider insect's raised forelimbs stiffened mid-air, never striking down. Not only that, but from the moment it spotted Lu Ye, its mouthparts had been wriggling, making a hissing sound; now, it was entirely silent.

Its originally vivid compound eyes gradually grew dim, as if dust had settled on them.

In contrast, Lu Ye's eyes sparkled more brightly than usual. With careful observation, one could even discern the complex patterns within his eyes, where many intricate lines converged and combined into an extraordinary design.

Bewitchment Divine Runes!

Unlike spirit runes like Sharpness, which become spirit runes when driven by spirit force and divine runes when powered by Psyche Force.

However, Bewitchment could only be driven by Psyche Force.

Having slain the Fox Demon in Fox Fairy Valley and devoured its pill fire, Lu Ye acquired this divine rune.

He had thought it impossible to use this divine rune before advancing to the Divine Sea Realm, but he hadn't expected to enter Xianyuan City again under such unique circumstances, which enabled him to wield the Psyche Force.

After verifying the changes in spirit runes like Sharpness, Lu Ye wanted to test the effectiveness of Bewitchment and had already formulated a plan centered around this divine rune.

In Fox Fairy Valley, the Fox Demon used its inherent abilities to control nearly a hundred cultivators, among which there were many at Cloud River Level 9.

The power of the Bewitchment Divine Runes is somewhat similar to the talents of the Fox Demon. Both manipulate the mind and dominate the psyche, although the effect from the runes is not as exaggerated as what the Fox Demon displayed.

When facing the Fox Demon previously, Giant Armor had simply succumbed to a single glance. The method that the Fox Demon used on Giant Armor was exactly what Lu Ye was now using on the spider insect.