Sage of Humanity

"Look at them, how happy they are." Yu Qing's soft, weak voice rose beside Lu Ye's ear. Although her body had become less solid, her feeble state added a morbid beauty to her appearance.

However, Lu Ye never mistook her for a delicate damsel. Though their acquaintance was short, he had vividly experienced her fiery temperament.

"Are you curious why their spirits are so high?" Yu Qing murmured appealingly into Lu Ye's ear.

Lu Ye nodded and voiced his confusion, "Senior, do you really not fear death at all?"

Yu Qing rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Why call me 'senior'? You make me sound old."

Listening from nearby, a Xianyuan Guard burst into laughter, "A grand old lady of several thousand years, and you're wrong to call her 'senior'?"

Yu Qing grew angry: "Liu Datong! Mind your words, or I'll tear your mouth apart!"

The guard named Liu Datong, undeterred, teased Lu Ye with a wink, "Young Lu Ye, you better keep your virtue intact. Don't let this old witch teach you any tricks! Let me tell you..."

Before he could finish, Yu Qing picked up a chair and threw it at him. Liu Datong blocked it with his hand, shrinking back at the fury in her stance and yielded, "Alright, alright, I'll stop..."

While saying so, he even pulled at his own mouth as if sealing it shut.

Yu Qing gave him another fierce glare before calming down, then turned back, her eyes coquettishly shy, her voice softened again, "Call me 'sister'!"

Lu Ye sighed, "Senior, stop it."

Yu Qing pouted, "You're no fun, boy. No wonder you're still alone; no woman likes you out there."

Lu Ye was left speechless.

Yu Qing smirked playfully, "Alright, I'll stop teasing. But don't worry too much, death isn't such a big deal for us. It's not that we aren't afraid of dying, we've just grown accustomed to it, and sometimes, death can also be a kind of release."

Lu Ye couldn't imagine what experiences led Yu Qing to say such things. Seeing her attitude, it seemed she wasn't the only one; other Xianyuan Guards felt the same, which explained their carefree stance even in such a situation.

"So..." Yu Qing patted Lu Ye's head in a parental manner, "If we truly die before your eyes, don't take it too hard. You're different from us. Living well in the present is the greatest respect you can show the future."

Lu Ye was silent for a moment before speaking, "Can't the Butcher take you back to the City Lord's Residence? There's a soul pool there that could help you recover."

"That place is even more dangerous!" Yu Qing shook her head, "The Insect Race we're facing now isn't very strong, but the closer we get to the City Lord's Residence, the stronger and more numerous the Insect Race becomes. With our current condition, it's difficult to break through their lines."

Lu Ye frowned, "Is the City Lord's Residence the target of the Insect Race?"

Yu Qing nodded gravely, "It's the foundation of Xianyuan City. If the Insect Race captures the City Lord's Residence, then Xianyuan City is truly fallen." She suddenly chuckled, "But don't worry too much. With the City Lord and Hong Yue there, the City Lord's Residence will be safe. The Insect Race hasn't been able to do much against us for thousands of years."

Thousands of years... It wasn't the first time Lu Ye had heard this time frame from the mouths of Xianyuan Guards, he frowned, "Has this war been going on for thousands of years?"

"It has always been so."

Lu Ye felt something was amiss. If Xianyuan City had been fending off the Insect Race for thousands of years, how had it managed to hold on? At the very least, how could there possibly be so many Xianyuan Guards left?

Wars always result in deaths, and the same was true for spiritual bodies.

It didn't make sense that the Insect Race, failing once or twice, couldn't conquer for thousands of years, even with the likes of Yu Qing's mentioned City Lord and Hong Yue at the helm.

Hong Yue must be the woman in red Lu Ye had encountered on his previous visit.

But before he could ask further, the Butcher descended from the second floor and simply stated, "Move out."

At once, all the Xianyuan Guards stood up.

Yu Qing patted Lu Ye on the shoulder, "Just do as you did before, and make sure to protect yourself. Don't rush to rescue others, no matter how dire their peril."

Lu Ye instinctively nodded.

Under the Butcher's lead, the squad of Xianyuan Guards continued their mission to eradicate the Insect Race.

Progress was smooth. Although the Xianyuan Guards grew increasingly weak due to the depletion of their strength, the Insect Race's strength generally waned further from the center.

As Yu Qing had said, the target of the Insect Race was the City Lord's Residence, thus, closer to the Residence, the stronger and more numerous the Insect Race was, especially on the outskirts of the Residence—the realm for Divine Sea Realm cultivators.

Insects comparable to the Divine Sea Realm were mostly active there.

This was why Lu Ye hadn't encountered any Divine Sea Realm Insect Race previously. Given his current strength, if he had encountered a Divine Sea Realm Insect Race, he wouldn't have had much of a chance to fight back, despite the Concealment and Breath-concealing Spirit Runes.

The noise of the battle attracted more wandering Insect Race. With the Butcher at the forefront, the whole Xianyuan Guard squad became enveloped in a siege.

If it had been their heyday, facing such a scene would not have been much of a challenge, but now, including the Butcher, all the Xianyuan Guards were extremely weak, which made the situation suddenly become tense.

Luckily, there was Lu Ye.

He had stayed on the outskirts of the battlefield, controlling his Insect Race squad to kill enemies amidst the chaos, gradually easing the pressure on the Xianyuan Guards.

If nothing unexpected happened, this battle would ultimately end with the Xianyuan Guards victorious.

However, the unexpected arrived very abruptly.

As the blade that flickered with cold light flashed past, two Xianyuan Guards' bodies suddenly split into pieces, their already dim bodies quickly becoming transparent in that instant, their faces filled with astonishment, clearly not expecting such a turn of events.

In the blink of an eye, two Xianyuan Guards had vanished into thin air.

And beside them, an inconspicuous Mantis Insect Race member, covered in scars, suddenly erupted with a powerful aura!

This was clearly a Divine Sea Realm Insect Race member.

Logically speaking, a Divine Sea Realm Insect Race member should not appear in such a place, and it was clearly wounded, having gone through a tough battle.

This Insect Race member must have run here from the direction of the City Lord's Residence, having been injured in the major battle there, and it needed to devour the corpses of other Insect Race members to recover its own body. Somehow, it ended up here, coincidentally encountering the squad led by the Butcher.

Before it made a move, nobody paid it any attention, but its strike, swift as lightning, suddenly reduced the complete Xianyuan Guard squad by two members.

The sharp mantis saber then swung toward Yooi Qing, an attack she was utterly unable to block.

Seeing this, Lu Ye, without any hesitation, bestowed Move-Like-The-Wind to his legs, instantly revealed himself from concealment, and rushed towards the battlefield.

"Audacious!" the Butcher roared in anger, the bone-stripping saber in his hand swooping in a backhand sweep, blocking the deadly strike of the mantis saber.

The two Divine Sea Realm fighters instantly clashed fiercely, one severely injured and the other at the end of his strength, fighting heatedly and equally matched for a time, the aftereffects of their battle dragging every Insect Race member in the vicinity into it, leaving them utterly annihilated.

At this moment, the Xianyuan Guard squad also uniformly made a move, forcefully forging a bloody path and avoiding the Divine Sea Realm battlefield.

The leading Liu Datong looked up just in time to see Lu Ye charging toward them, swearing under his breath, he then led his team towards Lu Ye's direction.

With seven more Insect Race squads causing chaos nearby, the scene became utterly uncontrollable in an instant.

However, it didn't take long for the Xianyuan Guards to join forces with Lu Ye, but the situation was not favorable for everyone involved.

With the Butcher, a Divine Sea Realm cultivator anchoring them, even facing an overwhelming Insect Plague, the Xianyuan Guard squad would have managed, yet now the Butcher was entangled with the Divine Sea Realm Mantis, relying solely on the strength of Yooi Qing and Liu Datong and others, the pressure they felt increased overwhelmingly.

If it were just themselves, dying in battle would be no big deal.

But there was still a Lu Ye amongst them on the battlefield...

Before setting out, Yooi Qing had specifically urged Lu Ye not to rashly come to anyone's rescue in the event of danger, advising him to just preserve his own safety.

Lu Ye had naturally kept this in mind, but witnessing two Xianyuan Guards perish, how could he remain indifferent? In that instant, his body took action ahead of his thoughts.

"Break through! Back to the stronghold!" Yooi Qing shouted sharply.

The nearest stronghold was only one street away from here, which normally wouldn't be considered far, but the chance of breaking through the encircling Insect Race in these circumstances was slim.

Yet at this moment, everyone had no other choice, for staying here would mean certain death.

Nobody had expected that such a place would actually conceal a Divine Sea Realm Insect Race, making the mission perilously dangerous.

The Insect Race squad continued to play a crucial role as usual, forming a barrier behind everyone under Lu Ye's control, blocking many of the Insect Race's pursuits.

However, this was ultimately just a temporary solution, unable to fundamentally change the dire situation.

The group fought fiercely forward, with Xianyuan Guards continually falling to death. The group of about a dozen Xianyuan Guards had more than half fallen in a short time.

And as a large amount of power was expended, the remaining Xianyuan Guards' Spiritual Bodies became even more ethereal, with Yooi Qing's body itself turning semi-transparent; yet she and Liu Datong steadfastly guarded beside Lu Ye.

Behind them were the intense sounds of the Butcher clashing with the Mantis Insect Race, with the Xianyuan Guards wrapping Lu Ye in the middle and fleeing desperately.

Watching as Xianyuan Guards fell one by one, a wave of sorrow rippled through Lu Ye's heart, spreading endlessly within his soul pool.

"Hurry and get him inside!" Liu Datong yelled furiously, turning to confront the pursuing Insect Race.

When Lu Ye looked back, he only saw the figure of this always outspoken Xianyuan Guard being engulfed by the Insect Plague.