Chapter 1373: Insect Path

Standing at the entrance of the wormhole, Lu Ye immediately summoned the Dragon Seat. Amidst crackling explosions, a towering figure emerged, and the Dragon Seat armored him. The feeling of sluggishness in his spiritual energy circulation vanished instantly, replaced by smooth flow, and his suppressed cultivation immediately recovered. Lu Ye felt a surge of confidence.

His decision to delve deep into the fissure wasn't a whim; he had a degree of confidence, which stemmed from the Dragon Seat. The primal magnetic field, an invisible force, interfered with a cultivator's spiritual energy flow simply because the field invaded the cultivator's body, creating an unseen obstruction. If the spiritual energy within a cultivator were likened to flowing river water, then the obstruction created by the primal magnetic field would be like a series of dams, hindering the spiritual energy's flow.

Solving this problem was simple in theory: one merely needed to block the field's intrusion. However, while easy to say, it was difficult to do, as cultivators generally didn't possess such means. But the Dragon Seat could. This full-body mech suit completely enveloped Lu Ye, thoroughly isolating him from the magnetic field's intrusion, thus preventing it from affecting him in any way.

However, Lu Ye couldn't maintain the Dragon Seat's armor indefinitely, as it consumed too much of his energy. Deploying it now was just a brief test. Having confirmed that his idea was feasible, Lu Ye quickly retracted the Dragon Seat. It was his crucial safeguard for exploring the wormhole and couldn't be easily deployed unless absolutely necessary. Moreover, the Dragon Seat's aura was too fierce, and activating it caused spiritual energy fluctuations that greatly attracted the worm creatures. Wearing the Dragon Seat in a place like a wormhole was akin to lighting a beacon in the darkness, inevitably drawing in nearby worm creatures.

As it was, a large number of worm creatures had already been drawn in. Rustling sounds came from deep within the wormhole, and a chaotic mix of auras rapidly approached. Lu Ye blocked the wormhole's exit, wielding his blade to kill the enemies, creating an intense battle scene.

Half a day later, the attacking worm creatures gradually thinned out. With a moment to spare, Lu Ye attempted to activate the power of the Talent Tree. The Talent Tree was a profoundly mysterious entity. He had previously relied on its power multiple times to resist scorching energies from harming him, but he wasn't sure if it could withstand the magnetic field's erosion.

With a thought, his body was immediately covered by countless tiny, invisible roots. The sluggishness of his spiritual energy improved slightly but wasn't completely gone. From this, it appeared that the Talent Tree's power offered some resistance to the magnetic field's erosion, but it wasn't as perfect as wearing the Dragon Seat. This might also be related to the Talent Tree's evolutionary state; it had only transformed once so far. However, Lu Ye could feel that this wasn't its limit; given enough energy and at the right time, the Talent Tree would transform again. Perhaps after a few more transformations, the Talent Tree's power would be able to completely block the magnetic field's erosion, but for now, it couldn't.

He wasn't too disappointed; he was already very satisfied with this discovery. With a means of self-preservation secured, it was time to get down to business. Lu Ye fixed his gaze on a particular worm creature. This creature resembled a sacred beetle, but its size was enormous, and its aura was considerably strong. Since delving into the fissure, this was the most powerful worm creature he had encountered, just a step away from being a "great worm." He hadn't killed it not because he couldn't, but because it had another purpose.

Worm creatures generally had a single mode of attack, relying on their physical advantages. Like this sacred beetle, it only knew to lunge and bite with its mouthparts and stab with its pointed legs. Lu Ye dodged attacks from other worm creatures, then leaped onto the sacred beetle's back. He placed his hand on its head, and his divine soul power surged forth violently. An invisible force swept through the surroundings; all nearby worm creatures stiffened slightly, and those with insufficient strength were directly knocked unconscious by the impact. In an instant, the area cleared.

However, Lu Ye felt a strong resistance emanating from the sacred beetle. While worm creatures had low intelligence, divine soul power was something every living being possessed from birth. Even a newborn infant had its own divine soul power, let alone this worm creature comparable to the Divine Sea Realm, whose divine soul power was not weak, though they didn't know how to use it. The resistance was the sacred beetle's instinctive soul defense. What Lu Ye needed to do now was to tear through its divine soul defense in the shortest possible time.

The divine soul power impacted like surging waves, one after another. After three successive impacts, Lu Ye felt the sacred beetle's resistance vanish. This meant its innate soul defense had been shattered. Lu Ye immediately activated his Soul Subjugation technique.

Moments later, the sacred beetle gradually calmed down. The surrounding worm creatures, having regained their senses, slowly quelled their commotion and instinctively crawled outwards. Only the sacred beetle turned around and retreated along the wormhole's original path. On the sacred beetle's back, Lu Ye activated Concealment and Aura-Restraining Spirit Patterns to cover himself, shrinking down under the beetle's wing, without revealing any trace of his aura. Inside the pitch-black wormhole, as long as he didn't reveal his aura and remained hidden like this, he had no fear of being discovered by other worm creatures.

He didn't know if the Divine Sea Realm cultivators who had previously explored the fissure had thought of this method, but to implement it, one first needed the means to control worm creatures. This alone would likely stump ninety-nine percent of people. Even if some cultivators from beast-mastering schools could control worm creatures through special means, they wouldn't be able to perfectly conceal their form and aura for extended periods. So, Lu Ye estimated that he was probably the only one in Kyushu who could use this method to explore the worm nest. The immense responsibility made Lu Ye feel a heavy burden on his shoulders.

All the worm creatures were crawling outwards, so the sacred beetle's action of moving in the opposite direction seemed somewhat odd. Fortunately, these were worm creatures with low intelligence, so even though it was peculiar, no worm creature paid it any mind. If a human were acting this way, they would certainly be stopped and questioned.

The wormhole wasn't a straight path leading deep underground; it was winding and twisting. The internal space of the wormhole also varied in size. Wide areas could accommodate a dozen worm creatures moving together, while narrow spots only allowed one or two to pass. Lu Ye maintained only the minimal spread of his spiritual sense to check the surroundings, primarily to scout the path. Otherwise, if he let the sacred beetle go wherever it pleased, who knew where it would take him?

There were also many branching pathways within the wormhole, clearly excavated by the worm creatures. Worm creatures were exceptionally skilled at digging tunnels underground; almost all of them possessed this ability innately. However, by adhering to the principle of exploring downwards, even with many branching paths, he wouldn't get lost. Lu Ye vaguely felt that if he followed those branching paths upwards, different pathways might correspond to fissures at different locations.

There was no light whatsoever in the surroundings. In such a pitch-black environment, even the passage of time became incredibly hazy. The only sounds were the rustling of worm creatures crawling and the strange squirming of their mouthparts. The entire wormhole was filled with the distinct auras of various worm creatures.

Lu Ye had initially thought his trip would be uneventful, perhaps just a bit tedious, but he knew that taking risks often enough eventually leads to trouble. As a canine worm brushed past the sacred beetle, it suddenly stopped, turned its head, and stared at the sacred beetle, then let out a low beastly growl from its throat. The surrounding worm creatures seemed to have received a command; they all halted and began gathering towards the sacred beetle's location. Lu Ye immediately understood that he had been exposed.

Without the slightest hesitation, he leaped from the sacred beetle's back. Before he even landed, the Dragon Seat had already been summoned. He didn't know his current depth, as the path had been winding, making it impossible to accurately calculate. But the primal magnetic field at this depth was already very dense, so dense that half of his strength was suppressed. With only half his strength in this environment, his only option was to deploy the Dragon Seat and fight.

The moment the Dragon Seat armored him, his body swayed, and he instantly pounced beside the canine worm. The Dragon Spine Blade descended directly onto its head. The canine worm clearly hadn't anticipated such a sudden turn of events, and by the time the long blade fell, it was too late to dodge. The sharp blade split the canine worm's body in two, and emerald worm blood splattered. After all, it was a "great worm," and if Lu Ye were to fight it head-on, he would have to expend some effort. But with a sudden, violent attack, he took its life with just one strike.

In the darkness, two scarlet streaks of light, trailing from his eye sockets, flickered erratically, carrying the winds of death. In just five breaths, the streaking lights vanished, and the surroundings were littered with the corpses of worm creatures. Only the sacred beetle remained frozen in place.

Lu Ye quickly deactivated the Dragon Seat and rushed to the canine worm's corpse. He channeled his spiritual energy, gathered a large amount of worm blood, and poured it all over himself. He had, after all, been somewhat negligent; his form and aura could be masked by spirit patterns, but his scent couldn't be hidden. When that canine worm had brushed past the sacred beetle earlier, it had clearly sniffed, which was why he was exposed—the canine worm had smelled his human scent. The worm blood was viscous, and applying it to his body felt uncomfortable, but he couldn't worry too much about it at that moment.

After Lu Ye flashed back to the sacred beetle's back and hid under its wing, more worm creatures began gathering from both ends of the wormhole. They had clearly sensed the spiritual energy fluctuations from earlier and had come to investigate what had happened. But they only saw a large number of dead comrades. Their low intelligence wasn't enough for them to comprehend what had truly transpired. After a period of rustling and murmuring, the worm creatures slowly dispersed. The sacred beetle had already left the battlefield and continued deeper inwards.

Lu Ye discovered something very interesting: after soaking himself completely in the canine worm's blood, the magnetic field's suppression on him seemed to lessen. Originally, he felt that half of his strength was suppressed, but now, this suppression was clearly weakened to some extent. This unintentional discovery made Lu Ye excited. Worm blood could actually impede the magnetic field's erosion; while it couldn't completely block it, the weakening effect was evident.