Chapter 1553: Great Improvement

Lu Ye did not place all his hopes on Yaya. Since her last intervention, he had discovered a problem: although Yaya truly possessed the strength of a Sunlit Realm master, her body clearly had issues. Once she took action, she would quickly fall into a weakened state and then into a deep sleep.

Therefore, it was still best to avoid confrontations on this journey whenever possible.

However, some troubles could not be avoided simply by wishing to, especially since Lu Ye had not concealed himself. Instead, he boldly piloted his Star Skiff. Although he followed a route with a sparse distribution of insectoids, as guided by the Sunlit Realm master from Wuding, his presence was still eventually discovered by them.

Less than half a day after leaving the floating land where Wuding's frontline fortress was located, Lu Ye noticed insectoids remotely pursuing them from the side. These were Star Realm insectoids, whose speed was far inferior to the Star Skiff's maximum velocity. Consequently, they were quickly outdistanced and disappeared after chasing for only a short while.

As they continued forward, the Star Skiff was like a small fish dropped into a shark tank. No matter where it went, insectoids pursued it from all directions. However, these insectoids were slower than the Star Skiff, making their chase ultimately futile. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as the Star Skiff vanished into the depths of space.

Occasionally, scattered insectoids, having received intelligence, tried to intercept them from ahead. But they were scattered by a single charge of the Star Skiff, and those unable to get out of the way were likely crushed on impact.

Insectoids are a very peculiar species. They have an extremely close and mysterious connection with the nests that birth them. Therefore, insectoids can use their nests to rapidly spread messages without the need for any communication talismans.

With such convenience, if even one insectoid discovered the Star Skiff's whereabouts, it was as if the entire swarm had discovered it.

So even if those Star Realm insectoids were unsuccessful in their pursuit, the swarm could still set up interceptions along Lu Ye's path.

Thanks to the route guided by the Sunlit Realm master from Wuding, they had not encountered any overly powerful insectoids along the way, making the journey relatively smooth.

Until several days later, a dark cloud suddenly appeared in the starry sky ahead.

Lu Ye focused his gaze, realizing it was no mere dark cloud, but a vast, dense swarm of insectoids!

This greatly surprised Lu Ye, as one needed to be a Star Realm cultivator to traverse the starry sky physically. Even if insectoids could reproduce and grow quickly, there shouldn't be so many Star Realm insectoids. The Star Realm insectoids he had encountered before were scattered, with at most two or three forming a small team.

This dark cloud of insectoids contained at least tens of thousands, perhaps even over a hundred thousand. Could a single nest produce so many Star Realm insectoids?

If they truly possessed such strength, the insectoids could have easily assaulted Wuding and taken it directly.

As if noticing Lu Ye's confusion, Li Shang spoke, "The insectoid physique is very peculiar, unlike any other species in the starry sky. Cultivators of other species need to reach the Star Realm to survive in space, but some special insectoids don't. They are born with the ability to resist the corrosive energy of space."

Only then did Lu Ye understand. He had wondered why there were so many insectoids ahead; it turned out they weren't all Star Realm insectoids. This was similar to Star Beasts, which could also survive in space from birth. It was an innate ability for them.

Although he had encountered many insectoids in Kyushu, he had not truly encountered them in the starry sky, and thus was unaware of these facts.

That insectoid cloud was pitch black, sweeping towards them like a dark storm. Their distance was not great, and the Star Skiff's speed was too high. It was too late to change course now.

Li Shang could only brace herself and pilot the Star Skiff directly into the insectoid cloud. Lu Ye picked up Yaya, who had been sitting in his arms, placed her to the side, patted her head, and instructed, "Stay put."

He was afraid that if he didn't instruct her, Yaya might suddenly take action. Although Yaya's intervention could easily resolve the current trouble, she was a trump card and should be used at critical moments, to prevent her from falling into a deep sleep after acting.

Yaya, holding a pear-sized spirit fruit with both hands, obediently nodded while gnawing on it, mumbling indistinctly, "Yaya stay still!"

Lu Ye slowly stood up, drew the Panshan Saber from his waist, and silently watched the insectoid cloud approaching.

He suddenly remembered that insectoids and the Blood Clan had jointly placed a bounty on him. If Star Realm Blood Clan members could recognize him, insectoids might also. So, he activated Thousand Faces to alter his appearance, preventing the insectoids from recognizing him.

The next moment, the spirit skiff crashed into the insectoid cloud. At close range, it was clear that those individual insectoids were indeed not Star Realm cultivators. Many were at the Divine Sea stage, and some even at the True Lake stage.

Under such a high-speed and violent impact, a gap was immediately torn open in the insectoid cloud. Countless insectoids were obliterated in that instant.

Like a knife cutting through tofu, the Star Skiff recklessly plowed through the insectoid cloud. Wherever it passed, countless insectoids perished or were wounded.

Lu Ye's vision darkened. Insectoids filled his surroundings in all directions. These insectoids, below the Star Realm, fearlessly used their flesh and blood as a barrier to impede the Star Skiff's progress. However, their efforts had little to no effect.

If there were only Divine Sea and True Lake stage insectoids, the Star Skiff would have no trouble breaking through. But this insectoid cloud contained not only Divine Sea and True Lake stage insectoids, but also some Star Realm insectoids.

Distinguishing whether an insectoid had Star Realm strength was straightforward. With insectoids, unless they were exceptionally gifted, they wouldn't develop intelligence before reaching the Star Realm. Just like the insectoids Lu Ye encountered in Kyushu, no matter how powerful they were, they only acted on instinct. And visually, they were simply magnified insects of various forms.

Furthermore, the insectoids Lu Ye killed in the Grand Primordial Realm were all descendants on whom the insectoid powerhouses had placed great hopes. Each was exceptionally talented, having awakened intelligence at the Divine Sea stage, with limitless potential for the future. Unfortunately, Lu Ye annihilated almost all of them.

Insectoids become different once they reach the Star Realm. Not only do they gain intelligence, becoming cunning and malicious, but their forms also undergo significant changes. Many insectoids transform into human-like forms. Some retain insectoid characteristics, while many others lose all insectoid features, appearing indistinguishable from humans.

Therefore, within this insectoid cloud, any insectoid with a human-like form was almost certainly a Star Realm insectoid.

Their numbers were considerable, estimated to be over thirty. These Star Realm insectoids were undoubtedly far more troublesome than ordinary insectoids. As the Star Skiff crashed into the insectoid cloud, these Star Realm insectoids immediately launched attacks, assailing the Star Skiff from all directions.

Star Skiffs were generally only used for travel in space. Lower-grade Star Skiffs didn't even have formations. Lu Ye's Star Skiff, which cost him 300,000 spirit jades, did have a protective formation. It offered some defensive power, but it wasn't particularly strong.

How could such a protective formation withstand the combined attacks of dozens of Star Realm cultivators? It was on the verge of breaking in an instant.

Seeing this, Li Shang quickly retracted the formation, to prevent it from truly breaking. Repairing it afterward would be very troublesome.

Without the formation's protection, those Star Realm insectoids were like cats drawn to the smell of blood. They immediately pounced towards Lu Ye's position.

Spirit energy surged, and saber light flowed like a waterfall. All the attacking Star Realm insectoids felt as if, within the burst of saber light, a gaping maw suddenly opened, revealing ferocious fangs, ready to swallow them whole.

Fangs Bared!

This was a saber technique inherited from Qingli. Strangely enough, while Qingli's saber momentum was fluid, this particular move was exceptionally fierce, aligning perfectly with the concept of Overlord Saber Art.

As the saber light flashed, the several Star Realm insectoids at the forefront had no time to react. They disintegrated into shattered remains.

This included an extremely powerful late-stage Star Realm insectoid!

The remaining Star Realm insectoids were all horrified, having never imagined such an absurd event could occur. Instinctively, they tried to retreat, but the sharp saber momentum had already enveloped them, surging like endless tides.

A moment later, the Star Skiff broke out of the insectoid cloud's embrace. Compared to its initial appearance, the insectoid cloud had shrunk by at least half. The countless True Lake and Divine Sea stage insectoid casualties were one thing, but over a dozen Star Realm insectoids had also been killed.

The insectoid cloud did not dare pursue, mainly because they couldn't catch up. They had merely received intelligence to intercept here, and their speed was far inferior to the Star Skiff's.

In front of the insectoid cloud, the surviving Star Realm insectoids stared at the stream of light that was the Star Skiff, their expressions filled with horror. Such a long-planned interception battle had actually ended in a major defeat for the insectoids. This was merely the result of a single clash. The Star Realm insectoids had no doubt that if their opponent hadn't been in a hurry to leave, they would have been fully capable of wiping them all out.

"Does the Wuding Star System have such a Star Realm cultivator?" an oddly shaped insectoid with a pointed mouth and sunken cheeks asked in a deep voice. He also had a pair of transparent wings on his back, making it unclear what type of insectoid he originally was.

"Who knows?" another insectoid asked, looking confused. "But what is a Star Realm cultivator doing running off in that direction?"

If he truly was a Star Realm cultivator from Wuding, there was no reason for him to head in that direction, as it was away from Wuding.

"No matter who he is, he's dead," an insectoid with six compound eyes on its forehead sneered. Although their interception here had been unsuccessful, there were even more formidable interceptions ahead.

The human Star Realm cultivator's strength was indeed impressive, but he didn't believe the opponent could break through the next barrier. Furthermore, with their failure here, Moon Realm insectoids would surely be rushing to this area.

On the Star Skiff, Li Shang continued to pilot the skiff forward, her gaze fixed in shock on Lu Ye's back. She had discovered that Lu Ye's strength seemed to have greatly increased since they departed from the Myriad Manifestation Sea.

She had used the Soul Attachment Secret Art on Lu Ye several times, so she could directly perceive how strong he was. She had thought the previous Lu Ye was already strong enough, never expecting that it wasn't his limit, and that there was still room for improvement.

She hadn't seen Lu Ye cultivate much during this time, so how could his strength have increased so dramatically?

At this very moment, Lu Ye sat cross-legged, the Panshan Saber drawn from its sheath and laid horizontally across his knees. He gently ran his hand over the blade, feeling its sharpness.

Li Shang's feeling was correct; he had indeed become much stronger. However, this increase in strength was not due to an improvement in his own foundation.

Since departing from the Myriad Manifestation Sea, he hadn't spent much time cultivating. Even if his foundation had improved, it wouldn't be by much. Furthermore, he was already at the late Star Realm stage, so further improvement would be limited.

The reason he had become stronger than before was mainly due to the changes in the Panshan Saber.

One could also say it was a significant change brought about by external forces.