Chapter 1556: 青螳

A Moon Core had his arm severed by a Star Cluster. Even if he had been careless, such a thing should not have happened. It was an utter humiliation, something he would be mocked for by other insect race Moon Cores for the rest of his life.

Under such humiliation, how could he vent his anger without killing Lu Ye?

But before he could charge to Lu Ye, he met a pair of cold eyes.

The gaze didn't come from Lu Ye, but from Ya Ya, whom he had been holding in his arms.

Ya Ya was very well-behaved and obedient. Lu Ye had told her to stay calm earlier, and she had remained quiet until now, when Lu Ye was injured by a punch from the insect race Moon Core.

Ya Ya was clearly angry. At that moment, a strange light flowed in her eyes as she stared at the enraged insect race Moon Core charging towards them, as if looking at a dead man.

Under her gaze, the insect race Moon Core felt a sense of dread. The further he charged, the stronger his sense of impending danger became, as if some unknown peril awaited him there.

Under Lu Ye's vigilant watch, the insect race Moon Core's speed gradually slowed until he finally stopped several miles away.

He stared at Ya Ya in Lu Ye's arms, his expression changing inexplicably. After hesitating for a long while, he ultimately didn't dare to take the risk. Without a word, he turned and left!

He didn't believe Ya Ya was an ordinary child; how could anyone surviving in the starry sky be ordinary? Yet, he hadn't sensed any trace of cultivation from her from beginning to end, which made her inscrutable to him. Precisely because he couldn't discern her true nature, he dared not take the risk.

The insect race had truly met their match this time. This human, who appeared from nowhere, had killed so many of their Star Clusters, and even his personal intervention couldn't help them regain their dignity.

The insect race Moon Core departed, not forgetting to take his severed arm with him. The insect race Star Clusters who had been watching from a distance naturally didn't dare to linger either, scattering like birds and beasts.

Lu Ye let out a light cough, suppressing the surging qi and blood in his chest. He realized there was still a considerable gap between him and a Moon Core.

Even though he was currently possessed by Li Shang's soul and wielded the advantage of the new Pan Mountain Saber, he still struggled so much against an early-stage insect race Moon Core. The fundamental reason lay in the qualitative difference of the power within their bodies.

If everyone's internal power were spiritual energy, Lu Ye felt he could still kill his opponent, even if the opponent's cultivation was higher. However, attempting to kill a Moon Core before his own spiritual energy converted into magic power was simply too difficult.

"Daddy, I scared him away!" Ya Ya suddenly said, a proud expression on her face.

"Ya Ya, you're amazing!" Lu Ye praised. Holding his saber, he turned to look at where his starship had fallen.

The starship was still bound by the spider web, suspended among several asteroids. However, the Star Beast Spider that had been perched on the largest asteroid was nowhere to be seen. Lu Ye had been busy fighting the insect race and hadn't noticed when the Star Beast Spider disappeared.

Li Shang lifted the soul possession state, flashing out of Lu Ye's body. He said, "Wait here, I'll go get the starship."

Lu Ye nodded, sat down, and then took out healing and recovery spiritual pills from his storage ring and swallowed them.

The consumption was significant. Although the rapid movement technique was impressive, it placed an immense burden on him. This burden not only stemmed from the consumption of his spiritual energy but also from the strain on his physical body.

It could be said that without a sufficiently powerful physical body, one could not grasp the essence of the rapid movement technique.

The battle just now hadn't lasted too long, but Lu Ye's spiritual energy was already more than half depleted, and even his flesh had traces of being torn. However, such injuries were nothing to him; he could recover with some rest.

Even the punch from the insect race Moon Core that struck his back was merely a minor injury.

On the other hand, the Moon Core had an arm severed by him...

Normally, a Moon Core having an arm severed was not a serious issue. Just like Kang Cheng before, whose entire arm was shattered but still regrew his severed limb after paying some price.

However, the arm was severed by the new Pan Mountain Saber, which was transformed from Liao. Lu Ye knew about Liao's peculiar power. If the Moon Core wanted to reattach his severed arm, it might be troublesome, unless he had the ability to dispel Liao's power.

Overall, although he couldn't kill that Moon Core in this battle, he didn't suffer a loss.

Li Shang quickly retrieved the starship from the spider web and piloted it to Lu Ye. After tidying up the battlefield and collecting the storage rings of the dead insect race Star Clusters, the group set off again.

Originally, Lu Ye thought the insect race wouldn't give up so easily. Since an early-stage Moon Core couldn't defeat them, stronger insect race members would surely be waiting ahead.

However, to his surprise, the subsequent journey was peaceful. No more insect races came to cause trouble; even when they occasionally encountered some, those insects kept their distance, pretending not to see them.

Upon careful thought, Lu Ye probably understood. The insect race was currently focused on expanding into the Wuding star system; they had no time to target a passing traveler. Moreover, the further he went, the further he moved from the direction of Wuding, so it was unlikely that strong insect race members would pursue him all the way.

This was something Lu Ye welcomed. Although he disliked the insect race, he didn't want to get further entangled with them at this time.

Without disturbance, his injuries recovered quickly. Almost immediately after his recovery, he immersed his mind and entered the green hall within Liao.

A moment later, inside the hall, two figures darted back and forth, both as swift as lightning. In this rapid exchange, Lu Ye and Yan Xi continuously sought an opportunity to strike. Unfortunately, neither found one, so they could only maintain this state of continuous movement.

The stalemate didn't bore Lu Ye; instead, it made him somewhat excited. In the past, when he fought Yan Xi, he usually couldn't last long before Yan Xi found an opportunity to defeat him with a single blow. Being able to maintain a stalemate with Yan Xi now undoubtedly showed a significant improvement in his rapid movement technique.

This was thanks to the bloody battle he had with the insect race earlier.

Despite his excitement, Lu Ye was also a bit troubled. If they continued this stalemate, neither would be able to gain an advantage. In that case, how could he pass Yan Xi's test? It couldn't just be about who could last longer, could it?

Just as he was thinking this, Yan Xi's figure suddenly froze. Lu Ye also quickly stopped and looked up, only to see Yan Xi nod slightly at him, before his figure suddenly dissipated.

Lu Ye was startled, then immediately realized what was happening.

It seemed things weren't as complicated as he had thought. In the rapid movement technique, as long as he could maintain a stalemate with Yan Xi for a certain period, it undoubtedly counted as passing his test.

Just as Qing Li's figure disappeared and Yan Xi appeared before, now Yan Xi's figure dissipated, and another figure appeared out of thin air.

Lu Ye looked forward with some anticipation. The legacies left by the two previous masters within Liao had benefited him immensely, so Lu Ye was eager to know which race the next master would be and what legacy they had left behind.

The figure slowly condensed, gradually solidifying, but Lu Ye's expression slowly became peculiar.

Because he discovered that this third master actually looked like an insect!

Upon closer inspection, it wasn't just similar; it was clearly an insect.

It surprised Lu Ye that Liao had once been obtained by an insect. However, on second thought, Liao had existed for countless ages. Over tens of thousands of years, innumerable powerful individuals must have acquired it, so it wasn't strange for one of them to be an insect.

This insect had a humanoid appearance, but its two arms were not normal limbs; instead, they were two long blades. This appearance was familiar to Lu Ye; he had seen this type of form as early as his time in Kyushu.

Among the insect race, there was a branch that resembled praying mantises, whose two arm blades were precisely such weapons. These were the mantis insect race's deadly tools, possessing unrivaled sharpness.

After appearing, the insect glanced at Lu Ye, and just like Qing Li and Yan Xi when they first appeared, slowly spoke: "Insect race, Qing Tang!"

This time, he only stated his race and name, without mentioning his origin or background.

As he finished speaking, Qing Tang's figure spun, and a mantis blade struck down. Lu Ye quickly raised his saber to parry. With a clang, Lu Ye's body sank slightly.

His clashes with Qing Li and Yan Xi had made Lu Ye understand that no matter how great the achievements these masters had once attained, or how high a position they held, within the green hall of the Liao saber, the spiritual energy they could wield was almost identical to his own.

Because the source of that spiritual energy was the spiritual energy he poured into the saber's body.

However, only the spiritual energy was almost identical. Their power, speed, and reaction abilities were all at the level they inherently possessed as Star Cluster late-stage cultivators.

Just from the force of Qing Tang's strike, Lu Ye knew that his power was no less than his own, and his speed seemed even greater!

Under normal circumstances, Lu Ye would certainly counterattack after blocking that strike. However, he soon realized he had no opportunity to counterattack at all.

As the mantis blade pressed down, Qing Tang's figure spun with the momentum. Before Lu Ye could recover from the pressure of the previous strike, Qing Tang's second blade had already descended, its speed seemingly a fraction faster than the first.

Lu Ye's body trembled again, and he was surprised. Not only was this strike a bit faster, but its power also seemed a bit stronger.

His expression then turned bitter, as he had already anticipated what would happen next.

As expected, Qing Tang continuously spun, his two mantis blades crisscrossing and striking towards Lu Ye without the slightest pause, one strike following immediately after another.

And in Lu Ye's perception, each of Qing Tang's strikes was more powerful than the last.

In just over ten strikes, Lu Ye was almost entirely pressed to the ground. He didn't use Yan Xi's rapid movement technique because this wasn't a life-or-death battle with an enemy. He was there to comprehend the legacy left by Qing Tang, so while enduring immense pressure, he closely observed Qing Tang's movements.

The incredibly swift strikes left Lu Ye with only the ability to parry, offering no chance to retaliate. The increasingly heavy saber momentum gradually pushed Lu Ye to his limit.

Until Qing Tang's next strike descended, Lu Ye could no longer resist and was forced out of the green hall.