Chapter 2163: I’ll Fight You

Wind of the Nine Provinces

Wandering in the Star Abyss, Lu Ye felt as if he had returned to his past, weaker self, constantly vigilant and always careful to conceal his presence. The path of cultivation was long and arduous. Once, he thought the Sunlit Realm was the pinnacle, but even now, he still couldn't see the end.

At a gathering place for Star Abyss creatures, Lu Ye, with his long blade in hand, slaughtered all the enemies. His Talent Tree clone intercepted those attempting to flee. In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he completely wiped out all the Star Abyss creatures gathered there. The strongest among them were only at the level of Qing Yu, naturally unable to resist his wanton acts.

Since parting ways with Qing Yu and the others that day, this was already the third minor force he had annihilated. For him, annihilating these minor forces was quite simple, as his strength had excellent concealment. Before truly engaging in combat, who would have thought that an Incipient Dao cultivator could exert such formidable power? The difficulty lay in finding them.

Lu Ye wasn't one to kill indiscriminately; he had never been that kind of person. He only killed those who showed malice towards him. During these days of wandering, he gradually formed a goal: to find a Star Abyss Gate that was about to open! Like when he first encountered the Azure Palace with Jiu Yan and others, that chaotic environment was undoubtedly the most suitable for his growth, as he could freely search for targets to hunt. Unfortunately, he had found nothing on this journey.

As usual, he collected the Dao Bones. Before he could refine them, Lu Ye felt a stir in his heart and turned to look in a certain direction. From that direction, a figure swiftly approached, showing no intention of concealment. It arrived nearby in moments.

Seeing the approaching figure clearly, Lu Ye narrowed his eyes slightly. The creature had a thick layer of white carapace, a long, slender head, and its entire body resembled a turtle carrying its shell. Its pair of narrow eyes glanced at Lu Ye, then fixed on the Dao Bones Lu Ye had collected in his hand. It spoke in a sinister tone, "Human, hand over these Dao Bones, and I will spare your life!"

"An Insectoid!" This was Lu Ye's first time encountering an Insectoid in the Star Abyss. According to the information he had gathered from Uncle Duan, Insectoids were a dominant force in the Star Abyss. Due to the characteristics of their nests, all Insectoids within a nest advanced and retreated together. Even though only one appeared before him, there was definitely an Insectoid nest behind it! Moreover, it was likely nearby. This Insectoid was probably a scout from that nest, spread out to investigate the surroundings. That's why, despite being alone, it dared to speak so arrogantly. "Do not easily provoke Insectoids without absolute certainty" was one of the survival rules for the weaker beings in the Star Abyss. This Insectoid scout must have detected the commotion from the battle and came to investigate. Seeing the many Dao Bones, greed arose in its heart. As for the Insectoid's words about sparing Lu Ye's life if he handed over the Dao Bones, they were naturally not to be trusted.

Lu Ye's mind raced, and his expression suddenly changed. He exclaimed in a low voice, "An Insectoid!" This was the normal reaction of a Star Abyss creature upon seeing an Insectoid. The Insectoid cultivator was undoubtedly pleased with Lu Ye's change in expression and spoke coldly again, "Hand over the Dao Bones!"

Lu Ye's expression changed once more. He gritted his teeth, a pained look appearing on his face, and scattered the many Dao Bones in his hand forward, shouting, "Take them all!" As he spoke, he turned and fled backward. The Insectoid cultivator immediately snorted coldly, "Trying to escape?" It reached out and grabbed all the Dao Bones, then shot forward, pursuing Lu Ye directly, clearly intending to kill him completely.

Lu Ye fled in panic, but his speed seemed inferior to the other party. Seeing the distance between them shrinking, he hurriedly turned back and shouted, "Fellow Daoist, I have already handed over all the Dao Bones, why are you being so aggressive?" The Insectoid cultivator chuckled coldly, "All handed over? That's not necessarily true. You still have Dao Bones within you; take them out as well! I guarantee to spare your life!"

Lu Ye's expression changed drastically, "If I take out the Dao Bones from within me, how can I survive?"

"That's your problem," the Insectoid replied.

"I... I'll fight you to the death!" Lu Ye, adopting a posture of unbearable humiliation, stopped his escape and turned to face the battle.

Seeing this, the Insectoid also composed itself. Before truly fighting, it couldn't be sure of Lu Ye's strength, but with its own Nine-Path strength, it believed it wouldn't be so unlucky as to encounter a Fused Dao cultivator. If this human were truly Fused Dao, they wouldn't have been so flustered earlier. An instant of engagement confirmed Lu Ye's true strength to the Insectoid: he also possessed Nine-Path strength, just like itself. This made the Insectoid somewhat annoyed. If Lu Ye's strength had been weaker, it could have killed him at will, but now that their strengths were equal, fighting would not be beneficial to either party. It already had thoughts of retreating.

What frustrated it was that Lu Ye seemed very angry, using only Dao-annihilating techniques, appearing determined to fight to the death. Now it was the Insectoid's turn to feel a bit panicked. Its painstakingly accumulated Dao power was not meant to be squandered like this. It regretted its greed; it had already obtained so many Dao Bones, there was indeed no need to further persecute the human. While clashing with Lu Ye, it spoke, "Human, you are strong. How about we stop here today?"

"I won't trust you. If you want to kill me, then I'll kill you!" Lu Ye said with a furious expression, "Let's see who dies today!"

"Human, I'm not lying this time." The Insectoid cultivator was filled with bitterness, regretting that it had deceived Lu Ye earlier, resulting in a complete loss of trust in front of the human. As it spoke, it was suddenly startled. Somehow, the opponent's blade had broken through its defenses and struck heavily, causing the Insectoid to cry out in pain. Realizing the danger, the Insectoid was greatly alarmed: "Human, stop at once! You must have heard of my Insectoid race's methods. If you kill me today, you will not have an easy time!"

Lu Ye gritted his teeth and remained silent, only using his Nine-Path power to wield his long blade. Occasionally, when the opponent was not paying attention, he would burst forth with Ten-Path power, consistently achieving results. A moment later, the Insectoid genuinely felt that something was wrong. This human clearly only had Nine-Path strength, like itself, yet when fighting, it was completely outmatched. After threatening and intimidating a few more times and realizing the opponent completely ignored it, it could only fight desperately. But it was merely a cornered beast fighting back. After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, as Lu Ye's final blade strike fell, the Insectoid's head flew off. It did not die instantly, only staring with wide eyes, muttering, "The Insect Matriarch... will avenge me, you are dead!" Its life force dissipated.

Lu Ye looked breathless and heavily depleted. But in the blink of an eye, he returned to normal, sheathed his blade, and slowly collected his previous spoils, then took the Insectoid's Dao Bones. This staged fight was truly exhausting. However, if his predictions were correct, there should be activity from the Insectoid nest.

In the Star Abyss, Insectoids generally operated as units based around their nests. Each nest had an Insect Matriarch, at least at the Fused Dao level. Because Insectoids were nurtured by the Matriarch through the nest, there was a very peculiar connection between them. One could say that every Insectoid was the Matriarch's eyes and ears. Under normal circumstances, if the Matriarch wished, it could use the perspective of all its Insectoids to observe the surroundings. But the Matriarch generally wouldn't do this; its sole responsibility was to continuously breed new Insectoids and strengthen the nest. In addition, there was one situation where the Matriarch could know the condition of its subordinate Insectoids: when an Insectoid died, the Matriarch could glimpse the scene moments before its death. This was why Lu Ye had put so much effort into staging this scene. When killing other Star Abyss creatures, he still had to distinguish between good and bad, but there were no such scruples when killing Insectoids. For him, all Insectoids could be killed. With his current strength, the Insectoid nest itself was unchallengeable, but he could find ways to kill some individual Insectoids!

Waiting quietly in place, just as he finished refining the many Dao Bones he had acquired earlier, Lu Ye sensed numerous auras approaching. When he looked up, he saw more than thirty figures rushing towards him. The Insectoid reinforcements had arrived. Clearly, the Matriarch had detected the situation here and dispatched them to hunt Lu Ye. The reason for sending so many was simply that the Matriarch was unsure of Lu Ye's whereabouts. Once these Insectoids arrived, they could split up and track Lu Ye's movements. As long as one Insectoid found Lu Ye, the others could then encircle and kill him.

But what these Insectoids didn't expect was that upon arriving at the location, they found the individual who had killed their kinsman was actually waiting there! This strange situation caused the leading Insectoids to feel a pang in their hearts. They all stopped simultaneously, each with a solemn expression, looking around in suspicion, as if sensing an ambush nearby. These Insectoids weren't fools; at this moment, they naturally harbored suspicions.

Seeing this scene, Lu Ye's heart settled. He could be sure that the Matriarch would send more Insectoids to hunt him, but what he couldn't know was whether any Fused Dao cultivators were among them. He had deliberately disguised his strength as Nine-Path earlier, precisely fearing that the Matriarch might, in a fit of rage, dispatch Fused Dao cultivators. Under normal circumstances, to deal with a single Nine-Path cultivator, the Matriarch wouldn't need to deploy Fused Dao level beings. Now, it seemed there were indeed no Fused Dao cultivators; otherwise, these Insectoids would never have such expressions. If that was the case...

He slowly stood up and, by himself, charged towards the numerous Insectoids. "Be careful, everyone!" the leading Nine-Path Insectoid whispered, still guarding against a possible ambush.

Lu Ye had already reached them. A burst of blood light erupted, and a sea of blood spread out, enveloping the surroundings. Somewhere in the sea of blood, a Spatial Spirit Pattern appeared out of thin air. His Talent Tree clone, tens of thousands of miles away, warped to the location. This was originally Lu Ye's reserved escape method; if he found any Fused Dao enemies, he could use his Talent Tree clone to leave the area. Now that escape was unnecessary, he simply warped the clone over to join forces with his main body in killing the enemies.

"A Blood Clan member? Or Blood Art?" an Insectoid exclaimed in surprise. If it was Blood Art, its power was too immense; but if he was a Blood Clan member, Lu Ye showed no Blood Clan characteristics at all. Screams suddenly erupted, then rose and fell, as life forces surged and were extinguished within the sea of blood. The many Insectoids fell into chaos.