Chapter 2215: You Went Too Far

Never before in history had a human been able to stroll casually through an insect hive like this, let alone one whose master was a Peak Dao-Melding cultivator!

The entire hive was a labyrinth of passages, and from time to time, one could spot cultivators of the Bugblood race moving about.

Along the cave walls were numerous insect chambers; most were empty, but many were occupied by Bugblood cultivators peacefully cultivating within.

Lu Ye could feel a faint, elusive gaze constantly following him, which was clearly You Die's surveillance.

He paid no mind, striding straight through as if in an uninhabited land, which caused many Bugblood cultivators to feel resentment, yet they were helpless.

Some time ago, a human cultivator had been captured and brought here. The cultivators in the hive had naturally heard about it; although they didn't know the exact reasons, such incidents had occurred before.

Typically, captured cultivators couldn't resist the Bug Mother's secret techniques; they would either become secret agents sent back to the human side or be swiftly executed.

However, the human captured recently was somewhat different. He wasn't sent back or executed; for some unknown reason, the Bug Mother had kept him in the hive and seemed to value him highly.

Who would dare offend someone valued by the Bug Mother?

Lu Ye grew increasingly arrogant, even swinging his hammer to kill several Bug creatures blocking his path and dismantling their Dao bones.

He intentionally tried to test the Bug Mother's limits.

To his surprise, even after he did this, the Bug Mother showed no intention of stopping him.

But he knew he couldn't overdo it; killing a few Bug creatures was acceptable, but if he killed too many, the Bug Mother would definitely not approve.

Strolling around, he didn't discover anything particularly special. He repeatedly tried to find an opportunity to escape this place but ultimately gave up. Aside from the Life Chain irrevocably binding him to the Bug Mother, he simply couldn't leave this insect hive with his current abilities.

At some unknown point, the faint, elusive sense of being watched disappeared.

Clearly, the Bug Mother had something more important to attend to and no time to be distracted.

Lu Ye wandered for a while, finding it dull and uninteresting.

Too lazy to return to the Bug Mother's side, he decided to find a random insect chamber to settle in.

As he looked around, a blood-soaked figure walked towards him from ahead, carrying a long saber.

Lu Ye turned his head and looked, his gaze immediately fixing on the long saber. If he wasn't mistaken, it was a Dao artifact.

Although the short hammer Dao artifact he possessed was not bad, it was somewhat awkward to use. In contrast, the long saber Dao artifact of this suddenly appearing Bug creature quite suited his needs.

Moreover, the creature's appearance suggested it had just returned from fierce fighting on the front lines, its intense killing intent not yet subsided.

With a shift in expression, Lu Ye walked directly towards the Bug creature.

The Bug creature obviously noticed him too. As a cultivator in this hive, it naturally knew of Lu Ye's existence, and a hint of disdain flashed in its eyes.

The passage was wide, yet the two figures approached each other without dodging.

"Get lost!" the Bug creature roared sharply, swinging the long saber in its hand as if to intimidate, seeing that Lu Ye had no intention of yielding.

If not for the Bug Mother's command, it would surely have made the person in front of it understand its power. A mere human daring to be presumptuous in this hive!

Unexpectedly, this action instantly enraged Lu Ye.

"You dare to attack me? I'll kill you!" Lu Ye roared, swinging his hammer at the Bug creature.

The Bug creature clearly didn't expect such an extreme reaction from Lu Ye. As the fierce force struck, it immediately realized that Lu Ye was doing this intentionally!

It immediately flew into a rage, swinging its Dao artifact horizontally to meet the incoming short hammer.

With a loud bang, the Bug creature's eyeballs bulged, and its body flew sideways like a broken sack, crashing directly into the cave wall.

Lu Ye seized the opportunity to surge forward and brought his hammer down fiercely.

Its head exploded, and its body convulsed.

In the next moment, the Bug Mother's divine sense descended upon Lu Ye.

Lu Ye had already picked up the long saber Dao artifact and casually put away two storage rings.

He knew that once he made a move here, the Bug Mother would definitely notice. So, from the start, he intended to finish it quickly; he only needed to exert a little force, and a mere Dao-entry cultivator couldn't possibly withstand his attack.

His body stiffened because Lu Ye could feel the divine sense that had descended upon him contained anger.

Undeniably, his actions had angered the Bug Mother somewhat.

The Bug Mother was indeed angry. Previously, when Lu Ye killed a few Bug creatures, she hadn't cared, as those creatures weren't very talented, and their deaths were insignificant. But the one just killed was different; those capable of possessing their own Dao artifacts were all future Dao-Melding prospects.

This particular Bug creature, especially, could unleash the power of fourteen Dao with the Dao artifact's enhancement, and its talent was considered the best in the hive in recent years.

The Bug Mother had placed great expectations on it.

Who would have thought that while she was distracted from Lu Ye for a moment, this Bug creature would be killed by him!

"You went too far!" the Bug Mother's voice was flat, but Lu Ye could detect her suppressed anger.

"He attacked first!" Lu Ye retorted stubbornly. It was the truth.

The Bug Mother was silent. After a while, she said, "Come back now!"

Lu Ye resisted greatly but knew that since the Bug Mother had spoken, it wasn't his place to refuse.

A moment later, in the core of the hive, Lu Ye leisurely returned. Just as he was about to walk towards his insect chamber, he heard the Bug Mother say, "Come here!"

Lu Ye turned his head to glance at the swollen mass of flesh, and his eyelid twitched. "I refuse!" he said.

He absolutely did not want to stay near the Bug Mother; it easily brought back unpleasant memories.

The Bug Mother was amused by his defiance. "It seems my leniency has led to a misunderstanding on your part!"

As she finished speaking, a dense pressure descended from above, accompanied by undulating light blue soul power fluctuations. Lu Ye's back instantly hunched as if he were carrying a star.

Under the terrifying pressure, his eyes immediately became bloodshot.

His body then drifted uncontrollably towards the Bug Mother, as if an invisible giant hand were holding him.

Once the pressure disappeared, he was already by the Bug Mother's side.

"From now on, you will stay here," the Bug Mother commanded, "and you are not allowed to go anywhere without my permission!"

His good days were over!

Lu Ye looked resentful but was helpless.

Fortunately, this time wasn't without gain.

The Bug Mother released her restraint on him, and Lu Ye simply sat down beside her. He then picked up the long saber Dao artifact to examine it.

A moment later, a satisfied expression appeared on his face. This Dao artifact was indeed a high-grade one, worth eight hundred Dao bones!

He could keep this long saber for himself and sell the short hammer later.

But then he considered that he was trapped here and didn't know if he could escape, so there was nowhere to sell it. He couldn't help but feel dispirited.

And also... Lu Ye quietly turned his head to glance at the Bug Mother and quickly put away the Dao artifact.

This was his spoils of war; he couldn't let the Bug Mother take it, so he had to hide it to prevent her from asking for it.

He then took out the two storage rings from the Bug creature to examine them, and Lu Ye's eyes lit up.

Inside, there were over a hundred Dao bones. Although the quantity wasn't large, for Lu Ye's current situation, over a hundred Dao bones were extremely precious.

However, now that he was confined by the Bug Mother's side, he would have to be careful if he wanted to cultivate using the Dao bones.

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly saw several Bug cultivators walk in. They approached the Bug Mother and bowed respectfully.

The Bug Mother showed no reaction.

The Bug creatures seemed accustomed to this; after bowing, they moved to a spot nearby.

Lu Ye watched curiously. This was the hive's core, and aside from the undeveloped Bug creatures who needed to cultivate here, he hadn't actually seen any other Bug creatures enter recently.

So he wasn't sure what these Bug creatures were going to do.

But he soon understood, because the fleshy wall in front of these Bug creatures suddenly split open, like a large mouth, and then they threw items from their storage rings into the opening.

Lu Ye was startled by what he saw, because the items they threw in were indeed Dao bones!

The Bug creatures were busy for quite some time before finishing. Lu Ye made a rough estimate: at least three thousand Dao bones were thrown into that opening in a short period!

Three thousand Dao bones—if he were to refine them, and each Dao bone yielded twenty units of Dao power on average, that would be sixty thousand!

But now, all of them were thrown into the opening in the fleshy wall.

Lu Ye probably understood what they were doing; these were clearly resources for the Bug Mother's cultivation.

The Bug Mother also needed to cultivate. She was stationed in this major war zone, and although she usually didn't personally engage in battle, there was still a consumption of Dao power.

If there was consumption, there must be replenishment.

However, consuming three thousand Dao bones at once was still an astonishing number, but considering he had only witnessed it once in a long time, it didn't seem so strange.

After depositing the Dao bones, the Bug creatures left, and the split fleshy wall also closed again.

Lu Ye watched with covetous eyes, truly wanting to rush over, tear open the fleshy wall again, and retrieve those Dao bones, but it was just a thought.

A few yards away, the Bug Mother had already entered a state of cultivation. The pulsing of the fleshy wall seemed to increase the efficiency of refining the Dao bones, allowing her to replenish her consumption.

Lu Ye's expression suddenly became strange because, as the Bug Mother cultivated, he actually felt his own Dao power gradually increasing.

It was as if there was an invisible connection, distributing the Dao power gained by the Bug Mother's cultivation to him.

Thinking it was an illusion, Lu Ye quickly immersed himself to check his Talent Tree. He was soon surprised to find that the Dao power on the leaves of his Talent Tree was indeed increasing, and at a considerable pace!

The Life Chain?

Lu Ye suddenly remembered that back in the Myriad Forms Sea, ever since You Ling became bound to Bai Lu, she had diligently cultivated with her, and their cultivation progressed extremely fast. Sometimes when Bai Lu slacked off, You Ling would even urge her on.

That's right, when Bai Lu and You Ling cultivated together, they complemented each other, greatly boosting each other's cultivation speed. They had been bound together due to the wondrousness of the Golden Seashell.

The Life Chain originated from the wondrous patterns on that Golden Seashell, so it seemed plausible that it would have a similar effect now.

The only difference was that the cultivation between the Bug Mother and himself was not complementary; rather, he was siphoning off the Bug Mother's cultivation gains!