Chapter 399: The Spark of Civilization: Telivar

The sky‑reaching flame pillar licked the heavens, forming a vast expanse of dead prison; countless insects turned to ash in the flames, becoming firewood.

No matter what kind of insect you are, or what strange ability you possess, in the ending sea of fire you all turn to flying ash.

"Finally, I've killed them all!"

Mu Yi looked at the empty surroundings and gave a heartfelt sigh; the number of insects surpassed his imagination.

How many insects did he burn to death?

One million? Five million? Ten million?

Even he couldn't count them clearly; these insects surged forward, covering sky and earth.

They even fed on the flames Mu Yi released, using them as nutrients to breed even more insects.

Just as Mu Yi was pondering where to go next,

a black shadow suddenly appeared above the firmament.

The scarlet flame pillar, like blooming splendour, broke free from Mu Yi's hand, instantly expanding in the air; the flame seed carried a deathly power, seeking to suppress the black shadow in one strike and scorch it to ash.

The falling black shadow let out a sharp howl; its massive wings waved this strange undulation, and in an instant of release it swallowed the flame pillar, actually transforming on the spot into thousands of insects.

These insects, at the moment of their appearance, were immediately devoured by the ensuing wave of fire, emitting a foul stench and turning into charred remains under the blaze.

These remains, infected by the strange undulation, turned into newly born insects, which then swarmed en masse toward Mu Yi.

"Looks like this must be some kind of Insect Emperor."

Mu Yi stared thoughtfully at this newly appeared monster; like the previous insects, this Insect Emperor‑like entity possessed a strong reproductive force, constantly emitting a distortion of will that contained the urge to breed.

Not only energy but also matter is affected by this distortion; moreover, Mu Yi could feel that each time the creature bred a batch of insects, its aura grew stronger.

"The principle is much the same as my own cultivation: follow your own path, and you will gain the corresponding power…"

The resonant fluttering of countless wings seemed to trigger a hallucination; before Mu Yi's eyes appeared innumerable trembling butterflies, ant‑insects, nest‑insects, while the insects whose will was indistinct were huddled among the myriad variously sized hibernating insects.

These hibernating insects exchanged pheromones, like flowers swapping different‑coloured petals, and then gave birth to different new species.

The next moment, his will broke through the illusion; Mu Yi realized that this was the source of the reproductive power—a insect that had become a deity through breeding, and an extremely powerful deity at that.

The Insect Emperor before him was merely an imitator, or perhaps a follower, of that deity's path to godhood.

Perhaps this Insect Emperor is even a descendant of that Insect God's bloodline.

The clash between the sea of fire and the insect swarm once again raised the curtain.

However, in this tug‑of‑war of power, Mu Yi clearly sensed the weakening of the Insect Emperor's strength; although its reproductive power could spawn insects from nothing, that breeding consumes power.

Even though its aura was growing, the power stored within its body was infinitely weakening.

It is precisely because of this principle that the Insect Emperor only manages to show itself when the insect swarm has been completely burned away.

"How strange—despite possessing such tremendous energy, it has no means other than breeding!"

In the brief confrontation, Mu Yi saw the Insect Emperor's flaw.

Apart from its rudimentary physique and the formidable power to create insect swarms from thin air, the Insect Emperor had no other means.

Those earlier insects had all sorts of tricks—spitting fire, summoning lightning, and so on, each with considerable power.

Yet it seems precisely because of this purity that the Insect Emperor's reproductive ability is so exaggerated.

In merely a quarter of an hour of combat, the Insect Emperor actually produced over a million insects, forming a vast swarm that charged at Mu Yi.

Though it appeared frail, in reality the distance between the swarm and Mu Yi had already shrunk by nearly two‑thirds from the start.

Mu Yi was also encountering this kind of opponent for the first time; their battle involved no skill, merely a basic contest of energy consumption.

Although such a consumption battle is terrifying, another person might already have been seized by the swarm and used as a breeding bed.

"I'm growing weary of this endless consumption!"

Mu Yi felt he needed to find a place to wash his eyes; staring at the huge swarm had left his eyes somewhat injured.

The Great Summer Dragon Sparrow Sword was drawn.

A blade of light over a hundred zhang high cleaved a bloody path through the swarm; although the blade's light rapidly shrank from the swarm's consumption, the will to cut everything within it remained undiminished.

The massive Insect Emperor was split in two by a single stroke of the blade.

Just as Mu Yi thought the dust had settled, the bisected Insect Emperor, under the influence of its reproductive power, turned into two Insect Emperors, though their power was greatly diminished.

"The universe is vast—indeed, nothing is too strange!" Mu Yi sighed in awe, feeling that this had opened his eyes.

The power is so pure it hardly contains any impurities; although its means are so scarce that it can only wear down power by sheer numbers, the problem is that aside from wearing it down there seems to be no better way.

Even the Decapitation Tactic completely lost its effect.

Well… it isn't entirely ineffective; Mu Yi could keenly sense that the spawning rate of the swarm was beginning to slow.

Moreover, the spawned swarm seemed to have become somewhat weaker.

The impact of being forced to split in two appears to be somewhat greater than imagined.

While Mu Yi, bored, engaged in a tedious war of attrition against this swarm of empty‑headed insects whose only thought was breeding,

"Detect insect swarm, extermination operation, execute immediately!"

"Danger level: 3 (moderately dangerous), prepare long‑range blast."

"Energy weapons ready, remember to switch defensive mode."

"Coordinates: 422, 121, 63, firepower net barrage!"

A mechanical sound rang out, followed by countless flashes of fire; dense firepower formed an interlocking great net, accelerating the swarm's demise.

Mu Yi looked up and saw a large group of mecha‑like entities; they obviously understood the insect swarm extraordinarily well, using extremely efficient firepower to annihilate the swarm, even more effectively than Mu Yi's sea of fire.

The attacks launched by the mecha were not ordinary bullets in the conventional sense.

They were more like a gathering of some kind of particle, or what could be called energy bolts.

Those fully saturated energy particles possess very strong penetrative power; in a sense they are conceptually akin to a spell strike with super‑magic penetration.

This also let Mu Yi recognize another weakness of the swarm: when faced with dense, brief strikes, they cannot assimilate in time to breed new insects.

They can only be killed by such particle‑state attacks at a considerably high and efficient speed.

Mu Yi watched with interest the mech units that annihilated the insect swarm; they did not launch an attack on him and deliberately limited the damage radius to avoid affecting him.

"Hey, brother, from the Zongwang?"

A mech warrior fell from the sky in front of Mu Yi and greeted him.

Although he could not understand the language, the meaning was conveyed to Mu Yi's ears in a strange way. "My name is Helake! Also a Zongwang Player!"

"We still have patrols to continue. Head east; you'll see a huge city, the only gathering place here, maybe it has what you need."

"Thanks!"

Mu Yi nodded, surprised that even in this almost apocalyptic world there still existed a complete social order—truly astonishing.

"You're a powerful fellow. If you're interested, you can take some bounty missions; the rewards are decent. This mech of mine came from doing exactly that!"

The mech warrior stared at the near‑crimson warning on his mech interface, forced a calm tone, and the mechanical voice masked his feelings.

"Unit form: Humanoid"

"Unit type: Zongwang Player"

"Unit danger level: Extremely dangerous! Extremely dangerous! Extremely dangerous!"

Mu Yi did not expose the panic of the Zongwang Player before him, after all the other side was showing goodwill, not otherwise.

"Are these big bugs common in this world?" Mu Yi asked the topic he cared about.

"Of course, one shows up almost every so often. If they only produced insects, we'd probably have been overwhelmed long ago!" Helake said wistfully.

The technological development here is not low, but everyone who has witnessed the swarms near the sun feels despair; they seem to have no hope.

They can only wait bit by bit for the final countdown to annihilation.

Yet this place is a paradise for Zongwang Players, a mixed crowd gathering at the final hub.

Following Helake's guidance, Mu Yi flew to the so‑called gathering point's exterior.

A massive energy shield enveloped this final gathering point, but Mu Yi wondered: the shield seemed not ordinary, but an absolute defense woven with some divine power.

Even estimating with Mu Yi's current strength, breaking this thing would be extremely difficult.

Inside the shield, it was not the high‑tech city Mu Yi imagined; it looked more like an ancient citadel, except the outer walls merged with the surrounding shield.

Or simply put, the shield's power comes from that very ring of shield.

Mu Yi landed at the city‑wall gate, where a sizable contingent of soldiers stood. Compared with the mech warriors, these soldiers resembled medieval knights, yet exuded a Transcendent aura.

"Welcome to our arrival."

As Mu Yi approached the city, the guarding soldiers promptly handed him a wristband that resembled some kind of communicator.

"This is identification; carrying it will not trigger the automatic defense system!"

"Tai Li Wa Er will not refuse any traveler, but please do not violate the order here, otherwise we will, according to law, expel and try you!"

The knight explained the basics of this gathering place called Tai Li Wa Er with a fairly gentle attitude.

When speaking of order, Mu Yi sensed a fluctuation of some power from the knight, similar to the swarms, seemingly also an individual walking the path of order.

Mu Yi is not an antisocial being; he remains quite curious about this world.

Compared with Jiuzhou's fully arranged environment, the Zongwang war world seems freer, more unrestrained, and flashier.

"Temporary ID saz3250, welcome."

As the order knight issued the pass, Mu Yi walked slowly into the city. As the knight said, the wristband proves identity; when Mu Yi stepped into the city, the wristband seemed activated by something and emitted a welcoming sound.

"Interesting place!"

Mu Yi felt extremely rich colors in the city; many forces dwelled here, and he thought he could stay for a while.

This seems to be a decent cultivation ground.

Of course, more importantly, Mu Yi wants to learn about the insect swarms.

Before that, he followed the wristband's prompt to the gathering point's personnel department for testing.

"Please use your ability on the target; the source‑energy device will automatically evaluate…"

The personnel department's receptionist smiled at Mu Yi, her expression calm, showing good mental composure.

Mu Yi sensed from her a harmonious power that made contact feel like a spring breeze.

Mu Yi reached out and virtually pressed the so‑called target.

After a boom, the target was completely destroyed.

Immediately the so‑called evaluation instrument emitted a sound.

Evaluation information:

Type: Spell (no casting time)

Attribute: Physical destruction (spell energy)

Area of effect: 1 meter (extremely precise control)

Power level: Tier 31

Final rating: Nation‑annihilating (strategic rating)

"Esteemed strong one, Tai Li Wa Er welcomes your arrival and offers profound respect!"

The receptionist's demeanor grew more reverent; Mu Yi was a bit surprised, not expecting the place to assess his attack power so accurately.

This place seems more than just an ordinary gathering point.

"I am now recording your data; based on your strength assessment, you will enjoy higher city permissions."

At that moment, new progress info began refreshing on Mu Yi's retina:

"Detected player meeting relevant conditions, character opens branch faction: Cosmic Company stationed at Tai Li Wa Er, City‑builder Defense Camp."

"Player faction updated; cannot change through regular procedures within one month."

"Your faction panel is as follows:

Faction: Cosmic Company stationed at Tai Li Wa Er, City‑builder Defense Camp."

Reputation status: Friendly

Level: Nation‑destroying rank (Strategic rating)

Merit: 0

Current merit redemption list:

1. Builder's Defensive Camp Logistics Office

"You have obtained a new public chat list: Taelivar."

PS: Merit earned in the Taelivar faction is not usable in the Cosmic Corporation faction, but Taelivar faction currency can be used in the Cosmic Corporation faction.

…………

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"Current main storyline mission for the faction: Resist the Universal Locust faction!"

"Universal Locust faction status remains: Arch‑enemy!"