Chapter 400: The Mid‑Path Collapse Plan

Mu Yi has been in Tailivar for nearly a month, and his reputation quickly rose in this final gathering place.

The high‑risk missions posted at the camp were almost all resolved by Mu Yi.

The camp's assessment of Mu Yi kept climbing higher.

"Mr. Mu, thank you for your trouble this time!"

The camp's person in charge handed a suitcase to Mu Yi.

"It's just a trivial task; what do you think about the thing I mentioned last time?"

Mu Yi casually opened the box and glanced inside; it contained a mecha summoner, whose manufacturing technology comes from the Cosmic Company, an interstellar corporation spanning the entire universe and virtually monopolizing trade.

Mu Yi wasn't particularly interested in this core; after all, the strongest firepower of this mecha set is only at Legend level, and he was more intrigued by its construction.

He thought that an Asura born in the Sea of Blood might not have to remain in a normal state; perhaps by analyzing the mecha's structure, he could produce a batch of Asura mechas.

Mu Yi attempted to absorb a portion of the technological essence.

Of course, these were fleeting experiments for Mu Yi; during this month he solved several high‑risk camp missions, primarily to boost the camp's reputation and thereby carry out his propagation plan.

This world is peculiar: walking the path of the gods grants power regardless of belief, which piqued Mu Yi's interest, and he wanted to try something.

The deities among the star rivers, according to his preliminary estimate, are at least at a respectable Immortal‑Buddha level or higher.

Becoming a god through incense‑based worship is a smooth road for him, but it has too many restrictions; he wishes to pursue a purer path.

And this world, evidently, is an excellent testing ground.

"According to the items you provided, we have prepared the apprentices you requested; someone will bring them over shortly!" The person in charge didn't fully grasp Mu Yi's meaning, but as a leader, making choices is something one must learn.

Though they are called apprentices, he has tacitly handed over the lives of this batch to Mu Yi; whatever Mu Yi does with them, he won't interfere.

This was exchanged for Mu Yi's contributions to the camp.

For the camp, survival is the most important.

Mu Yi gave no explanation; facts speak louder than words.

The camp's person in charge didn't fool Mu Yi, but seriously found six apprentices for him.

Each was an apprentice who reacted to the Reincarnation Stone; their aptitude might not be outstanding, but Mu Yi didn't expect to find a genius this way.

"From today on, you are my named disciples!"

"Yes, teacher!" The six apprentices, all in their early teens, were very nervous before Mu Yi.

In the days that followed, Mu Yi began a routine of taking contracts to exterminate insects and teaching his disciples.

Although Mu Yi isn't a renowned master, he is solid in the abilities he possesses.

He dissected the abilities of the Six Paths of Reincarnation and taught them to the six apprentices.

Then he personally awakened the corresponding abilities for them.

And indeed, as he thought, the road called Destiny in this world can truly help him achieve Immortal‑God status.

The six apprentices' progress on the Six Paths feeds back to Mu Yi; this feedback is highly positive, and unlike faith, every improvement they gain while walking the Six Paths simultaneously advances Mu Yi.

The conversion rate is extremely low, but given the disparity in strength, Mu Yi devoted even more care to cultivating the six apprentices.

Whether it's Mu Yi's luck or some other method the camp's leader employed, the six apprentices' progress is rapid.

Mu Yi assigned them a task that wasn't particularly difficult, hoping to see their performance in real combat.

……

"Awo!"

"Awo!"

"Awo!"

Three long wolf howls echoed across the wasteland as a massive, wolf‑like creature with three heads thundered over the plain.

"Nailuo, can you make this beast shut up! It's killing me with the noise!"

The blood‑red Shura grumbled at his companion in displeasure.

"Don't want to listen, go down and run yourself!"

The Animal Realm practitioner – Nailuo opened his eyes in displeasure, looking at the Asura Path practitioner – Shura; these are the code names Mu Yi assigned them, as well as their identities within the camp.

"You bastard Nailuo, do you want to fight?"

Shura grew even more displeased; the Asura path is rife with combat, and as a qualified one, he naturally feels its impact, though it's hard to tell whether it's innate or a cultivated habit.

After all, even before becoming Mu Yi's named disciple, he seemed like a true Asura reincarnation.

"Stop the noise, insects are coming!" On the other side, the blindfolded Heavenly Being Path practitioner – Gaia, suddenly opened his eyes toward the sky.

As the most perceptive member, he often senses danger in advance.

It's also an effect of the Heavenly Being Path that Mu Yi taught him.

"Bzzzz~"

As Gaia's words ended, the sound of vibrating wings rang through the air.

Their mission this time was to clear these inexplicably appearing swarms, preventing them from breeding and growing; after all, these insects have reached a stage where they can reproduce even without flesh, feeding on air.

If left unchecked, they would soon become a massive presence.

"Perfect timing, just got the itch to act!"

Shura's eyes turned scarlet, and a massive scarlet blade materialized in his hand; he leapt straight up, lunging toward the insects in the sky.

With a single slash, the oncoming insects were sliced cleanly in half.

"Hahaha, kill, kill, kill!"

The scarlet mecha enveloped Shura, allowing him to strike freely even in mid‑air.

"You fool!"

Nailuo stared at the insect blood raining from the sky, his face darkened; insect blood affects the body, a fact everyone knows.

"Don't worry, it won't fall!"

Hell Path-Huangquan waved his hand, and the flames that burned everything followed his hand to form a huge umbrella above everyone's heads, incinerating all the insect blood.

"We should still be more than ten li from the target location—how did we encounter the insect swarm so quickly?"

Human Path-Alaya looked doubtful, staring at the information in the communicator.

"These insects won't move until they've completely ravaged a place; they were discovered three days ago, so logically they shouldn't have moved this quickly."

Animal Realm-Naluo summoned several strangely shaped small birds to fight the insect swarm while speculating.

"Does that mean more insects have joined, causing the swarm's expansion speed to increase?"

Hungry Ghost Path-Jiuyou pondered before speaking, controlling a sphere like a black hole that devoured any insect daring to approach, leaving not a trace.

"Get serious—don't screw up!"

Gaiya saw everyone's lax attitude and immediately asserted her elder-sister authority, urging them to get serious.

"I don't have any area-of-effect ability!"

Naluo felt somewhat depressed; the Animal Realm power he currently commanded merely summoned the spiritual forms of some creatures to fight, and though those summoned creatures had substance, they could attack only in the most primitive way.

It was decent against individuals, but against the vast numbers of insects in the swarm, it fell short.

The few summoned birds, after killing hundreds of insects, were bitten to pieces by even more insects and became nourishment for the insects' reproduction.

"Huangquan, it's up to you!"

Alaya patted Huangquan on the shoulder; his predicament was exactly the same as Naluo's—although a single burst of his psychic power could kill a hundred insects, it was utterly meaningless, and even if she exhausted herself she couldn't deal with so many insects.

"You only think of me at times like this!" Huangquan said wistfully, but his hand movements were anything but idle, as several fire dragons under his control ceaselessly gnawed at the insect swarm.

Mu Yi crouched in the distance watching the six deal with the insect swarm, summoning a few birds and provoking a large batch of insects from nearby to surge this way.

He wanted to put some pressure on these disciples—he couldn't let them stay so leisurely.

"I've got quite a talent for teaching!"

Mu Yi felt somewhat satisfied, having taught the six for half a year.

Let their strength rocket up to the Transcendent level; although each still has many flaws, working together they might be able to take down a half-step Legend.

His preliminary experiment was basically a success; the six apprentices' improvements on their respective paths will feed back into the Six Paths barrier, this feedback being a gift from this world, a rule of its underlying operation.

But what currently troubles Mu Yi is that, if he wishes to attain immortality and godhood via the Way of Reincarnation, there remains one major obstacle unsolved.

The Way of Reincarnation basically consists of two parts: entering reincarnation through extinction, and exiting through rebirth; the extinction part is simple—just kill, kill, kill—and this world crawling with insects is well suited to it.

But rebirth is difficult.

At least for now, inside his Telivar Camp there is no hope—after all, the camp's population is too few; even if he wanted to help fallen warriors be reborn, there are no rebirth slots, and the number of newborns in the camp is too low.

Without new lives to carry true spirits, even if he could guide souls to become true spirits and enter reincarnation, he could not let those true spirits be born.

But Mu Yi still intends to first practice the Way of Extinction, which is the Six Paths aspect—this is also his most familiar old trade.

And those six named disciples are the seeds he has sown, and also the signboard he uses for proselytizing.

People always believe what they see with their own eyes.

The camp contains all sorts, but as Mu Yi sees it now, even those natives who follow the paths of destruction and revenge cannot improve as quickly as his six disciples.

As long as the natives in the camp see these living signboards, proselytizing is considered done—after all, this path truly offers an advantage in early-stage improvement.

As for the later massive accumulation, that can only be said to be a matter of benevolent wisdom versus wise insight.

Indeed, just as Mu Yi had thought, once the six named disciples became active on the front lines, his reputation as an instructor instantly soared.

Mu Yi also threw open his mountain gates; anyone willing to join is accepted without refusal.

After Mu Yi had cultivated this battle world for a full year, his following numbered nearly three thousand.

Just as Mu Yi was conscientiously guiding his disciples to improve themselves,

the person in charge of the camp brought bad news.

"The insect swarm has begun to migrate!"

It seems they have been driven by some force; the insect swarm that once circled the sun's vicinity has begun to converge in one direction, but the problem is that this planet happens to lie on that direction's flank.

According to the Universal Company's estimate, countless insects will descend upon this planet.

They will soon face a trial more severe than any before.

Mu Yi felt the world's malice toward him; although he could take his disciples away to another planet, leaving such a fine environment would leave him at no advantage compared to other paths.

But wanting to protect this planet is also difficult—the more insects there are, the stronger they become, and their reproductive power grows ever more terrifying.

In the long run, things could turn out so badly that not even the camp would have a future.

Moreover, the premise is that they can hold back that endless sea of insects.

"You aren't planning to withdraw?"

"We have nowhere to go!" the camp chief said with a wry smile.

"This star system has long fallen to the insect swarm; the company can only rely on jumps to evacuate a few people—we have nowhere to flee, only to fight to the last moment!"

"Thank you very much for your contributions in the camp; if possible, please take some followers with you, hoping they can carry on the Telivar bloodline!"

"Of course, even if we could really leave, we wouldn't!" the camp chief straightened his waist.

"We are Telivar people; we will fight for our world to the last moment, our civilization may perish, but our will shall not."

Mu Yi was speechless; he could feel the firm conviction in that person, and if they wanted to withdraw, the company would certainly welcome them.

A demigod-level powerhouse is respected wherever he goes.

But the other party had no intention of withdrawing, wanting to fight for their homeland to the last moment; faced with such resolve, Mu Yi could say nothing.

"I will assist the camp in battle until the moment we can no longer fight, at which point I will lead my disciples away from here!"

Mu Yi solemnly made this promise to the person in charge before him.

"I thank all the camp personnel on your behalf!" the camp chief laughed.

The news quickly spread throughout the camp; aside from the Zongwang Players who had an escape route, nearly everyone who could withdraw did so using their own means.

But those who possessed such means were clearly few, and the camp was filled with reckless revelry.

Everyone is well aware that the insect swarm is an unstoppable nightmare for them; those camps destroyed one after another have long since proven this.

The final gathering point has also finally arrived at the countdown moment.

Mu Yi stood silently on the city wall; affected by the relocation, the main force of the insect tribe had not yet arrived, but the insect swarm on this planet had already begun to become active.

The previously cleared ground again began to see insects appearing in large numbers.

Moreover, the strength of these insects is increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye.