Chapter 286: Yin Qi Worm? A Second LV5 Planet Ability!

While lost in thought, the True Sovereigns and divine spirits in the distance had also finished dividing up that bizarre long worm.

At this moment, Baichuan casually turned his head and looked toward Old Dragon Ao Qing, who was about to come over.

Since the matter here had been resolved, it was time to leave.

He was also rather eager to take a look at that bizarre long worm's ability model.

For instance, where the other party had come from, and what abilities it possessed.

The much-welcome moment of a great harvest was about to arrive.

"Senior…"

"Mm, let's go."

Without needing more words, Baichuan's calm voice cut off Old Dragon's words, and he took the lead, flying toward the direction they had come from.

Now, with the departure of that divine corpse and even the loss of its most important treasure, the No-Fly Zone here had naturally vanished as well.

Unfortunately, even now, Baichuan still did not understand how this No-Fly Zone had come into being; it was probably due to that divine corpse's special power.

In an instant, countless True Sovereigns and divine spirits transformed into streaks of flowing light and flew toward the heavens.

Leading them was unmistakably a Sacred True Dragon with a lithe, graceful bearing.

……

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

At the foot of a mountain with clear waters and beautiful scenery.

"Senior, I must take my leave. I, Xu, have been missing for far too long, and there are still important matters to attend to on my person. Once I have dealt with them, if Senior does not find me distasteful, I shall come again to have a proper chat with Senior."

A man in a scholar's long robe, possessing a rather refined and elegant air, cupped his hands toward the enormous true dragon, his eyes full of gratitude as he spoke.

"World-Honored Heavenly Venerable. Senior, this old Daoist shall also take his leave first…"

"Amitabha…"

"Praise be to the Pure White God, my Lord…"

"My Lord, we shall await your instructions in the mortal world…"

"Senior Bai…"

In an instant, countless voices of farewell kept sounding out, yet not a single one mentioned any gratitude or reward for Baichuan.

Because they knew that their thanks, which to mortals might be no different from a tremendous blessing, to a great divine-power being like Senior Bai might not even compare to a fine meal of rare delicacies.

The only thing they could do was remember it in their hearts, watch for when the senior might need help, then appear at just the right moment, or else use their own influence to find some special, rare living beings, cook them well, and present them to the senior for a taste.

Among these people, some left of their own accord—those were the ones with relatively strong and resolute wills, or those who had been missing for too long and still had many matters to attend to in the mortal world, such as their Dao lineages, inheritances, families, or enemies; among them were also those who left passively—those who wanted to stay and follow Baichuan, but were personally driven away by him.

After all, Baichuan was now in a hurry to check that bizarre long worm's ability model, preparing to see if there were any good abilities to strengthen himself; naturally, he did not want any being following him.

Otherwise, among this group of True Sovereigns and divine spirits, Baichuan was certain that conservatively more than a third of them would be willing to stay and follow him.

Not to mention his own power; just the bronze chain he had obtained, and the Source accumulated over many years, was no small quantity.

To these True Sovereigns and divine spirits, the allure of this Source was no ordinary matter.

If someone else had suddenly gained the following of so many True Sovereigns and divine spirits, they would surely be overjoyed beyond measure, but for Baichuan, it was merely a burden.

The fact that his Ability Panel's evolution required slumber determined that the path he would walk in the future could only be taken alone.

The great Dao is long; only he walks it alone.

In the short span of a quarter-hour, the place, which had previously been bustling with activity, returned to a state of cold desolation.

Only one large and one small true dragon were left behind.

Under Baichuan's influence, Old Dragon Ao Qing had gradually grown accustomed to conversing with Baichuan in his dragon form.

"You go too. Wait until you have dealt with the matters of your household before we speak further."

"We are of the same clan; no need for words."

Glancing at Old Dragon Ao Qing beside him, who seemed to want to speak yet held back, Baichuan did not say much, but offered the other a reminder.

"Household?" Hearing this, Ao Qing, who had still been somewhat hesitant and unsure how to express his feelings toward this mysterious senior, was also stunned. Then his expression suddenly changed, as he abruptly recalled the situation before he had fallen deep into Mingtu—under those circumstances, with his disappearance, those beings would certainly not let slip such an opportunity.

His household was in grave danger!

Instinctively, this thought flashed through his mind, and then his gaze turned to Baichuan. It was obvious that Senior Bai being able to say this meant he had likely resolved the matter for him.

In Ao Qing's enormous dragon eyes, a trace of gratitude instinctively flashed.

It seemed he owed this mysterious fellow-clan senior far too much.

"Senior Bai, great kindness needs no words of thanks. Ao Qing shall take his leave first."

Thinking this, his expression grew solemn, and he respectfully performed a grand ceremony among fellow clansmen.

It expressed both gratitude and submission—henceforth, he would regard the other as his sovereign.

Once the ceremony was complete, he began to sway his dragon body and climb into the clouds.

"Oh, right, take this."

Just then, Baichuan's calm voice rang out.

At the same time, a small orb of light radiating a riot of colors shot straight toward Ao Qing.

Instinctively, as the foreign object came at him, Ao Qing directly reached out with his Dragon Claw and caught it.

And upon catching it, he was stunned once more, because what now lay in the palm of his claw was unmistakably a wisp of "Source"!

It was the very Source he had risked venturing deep into Mingtu on this trip to obtain!

He had already given up hope; merely surviving in the end was already considered not bad—after all, it was his children's fate, ordained by Time.

But he had never expected that at this moment, the Source would fall into his claw.

"S-Senior Bai…"

For a moment, Ao Qing's feelings became incomparably complex, and he could not help but clutch this wisp of Source and mutter to himself.

The next moment, he turned his head sharply, but the ethereal, sacred dragon that had stood there moments before—its gaze seemingly forever calm and profound—had long since vanished, leaving only white clouds drifting by and a gentle breeze brushing past.

"Truly a remarkable person!"

At this moment, Ao Qing, who in days past had borne the weight of the entire clan on his own shoulders, felt for the first time what it was like to have someone powerful backing him from above.

Is this what it feels like to have a great being of the clan sheltering you?

Is this the bearing of an Expert?

Somewhat reassuring to a dragon…

While whispering inwardly, Ao Qing silently made a decision.

From now on, no matter what the senior wished to do, even if it meant betraying this world, he would follow the senior's footsteps without the slightest hesitation.

That's right, the spiritual power aura Baichuan had previously emitted, and the power he had displayed that was so out of place in this world, those various mysterious methods — the True Lords and Divine Spirits present at the time were no fools, and had long since made their guesses.

It was only because the other party was so powerful, unfathomably deep, and had shown them great kindness, that few people had thought deeply along those lines; or rather, given the other party's strength, even if they wanted to do something, it would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot — they dared not think too deeply about it.

Perhaps in the future, even if this mysterious powerhouse truly intended to act with ill intent toward this world, as long as he did not wish to destroy the world they inhabited, they could all manage to pretend they saw nothing.

Yet at this moment, Ao Qing silently resolved to walk this road to the very end!

Regardless of whether the path ahead was a blaze of glorious light, or utter darkness without a glimmer.

With Senior Bai present, the dragons of this realm shall remain; if Senior Bai is no longer here, then the fate of the dragon race is to dissipate together with this heaven and earth — what harm in that?

……

On the other side, after giving Ao Qing a single wisp of Origin — a trivial item among the many hidden goods within the chains — Baichuan decisively took his leave.

The Old Dragon's actions had given him a true sense of belonging toward the dragons, that mysterious race he had once and still now yearned for.

Dragons, truly such strange creatures…

Although due to his own circumstances, he could not, as Ao Qing had hoped, shoulder the hopes of the entire clan, offering a bit of help was still possible.

So long as it did not affect his purpose, he, Baichuan, had always been easy-going.

Three days later, Baichuan finally, by means of his own Light Point ability, once again created a temporary location suited for examining ability models, and even for evolving and slumbering.

And here, he once again composed his mind and silently opened the Ability Panel.

Accompanied by a familiar flash of black lines, Baichuan once again entered that hazy gray panel space, and a familiar Ability Panel promptly popped out.

Without lingering, Baichuan merely glanced at his panel — whose abilities now seemed as vast as an ocean of stars — and looked toward the ability structure library. Immediately, from within a stretch of dark, profound space, a strangely translucent, bizarre long worm screeched as it leapt forth.

Then, upon the vividly lifelike model of the bizarre long worm, the newly added ability model abruptly popped up:

'Species: Star-Eater Worm Larva.'

'Abilities: Assimilation LV5 (Planet), Yin Energy Manipulation LV5 (Inner), False Ambush LV4 (Transcendent), Spirit Quake LV4 (Transcendent), Reproduction LV4 (Limit)……'

Looking at this Ability Panel, in an instant Baichuan was stunned, a pair of formless eyes formed from his consciousness fixed intently on the very first ability in the panel.

At this moment, his eyes could hold no other abilities

"Hiss!"

Involuntarily, he sharply drew in a breath of cold air, and only after a long while did his shocked heart gradually settle.

It was no surprise — the very first LV5 (Planet)-level ability alone made this ability model worthy of being called incomparably precious, let alone the string of abilities that followed.

This was an extraordinarily lavish ability model, one whose lavishness perhaps only the complete-form Blood Worm model could match.

At the same time, this was the second planet-level ability he had encountered, and compared to the Blood Worm's, which still required him to seek out the other half, as well as the LV5 of the Spirit power-system Divine Spirits that was incomplete and suspected to be anomalous, this ability was complete from its initial state — there was simply nothing for him to worry about!

"This time I've struck it rich!"

Looking at this ability, Baichuan could not help but exclaim in admiration.

No one could have imagined that merely acting according to his own principles as a human, following his heart and taking the Time to save a being he might call a kindred existence, would grant him such a terrifying ability model.

His luck was truly unmatched.

Glancing at the species suffix of the entire ability model, Baichuan understood that this was a being that, once fully grown, should be comparable to the Blood Worm — that is, a terrifying existence on par with his current strength.

If the Blood Worm's developmental path was to transform the external environment, then the Star-Eater Worm's developmental path was to borrow the external environment, assimilating and altering itself to adapt to the environment and grow stronger.

These were two terrifying existences that had each reached the limit in different domains.

Yet such a terrifying existence, he had encountered in its juvenile stage.

Thinking about it, had it not been so, that battle deep within Mingtu — where he had left his own home ground and fought on the opponent's — should have been extremely brutal, and in the end, who would live and who would die was hard to say.

Alas, this time, heaven stood on his side.

"Come, let me see your mystery."

After taking several deep breaths to calm his emotions, Baichuan finally slowly tapped open the ability introduction of this ability model.

In an instant, a brand-new panel popped up, and the specific information of each ability appeared before Baichuan's eyes:

【Assimilation: A body of myriad transformations, existing between the tangible and the intangible. Parasitizing within a powerful being, it draws upon everything of the host as its own nourishment, growing stronger, and over time will gradually grow and assimilate into the host's form; upon success, it will flawlessly possess all of the host's power, its strength changing with the host.】

【Yin Energy Manipulation: A special exclusive ability that the Star-Eater Worm race assimilates and evolves out through parasitizing within a target, allowing it to manipulate at will and entirely according to its own desire the energy known as Yin Qi.】

【False Ambush: Even the strongest have moments of weakness. This is an ability the Star-Eater Worm race specifically evolved for the success of its parasitism, capable of disguising itself as any creature that has lost its life, or even inorganic matter, and at the instant the target lets down its guard and draws near, it ambushes and invades into the target's body.】

【Spirit Quake: A special exclusive ability that the Star-Eater Worm race assimilates and evolves out through parasitizing within a target, capable of carrying within its attacks a shock to the souls and Spirits of surrounding creatures.】

【Reproduction: An extreme specialized reproductive ability at the limit of what biological flesh can reach. The ability user, at the cost of consuming its own nourishment, can give birth to a clan under its own control, the clan possessing a portion of its own power.】

Looking at the specific information of the abilities above, Baichuan gradually formed a concept — from vague to concrete — of this bizarre… oh, no, the Star-Eater Worm race.

It seemed his previous guess had been wrong: this long worm was not the Yin Qi source he had previously guessed — the Yin Qi Worm — but the far more mysterious and powerful Star-Eater Worm.

A worm whose strength or weakness is determined by whether the host it parasitizes is strong,

Clearly, the target this Star-Eater Worm had parasitized was that unfortunate Divine Corpse. It seemed why that Divine Corpse had become as it was now was also clear — it had been targeted by the Star-Eater Worm!

And at present, within this Star-Eater Worm's ability model, the Yin Energy Manipulation and Spirit Quake had been assimilated and evolved out from that Divine Corpse.

For a moment, even though Baichuan had now reached the planet level, he could not help but feel envious of this race's talent.

This was practically tailor-made for the lazy!

Strength and the like need not be considered at all by oneself — one only needs to disguise oneself, then drift about seeking targets. Relying on that instinctive attraction, upon encountering a planet-level or half-step planet-level powerhouse, one seizes the moment to parasitize the strong one, and then it is simply a long wait for growth.

Thinking about it, had this Star-Eater Worm not been so unlucky as to encounter him, it would not have taken long before it replaced that mysterious Divine Corpse and became a new half-step planet-level powerhouse. Then, leveraging that power, it might even have parasitized and devoured clean every Main God and Heavenly Sovereign of this world, growing stronger with Time, until in the end it even parasitized and devoured the mysterious existence that might exist behind the source of Spirit Qi.

This was clearly yet another case like that of "Zhou" back then — holding the protagonist's script!

Unfortunately, in its juvenile years it had the misfortune of running into him, Baichuan, and its path to rise had been cut short by none other than him, Mr. Bai.

For a moment, even Baichuan couldn't help but let out a soft laugh under the inexplicable sense of pleasure that rose within him.

……

(End of Chapter)