Chapter 674: Co-opting

Human territory.

Crimson Civilization.

Spaceship wreckage saturated with sci-fi and metallic textures littered space, and occasionally, human corpses floated suspended.

Some wore powered armor; others were larger than mountains; their only commonality lay in human facial features and their current state as corpses.

On a nearby life planet, all had fallen into utter silence.

Countless human corpses lay strewn across streets, still mid-action, having been struck by soul attacks without warning and instantly reduced to corpses.

Within a city of billions.

Cold. Silent.

A light breeze blew, carrying a chilling sensation.

At some point, a funeral dirge began echoing through the void.

“Hear the elegy of a civilization…”

At some point, a massive stone stele had been erected at the city’s center.

It stood tall and heavy, like a small mountain.

Upon its surface were carved countless insectoid glyphs: “Crimson Civilization… a human high civilization founded by the ‘Deep Crimson Scholar,’ with outstanding contributions to anti-gravity and wormhole studies; in history, it produced thirty-nine Great Scholars and twenty Fa-Zhu cultivators…”

“Their civilization was destroyed in Insect-Kr’s 329 Hengyuan 774; the last Crimson Civilization human perished—he was a true warrior, worthy of remembrance…”

“Entire civilizations deserve elegies…”

This was unmistakably a tombstone erected by the insectoids for the Crimson Civilization!

Even containing praise.

Erecting monuments and singing elegies for enemies!

Near the stele stood an insectoid.

Its appearance resembled an ordinary human, clad in green armor, with two insect-like antennae protruding from its forehead.

——Civilization Elegist!

——Fourth-Step Dao Master!

This was a hidden genius from insectoid history, now possessing Eternal-level power!

Moreover, each time it “buried” a civilization and sang its elegy, its strength rose another notch.

If it could utterly destroy the Starry Civilization, it would very likely soon attempt “Opening the Dao.”

“Elegist of Civilization…”

Suddenly, a telepathic message appeared.

Before the Elegist emerged a breathtaking figure draped in gauze—a Dao Master-level insectoid Grand Matriarch!

Yet before the Civilization Elegist, even as another Dao Master, the Grand Matriarch showed profound reverence.

“We suffered a devastating defeat at the Ophiuchus Wormhole; two Black Hole Singers and Sophia Keryn perished…”

Fa-Zhu cultivators could still be resurrected at great cost by Eternal beings.

Dao Masters, however, were nearly impossible to resurrect.

Only an Eternal being who had opened a new path through space-time held even a slim chance.

Thus, even for the insectoids, the fall of a Dao Master was a crippling blow.

“Fang Xing… a Fa-Zhu who joined the Starry Civilization late—already a Dao Master?”

The Civilization Elegist immediately received all intelligence on Fang Xing.

Unfortunately, Fang Xing had always been low-key; outsiders had assumed him merely an ordinary Fa-Zhu, and relevant intelligence was scarce and largely useless.

“The protector of the Ophiuchus Civilization… reportedly he established a Blue Star Civilization on his territory…”

The Civilization Elegist said: “Though both civilizations are only low-tier in the universe, producing a Dao Master and receiving such a being’s protection qualifies them as high-level cultivation civilizations… Singing the funeral dirge atop the ruins of two high civilizations will be exquisite indeed…”

…

Whoosh!

Fang Xing moved, vanishing instantly into the void.

After killing an insectoid Dao Master, he left without pause, taking New Blue Star and all his subordinates with him.

As for the Ophiuchus Wormhole?

Let it go.

Otherwise, within half an hour, that insectoid Fourth-Step Dao Jun would arrive to kill him.

Even with a primordial spiritual treasure in hand, he did not believe his current self could stand against such a being.

After all, he controlled the Gates of All Realms; even a Fourth-Step Dao Jun within the Great Xia Universe, or even an Eternal being, might not catch him.

As for escape skills, Fang Xing could say without modesty: everyone else was garbage!

While fleeing, he also logged a sliver of his spirit into the Grand Void Universe.

【You killed an insectoid Grand Matriarch, earned military merit…】

【Your exchange privilege has been upgraded to the top ten civilizations!】

A string of astronomical military merit points appeared.

“Oh?”

Fang Xing’s eyes brightened, and he understood at once.

In any case, with civilization collapsing into apocalypse, a Dao Master like himself was a target worth courting.

Moreover, killing an insectoid Grand Matriarch was an immense achievement—her chance of resurrection was nearly zero—truly deserving of astronomical merit.

He showed no restraint, logging directly into the exchange list and swapping every Dao Master and Eternal-level technique and secret art he desired. In resources, the Qingyuan Great Realm far surpassed the Great Xia Universe.

What he truly coveted was the accumulated knowledge of these civilizations.

“Hmm? In the Three-Phase Theory, there are methods to accelerate Dao-force through specialized professions… Indeed profound.”

Fang Xing reviewed the materials, thoroughly satisfied.

He had always intended to synthesize the strengths of three worlds to aid his continuous breakthroughs as a Dao Master.

The Qingyuan Great Realm was a primordial great realm, rich with cultivation realms and resources, many of which greatly benefited Dao Masters.

As for the True Immortal Realm, though nothing else, it had provided a primordial spiritual treasure—already worth far more than its value.

The Great Xia Realm was no less impressive, defining Dao through professions.

“So-called ‘professions’ are in fact rituals, specific lineages… even… Dao-seed transmissions?”

“There is much worth adopting…”

!

“Come to think of it, I’m still a [Star Warrior]…”

As Fang Xing pondered, the AI delivered another important message:

【Respected Lord Fang Xing, Master Wan Jian requests a meeting with you!】

“Master Wan Jian?”

Fang Xing clicked accept and entered the virtual conference hall.

“Lord Fang Xing.”

Master Wan Jian’s demeanor was vastly improved from last time; Fang Xing silently marveled that equality was the foundation of interaction.

“Who would have thought… such an outsider Fa-Zhu was a Dao Master? Thank heaven our civilization never clashed with him—otherwise things would’ve been worse…”

Master Wan Jian sighed inwardly, yet forced a smile: “Congratulations on your ascension to Dao Master!”

This was his wisdom—he never mentioned Fang Xing’s prior concealment of his cultivation, pretending he had only just ascended.

“Thank you.”

Fang Xing smiled in reply, ready to see what price Master Wan Jian would pay to court him.

The Starry Civilization was no longer what it once was.

Lord Fang Xing, you may not be aware: upon reaching the Dao Master stage, you enter the highest echelon of our Starry Civilization. With your access level, you may freely read countless legacy texts and receive one Eternal Legacy…

Master Wan Jian smiled: “Moreover… our civilization will gift you three ‘Eternal Crystals’…”

Fang Xing listened carefully, confirming his suspicions—due to the civilization’s crisis, the Starry Civilization was being unusually generous.

Yet for Fang Xing, who possessed resources from two other All-Worlds, it was merely average.

He was willing to fight only because he did not want the Great Xia Universe—his second homeland—destroyed by the insectoids.

“This is… truly priceless.”

Fang Xing feigned astonishment: “I will certainly fight for humanity… but how goes the battle between the highest Eternal beings?”

If war erupted, even if he broke through to Fourth-Step Dao Jun, he could at best hold off one Eternal-level force.

If the Starry Civilization had no Eternal-level trump cards, evacuation should be considered now.

Master Wan Jian fell silent. This was top-secret—but Fang Xing, now a Dao Master, had the clearance:

“Earlier, we said our Eternal beings were entangled and hunted by the Beast Civilization—true enough. But both Starry and Beast civilizations hold trump cards…”

“The more the insectoids press, the more we ally with the Beast Civilization. The Beast Civilization provided Lord Han Sen three drops of ‘Transcendence Condensate,’ an exceedingly rare resource; even when the insectoid Eternals destroyed Han Sen’s avatar and cursed him into critical condition, he recovered effortlessly…”

“So… turn their plan against them?” Fang Xing stroked his chin.

“Precisely. Our Starry Civilization has likewise provided an Eternal-level trump card, to coordinate with the Beast Ancestor and severely wound two insectoid Eternal beings…”

Master Wan Jian added: “If all goes well…”

The plan was sound—but whether the two Eternals could counterattack depended entirely on whether someone could hold off the third insectoid Eternal!

If no one could detain the Civilization Elegist, all else was meaningless.

“Do we truly have no Eternal-level beings?”

Fang Xing couldn’t help frowning and asked a question.

“Indeed, there isn’t… but our Starfall Civilization has already completed part of an experiment: using a fragmented transcendence legacy, we can harness technological power to simulate a degree of eternal power in a short time… but this comes with immense cost, and it consumes many unique cosmic artifacts and secret realm machinery…”

The Master of Ten Thousand Swords said: “Therefore, our plan is that when Lord Han Sen and that Alien Ancestor launch their counterattack, we will spare no cost, stake everything… and go to war with the Insect Clan, holding back that Civilization’s Dirge…”

Clearly, he wanted to recruit Fang Xing to serve as a high-level cannon fodder on the battlefield.

To hold back an eternal combatant, even a Dao Master is nothing but cannon fodder—merely slightly less disposable.

“At that time, I will lead from the front line; taboo weapons will support us… we won’t be killed in a single strike…”

The Master of Ten Thousand Swords said frankly.

‘Taboo weapons from the technological side?’

Fang Xing shook his head; he had already seen such things in the Creator’s World.

Though they are indeed powerful, their flexibility is inherently flawed.

(End of Chapter)