Sage of Humanity

The fairy's blessing is very strong. Most of the Insect Race Lu Ye encountered during his charge were not worth mentioning, but some were of the Divine Sea Realm!

This is not the Nine Provinces; the spiritual energy in the Tree World is dense and pure, providing any lifeform cultivating here with a unique advantage, making it easy to reach the upper realm.

The Insect Race is no different, so the proportion of Divine Sea Realm insects is indeed not low.

Their bodies are naturally covered with a thick layer of carapace, let alone the Divine Sea Realm insects, which each have astonishing defenses.

Back then, when Lu Ye killed those big insects in the Nine Provinces, he had to look for their weak points.

But here, that's completely unnecessary!

The Boulder Mountain Saber cuts through, and even the carapace of big insects is easily sliced like tofu. This has a lot to do with his increased strength, but it's undeniable that Lü Yingying's blessing has also played a huge role.

After a prolonged fierce battle, the two killed many of the Insect Race, and then Yuk Yaorao discovered a problem...

"Junior Brother Lu, the insect hive is in this direction."

She found that the direction Lu Ye was raiding was completely wrong, going in the opposite direction of the insect hive.

Neither she nor Lu Ye knew where the insect hive was, but the fairies did, and just asking Huang Tongtong nearby would reveal it.

To resolve the Insect Race here, the first thing to solve is the insect hive. Only by dealing with the insect hive can the problem be fundamentally resolved.

Not far ahead, Lu Ye quickly made a large circle and adjusted his direction.

Yuk Yaorao chuckled silently, as expected from a combat brute, acting without any plan, moving as the interest strikes, following where the saber points!

She slightly misunderstood Lu Ye. If Lu Ye were alone, he would surely ask Lü Yingying for the location of the insect hive, but since he had companions, he left the worries to them. Besides, he was currently immersed in the mysteries of the blessing and couldn't pull himself out of it.

The entire range of the Tree World is not very large, because the Fairy Race's population is quite small, and occupying such a large Tree World is unnecessary.

Thus, among all the Tree Worlds, the Fairy Tree World is considered relatively small.

This saved the two human race cultivators a lot of trouble.

Continuing forward in battle, after two hours, a huge insect hive came into view, and the two knew the moment of truth had arrived.

The insects encountered before had some with decent strength, but they were not many nor concentrated, making it hard to pose a threat to cultivators of their level. However, inside the insect hive, it was bound to be different, generally gathering the strongest insects of the hive, serving as the Insect Race bodyguard, guarding the core of the hive.

Yuk Yaorao was about to discuss a cooperative plan with Lu Ye when she saw him rush forward head-on, charging straight at the insect hive!

She sighed inwardly. That's why she least wanted to cooperate with this kind of combat brute, entirely lacking foresight and planning, acting purely on instinct.

Even though she's a genius of the Jiuxuan World, stronger than the average Divine Sea Level 9, she dares not be careless facing such a large-scale insect hive.

This is probably why the Reincarnation Tree arranged for the two to come to the Fairy Tree World. From the Reincarnation Tree's perspective, neither of the two humans could handle the matter alone; only through mutual cooperation could they achieve success.

A loud explosion resounded, and saber light burst forth. The insect hive standing on the ground and the nearby Insect Race exploded simultaneously. Yuk Yaorao looked up and saw that Lu Ye was nowhere in sight. The original location of the insect hive now had a pitch-black passage leading deep underground.

This guy... Yuk Yaorao was speechless.

In the previous negotiations with the fairies, she did not feel this way, but since the action began, she had been passive, always being led by the nose, which made her very uncomfortable.

In the Divine Sea Realm hierarchy of the Jiuxuan World, she had always been the one calling the shots and being in charge; this was the first time for her to be led by someone else.

But there was no choice but to follow suit; resolving the issue of the Fairy Tree World was a task shared by both of them, and she couldn't let the combat cultivator take all the risk alone.

Helplessly, she bit her teeth and followed, rushing into the underground passage. As a magic cultivator, she has always been cautious and careful, activating a protective spirit treasure to guard herself before entering.

Following the combat cultivator's aura all the way forward, the path was littered with insect corpses, and who knows how many he killed. There was no fear of losing direction because the cries and shouts of Lü Yingying kept coming from the front, whether out of fear or excitement...

Yuk Yaorao felt the former was more likely.

Proceeding all the way, she finally caught up with the combat cultivator's pace. The Insect Path's space was not roomy, and with the combat cultivator upfront, she found herself idle, seizing the chance to recover her own spiritual energy.

A tough battle was imminent! Though dragged into this situation by the combat cultivator, honestly speaking, in such an environment, one could only charge straight forward, with little room for strategic maneuvers.

Fundamentally, this test wasn't too complicated in itself.

The Insect Path was long, winding, and interconnected, yet under the probing of his Mental Consciousness, Lu Ye managed not to get lost.

All the way to the heart of the insect hive, it was no different from the insect hives he had entered before—a massive underground space, surrounded by flesh walls with sac-like structures standing upright. Various powerful auras lay dormant here; these were the bodyguards of the insect hive!

Like a grain of salt thrown into a pan of oil, when he and Yuk Yaorao burst into this place, the dormant insect race bodyguards awakened one after another, hissing fiercely as they charged at the two of them.

Yuk Yaorao felt a chill in her heart because she discovered the number of insect race bodyguards here was more than she had anticipated.

This was undoubtedly not a good start.

In such a situation, it was only right for the two of them to cooperate to kill the enemies.

One far, one close—they were inherently the best formation, with the combat cultivator blocking the front for her, while she activated her magic and spells, maneuvering and striking down enemies amidst chaos, making it easier to unleash a massacre once she had control over the battlefield.

However, the combat cultivator clearly had no intention of cooperating with others. Upon sensing the overwhelming number of insect race bodyguards, he charged forward recklessly, as if invigorated with adrenaline. In the pitch-black core space of the insect hive, dazzling and bright saber light flickered, the sound of saber light breaking through the air mingled with the hissing of the insect race and the panicked screams of Lü Yingying, creating a cacophony.

Yuk Yaorao sighed, knowing she couldn't rely on the combat cultivator; ultimately, she had to depend on herself.

Not that she necessarily wanted to rely on a companion, but cooperating was simply the best approach. As the most outstanding Divine Sea Realm cultivator of her generation in Jiuxuan World, being brought to the Reincarnation Tree by her elders was the best testament to her capabilities!

Unlike the combat cultivator's brainless and valiant approach, her response was much more orderly: first, focusing force to protect herself, then maneuvering to avoid the insect race's harassment, before finally seeking targets to strike down.

Lu Ye felt exhilarated. Bone carapaces, big insects, little insects—none could withstand the Boulder Mountain Saber blessed by the fairy's blessing.

For the combat cultivator, there were only two types of enemies in this world: those that could be severed, and those that couldn't.

If he relied solely on his own activation of Sharpness spirit runes, slicing through these heavily defended insect race might require more effort, but with the blessing of Lustrous, most problems could be resolved within two or three cuts. Note that the insect race bodyguards here were elite among elites!

The blessing's enhancement to cultivators' strength was no mere exaggeration.

Lu Ye still displayed an apparent cultivation of Level 8, yet the killing power of the Boulder Mountain Saber had skyrocketed, massively boosting his combat potential.

While slaying enemies, he even had the leisure to spare a portion of his mind to observe the situation on Yuk Yaorao's side.

On one hand, the two of them were allies currently. Although there was no substantial cooperation, the mere fact they could join forces to slaughter enemies constituted a form of collaboration, and it wouldn't be proper to ignore her entirely, as he might need to lend a hand if she encountered danger.

On the other hand, he also wanted to gauge the true strength of this female cultivator from Jiuxuan World.

When Yang Qing brought him here, there was no extensive information exchange, but over time, he had gained significant Insight.

The Reincarnation Tree served as a gathering place for monstrous cultivators from major domains. Any brought here by their elders were undoubtedly the most outstanding Divine Sea Realm talents of their respective domains.

This was a perfect opportunity to assess the strength levels across various domains within the stellar space.

Thus, he was keen to ascertain whether the cultivators from other domains were comparatively stronger or weaker than those from the Nine Provinces.

He then realized Yuk Yaorao was overwhelmingly strong! Compared to the cultivators of Nine Provinces, the capabilities she demonstrated were in no way inferior to Lady Moon before her ascension to Constellation.

This was quite incredible.

Lady Moon had accumulated her profound foundation over centuries at the Divine Sea level, yet Yuk Yaorao clearly seemed only in her early twenties, an age disparity of an incalculable scale.

It's undeniable that these larger domains are not to be underestimated. Although ascending to the upper realm seemed somewhat easier than in the past Nine Provinces, resulting in shorter periods of accumulation within certain realms, due to the guidance of stronger mentors, their cultivation path and combat proficiency could skip years of detours, yielding deeper foundations.

A cultivator's strength is not merely the growth of their cultivation realm, but also lies in their heritage and sect's teachings. If we only consider cultivation realm, what value does cultivation hold?

In the future, cultivators of the Nine Provinces will not be inferior to those from other domains, but for now, they are still somewhat lacking.

Of course, Yuk Yaorao being brought to the Reincarnation Tree by her elders indicates she is the pinnacle Divine Sea Realm of Jiuxuan World, so comparing the general state of the Nine Provinces to Jiuxuan's peak might seem somewhat unfair.

Moreover, Yuk Yaorao currently benefits from the blessing of the fairy, enhancing her fighting power compared to her normal state.

However, if we eliminate the possibility that she is not unleashing her full potential, then her strength should be on par with Lady Moon's at that time.

Ultimately, the Nine Provinces are not inferior—what they currently lack is the top-tier combat power, the kind that can hold the fort and prevent external forces from encroaching on the Nine Provinces!

Yang Qing does not count, as he will eventually leave the Nine Provinces, and Lu Ye vaguely senses that this time won't be too long.