Sage of Humanity

After speaking, the Loathesome Aphid added, "If Fellow Daoist is still not satisfied, then we can only fight to the death. I may not be your match, but before I perish, I can still destroy those things. The choice is yours, Fellow Daoist!"

He would not plead bitterly for someone to spare his life. Since the other party appeared here, many things were evident, and incessant begging would only encourage others to go further, especially the Blood Race known for their greed!

Properly lowering one's stance while holding on to the last line is the correct way personalities like them should interact.

Lu Ye's thoughts turned; the situation was now clear. The other party had mistaken him for a Blood Race and thought he was here to compete for something. He had three gains here and was willing to give up to two to let him off!

As for what the gains were, Lu Ye was unsure, but he could roughly guess.

But, thinking back, were the Blood Race and Insect Race allies? It was strange, yet on second thought, these two races were no good entities, always fond of invading and looting others' domains. Birds of a feather flock together, after all.

Had the Loathesome Aphid not mentioned the three gains, he would have certainly wielded his saber. But with suspicions in mind, he couldn't let the other party go for broke.

So he spoke calmly, "Deal!"

The Loathesome Aphid finally breathed a sigh of relief, afraid that this Blood Race wouldn't care. Then he would indeed have to fight to the death while destroying the three gains.

There was no chance of victory; he would likely perish here, but he couldn't let others profit for nothing.

"Words are not enough; I ask Fellow Daoist to swear a bloodline oath!" The Loathesome Aphid didn't let his guard down just because Lu Ye agreed. Throughout history, countless have been killed due to slight negligence; advanced Insect Races can be cunning, and so can the Blood Race!

A bloodline oath again!

Lu Ye heard about this from Number Nine; supposedly, only a bloodline oath could restrain Yang Qing since the Dragon Race places immense importance on bloodlines. Once sworn, it cannot be broken.

The Blood Race has a system of bloodlines too. Lu Ye gained many Blood Race secret techniques while refining the Sacred Blood, but the bloodline oath was unfamiliar to him.

How to swear it? If the procedure or vow is incorrect, it would arouse suspicion from the other party.

He could only feign with authority, "Do you not trust me?"

The Loathesome Aphid said in a deep voice, "If Fellow Daoist does not swear, it will lead to mutual destruction!" As he spoke, he wiped his waist, and three bags appeared in his hand.

He was in the Blood Sea, affected by it, and unable to see Lu Ye clearly. But Lu Ye could perceive his situation through the Blood Sea and found that the three bags brought out were indeed three spirit beast sacks!

Just as he thought, the three spirit beast sacks held the Insect Race's three gains this time!

While Lu Ye contemplated making a casual vow to bluff the other party, suddenly, Lü Yingying's transmission came to his ears.

The Fairy Race is indeed unreliable and timid, but due to their long lifespan and other special reasons, they are the most knowledgeable race.

Lu Ye did not understand the Blood Race's bloodline oath, but Lü Yingying did.

He remained expressionless and slowly spoke, "I, Li Taibai of the Blood World, swear by the name of the supreme Blood Ancestor. If Fellow Daoist Loathesome Aphid of the Insect Emperor World is willing to give me two gains, I will let him leave without disturbance. If violated, may my bloodline burn within."

As his words echoed, the Blood Sea at the insect hive core surged violently, spontaneously creating numerous large and small undercurrents.

It seemed the bloodline oath mysteriously applied some restraint, but in reality, Lu Ye just slightly activated the Blood Sea's power; otherwise, it wouldn't have convinced others.

It was Lü Yingying's advice; without Lü Yingying by his side, achieving such an authentic effect would be impossible.

After Lu Ye's voice fell, he felt the Loathesome Aphid on the opposite side visibly relax; his face still showed discontent, but he wasn't as vigilant as before.

He raised his hand and tossed out two of the three spirit beast sacks. Lu Ye controlled the Blood Sea's undercurrent to pull them to him, checked carefully to ensure they were tampered with, and then leisurely put them away.

An unexpected gain...

His intention was to handle the insect hive via the Tree World's path; he didn't expect to encounter a strong Insect Race, nor that events would unfold like this.

The other party still had one spirit beast sack...

He had to make it complete somehow.

"Li Taibai of the Blood World..." Loathesome Aphid murmured softly, "I'll remember you! But please rest assured, Fellow Daoist. What happened today is known only to us and will not reach a third party."

As he mentioned earlier, if this matter were leaked, he would be the first to suffer. The high-ranking officials of the Insect Emperor World would surely hold him accountable, and no matter how talented he was, his future would be bleak.

After speaking, Loathesome Aphid turned and swept towards the direction of the Insect Path.

His Mental Consciousness remained locked on Lu Ye's position. Despite the restraint of the Blood Race's blood oath, he didn't believe this Blood Race member would dare to break the vow. Still, one must always remain cautious, a necessary mindset for cultivators of all major races traveling through stellar space.

The other party showed no intention of blocking or moving, merely waiting in silence for his departure, which pleased Loathesome Aphid greatly.

The distance to the Insect Path grew increasingly short, and through the edge of the Blood Sea, the vague outline of the Insect Path was faintly visible.

With one more step, he had left the Blood Sea!

It was only then that Loathesome Aphid's entire body fully relaxed.

At that moment, within the Blood Sea, two Void Spirit Runes formed simultaneously!

One appeared beneath Lu Ye's feet, the other at the edge of the Blood Sea behind Loathesome Aphid.

The instant the two spirit runes formed, they shattered, but Lu Ye, who was originally standing deep within the Blood Sea, appeared behind Loathesome Aphid with spectral swiftness.

Yang Qing had demonstrated his mysterious ability to appear and vanish suddenly more than once in front of Lu Ye and the Nine Provinces cultivators, his movements impossible for anyone in Nine Provinces to trace, leaving people in awe, marveling at his god-like skills.

Although Lu Ye's current technique was significantly different from Yang Qing's, the effect was the same.

This was why he was always so fixated on the appearance of Void Spirit Runes on his Talent Tree, because using Void Spirit Runes as a foundation, he constructed a unique assassination method that required him to instantly create two Void Spirit Runes simultaneously, facilitating a short-distance teleportation!

The derivation of the Void Spirit Runes had long been completed, now imprinted on the newly burning leaves of the Talent Tree. Although perhaps not perfect and in need of improvement, it was the extent of Lu Ye's current capability for derivation. As his cultivation deepens and his mastery of the Path of Spirit Runes improves, he could further refine and amend it later.

Thus, Lu Ye need not worry about the possibility of construction failure.

Every drop of Blood Water in the Blood Sea could serve as a carrier and medium for forming Void Spirit Runes.

Loathesome Aphid thought he was safe once he'd left the Blood Sea, unaware that the moment his guard relaxed was the very time Lu Ye's killing attack would explode.

Under normal circumstances, even without this kind of sudden ambush, Lu Ye had the ability to kill Loathesome Aphid here; their previous skirmish had already proven this fact. However, to prevent the opponent from destroying that last spirit beast sack, he had to act this way.

Loathesome Aphid never expected that a Blood Race member would dare to ignore the recently sworn bloodline oath. It was something he perceived as an impossibility, which was why he let his guard down, subconsciously feeling he was secure.

When he realized something was wrong and wanted to resist, it was already too late.

At the entrance of the Insect Path, at the edge of the Blood Sea, a big sun suddenly rose, blooming like a lotus flower. However, the petals of this lotus were sharp saber lights.

The lion fights the rabbit with full strength; Lu Ye intended to take down his opponent in the shortest time possible, so why would he hold back? Therefore, he attacked with his strongest killing move from the start.

A severed arm flew out, clutching a spirit beast sack. Lu Ye reached out to grab it, looking calmly forward.

The light of the Saber Lotus gradually faded, and Loathesome Aphid, missing an arm, stood in place, his already protruding compound eyes nearly bulging out.

Because standing in front of him was not the Blood Race member he imagined but a human!

How could this be?

Loathesome Aphid clearly wanted to say something but could no longer speak. A gentle breeze blew past from outside the Insect Path, and his whole body collapsed into fragments, blood flowing everywhere.

Lu Ye bent down to pick up the two short maces from his hands, inspected them briefly, and found them to be made of excellent material, of exceptional quality. These things weren't materials that ordinary domains could produce, most likely obtained from some part of stellar space or the Insect Emperor World.

Satisfied in his heart, he thought, "These materials will be perfect for reforging the Boulder Mountain Saber!"

For Lu Ye, the Boulder Mountain Saber was something he couldn't easily abandon. But as his cultivation continuously improved, the Boulder Mountain Saber needed constant upgrading. Although one or two instances were manageable, repeated upgrades could lead to unforeseen complications.

Fortunately, he acquired the Soul Severing Saber from the Hall of Battle Merits, which could be perfectly integrated into the Boulder Mountain Saber, allowing many restrictions to form under his control, thereby enhancing the quality of the Boulder Mountain Saber.

Thus, after obtaining the Soul Severing Saber, the reforging of the Boulder Mountain Saber became much simpler. He only needed to continuously enhance the saber's material quality to better match his current cultivation, while the restrictions within could be entirely replaced by the Soul Severing Saber.

This perfectly avoided any possibility of the Boulder Mountain Saber breaking or becoming damaged during continuous upgrades.

Besides that, there was also a ring worn on Loathesome Aphid's hand, seemingly ordinary, the purpose of which was unclear.

Picking it up and inspecting it briefly, he discovered it was filled with restrictions and felt oddly familiar to him, like an extremely complex restriction lock.