142: Chapter 142: Blood-Burning Star-Shattering Body

The peace beneath the Star Spirit Monument vanished completely.

Thick blood seeped from Gangku's eyes as he released his suppression of the Time Demon Source.

The vigorous blood energy of a Diamond Rank Body Cultivator surged and rampaged through his veins.

"You really think I'm afraid of you beasts!"

Gangku roared wildly.

His bronze skin cracked inch by inch, and dark purple Time Demon blood flowed out, yet it did not drip to the ground.

It all hovered in mid-air, transforming into blood-colored runes that branded themselves back onto his bones.

Forbidden Art, Blood-Burning Star-Shattering Body.

His figure towered to five meters, every muscle expanded to its limit.

A Platinum Rank Blade Insect over a dozen meters long launched a sneak attack from the side, its two bone scythes slicing through space, aiming straight for Gangku's head.

Gangku did not dodge or evade.

He raised his right arm, splayed his five fingers, and grabbed the descending bone scythe.

The Law of space cutting ravaged his palm, leaving it dripping with blood and deep enough to see the bone.

Yet Gangku didn't even furrow his brow.

He grinned hideously, his arm muscles bulging.

Crack!

The indestructible bone scythe was snapped by his bare hands.

Gangku took advantage of the momentum and stepped forward, his body shattering the sound barrier as he charged straight into the Blade Insect's embrace.

He unleashed a barrage of punches.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

There were no fancy techniques.

The Blade Insect's dark purple carapace shattered inch by inch under Gangku's iron fists.

In just one second, Gangku threw hundreds of punches, pounding this Platinum Rank insect elite into a puddle of mush.

But it was meaningless.

With one Blade Insect dead, dozens of Heavy Armor Beetles swarmed up from the surroundings.

The Titan patterns on their backs lit up simultaneously, stacking gravity fields.

The ground beneath Gangku's feet collapsed, a thousand times the gravity pressing down on his shoulders.

"Break for me!"

Gangku's feet were nailed into the mud, his waist and abdomen twisted, and his right leg swept out, leaving a blood-red afterimage.

The power of his Qi and blood transformed into a tangible shockwave, snapping the three leading Heavy Armor Beetles in half.

The accompanying backlash rebounded, and Gangku spat out a mouthful of blood, three of his ribs breaking in his chest.

He didn't care at all.

Images of his past plundering in the starry sky flashed through Gangku's mind.

He had once single-handedly slaughtered his way into a low-level immortal cultivation plane and crushed that plane's Divine Beast with his bare hands.

He had stepped over countless corpses, seizing resources, climbing step by step to the Diamond Rank.

He believed in only one principle:

Power is everything. Whoever dares to block his path, he will kill.

"Morgan, that coward!" Gangku cursed in his heart while fighting. "If he had stayed to help me, we definitely could have snatched that stone tablet together!"

"He's just a gutless piece of trash, he deserves to be at the bottom his whole life!"

He never once considered that his own greed was the original sin.

He only believed that others had betrayed him and that the world was unfair to him.

In the sky, hundreds of Black Gold Blade-Feather Demon Vultures swooped down.

They did not engage in melee combat; instead, they hovered in mid-air, flapping their wings incessantly.

Dense Void wind blades wove together into a net of death, descending upon him.

Gangku roared at the sky.

He gathered all the remaining Qi and blood in his body into his fists, and facing that Void net, he unleashed the Peak strike of his life.

The blood-colored fist aura shot into the sky, colliding head-on with the Void wind blades.

On the other side, Aila also met her final moment.

Her mage robe had completely turned to ash.

Black, dead water flowed from the wound piercing her abdomen.

Poison was eroding her magic circuits.

Aila looked at the endless monsters surrounding her, watching the insect swarm filling the gaps with their lives.

She finally understood that Diamond Rank power was pitifully small in the face of this Wasteland Divine Domain.

She gripped the remaining half of her staff tightly.

"I don't want to die here..."

A tear slid from the corner of Aila's eye.

She bit her tongue, using her essence blood to quickly outline complex magic runes in the void.

The multi-element magic core inside her began to tremble, its surface covered in cracks.

A Diamond Rank mage's desperate final strike.

"Elemental Martyrdom!"

Aila shrieked, actively detonating the magic core she had cultivated for hundreds of years.

Wind, fire, water, earth.

Four distinct elemental powers lost all balance in an instant.

Centered on Aila, it rapidly collapsed outward, then exploded.

A multicolored orb of light rose within the sea of insects.

An elemental storm covered an area with a radius of a thousand meters.

High heat melted the soil into magma, extreme cold froze the magma into ice, and wild winds carried sharp earth spikes.

Grinding all the Divine Domain creatures within the explosion's range into fragments.

Tens of thousands of insects, as well as sky and aquatic creatures, were annihilated by this strike.

The light dissipated.

Aila's broken body lay on the edge of the charred crater.

Her lower body had disappeared; only half of her torso remained.

Her life force was rapidly fading, and her vision became blurred.

In the final moment of her life.

The image of Morgan's back as he left appeared in Aila's mind.

That teammate who always stayed calm and always put his clansmen first.

She regretted it.

If she had listened to Morgan's advice back then and turned to leave.

She should still be on the road searching for the antidote now, perhaps still having a glimmer of hope for survival.

It was her greed for the power of the Star Monument, her yearning for an illusory "qualitative leap," that had blinded her eyes.

"I'm sorry..." Aila's lips moved slightly, spitting out the last three words.

Her pupils slowly dilated.

Not far from her, Gangku's battle also came to an end.

The blood-colored fist aura pierced through the Void net, but Gangku had also exhausted his last bit of strength.

A massive Oscillating Liquid Metal Crab burrowed out from underground, its metal pincers clamping onto Gangku's waist.

"I... refuse to accept this!"

Gangku widened his blood-red eyes, grabbing the Liquid Metal Crab's pincers with both hands, still wanting to make a final struggle.

Crack!

The Liquid Metal Crab tightened its pincers, and Gangku's body was snapped in half at the waist.

His upper body fell to the ground, his arms still waving unconsciously twice before becoming rigid.

Until his death, his face remained fixed in an expression of unruliness and resentment.

The battle ended.

Hundreds of thousands of Divine Domain creatures returned to calm.

They didn't even glance at the two corpses on the ground, each returning to their previous positions to continue looking up at the Star Spirit Monument.

Hundreds of Worker Insects crawled out from underground.

They used their mouthparts to clamp onto Gangku and Aila's corpse parts, quickly transporting them in the direction of the New Continent.

A million kilometers away, at the edge of the Central Basin of the New Continent.

Soon, the Worker Insects transported the corpses and remains of Gangku and Aila to the front of the altar.

The Dominator Bugs' mental network activated, and invisible mental tentacles swept over the two remains.

Information data flowed and interacted crazily among forty thousand brains.

"High-level energy fluctuations detected. Energy level assessment: Diamond Rank."

"Individual one: Energy manifestation is pure physical strength, muscle fiber density is extremely high."

"Individual two: Energy manifestation is external elemental resonance, energy crystals exist within the body."

"In-depth analysis at the genetic level..."

The Dominator Bugs conducted analysis rapidly.

The latest genetic sequencing results came from the Queen.

"Warning! Anomaly detected!"

"The surface energy manifestations of the two individuals are completely different, but the core Origin at the bottom of their genes has a one hundred percent overlap."

"Conclusion: These two individuals belong to the same species."

The mental frequency bands of the forty thousand Dominator Bugs fluctuated violently.

This was an emotion similar to human "excitement."

They had lived in the Wasteland Divine Domain for so long and had never seen any creature.

Capable of evolving such completely different power systems while keeping the core genes unchanged.

The Queen began a deeper level of extraction.

A few minutes later, a brand-new genetic segment was stripped out and presented in the Dominator Bugs' mental network.

[Mimicry Gene].

"This gene possesses perfect camouflage capabilities. It can briefly replicate the target creature's characteristics at the genetic level, changing one's own energy fluctuations and external form."

The Dominator Bugs' computing power soared nearly to its limit.

They began to match data between this [Mimicry Gene] and the biggest strategic problem the current insect swarm faced.

The Black Azure Karma Fire of the Extreme North.

To cross that scorched magma land, the insect swarm was undergoing long-term genetic screening.

Every day, hundreds of thousands of insects were reduced to ash in the flames, just so one Worker Insect could mutate an anti-fire gene.

This war of attrition, even for the astonishingly reproductive insect swarm, felt strenuous.

But now, a way to break the situation had appeared.

"Simulation starting."

"If the insect swarm fuses with the [Mimicry Gene], Worker Insects can directly mimic Fire Spirits."

"In the mimicked state, they can be immune to the burning of the Black Azure Karma Fire."

"Survival rate increased to ninety-nine percent. Resource acquisition efficiency increased ten thousand times."

"Simulation ended, strategic objective changed."

Forty thousand Dominator Bugs raised their heads simultaneously.

An invisible mental storm, centered on the New Continent, spread toward the entire Wasteland Divine Domain.

The edge of the Extreme North.

The Heavy Armor Beetle phalanx that was lining up to walk toward the scorched magma land suddenly stopped.

They turned, moved their articulated limbs, and left that sea of fire without hesitation.

Tributary of the Styx.

The Blade Insect swarm that was fighting with Bone Fish suddenly abandoned their prey and dove into the void, disappearing.

The insect swarm of the entire Divine Domain received the highest order at the same time.

"Suspend the Extreme North volcanic gene tempering plan."

"Search the entire domain for unknown intruders."

"Spare no cost to capture living samples."

"Extract the [Mimicry Gene], evolve the whole race!"

The insect swarm had gone mad.

Tens of millions of insects were scattered in every corner of the wasteland.

They burrowed underground, flew into the sky, and even dove into the Styx.

They no longer fought for territory and food; their only goal now.

Was to find those "mimics" hiding in the shadows.

...

Deep in the purple-red wasteland.

Inside the camp shrouded by the Veil of Time, the atmosphere was filled with an inextricable despair.

In just the past three days, over seventy Time Demon clansmen had died from mutation backlash.

The medical team was already dead in all but name.

The remaining twenty-some medical soldiers had overdrawn their Mental Energy and collapsed in the corners of the bunker, without even the strength to move a finger.

The adjutant stood in front of the energy control console in the center of the camp, his eyes bloodshot, staring intently at the jumping data on the screen.

"Lord Adjutant! The energy reserves of Node 3 have fallen below the red line!" a clansman responsible for maintaining the Formation shouted with a hoarse voice.

"Fill in all the spare crystal cores! Quickly!" the adjutant roared.

He turned his head and looked outside the Veil of Time.

Outside the gray light curtain, the purple-red wasteland had been turned upside down.

Crowds of Heavy Armor Beetles were like bulldozers, leveling all the rocks on the surface.

In the sky, dense Plasma Bugs shuttled back and forth, releasing streaks of ghostly blue electric nets to conduct carpet scanning of the ground.

In the past few days, the insect swarm's actions had been completely abnormal.

They seemed to have abandoned all daily activities, sniffing around the wasteland like crazed hounds.

Several times, a few Blade Insects even crawled right along the edge of the Veil of Time.

The Void fluctuations close at hand scared the people in the camp so much that they didn't even dare to breathe.

In order not to be discovered by these crazed insects.

The adjutant could only order continued increases in the energy output of the Veil of Time, raising the concealment level to the maximum.

But this was no different from drinking poison to quench thirst.

The energy crystal core reserves in the camp were being consumed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Once the crystal cores were exhausted and the Veil of Time shattered, the thousand-plus people would be exposed to the sight of these insect swarms.

"Adjutant."

A low voice sounded behind him.

The adjutant turned around; it was Bart.

The greatsword warrior who had killed his own brother, Colin, with his own hands.

Bart's battle armor was covered in dried blood.

His left eye had been clawed out by a mutant in the previous internal turmoil, leaving only a bloody hole.

Behind Bart followed hundreds of wounded Time Demon warriors.

Their eyes were numb and hollow, yet they held the ferocity of dying beasts.

"Bart, what are you doing gathering people here? Get back to your defense lines!" the adjutant scolded sharply.

Bart didn't move; his remaining right eye stared straight at the adjutant.

"Captain Ryan and his team have been out for five days." Bart's voice was very soft.

The adjutant was stunned for a moment, then forced himself to remain calm: "Captain Ryan and his team are searching for the antidote; this Divine Domain is too big, it takes time."

"Don't lie to us." Bart interrupted him. "We are wanderers, not fools."

"Five days without any news sent back, and outside are those monsters that don't even spit out bones. They are long dead."

A burst of sobbing came from the crowd.

The heroes had not returned.

This was the final straw that crushed their psychological defense line.

"Even if Ryan and the others are dead, the leader is still here!" The adjutant raised his voice, trying to use Mor's prestige to suppress this despair.

"The leader is in the laboratory researching the serum! As long as the serum is developed, we can cure the mutation and survive!"

"Serum?" Bart sneered, pointing to a puddle of pus that had just melted not far away.

"You've been talking about the serum every day for the past few days."

"But what's the result? The brothers are still rotting one by one."

Bart took a step forward and said loudly:

"Adjutant, we aren't afraid of death. But we don't want to hide in this shell like insects and wait to die."

"Go ask the leader." Bart pointed to the tightly closed metal door deep in the camp. "Go ask him, how far has the serum research actually gotten?"

"If it can't be developed, let him come out and take charge of the situation!"

"Yes! Let the leader come out!"

"We want to know the truth!"

"At worst, we'll rush out and fight those insects to the death!"

Hundreds of warriors stepped forward simultaneously, the sound waves echoing within the camp.

The crowd was indignant, and the situation had reached the edge of spiraling out of control.

The adjutant looked at this group of red-eyed clansmen; he knew he couldn't keep feeding them empty promises.

Once the cornerstone of trust collapsed, this remnant army would fall apart in an instant.

"Fine."

The adjutant nodded in agreement, suppressing the panic in his heart.

"I'll go see the leader right now."

He turned and walked toward the sealed laboratory in the deepest part of the camp.

With every step, the adjutant's heart sank a little further.

He knew better than anyone that Mor had not made any sound for the past few days.

Behind that door, whether it was the life-saving serum or another abyss, he had no certainty.

The adjutant arrived in front of the metal door.

He stopped, adjusted his somewhat damaged battle armor, and calmed his emotions.

He raised his hand and pressed it onto the access switch.

Pshh—

The sound of the airlock depressurizing rang out, and the metal door slid open to both sides.

The adjutant held his breath and stepped inside.