61: Chapter 61: The Shadow of the Phantom Crystal Worm

Just seconds before Dylan woke up from his feigned sleep, the Eye of Omniscience, which had been monitoring Blake, detected abnormal fluctuations.

These two anomalies came from two different locations.

One was Blake, who was beside Byron, and the other was on a sand dune not far away, which should have been the thing that was probing them earlier.

Upon seeing the abnormal Soul fluctuations emanating from Blake, Byron immediately understood that Blake must be a Soul Wizard.

This type of wizard believes that the Soul is the true essence of a wizard, while the Physical Body is merely a vessel, specializing in the study of the nature of the Soul, Mental Energy, will, consciousness...

In this way, it also well explained why Dylan wanted him to stay with him.

It must be that Dylan wanted to rely on Blake's research on the Soul to track down the thing that was probing them.

As for why the anomaly in Blake hadn't been detected before.

That was entirely because Byron hadn't thought in that direction, and the Soul fluctuations Blake had previously emitted were within a normal range, not as intense as when using Soul Wizardry.

Thus, among wizards who all Cultivate the Soul, who would specifically pay attention to the normal Soul fluctuations of any one wizard?

Byron kept this mistake in mind and had the Eye of Omniscience record and archive it to avoid making such an error again the next time he encountered a Soul Wizard.

The thing on the sand dune was also of the Worm Race, but it was different from the Soldier Worm and the Crystal Core Guardian; it was clearly a new breed of the Worm Race.

The creature of the Worm Race was one and a half meters tall, with a slender body distributed in a hexagonal crystal shape. Each segment had three pairs of crystalline thin legs, with no eyes or mouth, and was pale blue and translucent throughout its body.

If it weren't for repeated comparisons confirming its connection to the Worm Race, Byron would certainly have thought it was an entirely new species of the Ghost Marrow Crystal Nest Plane upon seeing this creature.

Furthermore, while running, Byron witnessed with his own eyes its body transforming from translucent to transparent.

It occurred to him that this change must be a type of invisibility ability belonging to this mutated Worm Race creature.

Furthermore, why was Byron certain that it was the thing that had been probing them earlier?

It was because at the moment before its death, Byron discovered through the holographic map constructed by the Eye of Omniscience that the Worm Race within a five-hundred-meter radius around it began to move.

Clearly, this creature of the Worm Race wanted to command those of the Worm Race to save its life.

Although the process was very brief, this specific change was quite obvious, and Byron was still able to distinguish it.

Just at this moment, Byron's eyes flickered, and he used his peripheral vision to look into the darkness behind Blake.

But he only glanced at it for a moment, then quickly withdrew his gaze, continuing to act as before without revealing the slightest anomaly.

A few seconds later, Blake also seemed to have discovered something; a touch of joy appeared on his face, and he hurriedly turned his head to look.

The others were stunned at first by Blake's actions, but then they reacted, and expressions of joy appeared on their faces as well, with Byron being no exception.

" Bang— "

Just at this moment, a dark shadow flew out from the darkness and landed heavily in front of the group.

This figure was nothing else but the mutated creature of the Worm Race that Byron had previously seen through the Eye of Omniscience.

Seeing the mutated creature of the Worm Race that had fallen not far ahead, the four of them, including Byron, immediately gathered around and began to examine it carefully.

After all, this was their first time seeing such a creature of the Worm Race, and they were inevitably curious, wanting to dissect it a little to see what differences it had from the ordinary Worm Race.

Just then, a voice filled with joy suddenly rang out.

" This thing is called a Phantom Crystal Worm Shadow, and it is also a type of the Worm Race, equivalent to the level of a Second-Rank or Third-Rank Wizard Apprentice. "

" Although its strength is not powerful, compared to the Crystal Core Guardian, its abilities are very unique. Not only can it turn invisible, but it can even command the ordinary Worm Race around it based on its own strength. "

" Within a nest of the Worm Race, besides the Mother Worm being able to command the Worm Race in its own nest, only this kind of creature can command them. "

Hearing this, Byron looked at the Phantom Crystal Worm Shadow lying on the ground, his eyes becoming burning hot.

If this thing can command the ordinary Worm Race just like a Mother Worm, then doesn't that mean this creature contains something the same as the Mother Worm?

Otherwise, by what right could it command the Worm Race?

Moreover, it must be known that until now, not a single Mother Nest had been brought down, nor had a Mother Worm ever been captured.

Now that such a substitute for a Mother Worm had appeared before him, Byron really couldn't imagine how much knowledge he could discover from this creature's body.

But in the end, Byron suppressed the impulse in his heart and did not speak up to trade for this thing.

Besides the desire for knowledge, wizards also have restraint.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be wizards, but slaves to knowledge.

Elena suddenly spoke up: " Then why did it probe us earlier? "

Hearing Elena's doubt, Dylan explained with a smile: " If the Crystal Core Guardian is a knight guarding the Mother Worm, then this Phantom Crystal Worm Shadow can be called the scout of the Mother Nest. "

" Unlike the Crystal Core Guardian, which stays in the Mother Nest most of the time, this thing spends most of its time wandering outside, clearing dangers for the Mother Nest. "

" Such as wizards like us who want to conquer the Mother Nest, or the Worm Race sent out by other secondary Mother Nests that want to replace the status of the Mother Nest. "

Hearing this, Byron narrowed his eyes and thought to himself.

Could it be that these Worm Race are like those nations? Although they are all of the Human Race, different nations will still attack each other to replace positions.

It seems that from ancient times to the present, the Worm Race occupying the three great Mother Nest positions are not eternal, but will change.

But nations attack each other to fight for territory, population, resources...

But why do these Worm Race attack each other? Could it also be for resources?

Thinking of this, Byron thought of the energy crystal he had obtained earlier, as well as the unknown active enzyme capable of resisting the crystallization erosion of the Ghost Marrow Crystal Nest Plane.

On the other side, Dylan's voice continued.

" And I couldn't be certain before because this place is too far from the place Byron mentioned where he saw the Crystal Core Guardian; that place was even close to the edge of the Desert. "

" Generally speaking, the Phantom Crystal Worm Shadow would not run that far; after all, the further away from the Mother Nest, the difficulty of controlling the ordinary Worm Race increases exponentially. "

" And this doubt, I still haven't figured out until now, why it would run so far. "

" Is it because something happened to the Mother Nest? Or is it because the commotion we caused was too big? Or perhaps this is just a coincidence? "

Finally, Dylan kept stating his doubts.

He did this to try to get the few people present to think along with him; if there really was an answer, that would truly be an unexpected joy.

However, when he spoke these words, everyone else was pondering, but only Elena waved her hand indifferently.

" Why think so much? When we find the Desert Mother Nest and see the situation inside, won't all doubts be resolved? "

Once these words were spoken, the four people, including Byron, were stunned, staring blankly at Elena.

It wasn't that what Elena said didn't make sense, but because what she said made so much damn sense.

This momentarily left them unable to adapt.

Byron also knew that Elena had intermittent flashes of wit, so he was more easily able to accept it and was the fastest to recover.

Byron agreed: " Senior's words make sense. Instead of wasting time daydreaming here, we might as well hurry up and find the Mother Nest. "

Jimmy also nodded hesitantly: " That makes sense, but... "

Hearing that both of them agreed with her proposal, Elena said proudly: " Then let's all rest early and strive to find the Mother Nest tomorrow. "

Seeing this, Dylan also smiled and agreed with Elena's words.

Over the next few days, the five of them traveled back and forth between the camp and the Desert Forbidden Zone, following the traces of that original Crystal Core Guardian to search for the whereabouts of the Mother Nest.