Star Odyssey Chapter 3329: The Furball Verdant Sage

Chapter 3329: The Furball Verdant Sage

Lu Yin’s expression grew heavy. The crown prince of the West Mountain Dynasty had been nothing more than bait to lure him and the others away. By the time they found the prince, the Verdant Sage had already escaped.

How impressive! It was no wonder why Great Elder Shan Gu had claimed that every Verdant Sage was a disaster. They were incredibly intelligent and naturally possessed the most ideal abilities for whatever universe they sp.a.w.ned in. After developing, they would be incredibly difficult to deal with.

The situation had just become much more complicated.

“Did the Verdant Sage take the Nest too?” Lu Yin asked Prince Xi in a calm voice.

The crown prince coughed up more blood, the light fading from his eyes. He soon died, unable to even speak a single word.

A group of people from the Infinity Empire raced over from the distance. All of them bowed to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin let out a heavy breath. “It’s over.”

Shang Tianzong and the others present all felt puzzled, but none of them dared to ask any questions.

Lu Yin did not leave. He remained standing where he was. No one knew what was going through his mind.

Were the Verdant Sages clever? Of course they were.

From the very first moment it had fought against Ce w.a.n.gtian and the mechas, the Verdant Sage had already been planning its retreat. It had always believed that there had to be a powerful civilization in the megaverse. If not, why would it have been sent here? All Verdant Sages were born with a mission.

The fact that Ce w.a.n.gtian had felt confident to attack as soon as he had seen the universe full of insects had been an indication of the strength of his civilization.

While the Verdant Sage was fighting against Ce w.a.n.gtian, it had also been controlling the other insects to capture the mechas in the neighboring parallel universes. It had done so in order to learn more about the megaverse and to get away from the West Mountain Dynasty's universe.

It had already wrung out all the value from the dynasty’s crown prince.

The Verdant Sage had initially believed that it could defeat Ce w.a.n.gtian and his mechas, which would give it time to slowly learn more about their civilization. However, Ce w.a.n.gtian’s strength had far surpa.s.sed the insect’s expectations, and upon realizing that it was no match for the human, the insect had instinctively realized that it needed to flee. However, escape would not be easy, especially since there was no way to know if Ce w.a.n.gtian was the strongest powerhouse in his civilization. Logically, he should not be. The strongest individual in a civilization should not be the one leading the vanguard.

The Verdant Sage had considered many possibilities and had originally planned to go with the safest option, which was simply tearing the void and running to a random parallel universe, as that would have guaranteed its safety. However, the insect’s pride and arrogance had pushed it to attempt another option: invade the Infinity Empire and use the crown prince as bait while it escaped to the stronger civilization’s universe.

The Verdant Sage had been confident in its chances of success, and it had planned things out meticulously. While the sea of insects attacked the Infinity Empire, the Verdant Sage had casually made its way to an unknown universe. This universe had to belong to a powerful civilization, and there, it would be possible to gather more information. Much to the Verdant Sage’s surprise, it had been ambushed.

The moment Lu Yin had realized that the Verdant Sage might try to invade the Infinity Empire, he had ordered Ce w.a.n.gtian to wait in ambush at the connection point between the Infinity Empire’s universe and the Origin Universe. This was not because Lu Yin had predicted the enemy’s actions. Rather, Lu Yin had regarded the Verdant Sage as the most cunning foe imaginable. However, the smarter a creature was, the more often they enjoyed taking risks and toying with others.

True G.o.d was just the same. He had wanted Progenitor Hui to witness the destruction of his own civilization. So, even when True G.o.d had known that Hui Wu was a spy, he had not done anything about it. This had let Progenitor Hui leverage the situation; when Hui Wu had been condemned to become a frenzied corpse, Progenitor Hui had replaced his son, which had subsequently secured humanity’s victory during the battle at the Immemorial Citadel.

Progenitor Hui had even made a point to intervene in order to redirect a disaster towards the Sixth Mainland.

There were also w.a.n.g Wen and Wei Rong. Were both of them not also exceptionally intelligent?

Lu Yin had encountered many brilliant people who always had backup plans prepared. This had also been true when Lu Yin had been dealing with Blackless G.o.d.

The arrogance of brilliant people was what often led to their own downfall.

Lu Yin had merely taken a few precautions. He had not expected the Verdant Sage to be quite so arrogant. If the insect had successfully escaped, Lu Yin and his people would have been humiliated, and by an insect at that.

Lu Yin studied the Verdant Sage that Ce w.a.n.gtian had thrown to the ground. "You’re very clever."

Ce w.a.n.gtian had trimmed away all of the Verdant Sage’s vines, which left the creature looking like a furball with eyes.

"Human, how did you know where I would be?" the Verdant Sage asked in a crisp voice.

Ce w.a.n.gtian looked over at Lu Yin with open admiration. At such a critical time, how could anyone have considered so many different details? While Lu Yin was practically a child, he was well qualified to lead humanity to the peak. He was the Dao Monarch of the Heavens Sect, and he had instantly and thoroughly considered how to react to a potential crisis.

If Lu Yin had been even a moment later, the creature would have escaped.

Lu Yin looked at the Verdant Sage. “I didn’t know. I guessed.”

The creature was surprised. "You guessed my escape route? Quite clever. Are you the ruler of this human civilization?"

"You could say that."

"I admire you, human. How much do you know about us?"

"We know everything that we need to know. We are aware of each insect's traits and abilities, including yours, Verdant Sage," Lu Yin stated.

Verdant Sage's severed vines swayed as replied, "Since you know about me, then you should understand just how powerful I am. Given time, I could become your greatest ally. You won’t kill me, will you?"

Lu Yin chuckled and pointed at the crown prince’s corpse. “You want me to end up like him?”

"Human, you are different from him. He was ambitious, but he was also an incompetent wastrel. On the other hand, you have subdued me," the Verdant Sage countered.

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back as he looked down at the Verdant Sage. "Subdued?"

"Yes, subdued," the Verdant Sage stressed.

The nearby people all took a step forward. They were curious, and they stared at the Verdant Sage. It was clearly nothing more than a furball, yet it had seriously used the word “subdued.”

Ce w.a.n.gtian’s eyes narrowed. Subdued the creature? If that were possible, then the Verdant Sage would indeed prove to be valuable. An entire sea of insects, in addition to the Verdant Sage's own strength and intelligence? It would be a waste if the creature died.

For Spirit Nidus’s forthcoming invasion of the Tianyuan Megaverse, there would be nothing to fear if humanity could ally with the insects of the Nests.

Lu Yin said nothing as he fell into his own thoughts.

The Verdant Sage was in no hurry either.

Soon, more and more of the Heavens Sect’s powerhouses appeared. Even Hongyan Mavis arrived. After hearing about the Verdant Sage, everyone was curious about the creature.

Great Elder Shan Gu rushed over, his expression constantly changing he stared at the furball that lay at Lu Yin's feet.

"Dao Monarch, is this the Verdant Sage?"

Lu Yin nodded. "That's what it claims."

The Great Elder studied the Verdant Sage. The creature looked up and met the old man’s eyes, but it was unbothered. This human did not seem to be particularly strong.

The Lost Clan’s power was in their cards, rather than in their bodies. Shan Gu's presence was far less intimidating than Lu Yin's.

"Great Elder, is it a Verdant Sage?" Lu Yin asked.

Shan Gu replied, "I’m not sure. Verdant Sages don’t have any fixed form, they simply take on the form that is most suitable for cultivating in whatever universe they are born in. Each Verdant Sage will always have the standard abilities of the Nests’ eight lesser insects, but beyond that, the creatures are able to develop many more abilities through cultivation and training, given enough time. Every Verdant Sage is an exceptionally talented cultivator."

The Verdant Sage was taken aback. “Human, you seem to know a lot about us. If that’s the case, then you should also understand how much we can help you.

"I choose to submit."

The Great Elder just sneered. "Stop playing such games. Submit? Verdant Sages only submit to one being: the Immortal Lord."

The creature was truly shocked, and its eyes blazed brightly as it stared at Great Elder Shan Gu. “Who are you?”

Shan Gu’s voice dropped low. "Insect, all of the bugs sp.a.w.ned from a Nest will only obey the Immortal Lord. Even if you submit to us now, the moment the Immortal Lord appears, you will betray us. Verdant Sage, stop playing these games. I know more about you than you even know."

The Verdant Sage was quite confused. No matter how smart it might be, it could not make any sense of its current situation.

It had been born in the Tianyuan Megaverse, and it only knew what it had learned from that megaverse. The only other bit of knowledge that the Verdant Sage possessed was that of the distant and inevitable Immortal Lord, to whom it had to submit. It had no knowledge of the Lost Clan's home megaverse, let alone the Lost Clan itself. To the Verdant Sage, humans were entirely new lifeforms.

Great Elder Shan Gu's comprehensive knowledge made the Verdant Sage uneasy, and it had sensed that the situation had already moved completely outside of its expectations.

Shan Gu turned to face Lu Yin, and he deeply bowed to the younger man. "Dao Monarch, please destroy this Verdant Sage. Any mature Verdant Sage is a powerful enemy. They are no less dangerous than the Aeternals Three Pillars and Six Skies. With the Nests, each Verdant Sage is just as great a threat as all of Aeternus."

These words sounded like an exaggeration, but when Lu Yin recalled the sea of insects that he had just seen, he no longer believed that to be the case.

Ce w.a.n.gtian had led eighty-two mechas to fight against a horde of insects, and ultimately, about ten mechas had been destroyed. Even then, the numbers had been limited due to the fact that the mechas had managed to retreat in time. If they had pulled back even a little later, the insects would have destroyed all of the mechas.

The mechas that had gone with Ce w.a.n.gtian had all been as strong as a peak powerhouse, or even as strong as a sequence powerhouse.

The insects’ greatest advantage was their sheer numbers. They were endless, and their numbers were terrifying.

While Aeternus had once possessed numerous corpse kings, those numbers were incomparable to the insect swarms. The two were not even on the same scale.

If the Verdant Sage was able to control its Nest and mature, then even if the creature’s individual strength was ignored, just the flood of insects it could command would bring disaster upon humanity.

“Humans, don’t kill me! I am invaluable! I am smart, and I can quickly adapt to your universes. I can help you cultivate and allow you to command the swarms of insects. Do you have enemies? I can help you deal with them. The swarms of insects are unbeatable.” The Verdant Sage was badly frightened, and it shot a hate-filled glance at Great Elder Shan Gu before desperately pleading its case.

Lu Yin was truly reluctant to kill the creature. The swarms of insects were much more formidable than his armies of black energy converter users or mechas. Lu Yin had even considered the possible necessity of sacrificing the Tianyuan Megaverse during the war against Spirit Nidus. If swarms of insects could be used instead, then it would be much like how Progenitor Xi wanted to use the Tianyuan Megaverse against Spirit Nidus. Controlling swarms of insects would essentially mean pitting the Nests’ megaverse against Spirit Nidus.

Lu Yin had frequently employed such tactics over the years. He was quite adept at leveraging other powers against his enemies.

Seeing Lu Yin’s hesitation, Great Elder Shan Gu bowed low once again. "Dao Monarch, have you forgotten our earlier conversation? Nests cannot be used. They cannot be allowed to grow. Even if we succeed in defeating Spirit Nidus, how will we deal with the Nests’ megaverse afterward?

"The moment the Immortal Lord appears, all of the insects will become our enemies. Dao Monarch, you cannot be tempted by the Nests."

Hongyan Mavis interjected, “How is using the Nests against Spirit Nidus any different from how Cang Xiaoxue used a Nest to get revenge?”

Lu Yin closed his eyes. "True, there's no difference."

“If there’s a way to prevent the Tianyuan Megaverse from suffering countless casualties, why not take it?” Ce w.a.n.gtian added. He had personally experienced just how terrifying an endless insect swarm could be.

Great Elder Shan Gu frowned. "You are underestimating these insects. They are a much greater threat than Spirit Nidus. These insects are not human, and they even devour humans. They will bring about much greater despair than Spirit Nidus, especially since they also have creatures like the Scrollbane Centipedes, which can erase entire civilizations.

"Dao Monarch, you gave me your word."

The Verdant Sage's voice rang out. "Spirit Nidus? Are they your enemies? Then things are quite simple—let me deal with them. I will help you defeat this powerful enemy so that humanity won’t have to suffer any losses. You humans have family and friends and form emotional bonds with others. We don’t. Let my swarms of insects fight your enemies for you. You will lose nothing, humans."

OMA's Thoughts

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA