It's not safe here. Let's go!

At the sound, Yang Yu turned to look at Zhao Zixuan.

When he saw him kneel in salute, Yang Yu frowned and waved his hand... A dense, pale blue energy brimming with vitality immediately appeared. It spread rapidly, filling the surrounding space and lifting Zhao Zixuan from his knees.

"Rise."

Yang Yu's voice was calm, betraying little emotion.

His gaze remained fixed on Zhao Zixuan, as though he were admiring a peerless treasure.

He had been busy all night, and during the first half, he had even fallen unconscious from his severe injuries... After waking, he had only spent a brief moment with Zhao Zixuan before throwing himself wholeheartedly into unsealing the Insect Codex.

This was the first time Yang Yu had taken a close look at Zhao Zixuan since his transformation was complete!

Now, Yang Yu's gaze burned with intensity.

Wherever his gaze fell, he could easily sense every cell and muscle fiber within Zhao Zixuan's body, seeing them with perfect clarity!

After studying him for a while, Yang Yu finally withdrew his gaze.

In the dim cave, Yang Yu marveled, "Truly worthy of being one of the commanders singled out in the Insect Race's legacy, capable of vastly enhancing a legion's strength and commanding the ferocious insects under their charge as effortlessly as their own limbs... the Blade Queen!"

"Perfect! Absolutely perfect!"

"Although your physical strength is only at the Earth Rank, your genetic structure has already reached the limit of what's currently possible. Even as the master, my own physical enhancement is only slightly superior to yours."

Zhao Zixuan smiled faintly, his smile like flowers blooming in early spring, as though even the dark, chilly cave had brightened a little.

He spoke in a clear, melodious voice like an oriole's song. "Master, you flatter me. Everything I have was bestowed by you. Without you, I would still be an ordinary mortal... or I would already have been tortured to death by those four outer disciples of the Ghost Infant Sect."

"Enough." Yang Yu raised a hand, stopping Zhao Zixuan.

"There's no need for such formalities. You are the Blade Queen under my command... From now on, you will also hold second-level command authority over my war insects. You will fight beside me, facing life and death! We will crush and annihilate all those hostile factions descended from the Immortal Civilization!"

"I trust you completely."

Yang Yu laid out his thoughts, then continued, "Since you are now my most trusted confidant, let's dispense with unnecessary courtesies. The situation is tense. First, tell me everything that happened while I was unconscious."

"What happened afterward to Elder Xu, the Ghost Infant Sect's Earth Rank expert? Did you defeat him or kill him?"

"Tell me every route you took after clearing the battlefield, in detail. Don't leave anything out!"

The more Yang Yu spoke, the more serious his expression became.

Zhao Zixuan's expression grew tense as well.

"Master..."

Then he recounted everything that had happened afterward, detail by detail, both verbally and by using the primal energy within his body to create images, conveying the entire account to Yang Yu.

The process was time-consuming and tedious.

Yet neither the speaker nor the listener... neither Zhao Zixuan nor Yang Yu grew impatient. Both remained perfectly patient.

Time slowly slipped away as the account unfolded.

It seemed that only an instant had passed.

Yet more than half a day had gone by... It was already afternoon.

Now, Yang Yu's expression kept shifting.

His mind worked at full capacity, and large beads of sweat seeped from his forehead.

The power of his Fate Soul also aided his thinking, pushing the activity of his brain cells to its limit, far beyond that of many Earth Rank cultivators.

As cultivators advanced in strength, their lives underwent one transformation after another.

Their muscles, bones, genes, cells, and even their brains were strengthened, greatly accelerating their thought processes... As their strength advanced, they could read, learn, and even think with efficiency far beyond ordinary mortals.

Yang Yu now possessed Earth Rank strength.

Moreover, his enhancement had been as perfect as possible... Even at the Earth Rank, he could rival many Heaven Tier cultivators among the descendants of the Immortal Civilization who practiced ordinary supernatural arts.

On top of that, his Fate Soul's power further amplified the speed of his thoughts.

Anything that forced him to devote his full mental effort had to be extraordinarily difficult.

Finding an answer was no easy task!

The current situation was complicated, and Yang Yu was indeed pondering a troubling problem... He was searching for a way out!

The Ghost Infant Sect was a powerful force.

Its sect master was a long-established Heaven Tier expert... Compared with many obscure Heaven Tier experts, Du Xingze, master of the Ghost Infant Sect, was far, far stronger.

The man even had a record of killing Heaven Tier experts!

He had reached the Heaven Tier over a century ago... Over those long years, no fewer than ten Heaven Tier experts had died at his hands!

Yang Yu had no desire to confront such an expert head-on at present.

The risk was too great!

His advancement had given him enough strength to fight ordinary Heaven Tier experts without fear despite being at the Earth Rank himself. Zhao Zixuan, who served under him, was only slightly weaker.

Yet Yang Yu still had no intention of taking needless risks.

There would certainly be a showdown between him and the Ghost Infant Sect to settle every grievance.

But not now!

Yang Yu still had plenty of room to grow stronger. The Insect Codex had just been unsealed, and his physical strength had just been enhanced to the peak of the Earth Rank... He could now practice the second movement of the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score. Once he completed it, his Fate Soul's power would also increase greatly!

With that increase in his Fate Soul's power, he could vastly expand his Giant Mantis Beast legion!

The gap between the Earth Rank and the Human Tier was enormous.

If he cultivated his Fate Soul's power to the peak of the Earth Rank as well, his Giant Mantis Beast legion would expand from its original twenty beasts to at least five hundred!

"And besides..."

Yang Yu extended his right hand, turning his palm upward.

Whoosh!!

A burst of ice-blue flame suddenly sprang from Yang Yu's palm.

"The Life Energy within my body has evolved too."

"The power of the legacy within the Insect Codex's second page further strengthened my Life Energy... If I use it to modify Giant Mantis Beasts now, the ones I create will be even stronger!"

"Even without fighting or devouring the remains of powerful foes, they will possess strength somewhere between the Human Tier and the Earth Rank!"

"Once I cultivate my Fate Soul to its current limit."

"And expand my Giant Mantis Beast legion to its maximum size, the day of my final battle with the Ghost Infant Sect will come!"

In the gloomy cave, Yang Yu stopped pondering.

"With the Ghost Infant Sect's methods, they will certainly find this cave within three days."

"The many surveillance devices along the way will soon expose our movements..." Yang Yu said to Zhao Zixuan beside him, "Pack our things and leave with me."

"We need somewhere safer to hide!"