Upon the vast ocean, a desolate island, ravaged and scarred, floated like a tattered boat, tossed about by the waves.
On this island, a colossal black insect, with an air of serene contentment, was immersed in the most beautiful of fantasies.
Just then, Lin Yu flew in from afar, his eyes flashing with sharp light, streams of soul power erupting from behind his head.
"Slash!"
A soft cry from the soul echoed, and a gray slash shot forth from the void.
The target was precisely that black insect.
As soon as the Soul Severing Technique appeared, its potent soul power caused the surrounding Soul Devouring Insects to pause for a moment.
At this juncture, Lin Yu was no longer releasing the Soul Guiding Technique, and they were about to regain their senses.
However, it was already too late.
The Soul Severing Technique descended, striking at the Soul Devouring Mother Insect with extreme speed.
Boom!
A silent roar reverberated within the mind.
He could feel the Soul Severing Technique carving a path of destruction, first shattering the outer soul defense of the Soul Devouring Mother Insect, and then swiftly penetrating its sea of consciousness.
As long as its soul was annihilated, the Soul Devouring Mother Insect was destined to die.
Suddenly.
The Soul Devouring Mother Insect opened its eyes.
"Human, how despicable of you!"
The Soul Devouring Mother Insect roared in fury, but Lin Yu, unwilling to engage in a verbal exchange, simply increased his power.
"Slash!"
"Die!"
As the words fell, the Soul Severing Technique blazed with light, its power amplified, piercing the Soul Devouring Mother Insect's sea of consciousness in an instant.
Utterly terrified, the Soul Devouring Mother Insect desperately tried to escape its soul from the sea of consciousness.
It cast a furious glance back at Lin Yu, then fled into the distance.
It understood it could not defeat Lin Yu and chose to escape.
Though it lost its physical body, reducing its strength to a mere tenth, as long as its soul persisted, it could possess another Soul Devouring Insect and regrow into a Soul Devouring Mother Insect.
This was a characteristic of its species; the entire race served as its reserve bodies. As long as its soul remained intact, it was immortal.
Unfortunately, Lin Yu would not let such a golden opportunity slip away.
"Soul Snatching Technique!"
Hum!
A wave of soul-shaking light spread out instantly.
The fleeing Soul Devouring Mother Insect was caught in this radiance and froze on the spot, utterly still.
Its soul power was inferior to Lin Yu's, and now, with its soul stunned by the Soul Snatching Technique, it fell into a state of dizziness.
Seeing this, Lin Yu silently chanted, "Soul Severing Technique!"
A gray soul slash shot out rapidly.
"Slash!"
Boom!
A silent, colossal explosion erupted within the soul.
Instantly, the Soul Devouring Mother Insect was torn asunder, its soul dissipating into specks of light.
Concurrently, a system prompt sounded in Lin Yu's mind.
"Ding, you have slain the Soul Devouring Mother Insect (Ninth Tier), Leveling Points +1,200,000!"
A staggering one million two hundred thousand leveling points made Lin Yu beam with joy.
After dispatching the insect, Lin Yu turned his attention to the other insects scattering in retreat.
He commanded, "Annihilate them all!"
His clones nodded, raising the Soul Devourer and pursuing.
Once within range, they threw the Soul Devourer, and these insects were corroded into nothingness.
This was undoubtedly a swift method of killing enemies, but its drawback was equally evident: where the Soul Devourer struck, nothing survived.
Thus, one could forget about obtaining beast corpses.
However, his primary objective at present was to accumulate leveling points to reach the ninth tier.
As for other matters, he was not particularly concerned for the moment.
With the Soul Devouring Mother Insect dead, Lin Yu quickly approached its corpse.
He rapidly flipped over the carcass and, as expected, found a precious crystal.
"Excellent, it dropped a crystal! I hope it doesn't disappoint!"
He quickly picked up the crystal and placed it against his brow to sense it.
Soon, he lowered the crystal and smiled, "Not bad, it's the Fusion Technique!"
High-tier Fusion Technique: Can fuse with up to a thousand congeners, but the other party must not harbor any stray thoughts, otherwise the fusion will not succeed.
Although the Fusion Technique was miraculous and greatly increased one's strength, it was clear that the prerequisite for this skill was also quite stringent.
Even among insectoids, it wasn't one hundred percent certain that they were free of stray thoughts.
However, Lin Yu would have no such problem, as his clones lacked self-awareness, allowing him to fully utilize the Fusion Technique's capabilities.
Having acquired a new skill, Lin Yu's objective was achieved, and he was in high spirits. Gazing at the vast ocean, he felt a surge of emotion, an urge to burst into song.
Suddenly, distant, thunderous roars echoed.
Lin Yu faintly heard the screams of humans. His expression changed, and he immediately flew towards Donghai City.
At this time.
The Soul Devouring Mother Insect was dead, but the Soul Devouring Insects had not dispersed.
Without the mother insect's control, these low-intelligence creatures became even more unrestrained and frenzied.
They had devolved into mindless beasts, driven entirely by instinct, as if a voice deep within them urged them on.
"Devour souls, and you shall become the next mother insect!"
These primal calls, as if etched into their genes, drove all the Soul Devouring Insects into a frenzy.
They attacked any human they encountered, then madly devoured their souls, and the human defenses crumbled at an alarming rate.
Fang Jin's face was contorted with rage.
"Damn insects, die for me!"
With a single slash, he killed hundreds of Soul Devouring Insects, but this did nothing to stem the tide of the ensuing swarm.
They attacked without regard for their own lives, swarming forward and unleashing their power.
Countless Soul Devouring Insects unleashed their soul-devouring energy, instantly shrouding the sky in a gray gloom.
The souls of living beings began to stir, yearning to break free from their physical confines and enter the mouths of the Soul Devouring Insects.
"Kill them all, damn it, why are these bugs suddenly so crazy?"
Everyone felt a mix of shock and fear, their blades striking down insect after insect, only to be quickly overwhelmed by more that swarmed them, draining their souls until they died.
Fang Jin watched the people dying around him, his eyes burning with fury and his heart filled with immense grief.
"Damn it, damn it!"
"Die!"
"Kill, kill, kill!!!"
He had descended into a state of madness, incessantly repeating these words.
His achievements were considerable; within a thousand meters of him, not a single insect remained alive, but the energy within him was also dissipating at an accelerated rate.
When his strength was depleted, his demise would follow.
But he no longer cared about that.
Meanwhile, the human reinforcements who had arrived were also locked in a desperate struggle.
They were not facing insects, but the enemy was no less formidable.
Countless sea beasts charged at them ferociously. For every wave they killed, another emerged from the sea.
Low-tier sea beasts were manageable, as they could not survive on land. However, those sea beasts of fifth tier and above, while still unable to survive permanently on land, no longer required seawater to breathe.
"Kill!"
"Damn sea beasts, die for me!"
"Damn it, these sea beasts are truly fearless. My hands are numb from killing."
"Ah! Save me!"
"Die! I'm going to self-destruct!"