Chapter 720: Mothership

In the ruins, over a dozen Seventh Grade insectoids surrounded Li Qi as if facing a formidable enemy, and their leader revealed the truth that Li Qi was not part of the Advancement Alliance.

People from the Advancement Alliance could not possibly achieve this level; their understanding of martial arts was comically superficial, lacking even Martial Dao Divine Intent, and they were repeatedly defeated by surprise attacks from the start.

However, this person before them, though also lacking Martial Dao Divine Intent, possessed martial arts skills that were incredibly refined.

When experts exchanged blows, it seemed intense, but the insectoid leader only felt his punches and kicks hindered, as if every Move was within his opponent's expectation.

Li Qi seemed to possess prescience, always intercepting the insectoid leader's Moves midway, preventing him from exerting his full power; a ten-tenths strength strike would not even unleash half a tenth, all of it spent on internal conflict.

The combined force of his attacks, once provoked by Li Qi, would rebel against each other, like a neat and swift flow of traffic where one car suddenly brakes, causing a massive pile-up behind it, completely blocking the road, with not a single car able to pass.

It was so profound that he couldn't comprehend how it was done, but the opponent did it, and this was not the work of the Advancement Alliance; this was more like… other advanced civilizations.

And this person before him was undoubtedly a Mortal; no matter how he observed, he could only see that the opponent's cultivation was exactly like a Mortal's, not appearing to have cultivated at all.

But with the help of the mecha, the opponent achieved unbelievable things.

“You are not from the Advancement Alliance; which world are you from?”

Facing the opponent's terrified inquiry, Li Qi merely smiled and said, “You are not qualified to know yet. I’ll say it again: I want to go to your Mother Nest. Lead the way.”

These words clearly put the insectoid leader in a dilemma.

But being a Martial Artist, he quickly made a decision and asked, “State your purpose, otherwise you will gain nothing.”

“No purpose, I just want to see what civilization is invading the Advancement Alliance, that's all. Logically speaking, there should be a subtle balance within the Illusion-Reality Domain… what you are doing is uncommon.”

“After the balance is broken, a new balance will quickly form. The true balance lies in the underlying rules, not the current state. Breaking the current state does not break the true balance.” The insectoid leader suddenly uttered a profoundly philosophical statement.

These words surprised Li Qi.

This couldn't have been said by this person, so Li Qi said, “Among your race, there is a wise one, isn't there? Then I am even more interested. Now I will tell you, my purpose is to meet the person who said that sentence, how about it?” Li Qi said.

“Those words were spoken by me—come, come meet me.” The insectoid leader continued, his terrifying maw even revealing an indescribable ‘smile’.

The other insectoids around immediately knelt, all of them realizing the descent of some power.

“Oh?” Li Qi immediately looked at the opponent: “Are you the Mother Nest?”

“Yes, person from another advanced civilization, I allow you to come meet me, but… put away your arrogance, behind me is an existence beyond your imagination.” The Mother Nest, through some means, occupied the insectoid leader’s body, and said this.

“Beyond imagination? Tell me, I’m very curious.” Li Qi said.

“Behind us is ‘Nine Lands Under Heaven’. That is all I will say. For what comes next, wait until you come to meet me.” After speaking, the leader suddenly fell to the ground, clearly, that will had been withdrawn.

Li Qi’s interest was genuinely piqued.

Nine Lands Under Heaven, is someone from Nine Lands Under Heaven controlling this invasion?

How interesting, no wonder—

Li Qi’s curiosity was truly aroused, mainly because… the relationship between these insects and the Mother Nest was somewhat surprising.

Firstly, is the relationship between these insects and the Mother Nest related to the answer of ‘higher intelligence’ he sought? After all, ‘self’ itself is an important component of higher intelligence.

Moreover, these insects cultivate Martial Dao, and Li Qi felt that something like Martial Dao Divine Intent is also closely related to higher intelligence, isn’t it?

Martial Dao Divine Intent is the influence of completely subjective will on the objective world; this influence can even affect the subjective will of others, so it's no exaggeration to say it distorts reality.

This insect hive civilization, which plunders other civilizations, possesses both a collective intelligence like a beehive and individual will, and coupled with their primary cultivation of Martial Dao, it perfectly fits Li Qi’s requirements.

Li Qi felt he could take a look.

As for what the Advancement Alliance would face next?

War between civilizations is like this; Li Qi would not interfere, even though Mo Long, that good-natured person, had actually left quite an impression on him.

But like most people, Mo Long was just a small story in Li Qi’s life; the long river of time flows past the immortal, yet it can never take him away, only leaving faint traces on him, but even these traces will quickly be washed away by other traces, eventually disappearing without a trace.

In such a life, how could one not detach from a Mortal perspective? And how could one feel enough for those fleeting lives?

Li Qi shook his head, hands behind his back, contemplating these thoughts as he followed the now respectful insectoids, flying towards the world-class giant ship in the sky.

Within the world-class giant ship was where the Mother Nest resided.

However, it wasn't just the Mother Nest on board.

Midway, Li Qi inquired with these insects and discovered that they were also a typical Fusion civilization; the world-class giant ship did not contain just one civilization, but rather a powerful being from the ‘Immortal Realm’ who commanded five civilizations.

On that world-class giant ship, that powerful being acted as the ultimate leader, piloting this world-class giant ship, galloping through the starry Void Realm, plundering.

The Mother Nest was just one of them.

When these insectoids spoke of that high-level existence from Nine Lands Under Heaven, they invariably mentioned ‘Immortal Realm’, constantly describing the opponent’s power, using phrases like ‘great race’, ‘infinite possibilities’, ‘subverting Karma and space-time’, ‘unimaginable majestic existence’ to describe their background, as if having a cultivator from Nine Lands Under Heaven standing behind them was an extremely formidable thing.

However, that was indeed the case.

That was the Immortal Realm, the center of all heavens and myriad worlds, the undisputed overlord of this Universe, capable of overwhelmingly destroying almost all worlds below First Grade.

If Nine Lands Under Heaven were willing to unite, if the Nine Lands Under Heaven were willing to join hands, then unless all worlds in Outer Void, including those First Grade worlds in Outer Void, united simultaneously, there would absolutely be no possibility of survival.

To knowledgeable cultivators in Outer Void, Nine Lands Under Heaven was an existence like a Holy Land, bestowed with countless titles, and even the pinnacle of ‘Ascension’ was Nine Lands Under Heaven.

However, putting that aside, Li Qi also asked them why they took such action.

The insectoids did not hide anything; they frankly told Li Qi that the reason they chose the Advancement Alliance this time, and why the Mother Nest was deployed, was because the Mother Nest was good at dealing with civilizations that were more materialistic but neglected the spiritual aspect.

The insectoids of the Mother Nest cultivate entirely based on ‘willpower’; almost all their lives are Martial Artist, and being naturally able to establish a mental link with the Mother Nest, they possess extraordinary talent in comprehending Martial Dao Divine Intent, and whether it is Martial Dao Divine Intent or other Qi intents, they can have special perceptions focused on the spiritual world.

In Li Qi’s words, this was a ‘psionic race’.

They were not interested in basic material laws, or what is called ‘objectively real science’; in fact, they relied almost entirely on their physical bodies and had no intention of developing technology.

This race was almost the complete opposite of the Advancement Alliance, yet they knew the Advancement Alliance inside out, while the Advancement Alliance had never encountered such an extreme psionic race.

This also led to the initial great defeat, the reason being that they had no technology to resist this level of psionics.

Just as Mo Long was manipulated by that Blood Meat Ovum in his final moments, similar things happened elsewhere.

Many key nodes of the Advancement Alliance were controlled.

All of this even made Li Qi feel it was a bit too coincidental.

If he didn’t know that he was currently under the gaze of the Shaman Dao God, and that he could also observe his own Karma lines, making it impossible for anyone to casually manipulate him again, he would have suspected if this was a new ‘Heaven's Will’.

Li Qi had almost forgotten what time reversal felt like; after all, he was now at Fourth Grade, no longer an individual who could be easily reversed. Although he didn’t have the ability to reverse others, by utilizing the parallel worlds interpreted by ‘his Dao’, he could even remain motionless within the flow of time.

He had initially gained basic substantiality, which is part of the characteristics of Fourth Grade.

So Li Qi could be certain that he was not being manipulated by others, and the so-called Heaven's Will and reversal could hardly control him; therefore, the current events were most likely just a coincidence.

Perhaps this was luck.

The journey was very smooth, and Li Qi quickly reached the sky. From this highest point, he looked down.

“So many Blood Meat Ovum…” Li Qi sighed.

A large number of Blood Meat Ovum, shaped from the civilians of the Advancement Alliance, formed a network in this world, a network purely condensed from subjective consciousness, or what is called ‘psionic energy’.

“Collective brainwashing, huh? Once this is done, the cognition of all life in this world will be altered. No wonder you didn’t chase after the hidden survivors; it turns out you didn’t fail to find them, it was just unnecessary.” Li Qi exclaimed.

The Mother Nest’s strategy was to brainwash the entire world, and it was done by consuming local life, allowing them to occupy a world with almost no loss to themselves.

Truly impressive.

The insectoids did not answer Li Qi, but instead sent him through an opening in the sky into Outer Void.

In the Void Realm, Li Qi was ‘eaten’.

That world-class giant ship extended a tentacle thousands of miles long, accurately eating Li Qi’s group of people.

Li Qi found that the inside was not slimy; on the contrary, it was very dry and clean. He seemed to be in a hard, encapsulated bubble, then was quickly carried towards the interior.

Soon, he arrived inside this world-class giant ship.

True Knowledge Dao Resonance scan.

A Fifth Grade giant ship, and one of the top tier among Fifth Grade ones. A ship of this level… even in the Human Dao and Shaman Dao, it could join battles as a frontline war fleet.

Indeed, there were cultivators from Nine Lands Under Heaven inside; otherwise, with the level of these Fifth Grade civilizations from Outer Void, they simply couldn’t build such a massive ship.

Li Qi, with his cultivation Seal, could not clearly see the entire interior of the giant ship with his own senses, and even with True Knowledge Dao Resonance, it would be impossible to scan this ship, which was larger than a world, in a short time.

It wasn't that True Knowledge Dao Resonance was incapable, but if he were to do so, Li Qi would definitely have to stand there in a daze, processing the data sent back.

After all, the material density was too high, and there were all sorts of spells, much more than scanning the information flow of the Void Realm, making it difficult to process. There was no need to scan such a large area now.

Besides, there was also someone from Nine Lands Under Heaven inside; at least show some respect to the host, otherwise, he would be the one to suffer, and he couldn't die now.

If he died, the Seal would be lifted, and then the Demonic Qi would contaminate his entire miniature heaven and earth. Changing it back wouldn't be a matter of a day or two; it would be very troublesome. If he couldn't change it back, Li Qi might even choose to reincarnate and re-cultivate.

Sometimes, when there are problems with cultivation, it’s not so simple to fix. This is not as simple as changing an engine in a car; accurately speaking, it’s like changing a heart while alive, and having to operate it while conscious.

It’s very difficult.

If he could fix it now, that would be best; if he could avoid dying, that would be best.

Li Qi was led by the insectoids through this Mother Nest. Surprisingly, it wasn't some bloody demon’s den; instead, it was clean and tidy, and everyone lived in cities styled like ancient Nine Lands Under Heaven.

Although the insectoids were not particularly good-looking, they seemed quite polite, even wearing the attire of Nine Lands Under Heaven’ Martial Artists and wandering around. Their social etiquette was quite high, and they even cared for public facilities.

How to put it…

So modern.

It was just that the insectoids’ heads were really too ugly, but it was fine; Li Qi’s mind was not so narrow as to be bothered by this.

He focused on observing their social structure.

This was a typical ship civilization; they had no world of their own, living generation after generation within world-class giant ships, drifting through the Void Realm with the ship. Precisely because of this, they paid exceptional attention to resource recycling and reuse.

In other words… very environmentally friendly.

It was quite ironic; these insects caused chaos in the worlds below, yet they were extremely protective of their own ship, after all, a world-class giant ship was not like a true world and did not possess the world's self-iterative repair capability.

However, these insects had no industrial manufacturing capability, so these modern products must have been supplied from other places, from other parts of the ship…

Five civilizations combined, it felt like some grand formation.