“They should’ve just lived a nice life in the outside world, don’t you think?”

Han Ye killed one of the Ascendants and picked up the secret treasures that fell out of his small world. He gave a slight head shake.

Ascendant cultivators could live hundreds of thousands of years. It was really hard for them to die, unless they were caught in a natural disaster, or if they were fighting for treasures that emerged in the universe.

If they gave up their ambitions and kept a low profile, they would be able to witness all of the Federation’s history unfolding.

After all, the Federation had only existed for a million years.

“This can’t be helped. Where there are human beings, competition is bound to happen when you meet others. Risk comes when you’re competitive…” Ji Xueqing dropped the body of an Ascendant pet and refined it casually, removing its essence and putting it in her small world.

Su Ping gazed at the strange insects while they were chatting casually.

The insects noticed that Su Ping and friends weren’t that easy to deal with. They hesitated.

Are they… Void Bugs?

Su Ping remembered Greeny, the insect he had randomly caught once in the Demigod Burial.

It was the Void Bug variety of the lowest kind.

It could eat gods and refine their divinity, which was really strange.

Su Ping had purposefully left Greeny without any training. He had studied it but didn’t really find any answers, so he simply left it alone; he didn’t expect that many of its kind.

However, all those insects had Ascendant State realms.

Greeny was only a Star Lord at the moment.

Even without training, it had eaten a lot of rare beasts while traveling across the cultivation sites, and its strength had grown tremendously.

Adding the seven small worlds imparted by Su Ping, it was almost as strong as the Purple Python before the advancement.

After all, Greeny belonged to a mysterious species.

Su Ping had asked Joanna about it. She only knew that Void Bugs were the gods’ natural enemies; they came from the deeper spaces beyond the Demigod Burial. She didn’t know anything else.

How come there are similar insects inside the ancient corpse?

Did the corpse come from a place similar to the Demigod Burial?

In that case, since the corpse drifted to this place, does it mean that this place is close to the Demigod Burial?

Song Yuan suddenly gave an order, “Kill all those insects!”

Su Ping snapped out of his pondering. Seeing that his senior brothers and sisters had already charged forth and he didn’t really need to help, he asked curiously, “Senior brother, do you know those insects?”

“Those insects wander in deep spaces; they’re highly fertile. Master said that they caused a disaster 200,000 years ago, which almost consumed the entire universe!”

Song Yuan was too busy answering Su Ping’s question to focus on attacking. Besides, Chunyu and the others could easily annihilate those insects given their Heavenly Lord cultivation.

“Those insects kept crawling out of deeper spaces back then, almost filling up our universe. Fortunately, several Celestials led by saints from the Planet of Origin fought relentlessly and eliminated them. They also destroyed tens of thousands of nests to finally terminate the threat.

“However, those things are too fertile, and their growth is very fast too. They’re still not extinct. You must immediately report to the Federation if you ever spot such insects. They’re the vermin of the universe!”

Su Ping felt dazed. He didn’t know that those insects had almost caused trouble in the known universe too.

Song Yuan said solemnly, “The ancient corpse must have been floating in deeper spaces when the insects used it as a nest, while using its flesh as source of nutrition. There might still be a nest inside this body. If there’s a nest, there will be a queen. Considering all those Ascendant insects, their queen is very likely a top Ascendant being…”

Those were the moments when the abundant experience of his senior brothers were helpful. Su Ping was quite impressed; he nodded in silence.

You Long and the others had already finished up dealing with the insects.

They picked up the insects’ bodies, which contained rare materials that could be used to forge Ascendant treasures; their flesh could also be processed as pet food.

“Let’s go.”

Song Yuan sent a message to the green-haired girl and immediately picked a path.

The channel was filled with a smell. However, Su Ping and the others had been through a lot of battles, and didn’t show any unusual reactions.

“It seems that only the eighth space is tangible inside this corpse. The ninth space has been blocked,” said Chunyu while walking.

Su Ping had already realized that with his eyes of chaos. He said, “It’s because of the blockage of the Dao Glyphs in the corpse.”

The Dao Glyphs hidden inside the veins were interconnected. Su Ping could tell that there were multiple Dao Glyphs inside the corpse!

That was just the region he had explored. Considering the body’s massive size… Su Ping estimated that there were at least dozens of Dao Glyphs!

That’s right. Complete Dao Glyphs, instead of parsed Dao Patterns.

Whoever was able to master dozens of Dao Glyphs would probably be on the top tier, even among God Emperors.

After all, only Ancestral Gods were capable of studying Dao Glyphs.

Su Ping couldn’t have grasped any Dao Glyphs without the enlightenment of the Golden Crows’ Chief Elder, even if he first went about studying laws and Dao Patterns.

“Dao Glyphs?”

Everybody was shocked to hear that; they couldn’t help but look at their junior brother.

They suddenly realized that Su Ping’s ability to fight Ascendant opponents was probably not just dependent on his multiple small worlds.

They were barely exploring the power of Dao Glyphs themselves, and they had to seek their master’s advice every now and then.

What their master could teach them was truly limited. They knew it wasn’t because he was unwilling to teach them, but because he hadn’t fully understood.

Without him understanding, how could he teach anyone else?

Ji Xueqing was quite close to Su Ping; she simply asked, “Junior brother, have you already gotten in touch with Dao Glyphs?”

She wouldn’t get angry if Su Ping was unwilling to answer.

“I’ve only understood a thing or two,” said Su Ping.

He had only understood three Dao Glyphs.

The 108 Dao Glyphs in his body were sealed at the moment. They would disappear if he died, to be never activated again.

The Dao Glyphs inside the ancient corpse were already activated. That was why the corpse remained immortal and indestructible.

Everyone gasped once they heard Su Ping’s answer. They were shocked to hear confirmation about their speculations in regards to Su Ping’s power.

Lian Qi, Mo Ye and the others wore conflicted expressions. They weren’t the most talented of Shen Huang’s disciples, and had only gotten in touch with Dao Glyphs in the last ten thousand years. Little did they expect that Su Ping—who had only cultivated for less than a hundred years—to be walking on the same path they were.

“Junior brother, you’re so talented that you’ll surely be second to none when you reach the Ascendant State,” said Song Yuan with a smile, although nursing mixed feelings.

“Junior brother, you’ve gotten in touch with Dao Glyphs already, and yet you claim that you’re stuck in the threshold before the Ascendant State. Who are you trying to fool? You must be trying to seek a greater path; your goal must be the Celestial State.” Ji Xueqing snorted, with an expression as though having seen through him. She wouldn’t be tricked by Su Ping’s modesty again.

“I’m truly stuck.” Su Ping heaved a sigh. He, too, wished that he were lying, but he had spent decades roaming cultivation sites, and had yet to find the right direction to the Ascendant State.

Counting the training time spent in cultivation sites, he had only cultivated for a hundred years or so, and he had been stuck for almost fifty years. He felt truly miserable.

“Well, well!”

Ji Xueqing chuckled. Just keep pretending.

Song Yuan felt amused. He said, “Junior brother, don’t be hasty; you’re still a young cultivator. You need to consolidate your realm.”

Su Ping realized what they were thinking, but didn’t try to say more; he would have been seen as snobbish if he kept talking.

Consolidation… He had consolidated his attainments for almost fifty years. He was almost as compact as concrete.

He secretly complained in his heart. At that moment—the green-haired girl next to Song Yuan came to an abrupt halt, and so did everybody else; it almost seemed that they had been standing the whole time.

“Something is approaching…”

The green-haired girl looked ahead, feeling surprised and fearful.

They had taken many turns and traveled for hundreds of kilometers. Their journey had been smooth while following her lead, but she then sensed great danger up ahead.

“Huh?”

Song Yuan knew his pets best. He said with a solemn expression, “Be ready for battle.”

Noticing his stern attitude, none of the others underestimated the enemy. They all stared to the path further ahead, ready to unleash their full strength.

Hum! Hum!

There were noises of tremors suddenly coming from the channel in the distance. The next moment—countless laws were shattered in front of them, and the torrent of a terrifying force swept over them.

“A Dao Pattern attack!”

Su Ping easily recognized three Dao Patterns in that gale; they were extremely thick, and resembled thorny whips. They were much more powerful than the Dao Patterns he had grasped, they would be as powerful as a complete Dao Glyph if they were further compressed!

Song Yuan lost his cool and roared loudly, “Oh no, disperse!”

He obviously realized how terrifying the attack was. He moved forward in the next second, and his body expanded to a height of dozens of meters. All his veins were bulging.

Three pets emerged behind his back and entered his body, merging with him at the same time!

Su Ping was dumbfounded by the scene.

It was only possible to merge with one pet. He had the ability to also merge with the Little Skeleton because of his pet’s bloodline ability, which was much different from the normal merging.

However, Song Yuan had literally merged with three pets!

His power increased to a terrifying level as a result.

The man suddenly raised his arms, launching Dao Patterns towards the enemy.

Bang!

Nearby—a brilliant saber aura cut the channel apart with a loud noise. Chunyu had also taken action.

Ji Xueqing and Han Ye also launched attacks of their own, while shocked and furious. Lian Qi, Mo Ye, You Long and the others backed off nervously; they had realized how terrifying the three Dao Patterns were too.

If it were them, they would have to parse each Dao Pattern into a hundred pieces. The result would be to weaken the Dao Patterns by a hundred times!

Boom!!

A violent explosion instantly burst out, tearing apart the entire channel, which was one of the tiniest elements in the ancient corpse. The Dao Patterns found there were so weak that a Heavenly Lord could break them.

Song Yuan was flung back like an enormous rock.

Su Ping was quick enough to run forward and catch him.

He felt that he had been hit by a moving locomotive when he touched his senior brother. His arm shook, but he was instantly prepared to remove the accumulated force. He invoked five Dao Patterns to remove said force.

Meanwhile, Su Ping had been pushed thousands of meters back.

Song Yuan’s skin had cracked and he was bleeding. However, Su Ping could tell that his life wasn’t at risk and he would heal soon.

“Thank you.”

Song Yuan regained balance. He was visibly astonished as he looked back at Su Ping who was tiny by comparison.

The former thought that Su Ping had only heard about them. However, it seemed that Su Ping had grasped five Dao Patterns!

That was as many as the Dao Patterns Lian Qi had grasped.

“Senior brother, you’re most welcome.”

The others arrived. They were relieved to see that Song Yuan was safe and sound.

“Junior brother, you are truly incredible,” said Lian Qi sincerely. He had been completely awed by his junior brother. He had previously thought that Su Ping would be a liability due to his low level, but the latter had proven to be as strong as them.

Ji Xueqing was no longer surprised by Su Ping’s performance. She simply glanced at Su Ping and then asked Song Yuan, “We would have been hurt if it weren’t for our senior brother. I don’t see anyone up ahead. Where did the attack come from?”

“From a very distant place,” said the green-haired girl softly.

Song Yuan canceled the merger and recalled his pets. He swallowed some pills and gradually recovered, his aura returning to normal.

“Let’s go there and take a look. That may be the place where the legacy is located,” said Song Yuan.

Everybody was intrigued; they nodded and moved forward.

While following Song Yuan, Su Ping couldn’t help but ask, “Senior brother, your merging…”

While recalling how Su Ping had stopped him earlier, Song Yuan smiled and said in a low voice, “I once entered a tower by accident, somewhere in the universe. My bloodline was transformed there, and I found this special merging method. There are three hearts in my body; my soul has also been cut into three parts. Each of those parts holds a contract.”

“I see.”

Su Ping instantly understood.

Three hearts, three souls, and three contracts; that was why he could merge three pets.

He had never heard about such a method; Su Ping could not help but feel impressed by the wisdom left by the ancients.

“That’s indeed a great method.”

“I can teach you if you wish to learn,” said Song Yuan with a smile.

Ji Xueqing glanced at Song Yuan and said, “This is so unfair. Senior brother, you’re willing to teach the Three Hearts Technique to our junior brother, but you turned us down no matter how we begged you for it.”

Song Yuan rolled eyes at her and said, “You can trade for it with your God Destroying Image.”

Ji Xueqing stuck out her tongue, pretending that she didn’t hear him.

The God Destroying Image was the core of her combat techniques. Even though Song Yuan was her senior brother and was very unlikely that he would expose it, she could get killed if her weakness was known. Also, if it were indeed exposed, she wouldn’t be able to keep her Heavenly Lord status. The other Ascendants would be able to take advantage of her weakness and beat her.