CHAPTER 354: CHAPTER 315 THREE SWORDS

With dual swords in hand, Gao Xuan was in his strongest state.

The Godslaying Sword shimmered with blood light, as fast as electricity, as bright as light, unpredictable and extremely swift.

The Hongyi Sword was as long and resilient as rivers and seas, yet ethereal and profound like the endless sky.

The Godslaying Sword was fast, the Hongyi Sword was steady.

In the flowing aqua-colored sword light, the blood light occasionally rippled, standing in counterbalance with the starlight.

The starlight flowed like electricity among the dual swords, and each time its claws precisely struck the sword blades.

He had suffered a setback from the Hongyi Sword once and dared not engage it in a direct clash again. Relying on near-perfect skill and control, he always managed to avoid the sharp and unmatched blade of the Hongyi Sword, striking instead upon its spine.

The starlight’s moves were quicker and more precise, but the force from his claw attacks would also be absorbed by the Hongyi Sword’s water-like flow, at most stirring up layer upon layer of aqua-colored ripples.

The key wasn’t that Gao Xuan’s swordsmanship was extremely exquisite, but rather that the Hongyi Sword was incredibly profound. The Hongyi Sword itself could resist and dissolve external forces.

The power surging from each clash between the two was tearing the Mother Insect’s body apart, causing it to collapse segment by segment.

In the blink of an eye, the Mother Insect was blasted into fragments by both sides. The once active thought waves also completely dissipated.

It wasn’t just the Mother Insect; the entire Crystal Cave was also shaking and crumbling under their combined assault.

The entire huge cave’s structure was close to its breaking point.

Amidst the fierce battle, the starlight suddenly wrapped in aqua-colored sword light, retreated back rapidly for dozens of meters, saying, "Your sword is quite formidable."

Gao Xuan felt a bit embarrassed, as he had dominated many star realms, even killing two Golden Powerhouses. He was hailed by countless people as an unparalleled genius.

Yet, in the eyes of the starlight, it seemed that only his sword was good. The implication was that he himself was lacking.

Gao Xuan had to admit, in comparison, he was indeed a level inferior to the starlight.

The starlight relied on no marvelous weapon, fighting purely with his body. He also pushed Gao Xuan to the point of struggle.

This alone was enough to demonstrate the starlight’s strength.

Gao Xuan said, "Since neither of us can defeat the other, why not each go our separate ways?"

The starlight paused for a moment before saying, "Humans like to lie. They can’t be trusted."

"Then what do you mean, want to fight me to the death?"

Saying this, Gao Xuan unleashed the Celestial Spirit Sword Qi, forming a silver armor on his body.

In truth, both their powers had reached the limits of White Rat Star, but the starlight was faster and more precise, with a more refined and accurate control of power.

Gao Xuan had the stronger Sword Artifact and profound Sword Intent. It was always unpredictable. It wasn’t that his power was inferior to the starlight’s, but that he was a level lacking in more refined aspects.

However, having Celestial Spirit Sword Qi was always a bit better.

The starlight’s compound eyes slightly rotated; with his special compound eyes, he could even see behind Gao Xuan.

In his compound eyes, the layer of silver light armor on Gao Xuan’s body was nearly perfect; although condensed from Source Power, it was tougher and harder than metal.

Moreover, the Source Power forming the armor was evenly condensed, with a complex and intricate Source Power structure, leaving no weak points.

To break the opponent’s Source Power Armor, it had to be a strong force, without any possibility of finding a shortcut.

Even so, Gao Xuan’s power was still quite weak.

The difference in life levels couldn’t be easily altered by external things.

The starlight weighed the pros and cons and felt he still had a chance to kill Gao Xuan.

This human’s power was evidently not strong, yet he managed to consistently engage him and even subtly grasp the rhythm of combat. It was truly exceptional and of great research value.

The starlight believed that if he could absorb Gao Xuan’s memories, he could definitely further advance, maybe even find a way to leave this planet.

The insect race’s thought waves were strong, but not strong enough to cross space.

Since awakening, the starlight had been unable to contact other powerful insect races.

Based on the inherited memories in his own genes, he still remembered his name. However, he had no recollection of how he ended up on this planet.

This place was barren of Source Power; he had powerful thought waves but couldn’t harness the equivalent power.

With no other choice, the starlight had to integrate the insect race on this planet.

In the past decades, the influence of the insect race had been growing, largely because of the starlight’s manipulation. He wanted to better understand humans through war, and ascertain the state of the planet he was on.

The starlight also noticed that humans possessed the technology to cross the Star River.

If he wanted to leave, he actually had a chance to sneak onto a flying ship and leave here.

The problem was he didn’t know where the flying ship would go.

The starlight could survive in the cosmic vacuum, but he didn’t want to drift aimlessly in the cosmos.

The memories in his genes told him that the cosmos was infinitely vast. Drifting aimlessly could mean exhausting his life without finding a planet to land on.

Through war, the starlight had also made some contact with the human hierarchy. These humans had many ideas, but in essence, they were very weak-willed.

The starlight looked down on humans, but he was also keenly aware that humans were stronger. He maintained a balance, depleting the human race’s power through battles.

On the other hand, he could absorb human knowledge and genes through war, transforming them into nutrition for the insect race.

The attack on Raccoon Star was actually a test by the starlight.

As expected, the humans’ reaction was swift and intense, dispatching powerful armed forces in response.

However, such a wealth of elite arms was also rich nourishment. If absorbed through the Mother Insect, they might enable the proliferation of smarter and more powerful insect races.

There was even a chance to propagate a Starry Mother Insect.

Starry Mother Insects could survive in space for long periods and even perform space jumps. Starry Mother Insects were also the only tool for the insect race to migrate in space.

In the end, before the starlight could act to seize the battlefield, Gao Xuan arrived.

A battle, the elite Insect Race cultivated by Starlight were completely annihilated.

Starlight wasn’t bothered, as these low-tier Insect Race lacked basic intelligence, their deaths didn’t matter.

However, the death of the Mother Insect was a bit troublesome.

Starlight looked at Gao Xuan; as long as he captured this person, all the losses would be worthwhile. He could even use Gao Xuan’s body as a breeding ground for the next generation.

Gao Xuan didn’t know what Starlight was thinking, only that the other’s thought waves were somewhat strange, giving him a bad hunch.

Could this bug be in heat...

Sure enough, Starlight said directly: "I won’t have to kill you. Nor will I stop you from killing all the other Insect Race.

"As long as you become the host for my next generation."

"Pfft. You’re thinking too much."

Gao Xuan was furious: "I’ve got so many girls that I’m too busy to handle, I’m not interested in bugging around!"

Saying this, Gao Xuan swung his sword; the Ming Che Sword Light of the Hongyi Sword surged like a tide, completely covering and engulfing Starlight.

Starlight swung his claws, immediately tearing open a large hole in the tide-like Sword Light. Both of Starlight’s claws fell simultaneously, forcibly grabbing the Hongyi Sword and the Godslaying Sword.

"Humans, you are too weak."

Starlight’s massive thought waves transmitted information while concentrating into a bundle, like an invisible long spear piercing into Gao Xuan’s glabella, penetrating his sea of consciousness.

Silver light brilliantly exploded from Gao Xuan’s body but couldn’t block the long spear of thought waves.

The long spear of thought waves penetrated straight into Gao Xuan’s spirit core, landing on the Six-winged Celestial Cicada.

The Six-winged Celestial Cicada vibrated its wings with a loud, sharp cry.

The invisible long spear condensed from thought waves hummed with high-frequency vibration, oscillating against the high-pitched cries of the Six-winged Celestial Cicada. It was a stalemate.

After all, Starlight was a Golden Lifeform, his Spiritual Power stronger than Gao Xuan’s. Although he didn’t have any Marvels, the thought spear of the inherited gene was one of the most powerful psychic techniques of the Insect Race.

Against the Six-winged Celestial Cicada, he was not at a disadvantage and even suppressed it.

At this moment, Gao Xuan activated the Invisible Cicada Wing Sword. He seldom used this Sword Artifact, as he usually either killed or crushed his enemies swiftly. There was no need to activate the Invisible Cicada Wing Sword.

Upgraded to the Golden Level Invisible Cicada Wing Sword through the Prayer Stone, it usually merged with the Six-winged Celestial Cicada.

Under Gao Xuan’s activation, the Invisible Cicada Wing Sword truly emerged.

A pair of transparent, invisible wing blades oscillated highly behind Gao Xuan.

"Aurora·Celestial Mandate."

This swordsmanship move is the strongest killing blow of the Aurora Sword Technique. When Gao Xuan motivates this move, either he will grasp the Celestial Mandate and become the master of destiny.

Or, he will perish, destined to be the loser of fate.

With the same high-frequency oscillation, the thought spear is an invisible Spiritual Power formed from thought waves.

Aurora·Celestial Mandate, however, is triggered by the vibration of Sword Qi using the Invisible Cicada Wing Sword.

The two differ greatly. The thought spear without harnessing Source Power cannot interfere with matter, only destroying the spirit core of intelligent life.

Celestial Mandate, however, with its high-frequency Sword Qi vibration, targets all matter and spirit.

The Invisible Cicada Wing Sword vibrated Sword Qi at a frequency of a million times per second, causing Starlight’s body to stiffen. The keratin armor on the surface of his body shattered and crumbled under the Sword Qi vibration.

Starlight’s skin and muscles crumbled and shattered layer by layer, as he was about to die under the Celestial Mandate.

At a critical moment, Starlight realized it. He withdrew the thought spear, condensing Source Power through thought waves to protect himself in layers.

Starlight adjusted the thought wave with the oscillation of Celestial Mandate’s Sword Qi, stabilizing his body that was rapidly collapsing.

The broken surface of his body was regenerating and healing at an ultra-fast speed.

With the speed at which Starlight’s body was regenerating, within just 0.1 seconds, his body would be restored as new.

Gao Xuan twirled the dual swords in his hands, Ming Che Sword Light on the Hongyi Sword surged and flowed, the endless, cold and deep Sword Qi pressed down on Starlight.

The Godslaying Sword transformed into a bloody light, directly piercing through Starlight’s chest, then dragged across in a crosswise slash, slicing open most of Starlight’s chest at a diagonal.

The golden blood inside Starlight’s body also splashed out following the motion. Suffering such a severe blow, Starlight’s body stiffened once more.

The Hongyi Sword took advantage of this gap, the longsword transformed into a lustrous Sword Light that flowed, Starlight’s half arm fell silently under the Sword Light, his head and body were also severed into two segments under the Sword Light.

At this point, the body carrying the thought consciousness of Starlight was completely destroyed. However, Starlight’s thought consciousness had not been entirely destroyed, condensing into a pure golden light mass in the air.

Looking at the ball of golden light, Gao Xuan was filled with delight.

Fighting a life-threatening battle, he finally acquired the thought core of the Golden Insect Race. This was also the key to activating the Mechanical Battle Cicada.

Taking advantage of the moment when this thought consciousness body still had a bit of vitality, Gao Xuan took out the Mechanical Battle Cicada.

The Mechanical Battle Cicada let out a sharp screech, vibrating its black iron wings as it pounced towards the thought consciousness body.

Like an autumn cicada sucking plant sap, the Mechanical Battle Cicada latched onto the golden light and absorbed it.

The black eyes of the Mechanical Battle Cicada also glowed with golden light, its whole body emitted a wondrous vibrant life force.

According to the records of the Book of All-Knowing, the Mechanical Battle Cicada had been activated. This was also the most crucial moment.

The Mechanical Battle Cicada itself had no consciousness, once activated, one could assimilate it by importing consciousness.

Without hesitation, Gao Xuan imported his Spiritual Power, intending to leave his unique spiritual imprint in the heart of the Mechanical Battle Cicada.

Unexpectedly, the heart of the Mechanical Battle Cicada resisted Gao Xuan’s consciousness, preventing him from leaving a spiritual imprint.

This change took Gao Xuan by surprise, causing astonishment and a bit of anger.

He immediately realized that something was wrong: "No, this is the remaining consciousness of Starlight..."