"Does the Insect Race have spiritual intelligence?" Lu Ye asked as he observed the battlefield's environment. At this moment, waves of Mental Consciousness continued to assault his Divine Sea, but under the suppression of the Soul Suppressing Pagoda, it ultimately proved futile. "That's the Insect Matriarch!" Nian Yuexian's face showed a hint of discomfort. Although the Divine Soul Shock from the Insect Matriarch was aimed at Lu Ye, she was too close to him, inevitably affected, "Defeating it will end the fight, but its regenerative ability is terrifying; ordinary injuries are useless against it." The battle had raged for so long, yet the Level 9 cultivators had surely inflicted damage on the Insect Matriarch. However, even the most serious injuries were quickly healed, leaving them unsure of how to win and merely dragging the battle on. They realized the Insect Matriarch's rapid healing stemmed from its abundant and pure vitality. Was it possible that depleting its vitality sufficiently would strip the Matriarch of its regenerative powers? This idea was worth testing, so despite the dire situation, the Level 9 cultivators persisted, continuing to entangle with the Insect Matriarch. Having reached this cultivation level, they've encountered countless crises in their lives; they can't lose their fighting spirit due to a small setback. With the realm undecided and life and death not yet split, no one dared to claim they'd lost for sure. They hadn't anticipated this encounter at all initially; they followed the passage peacefully, encountering no Insect Race along the way, but arriving here, the situation turned bizarre. In the vast space, only the Insect Matriarch awaited them. Battle erupted soon after. Though the Insect Matriarch seemed solitary, it could spawn numerous bodyguards at will, and coupled with its powerful Divine Soul Power, it caught Nine Provinces' elite team off guard. Almost everyone was left dazed by its Divine Soul Power shock, with casualties emerging as a result. Even among Level 9 cultivators, there's variation in strength—some with stronger Divine Souls could withstand the Insect Matriarch's shock, while those weaker couldn't. Thankfully, only a few casualties occurred, and the remaining Level 9 cultivators managed a solid counterattack, triggering a fierce battle lasting until now. "Insect Matriarch..." Lu Ye pondered. It was the first time hearing this term; throughout his battles, including actions to eradicate insect hives, he'd never encountered an Insect Matriarch in those hives. Was it due to the hive's size? This particular insect hive stood in the center of the Insect Race's Great Secret Realm, the largest one, hence an Insect Matriarch appeared. Unclear whether the Matriarch spawned the hive or the hive nurtured the Matriarch, it reminded of the chicken-and-egg dilemma, without a conclusive answer. "Is there no vitality core here?" Lu Ye asked. Nian Yuexian shook her head: "No, all the vitality is concentrated in the Insect Matriarch." Lu Ye had already noticed this, as the Matriarch's vitality was astonishingly immense. Currently, more than a dozen Level 9 cultivators surrounded the Matriarch in combat, occasionally breaking through its defenses, inflicting light or heavy wounds, but regardless of severity, they healed instantaneously due to its vitality. The recovery speed surpassed even the flesh wall's regrowth. "We've considered a strategic retreat to avoid confrontation, but this place is completely sealed, making escape impossible." The dense flesh wall enveloped the entire space, destruction speed unable to match the flesh wall's regrowth, so forming a passage was impossible. Ever since they entered, the Level 9 cultivators lacked a retreat. The entrance where Lu Ye entered had also been filled by the flesh wall. "You shouldn't have come in," Nian Yuexian sighed gently. Gathered so many Divine Sea Level 9 cultivators unable to defeat the Insect Matriarch, Lu Ye's rash entrance as a Level 4 was indeed a risky move. Luckily, Lu Ye's own strength was formidable, so despite lower cultivation, he wasn't a burden; thus, he dared enter. At this moment, he contemplated an issue. Given the Insect Matriarch could rapidly spawn powerful bodyguard insects, why did it drag him into this battlefield? It could've deployed insect bodyguards to eliminate him in the passage. If true, he'd face being overpowered alone. Since the Matriarch didn't choose this, likely not because it refused, but because it couldn't... In other words, these rapidly spawned insect bodyguards, despite strength, faced severe limitations, probably unable to leave easily. The unique environment empowered them upon hatching, thus the Matriarch drew him in here. It allowed Level 9 cultivators to enter likewise, as here it could exert full power. While fleeing with Nian Yuexian, the pursuing insect bodyguards multiplied, freshly hatched ones joined from both sides, intercepting from the front too. Even though Lu Ye and Nian Yuexian's skills were quite formidable, they were still caught in perilous situations, and the scene was a chaotic mess. Not only were there Insect Race bodyguards gathering towards him, but also the Level 9 cultivators. After such a long time of fighting, the cultivators also discovered a problem, which was that the Insect Matriarch could hatch only a limited number of Insect Race bodyguards. At most, the number wouldn't exceed eight hundred. Before Lu Ye came in, each of them had to simultaneously deal with several bodyguards; they killed them, but new ones would hatch soon, ceaselessly. So even though their self-preservation was assured, it was hard for them to help others. The situation continued all along. But since Lu Ye entered, the stalemate began to change; the number of Insect Race bodyguards facing the Level 9 cultivators decreased… Because most of the newly hatched Insect Race bodyguards joined in the pursuit and blockade against Lu Ye. They were all seasoned cultivators and could clearly see through such changes. Long Bai shouted, "Kid, what did you do before to get so much attention from the Insect Matriarch?" This was also what others were curious about. The Insect Matriarch's intense focus on Lu Ye clearly indicated that it saw him as a huge threat; otherwise, it wouldn't react like that. This was quite unbelievable, considering even these Level 9 cultivators didn't seem to merit much attention from the Insect Matriarch, who treated them all equally. So how could a mere Level 4 cultivator be singled out ? Yet, it seemed only natural, after all, it was Lu Yiye, a person favored by Heaven's Augury, capable of what others couldn't. Everyone quickly realized that the key to breaking this deadlock might lie with Lu Ye, which is why the Level 9s were gathering around him without previous agreement. "Picking the softer targets?" Lu Ye casually replied. Long Bai curled his lips, clearly skeptical, but this wasn't the time to probe Lu Ye's secrets, so he shouted, "Whatever method you have, use it quickly, otherwise we're all gonna be dead ducks!" Lu Ye no longer hesitated; he threw himself downward, shouting, "I ask you, seniors, to protect me!" Whoosh, whoosh, the sound of air splitting filled the sky as beams of light rapidly pivoted, encircling Lu Ye like stars surrounding the moon, descending together. Standing on the elastic flesh wall, Lu Ye immediately activated the power of the Talent Tree, letting the invisible roots pierce into the flesh wall, his heart hanging in suspense. The Insect Matriarch could control the flesh wall, and during previous engagements in the passage, he couldn't easily contact the flesh wall. If now the Insect Matriarch controlled the flesh wall to evade him, he'd have no recourse. At that time, the only option would be to retreat through the passage they came from, at least not let these Level 9s lose their lives. But to his relief, as the power of the Talent Tree unfolded, the flesh wall beneath showed no signs of vanishing; the devouring power of the Talent Tree commenced, quickly absorbing vast, pure vitality. Lu Ye didn't know why the Insect Matriarch didn't control the flesh wall to avoid him but thought there must be a reason, perhaps related to the Insect Race bodyguards. If his previous guess was correct, these Insect Race bodyguards that could hatch quickly needed the special environment here to maintain their combat power and therefore couldn't leave this place. This area was considered the Core Nest of the entire insect hive, tightly wrapped by the flesh wall, smooth and flawless; if a hole appeared, it would inevitably destroy something, affecting the power of the Insect Race bodyguards. Once these Insect Race bodyguards lost their role, the Insect Matriarch would die even quicker, as the attack power of more than two hundred Level 9s was not something to be taken lightly; no matter how perverse its recovery ability was, there'd be a moment it runs out of vitality. So even knowing that Lu Ye had the ability to devour its vitality, the Insect Matriarch didn't control the flesh wall to evade and avoid Lu Ye's techniques. When faced with two options of harm, it chose the lesser; the Insect Matriarch's spiritual intelligence wasn't low. Or perhaps even the Insect Matriarch couldn't easily control the flesh wall here. Lu Ye couldn't be bothered to explore the reasons behind it, as the development of the situation was ultimately in their favor. And as he moved forward, the Insect Matriarch let out a sudden sharp, ear-piercing wailing, while the long and thin claws on either side of its body flailed even more crazily. That wailing unmistakably contained extremely vast and pure Divine Soul Power, sweeping out explosively in all directions. In an instant, there were constant muffled groans from the cultivators around Lu Ye, while some people's complexions visibly paled, and within Lu Ye's Divine Sea, the waves surged violently. By the Insect Matriarch's side, there had always been more than a dozen people tangling with it, continuously inflicting damage and depleting its vitality, and now they too were caught off guard, simultaneously retreating briefly.