Chapter 822 The Broodmother’s Warning
“Nothing serious has happened. I’m simply glad you made it back, Kael.”
Amir approached and clasped both of Kael’s hands.
Over the next several days, Kael traveled across Skyfire Planet to see how much it had changed.
With no high-level beast cultivators left to oppose them, humanity had established overwhelming control over the planet. The grand formation covering the Skyfire Desert had also been fully restored.
Within the desert, only humans were permitted to fly. Members of every other race were forced to cross the sands on foot.
Once Kael confirmed that nothing serious had happened on Skyfire Planet, he headed for the stellar teleportation array. Amir and the others accompanied him to see him off.
White light flooded the formation, and Kael disappeared.
Far away, at the center of the ocean surrounding the Guborne Continent, another teleportation array slowly began to rotate.
The cultivators guarding it immediately went on alert.
White light roared through the formation, and Kael appeared at its center.
“What? P-Patriarch Lin has returned?”
One of the guards had met Kael once before. In the years since, the man had risen to become captain of the formation guards.
“How have you all been?”
After greeting them, Kael crossed the distance in several flashes and flew out over the ocean.
The sea parted before him, opening a passage nearly a thousand yards deep. Kael flew through it on his sword.
Wherever he passed, the pressure of his aura sent every Sea Demon fleeing into hiding. Some retreated more than three thousand miles to escape him.
In the blink of an eye, Kael reached the Guborne Continent.
The land had completely recovered from the Gu Parasite Plague. Prosperity had returned, and newly constructed cities rose throughout the continent.
Kael spread his immense Spiritual Sense across the entire Guborne Continent.
“Hm?”
His figure flickered, and he appeared more than thirty thousand miles away.
A sect had been established there. At the base of its mountain stood a stone monument inscribed with bold, sweeping calligraphy:
STAR RIVER SECT brANCH
“Who are you?”
Several Qi Refining disciples rushed out and glared at Kael.
“I’m only passing through.”
Kael smiled faintly.
With their limited cultivation, the disciples had no hope of seeing through his.
“You. Come here.”
One of them pointed at Kael, his tone leaving no room for refusal.
A hint of displeasure entered Kael’s gaze.
How are Caleb and Elliot managing the sect? Why are Star River Sect disciples behaving so arrogantly?
“What do you need?”
Kael took a single step and appeared directly in front of the disciple.
The arrogant young man stumbled back five or six steps before crashing into the stone monument.
“So you’re a Deity Transformation expert.” He hurriedly took out a jade bottle. “Please drink this drop of spirit liquid.”
Kael’s Spiritual Sense swept over the familiar liquid inside the bottle, leaving him puzzled.
Gareth Murong had been the one to teach him how to refine spirit liquid. Kael had never expected that, after all these years, even a Qi Refining disciple could casually produce a bottle of it.
This version, however, was several dozen times less pure than the spirit liquid Kael remembered.
“Why should I drink it?”
“Quickly, notify Senior Stone. This man may have a Gu worm inside his head.”
When Kael refused, the disciple signaled to one of the other gate guards.
That cultivator immediately took out a Transmission Talisman.
A short while later, spiritual light flashed in the sky. A female cultivator descended before Kael. She had reached roughly the late stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.
She hesitated the moment she saw him.
Something about this young man seemed strangely familiar.
“What is your relationship with Arthur?” Kael asked.
His Spiritual Sense had become so precise that it could penetrate her bloodstream. He immediately detected a Qilin Bloodline within her.
“I am Patriarch Stone’s seventeenth-generation descendant.”
Although she was supposed to be in command here, she answered without hesitation. For some inexplicable reason, standing before this young man made her feel as though their positions were reversed.
“What is your name?” Kael continued.
“Maelis Stone.”
“So your name is Maelis. Tell me, has something happened on the Guborne Continent?”
“Yes, I—” Maelis abruptly caught herself. “Wait. Who are you? Why are you the one asking all the questions? I only want one answer from you. Will you drink the spirit liquid or not?”
Only after repeatedly answering him did Maelis remember that she was supposed to be in charge of the Guborne Branch.
“Very well.”
Kael took out his Voidlink Mirror and sent a trace of Origin Power into it.
Less than a second later, the mirror established a connection with Elliot. The faces of Elliot and Caleb appeared across its surface.
They knew who was calling and answered at once.
“Patriarch, have you already returned?” Elliot asked excitedly.
“Kael, why didn’t you contact me through the Astral Compass before coming back?” Caleb asked respectfully. “You could at least have given me time to prepare.”
Maelis and the gatekeeping disciples froze.
They studied Kael’s features again and finally recognized him.
“Greetings, Patriarch!”
“Welcome back to the sect!”
Maelis led the disciples in kneeling before Kael.
With Rook and the others spreading stories of his achievements, Kael had become a legend throughout humanity.
“I’ll return to the main sect in a few days.”
Kael ended the connection and turned back to Maelis.
“Now tell me what happened.”
“Patriarch, ten days ago, someone at the Guborne Branch was discovered with a Gu worm inside his head. That is why we began screening every cultivator who comes through here.”
“When did this begin?”
“About ten days ago.”
“Ten days?”
Kael’s attention sharpened.
He had reached his agreement with the Broodmother almost exactly ten days earlier. Now Gu worms had suddenly appeared on the previously clean Guborne Continent.
The message was obvious.
The Broodmother was reminding him that she could invade his homeworld whenever she pleased.
All the joy Kael had felt at the thought of reuniting with his family vanished.
“Patriarch, can these Gu worms be eradicated?” Maelis asked.
“Don’t worry. There aren’t many of them. There’s no need to screen everyone. Carry on as usual.”
Kael’s tone remained grave.
Even if he found every Gu worm currently present, it would solve nothing. The Broodmother could send an endless stream of replacements into the Guborne Continent whenever she wished.
Against the staggering numbers of the Insect Race, one man could only do so much, no matter how powerful he became.
“What?”
Maelis could not understand the reasoning behind his decision.
Her cultivation and standing were far too low for her to comprehend the struggle unfolding between figures as powerful as Kael and the Broodmother.
“I’ll be leaving now.”
Kael vanished from where he stood.
He found a cross-continental teleportation array and used it to travel to the Heavenfall Continent.
White light flashed, and Kael appeared within the Phoenix Reach teleportation array without experiencing the slightest dizziness.
He had undergone stellar teleportation countless times. A mere cross-continental teleportation could no longer affect him.
The moment he emerged from the formation, he saw Aria waiting with all the senior members of the sect.
A young man and a young woman stood among them.
“Husband!”
Aria hurried forward and clasped one of Kael’s hands.
Harper approached from the other side and took his remaining hand.
“Father!”
“Greetings, Father.”
The young man and woman stepped forward and stood before Kael.