Sovereign of the Ashes

After returning to the planetary fortress, Gongsun Wudi went off to handle her official duties, while Sein headed straight back to his laboratory.

The God of Dusk Desire took the opportunity to report his recent business achievements to Sein.

Just as Sein had predicted, the Insectoids were indeed quite easy to deal with.

From Buros Plane all the way to Phylis Plane, the God of Dusk Desire had acted on Sein’s behalf and concluded several major transactions with the Insectoids in both worlds.

What excited him even more was that these Insectoid legions, having traveled through wormholes, possessed many items that clearly came from distant star domains.

Many of those trade goods were things even the God of Dusk Desire had never seen before.

He assured Sein that as long as these rare resources from distant star domains were transported to Myriad Springs Worlds for trade, they were certain to bring in enormous profits!

The Dawn Empire’s Ministry of Revenue and the Arriba Interstellar Chamber of Commerce had also set their sights on the resources in the Insectoids’ possession, even though both had already counted so much money on the battlefields of this large-sized star domain that their hands were practically cramping.

The officials from the Dawn Empire’s Ministry of Revenue were relatively restrained and composed. Before making any move, they first needed approval from either the Emperor or the Princess Guardian.

The merchants from the Arriba Interstellar Chamber of Commerce, on the other hand, were far less shy.

They had not even sent a proper high-ranking representative to negotiate with the Insectoids, yet large numbers of middle and lower-level merchants were already approaching the Insectoid bases on their own, unable to contain their eagerness as they sought to strike deals.

They were truly willing to risk their lives for profit.

Did these interstellar merchants not worry that those ferocious, hideous-looking Insectoids might simply tear them apart and devour them, just like they had done to the legions of Myriad Manifestations World?

In the end, the outcome was fairly satisfactory.

The Insectoids did not reject these interstellar merchants who came forward to curry favor, though they did not engage in large-scale trade with them either.

Most of the goods brought by the Insectoids were ultimately traded with the Dawn Empire’s imperial court.

Furthermore, once the Insectoid legions arrived at the main battlefield of the Magus Civilization and integrated into the Magus Alliance’s economic system, the situation would become even more favorable.

Given the Magus Alliance’s vast scale and enormous market, the resources from distant star domains brought by the Insectoids would allow them to make a substantial profit without causing too much disruption to the alliance’s economy.

The Magus Alliance’s political, economic, cultural, and military direction was entirely controlled by Magus World.

To be precise, it was overseen by the Magus World’s overmages and overlords.

As long as the top leadership remained intact, no major upheaval would occur.

Everything was progressing smoothly on Magus World’s side. That was unlike the Gallant Federation. Due to the mounting pressure of war, the once-stable federal society had begun experiencing a series of upheavals in recent years.

These upheavals had not been caused by Magus World’s black mages or the Undead Plague. Rather, they stemmed from internal problems within the federation itself.

Compared to the Magus Civilization, a federal society ruled by capital was ultimately still lacking.

The real question was how much longer could the Gallant Federation hold out?

***

Under Gongsun Wudi’s orders, Sein would now lead his legions toward Divine Descendants World.

With yet another large-sized plane serving as a battlefield, Sein’s experience and understanding of the Clash of Civilizations continued to grow.

However, before heading to the Divine Descendants World, Sein first needed to conquer a few low-level worlds along the way. These were targets the Dawn Empire had already marked in advance.

Those worlds put up little resistance.

There was no need for Sein or Fermera to intervene personally. Dispatching the God of Black Mist and the others was more than enough.

Shallow Sands World was a geo-attribute plane, and its resources were relatively barren.

Sein simply dispatched the million-strong mechanical legion under his command. In just three months, they crushed all resistance on that world.

Howling Wind World, on the other hand, was an aero-attribute plane with relatively abundant resources.

The God of Black Mist and his forces fought there for more than half a year. Eventually, Sein grew impatient with their slow progress and ordered Yuri to pilot her Burning Flame Unit into battle.

With a single blast, Yuri shattered half the skull of the Rank Five God of the Whirlwind, who was already under siege by the God of Black Mist and his allies.

Just like that, the war in that world came to a swift end.

Rumbling Thunder World, Skodam Plane, Vosal World... These were all low-level planes Sein conquered along the way as he led his forces toward Divine Descendants World.

Apart from Shallow Sand World at the very beginning, which had been relatively barren, the remaining planes were all quite prosperous.

Sein discovered that the closer a plane was to Divine Descendants World, the better its resources and development prospects tended to be.

After all, as a large-sized world, Divine Descendants World possessed immense developmental pull. The surrounding subordinate planes and their native deities naturally benefited from it as well.

That was completely unlike the God of Black Mist and his followers, who had been marginalized on the outskirts of the Divine Descendants Star Domain. With no better options, they had been forced to find other ways to acquire resources.

Throughout the journey to Divine Descendants World, Sein did not intervene personally.

Lately, most of his attention had been focused on studying the two eggs he had recently acquired.

In terms of material value, the two eggs were not particularly impressive. Even if he successfully hatched them, they would at most provide him with two demigod-level Insectoids as allies.

Still, their research value was extremely high!

Sein had attempted to study the primordial genetic essence contained within the two eggs, then work backward to extract the genes of other Insectoid creatures, perhaps even tracing their bloodline back to its source.

The result was that he nearly blew up his own laboratory again!

The Insectoids’ genetic makeup contained a deeply ingrained defense mechanism against any form of tampering.

It was only because the two eggs in Sein’s possession had been “specially processed” that they did not explode the moment he first attempted to probe their bloodline power. Had that happened, even Sein would have been severely injured.

Undeterred, Sein also tried using soul magic to manipulate the souls within the two eggs.

Once again, the result ended failure!

A strange, piercing screech seemed to be hidden deep within the genetic code of the two eggs. Every time Sein attempted to cross a certain boundary, that terrifying screech would make his head buzz.

Even a highly learned Rank Five mage like him was unable to unravel the genetic mysteries of demigod-level Insectoids.

Clearly, these Insectoids could not be so easily claimed or subdued by Sein.

Unless, perhaps, he could acquire a secondary hive and obtain authorization from the Empress of Blades herself.

“Never mind. The mechanical army stored and manufactured within the Magic Cube is already more than enough to serve as cannon fodder for the upcoming battles,” Sein murmured to himself.

“I am already a Mechanic. If I delve too deeply into the mysteries of the bloodline system as well, I probably won’t have enough time for all my research. I’ll leave these two eggs for later, once I’ve ranked up, or when I actually have some free time.”

“One cannot bite off more than one can chew,” he reminded himself.

After placing the two eggs back in his collection room, Sein could not help but sigh. There was not much time left for him to spend on research.

Two years later, the vast outline of Divine Descendants World gradually came into view from within the planetary fortress under Sein’s command.

Arriving at the outer reaches of that large-sized world alongside Sein was the elite legion of the Dawn Empire, led by Gongsun Wudi on the flank.