Chapter 60: Gemstone
Eternal Light World, Insect Race Base Camp · West Side, beneath the Starry Sky Giant Tree.
The Starry Sky Giant Tree here had already reached a height of over a hundred thousand meters, making it, aside from the Insect Race Mother Nest, a landmark sight of this world. Under the shade of this giant tree’s canopy, the area was cool and refreshing, with specks of faint light falling onto the fungal carpet. Occasionally, rare insects from the outside world flew by, among which a golden-spotted stag beetle was the dream pet of insect-type players.
Here, this golden-spotted stag beetle roamed freely. Apart from not daring to fly near the Dominant Nest Chamber, it was ignored by other Demon Insect Race creatures elsewhere. The flying pupa larvae foraging on the fungal carpet were its favorite prey.
However, this golden-spotted stag beetle had recently developed a worry. A terrifying being with pitch-black eyes often caught it and made it fight a plated-spined spike spider. In reality, the two were friends, a fact that the foolish, black-eyed, terrifying existence was unaware of.
With the intelligence of this golden-spotted stag beetle, it naturally had no idea why the Eternal Light World had become so much better. But its leisurely posture, lying on the moss at the tree roots, indicated it knew the current Eternal Light World was far superior to before. At the very least, it no longer suffered from toxic rain eroding its carapace and legs, and its foraging range had expanded dozens of times.
Just as this golden-spotted stag beetle was enjoying the coolness of the canopy area, a small hand suddenly grabbed it. Faced with this ambush, the golden-spotted stag beetle didn’t panic. After being caught dozens of times, it had given up struggling.
Looking at the golden-spotted stag beetle in its hand, which didn’t resist, the Shadow Devourer, with pitch-black eye sockets faintly showing white thread-like patterns, felt a sense of boredom. Its small face, covered in ceramic-like cracks, showed displeasure as it casually tossed the golden-spotted stag beetle aside.
The Shadow Devourer hadn’t come to the Starry Sky Giant Tree to catch stag beetles. Last time it came here, it was caught by the leader-level Demon Beast · Abaddon. If not for the Demon Insect Race’s Supreme Will having decreed that, as long as the Shadow Devourer didn’t commit major offenses, it shouldn’t be harmed, Abaddon’s style would have been to behead the Shadow Devourer and hang it up.
The Shadow Devourer was never afraid of Abaddon. Its main purpose today was the tall wine barrels in the area with the densest natural elemental energy, a few hundred meters away.
That’s right, the Shadow Devourer had come to steal wine. Ever since it secretly obtained some Elemental Brew, it had fallen in love with this dizzying liquid. In its over a thousand years of life, this might be its favorite thing, though those millennia were mostly spent in isolation, leaving it with limited experiences.
As it approached the brewing area, the Shadow Devourer instinctively crouched and moved closer to the trunk of the Starry Sky Giant Tree to hide. The beating it got last time from Abaddon was still quite painful.
The Shadow Devourer stared at the increasingly close tall brewing barrels, swallowed its saliva, and its right hand subconsciously reached for the tree trunk beside it. But the touch wasn’t hard; instead, it felt semi-fluid. This startled the Shadow Devourer. Just as it was about to sidestep and leap away, translucent, dark blue, thick nerves wrapped around its right arm and torso, dragging it into the Starry Sky Giant Tree.
The Shadow Devourer’s eyes began to panic. Just as it was about to call for help, it was completely swallowed into the Starry Sky Giant Tree.
Su Xiao had slain the Star Devourer in the Eternal Light World, but he had long known that the Star Devourer would not go extinct. What he killed was the previous Star Devourer. The next reborn Star Devourer would be different from the last, whether in form, appearance, or methods. In fact, each generation of Star Devourer was a distinct individual.
The Star Devourer was part of the Star Realm’s rules. Some decaying stars needed something to devour them; otherwise, not only would they hinder the birth of new stars, but their gradual decay would also breed terrifying entities.
This meant that the Star Devourer could be good or evil, varying with each generation. Some Star Devourers only devoured dead stars, while others became addicted to stellar power, devouring thriving, healthy stars. Such Star Devourers would gradually transform into world-destroying beings, like the previous generation Su Xiao had slain.
Another law was that only when the current Star Devourer was completely killed would the Starry Sky Giant Tree gestate a new Star Devourer, as was happening now.
The previous Star Devourer had existed as a world-destroying entity for over a hundred thousand years, naturally leaving behind something that would influence the soon-to-be-born new Star Devourer. The total was as follows: