Chapter 101: Birth of the New Kroh God

Witnessing such a massive swarm of beetles, several civilians displayed expressions of terror. However, amidst them, around a dozen individuals unexpectedly threw down their weapons and knelt on the spot, shouting praises to the Kroh God.

“Ahhh.”

Everything unfolded abruptly. As some people bowed in reverence, one soldier, positioned closest to the emerging little beetles, panicked and inadvertently crushed over a dozen insects underfoot. The subsequent scent of blood attracted more beetles, which densely swarmed up his leg.

The soldier instantly collapsed, rolling frantically in an attempt to crush the beetles. However, this only caused even more beetles to cover his body.

Bang!

The commanding officer, who had primarily dealt with the civilians earlier, swiftly ordered the remaining soldiers to tighten their encirclement. Then, drawing his pistol, he fired at the agonizingly writhing soldier, mercifully ending his suffering.

It was clear that the soldier could not be saved; better to spare him further torment. A chill surged through everyone’s hearts.

The officer instructed someone to retrieve and toss out some incendiary and smoke grenades. Being insects at their core, these would temporarily disorient them, causing confusion.

“Move out.” With decisive action, he turned and ran.

As for the civilians, he shouted a few times, and some indeed stood up to follow the soldiers’ retreat. However, there remained a handful of stubborn individuals who insisted that what lay inside was the Kroh God. They kept their eyes closed, fervently praying in hopes that the Kroh God would accept them.

“Sir?” The nearby soldier, noticing they were about to abandon over a dozen civilians, cast a concerned glance.

“It’s their own choice. Ensure the safety of those willing to leave.”

A large group hastily boarded vehicles, but amidst the chaos, significant casualties still occurred. The sheer variety of beetle species posed a challenge; while the ground beetles were disoriented by the smoke grenades, a swarm of smaller yet incredibly fast flying beetles attacked relentlessly. Across the entire plain, the air filled with roaring sounds, gunfire, and the spine-chilling rustling of beetles scurrying.

Kneeling at the forefront was an elderly man with disheveled hair but a remarkably robust physique. He appeared to be in his late seventies or early eighties, age having sunken his eyes and wrinkled his skin, even showing signs of age spots. Yet it was evident that in his youth, he must have been akin to a small giant.

In Wanqi tradition, individuals typically wore tightly wrapped white scarves around their heads during weddings. However, this elder’s white scarf hung loosely, draped casually over his head, with its trailing ends looped twice around his neck before being gathered behind with a woven colorful knot. Additionally, on each side of his shoulders, seven to eight exquisite feathers were meticulously sewn onto his clothing.

This attire was characteristic of the Yar tribe nobility, once the largest tribe in these lands. They took great pride in ornate feathers, valuing them far above gold and silver.

The initial conflict arose when plunderers invaded this unexplored territory. The Yar people assumed these ruthless newcomers sought their treasured possessions - the exquisite feathers. Only later did they realize the plunderers’ true desire was for the abundant yet undervalued golden metal found here.

The old man tightly closed his eyes, forehead touching the ground with hands clasped behind his back. This posture symbolized submission to execution, indicating that before the divine spirits, the supplicant willingly offered their life and everything they possessed.

Contrasting the old man’s unwavering determination born from devout faith, among those already swarmed by beetles, some finally succumbed to fear. With wails, they abruptly rose and sprinted towards the direction the army had just departed, only to stumble within moments, falling amidst the beetle swarm.

Ryuji could feel beetles gnawing at his face, fingers, and feet… Yet, enduring the pain, he continued imploring for Kroh God’s forgiveness.

Their abandonment of original ancestors, deities, and traditions had been prolonged far too long. They embraced the invaders’ ways, diluting their pure Yar lineage; thus, all were deemed sinful.

This steadfast belief fortified Ryuji’s resolve like never before.

Unbeknownst to Ryuji amidst his pain and tension, a massive two-meter-long beetle let out a roar. Its eyes seemed to flicker with a glint of intelligence. Following its roar, the other beetles swiftly detached from the humans, then bypassed them densely before crawling away in various directions.

After approximately one or two minutes, Ryuji realized that the beetles had stopped biting him. Looking up, he saw that only four others remained behind him, three men and one woman. Including himself, all four men were relatively old, while the sole girl appeared very young, seemingly just eighteen or nineteen years old. She was Ryuji’s granddaughter, raised by him since childhood, and thus held great faith in her grandfather. At that moment, they all lifted their heads, gazing at each other with bewilderment.

Their area seemed like a sanctuary, as all the beetles avoided it.

Ignoring the blood on his face, Ryuji began weeping tears of joy, “The Kroh God has forgiven us. He forgave us and once again accepted our offerings.”

Overwhelmed with emotion, these five individuals alternated between crying and laughing.

Duan Wenxuan did not remain unconscious for long. Around 3 PM, his eyes opened.

The massive beetle, which had been vigilantly observing Duan Wenxuan’s movements from its position nearby, immediately noticed him awakening. With a series of chirps, it retreated several steps to allow Duan Wenxuan to easily sit up. However, the beetle felt a strange sensation; despite Duan Wenxuan clearly being present, it seemed as if he were not right before its eyes.

In contrast to this disoriented giant beetle, Duan Wenxuan lowered his gaze towards the back of his own right hand. Previously, there was a gate-like symbol resembling the character ‘口’ without the bottom horizontal stroke, adorned with numerous intricate and mysterious patterns on the “gate.” Now, it had transformed into the simplest pitch-black ‘gate’ symbol, devoid of any additional designs.

This door symbol encapsulated all the capabilities of an individual civilization that had reached its pinnacle before ultimately perishing. Essentially, for Duan Wenxuan now, accessing those previous small worlds was akin to traversing through various dimensions and spaces. Jing Rui, Wan Ling, Yue Fei, the beetle, and even the chuunibyou teenager-they had each only obtained part of the abilities from that powerful, vanished entity.

Now, the door symbol no longer imposed any limitations on him. If Duan Wenxuan wished, within a single day, he could effortlessly traverse several, dozens, or even hundreds of timelines and spatial lines within different small worlds.

Of course, the prerequisite is that he can supply sufficient energy to the door symbol.

Initially, the chuunibyou teenager’s door symbol possessed the ability to manifest fantasies into reality; however, it could only materialize fragments at a time and required specific types of energy. That’s why he transformed the entire Qi County into a fantasy playground, blending various peculiarities throughout the region.

But Duan Wenxuan is different. He doesn’t need such exertion. With his will, he can effortlessly turn fantasies into reality, acting like a god creating diverse entities and dropping them into the real world.

Of course, the prerequisite was that he could supply sufficient energy to the door symbol.

The door symbol possessed all the abilities of the once-powerful individual, essentially granting Duan Wenxuan access to a formidable cheat. From this moment on, Duan Wenxuan understood he had reached the pinnacle of Xuanlan Star.

However, there was still one drawback - this power was not yet entirely his own.

It felt akin to binding a super smartbrain; he could feed complex mathematical problems beyond his understanding into it, and the smartbrain would provide the correct solutions. All he needed to do was supply the necessary energy for its computations. Yet throughout the process, Duan Wenxuan remained oblivious. If the smartbrain were ever to disappear, he would no longer be able to solve those mathematical questions himself.

Nevertheless, it didn’t matter. He now had a path, albeit temporary, allowing him to make significant strides forward. This path had already been cleared of some thorns and obstacles by others before him, so he simply had to follow along.

— Zzizzi

Observing Duan Wenxuan sitting quietly without speaking, the large beetle couldn’t endure the excessive silence. Uneasily, it shifted its long pincers, subtly moved its limbs, and emitted tentative clicking sounds.

Duan Wenxuan tapped the beetle’s long pincer, calming it down. Then, thoughtfully, he looked outside.

He couldn’t see the elderly people due to the distance separating them, but Duan Wenxuan was aware of their presence. The four individuals were still huddled together, crying and laughing intermittently.

Turning towards the large beetle, Duan Wenxuan decided that if this path was to be taken, he should begin trying now.

Closing his eyes, Duan Wenxuan earnestly sought to ‘see’ everything anew, not just as a vibrant world of colors but as its fundamental essence.

Every object is composed of atoms, so within these atoms, when stripped down to their true nature, what does this world look like?

Duan Wenxuan positioned himself as an observer. He saw himself lifting his right hand, with the pitch-black door symbol seemingly absorbing light, space, even time—essentially, both tangible and intangible elements. Then, his right hand grasped something luminous, which Duan Wenxuan promptly tossed onto the large beetle’s head.

The beetle emitted a shrill cry, painfully writhing on the ground.

“You’re getting off easy, newly born Krolo God.”

Among the Yar people, the Kozue and Krolo Gods were the most significant figures. Their Kozue God took the form of a tiger, with its roar bringing forth the sun, thus allowing agriculture to flourish as the world’s first deity. Conversely, the Krolo God appeared as an insect, symbolizing ‘birth and propagation.’ It signified that after the creation of heaven and earth, it was Krolo God who brought forth the abundance of diverse animals and plants, enabling the Yar people to live happily on this fertile land.

The giant beetle quickly ceased its roaring and, instead, began to visibly regenerate its armor at a rapid pace while settling down.

Amidst its tremors, the old exoskeleton shed away, revealing the newly transformed beetle slowly emerging from within.

Apart from retaining its original fierce appearance, the reborn beetle now possessed an added aura of divinity and sanctity. Its dorsal carapace still gleamed like polished ink but shimmered with gentle iridescent hues under the light. Upon the carapace, a pair of delicate wings, thin as cicada wings, gently overlaid, reflecting droplet-like glimmers in the sunlight. Moreover, the wisdom in the beetle’s eyes surpassed its previous state.