Above The Sky
Chapter 312 - 312 294 I am my own driver!

312: Chapter 294 I am my own driver!

(1/4) 312: Chapter 294 I am my own driver!

(1/4) Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Ian continued to destroy the rocks and crystal plates beneath his feet, drawing himself in a straight line closer to the source of the blue mist.

The structure inside the Worm Nest was extremely complex, with twisting, spiraling passageways and Spirit Energy obstacles.

The walls, made from a composite material of crystal iron, were incredibly sturdy, able to withstand bombardment.

But all of this was meaningless to Ian, an Apprentice of Sand Armor with the Foresight View.

Merely by sensing the Earth Origin Quality, he could tell which crystal iron plates were more fragile, and the Foresight View ensured every strike of his sword hit the weakest points of his targets.

In less than five seconds, he had broken through to a passage that led to the source of the blue mists.

With a swish, a figure landed on the ground amidst the crystal dust and stone debris.

Sword in hand, Ian surveyed his surroundings.

This place was at the very center of the Worm Nest, the core chamber.

It was a cavity wrapped in crystal and metal, with ethereal blue-green fog swirling amongst the semi-transparent crystal clusters, meandering at the heart of the deep Worm Nest.

One could hear the ‘gurgle’ of flesh and blood moving, the rustle of tiny creatures shifting, and the drawn-out sound of something breathing.

The first thing to hit him, even Ian could not rely on his eyes to see everything in front of him.

He could only hear these sounds and smell a weird odor, unsure whether it was fishy or fragrant like sandalwood.

What was tense, though, was that upon entering this place, the illusions became much more severe.

“Spirit Energy amplified by three times?

It’s even stronger than I imagined…”

A hand pressed to his forehead, amid the barrage of tangible Spirit Energy fluctuations, Ian, with furrowed brows, heard and then saw something, revealing an expression of sheer astonishment.

In the young man’s blue eyes reflected the dazzling golden light.

Following that…

He heard the cry of an infant, the clamorous celebrations, and the joy of the people.

He saw a hand reaching out to him gently, filled with love and tenderness.

“Child…

it’s a pity you are born into such a world, a world like a cage,” said the woman’s voice, frail yet warm, with a rich love: “But I am also glad you were born, born into this spectacularly beautiful world.”

This was a more intense Spirit Energy influence than before, it felt like a cold, slimy tentacle had penetrated his brain, forcibly inserting another person’s memories and thoughts, directly and brutally ‘etching’ them into the young man’s brain.

“Spirit Energy is really strong…

If my own Spirit Energy weren’t strong enough, and without the Silver Chip to help me control it, it might have bypassed my brain and remote-controlled my body through the nerves.”

Breathing out slowly, Ian now gripped the longsword tightly in his hand.

Within the Foresight View, he was surrounded by substantial blobs of deep blue mist, entwining his hands, feet, and neck.

The human eye could not see this bizarre scene, but a Spirit Energy User could see the manner of the invisible clash between the two sides.

Nest Will…

that’s what Ian called that ‘will and life’ being protected by the queen in the center of the nest, lying dormant at the heart of the Worm Nest.

Its Spirit Energy was terrifying, akin to a ‘soul-devouring bug’ on the Spirit Energy level.

Just now, he had sensed over seventeen attacks aimed at his soul, spirit, and the microcurrents of his nerves; each one was powerful enough to instantly brainwash an ordinary person or magical beast into ‘becoming itself.’

Yes, itself.

The Nest Will’s Spirit Energy had a multitude of functions such as ‘electromagnetic,’ ‘spiritual subordination,’ ‘memory inscription,’ ‘soul transcription,’ ‘flesh domination,’ and ‘self-replication,’ like Ian’s Foresight View, it was a high-powered Spirit Energy that integrated numerous lower-level abilities.

For ordinary people, it can directly alter neural signals to control the body, and through memory writing and soul transcribing, it replicates its will onto others.

For Sublimators, after they are defeated, it can also slowly transform through Spirit Energy.

As long as it has enough “flesh and blood,” the Nest Will can continuously create its own avatars… If it had a civilization of entirely ordinary people, Ian absolutely believed it could create a gestalt consciousness, a hive civilization.

“I was wondering why the mother of the Worm Nest, as its leader, didn’t possess its own unique Spirit Energy, and seemed only capable of controlling parasitized beings by borrowing the power from the Spirit Energy Network of the Nest… Turns out it’s just an ordinary BOSS, and the hidden enemy is still inside the Nest!”

Ian’s Spirit Energy was engaging in attack and defense with the opponent’s Spirit Energy.

Delving into the realm of the mind, the Nest Will’s Spirit Energy became greatly enhanced within its own lair, unceasing and highly tenacious, determined to tear through Ian’s defenses and seize his highest-level body.

Yes, the Worm Nest was incredibly greedy… It had always coveted the body of the Aether Crystal Dragon, a perfect physique it longed for – powerful yet robust, full of potential, and able to perfectly carry its will.

But the power was strong and the movements nimble, making it hard to capture, so it took the opportunity during the progress of the dragon’s evolution outside to snatch the Dragon Egg, to raise from the very beginning.

This plan had succeeded, but then it noticed Ian… realizing the presence of another individual who was equally strong and resilient, and possessed an extraordinary Spirit Energy talent.

One of its kind from days past.

Such outstanding conditions, arising from an inner yearning, instantly determined the Nest Will’s resolution to make Ian a part of itself, at all costs.

But Ian wasn’t so easy to brainwash.

He stepped forward, where the ground in the core area of the Worm Nest was moist and slippery, covered with mucus and various unknown flesh and blood tissues, and the fluorescence released by the Crystal Clusters made it feel as if one was in another world or inside the stomach of a beast.

Yet, the wind stirred by the young man’s movement thinned the dense fog ahead, faintly revealing the location of the “Nest Will.”

During this process, the attacks from the Nest Will were utterly useless, even leaving it confused – its Spirit Energy, even if it couldn’t completely parasitize, should at least be able to fabricate some fake memories, causing one to fall into illusions.

But why was it that when it encountered this White Folk, it had no effect?

The answer is actually quite simple.

That is because Ian had parasitized himself before the Nest Will could parasitize him.

If one were to describe the relationship between a person and their body as a Mech Armor and its pilot AI, then a Spirit Energy User is like an air-dropped pilot.

The Spirit Energy User could suppress the AI with their own authority, then take control of the vessel themselves.

To put it bluntly, no matter how magical the Nest Will’s Spirit Energy was, it was merely about suppressing the body’s AI to take over, and then during the control process, reprogramming the body’s control software and instinctual reactions.

In this way, it gradually turns a body into its own likeness.

But Ian directly abandoned his primitive flesh and blood nervous system which hadn’t yet sublimated into a Spiritual Neural Network, instead controlling all his actions with a Silver Chip—he even had the Silver Chip back up his memory, checking every second for any discrepancies.

And within his body, all three structures of the Sublimation Organ Chips in the three Sublimation Origin Structures were running at full strength, forming two interlocking triangular Origin Structures, alternating in a cycle that instantly made it exponentially harder for the Nest Will’s Spirit Energy to penetrate, even multiplying the difficulty!

Ian was no longer an AI controlled by the instincts of his own body.

He had become a pilot himself.

Thus, the Nest Will, being a pilot itself, couldn’t rewrite Ian’s will.

Apart from creating illusions, it couldn’t do anything else.

But even so, it was already terrifying enough.

The wind dispersed the heavy fog, swirling away the pungent odors at the center of the Worm Nest, and everything became clear in the radiating light.

Before Ian was a cocoon.

A giant cocoon.

Rustling sounds emerged from within this cocoon—a white, five-meter-tall cocoon suspended at the very center of the Worm Nest, with something taking shape inside.

Through the semi-transparent cocoon, one could vaguely see an amorphous shadow squirming and entangling, with countless budding flesh sprouts growing on it, repeating a cycle of entwining, merging, then resurfacing.

That was a brain.