The air in the Imperial Palace had changed. It no longer smelled of incense and ancient stone, but of a strange, metallic ozone—the scent of the Great Rift beginning to tear at the edges of reality. From his black jade throne, Lin Xuan could feel the vibration in his teeth. It was a call, a low-frequency hum that only a master of the insect path could hear.
Beside him, Lin Yue, Lin Feng, and Lin Chen were in a state of heightened synchronization. Their spiritual seas were no longer separate ponds; they had become a connected ocean, feeding directly into Lin Xuan's core. This was the "reward" of the previous night—a bond of soul and blood that had turned his sisters into the three pillars of the Sovereign Sect.
[System Notice: Synchronization at 99%.]
[Condition Met: Unlocking Path 500 — The Queen of the Endless Swarm.]
[Warning: This evolution requires the 'Core of a Void-Monarch' from the first wave of the Rift.]
"Xuan'er," Lin Chen said, her voice sounding triple-layered as if her sisters were speaking through her. Her eyes glowed with a faint violet light. "The monitors at the Imperial Observatory have gone dark. The Rift isn't just opening; it's expanding. The first wave is coming, and it's not beasts. It's... something else."
"It's a harvest," Lin Xuan said, standing up. The Dragon-Slaying Hornet buzzed aggressively on his shoulder, its stinger dripping with golden ichor. "The Rift doesn't want to destroy us; it wants to replace us with its own ecosystem."
The First Wave: The Glass Locusts
The sky above the Imperial Capital didn't turn black; it turned clear. Millions of translucent, crystalline insects—Glass Locusts—poured out of the sky. They didn't eat crops; they ate spiritual energy. They landed on the shields of the noble clans, and within seconds, the shields shattered as the locusts drained them dry.
"The Imperial Guard is falling!" Lin Feng roared, her hand on the hilt of her wind-attribute blade. "Xuan'er, the locusts are ignoring the commoners and heading straight for the palace! They're attracted to the high-density energy of the Emperor's throne!"
"Let them come," Lin Xuan said, walking toward the grand balcony of the palace. "They think they've found a feast. They've actually found a slaughterhouse."
Lin Xuan extended both arms.
"Xiao Hong, spin the web of the world! Xiao Ying, open the gates of the void!"
The Scarlet Weaver shot out, its red threads weaving an invisible canopy over the entire palace district. As the Glass Locusts flew into it, they didn't just get stuck—they were instantly drained of their stolen spiritual energy.
Then, the Abyssal Shadow-Slayer flickered. Thousands of shadow-clones of the ant appeared in the sky, each one carrying a microscopic thread of the Weaver's silk. It was a literal 'Soul-Harvesting Net'.
[Ding! Absorbing High-Density Rift Energy.]
[Synthesis Progress: 30%... 60%... 95%...]
The Arrival of the Monarch
Suddenly, the swarming sound of the locusts was drowned out by a deafening, crystalline crack. A single insect, thirty feet long and shaped like a jagged diamond, emerged from the center of the Rift.
[Target: Void-Monarch (9-Star Calamity Grade).]
[Status: Sentinel of the Swarm.]
The Monarch didn't attack with claws. It let out a pulse of pure spatial distortion that threatened to collapse the palace into a singularity.
"That's the core I need," Lin Xuan whispered.
He didn't send his beasts. He looked at his sisters. "Sisters, give me your everything. For the Sovereign, for the Sect."
Lin Yue, Lin Feng, and Lin Chen stood behind him, placing their hands on his back. A blinding pillar of violet and silver light erupted from them, flowing into Lin Xuan's body. His eyes turned completely white, and for a moment, he wasn't just a Tamer—he was the Spirit of the Insect God.
Lin Xuan vanished. He reappeared directly in front of the Void-Monarch.
The Dragon-Slaying Hornet shot forward like a golden bullet, its stinger glowing with the law of absolute destruction. It pierced the Monarch's diamond hide, and Lin Xuan reached his hand into the crack.
He pulled out a pulsing, black diamond heart.
The Birth of Path 500
The Void-Monarch shattered into a billion glass shards. As its core touched Lin Xuan's palm, the System let out a roar of triumph.
[Ding! Path 500 Unlocked: The Queen of the Endless Swarm.]
[Evolution Commencing...]
Back on the balcony, a fifth light appeared. It wasn't an insect that landed on Lin Xuan's shoulder. It was a small, humanoid figure with wings of gossamer and a crown of starlight—the Queen.
She was the bridge. She didn't fight; she commanded. As she opened her eyes, every insect in the world—from the common crickets to the Rift's own locusts—paused. They didn't look at the Rift anymore. They looked at Lin Xuan.
"The first wave is over," Lin Xuan said, landing softly on the balcony, the Queen floating beside his head.
He looked at his three sisters, who were leaning against each other, exhausted but glowing with a divine beauty. They were no longer just pillars; they were part of the Swarm's consciousness.
"The Rift opened to bring a Queen," Lin Xuan said, his voice echoing across the now-silent Capital. "But it forgot that I already have a Hive."
He looked up at the Rift, which was already beginning to shrink in the presence of the Queen's authority.
"Close the gate," Lin Xuan commanded.
With a flick of the Queen's hand, the sky folded in on itself, and the Great Rift was erased from existence.
The Imperial Capital fell to its knees. The Tamer era was over. The Era of the Sovereign had begun.
[The End of Volume 1]