Galen knew that Yu'lon was the wisdom figure among the Four Celestials, practically the spokesperson for Pandaria. However, he didn't expect Niuzao to be so efficient.
Galen proposed releasing the Sha of Fear one day, and the next day, Niuzao directly approached Galen. Then, the two cooperated to unseal the Sha demon's seal and proceeded to beat the Sha of Fear into the ground.
However, due to Galen's "carelessness" and negligence, the Sha of Fear found a weakness in their cooperation, broke through the blockade, and fled south...
"Galen, will there be any major problems with what we're doing?" Niuzao, in his tauren form, looked worriedly towards the Dread Wastes, the direction the Sha of Fear had escaped.
"Everything is under control, my friend." Galen tried hard to control the corners of his mouth, the smile in his heart almost transforming him into an evil grinning god of war.
Galen didn't hesitate to use any method that could hinder the mantid, mainly because this race was simply too terrifying.
Their reproduction rate was too fast!
Their rate of producing soldiers almost rivaled his own Heart of Origin, and besides the worker drones, everyone was a soldier.
This was a race with immense war potential, and if he couldn't control them, then he would have to exterminate them.
Galen looked up at Niuzao, who still seemed worried. This guy's tauren form was at least three meters tall. Even though Galen was already a giant among humans, he was still half a head shorter standing next to him.
"My friend, instead of focusing on the Sha demons, I think you should focus on Lei Shen."
"Lei Shen?"
Niuzao touched his horns, very puzzled: "Isn't that guy already dead? He turned to ashes ten thousand years ago!"
"Aren't you curious where his power came from?" Galen chuckled.
Niuzao's gaze finally became serious: "What do you know, Galen!"
Lei Shen went from being a disgraced mogu warlord's descendant to establishing a vast empire, single-handedly challenging the Four Celestials who guarded Pandaria. Yu'lon was even forced to use the Cycle of Life to prolong her life.
And Lei Shen accomplished all of this in just a few short years. Who would believe that a character who got the protagonist's script didn't have some kind of special encounter?
Just like Galen, from a teenager to the current King of the Alliance, his great achievements are sung throughout Azeroth. The high-ranking officials of various races are speculating whether he has also received some kind of divine gift besides being naturally intelligent.
However, Galen was clever enough to throw Gandalf out as a shield early on. After all, no one can thoroughly investigate an elusive Archmage.
"It's Ra-den! His power comes from the Guardian Ra-den!"
"Great Guardian Ra-den!"
The old bull was shocked when he heard this!
But then he was relieved. The reason they were able to become the Four Celestials who guarded Pandaria was entirely due to the cultivation of Freya, the Life-Binder. Ra-den's status was even higher than Freya's, so it was normal to be defeated by the legacy of such a high-level power.
"Ra-den is imprisoned by Lei Shen somewhere in Pandaria. My main purpose this time is to find his whereabouts. When necessary, the guardians of Ulduar will descend on this continent."
Galen's words were already very clear: he had the means to crush the Sha demons, so the Four Celestials just needed to obediently follow his orders.
The Deepsoil Valley, the Amber Marsh.
A fierce battle had just taken place here, a multi-racial melee, and the ultimate victors were the spider-scorpion alliance.
At this moment, the victors of the war were cleaning up the battlefield. A group of scorpion-like worker insects were dismembering various corpses lying on the ground: lizardmen, sprites, mantid, and even their own insectoid warriors.
Angela worker insects used their sharp forelimbs to cut all the corpses into small pieces, then transported them to the center of the Amber Marsh and spread them out evenly.
Huge black-purple crystals in the swamp continuously emitted dim light, shining on the fragments of corpses and plants, which slowly dissolved and eventually turned into a purple gelatinous substance.
These special "colloids" seemed to have life; their edges would continuously expand, slowly covering the entire area.
"The master's idea actually succeeded! This creep not only accelerates the hatching of insect eggs but also serves as food for larvae. It's simply a natural breeding ground for us insectoids!" Elder Kirix the Spider couldn't help but exclaim.
Standing beside Kirix the Disassembler was Princess Hahoran of Angela, who had evolved a step further. At this moment, she had shed her wasp insect form and possessed a humanoid body, except that her head still retained the characteristics of a wasp, and she still had a pair of bee wings on her back.
"The master's great power is not for us to speculate on. Elder, we only need to follow the master's instructions!"
Princess Hahoran said this, but her huge red compound eyes, which occupied half of her face, were also staring intently at the insect eggs on the creep, watching them quickly hatch into black larvae, then burrow into the creep. In less than a few minutes, the larvae, satiated with flesh and blood, tore open the creep and joined the ranks of the worker insects.
What a terrifying reproduction speed! This is much faster than the efficiency of Angela's hatchery!
Suppressing the amazement in her heart, Hahoran turned to the Spider Elder and said, "Elder, let's begin resurrecting my father!"
The father Hahoran was referring to was Vek'nilash, the Sword Emperor of the original Twin Emperors of Ahn'Qiraj. In Galen's plan, this insectoid emperor needed to be given a physical body, otherwise, he would be affected by the radiation range of the Altar of Kings, and his combat power without a physical body would also decline.
"Then let's begin!"
After Hahoran and the Spider Elder finished speaking, they began to set up the resurrection magic circle.
This magic circle, invented by Aegwynn, had been simplified considerably after so many years of use and improvement by the Crusaders. Even a novice magic apprentice could successfully activate it by drawing the magic circle according to the array diagram and placing the magic gems.
After the Spider Elder set up the resurrection magic circle, Princess Hahoran placed an insect egg in the center of the magic circle.
Unlike the purple-black color of Angela's insect eggs, nor the black-gray spider eggs of Azjol-Nerub, this one was amber!
This was a precious insect egg that Hahoran had plundered from the lair of the Sik'thik clan leader, whom she had killed in the great battle just now. According to the captives, it was the bloodline of the great Blade Lord Tayak.
Blade Lord Tayak, the strongest warrior born in the Sik'thik clan, was known in the tribe for his patience and wisdom, and was good at spotting the weaknesses of his opponents in battle, waiting for the opportunity to strike a fatal blow.
Moreover, his swordsmanship was unmatched. Not long ago, he was valued by the Empress and appointed as the city defense commander and instructor of the Heart of Fear, the capital of the Mantid Empire, not only responsible for defense but also for teaching his combat skills to young mantid warriors. He hastily took office and left his child behind in the tribe, which conveniently benefited the Twin Emperors of Ahn'Qiraj.
As the magic circle was activated, a large amount of magic power was guided from the gems through the magic circle to this insect egg.
When the magic power was full, the spirits of Vek'nilash and his brother Vek'lor appeared in the Altar of Kings, and then Vek'nilash's soul flew over and possessed the insect egg!
Pop!
The amber insect egg burst open, and a small mantis tore open the surface of the insect egg and walked out. The resurrection magic circle did not end, and under continuous power supply, this mantid cub grew rapidly, eventually becoming a two-meter-tall adult mantid!
It had a twig-like green body, as well as human limbs and two sharp arm blades!
"Father!!"
Princess Hahoran was extremely excited!
Hahoran originally thought that after the destruction of the Ahn'Qiraj Empire, there would be no chance to turn over again. Now that they had submitted to Galen, they not only had the opportunity to continue to reproduce, but even her father, who had sheltered her from the wind and rain, was resurrected!
Vek'nilash opened their eyes, and then waved their arms to feel their new body.
"A good body structure, worthy of being a compatriot of the Aqir Empire." Sword Emperor Vek'nilash was very satisfied with his new body, especially the pair of arm blades.
"Brother, now that we have a new body, we should continue to serve our new master!" Seeing that his brother had been resurrected, Magic Emperor Vek'lor flew over to remind him.
Unlike his brother, Vek'lor was better at using spells, and the body of a mantid warrior was not suitable for him to exert his full combat power. It would be better to guard the Deepsoil Valley lair in the form of a spirit, waiting for a new body to appear.
"That's right, you command the overall situation here, and I will infiltrate the enemy!"
After Vek'nilash finished speaking, he embraced Princess Hahoran, then spread his wings behind him and flew towards the nearest Qiraji Resonating Crystal in the Dread Wastes!
The Deepsoil Valley is the dividing line between the Dread Wastes and the Mantid Plateau. After Vek'nilash flew over the cliffs and precipices, he saw the tall canopy of a giant tree.
That was a Kypari tree, an existence that only grows in the Dread Wastes.
It is a magical plant that defies description. In the distant primordial era, the first batch of Kypari trees bloomed like brocade.
After the mantid left the war vortex of the Aqir insectoid empire and the troll empire, they came here and discovered that the amber flowing from those trees greatly amplified their race.
It can not only catalyze the growth of young mantid but also heal the wounds of mantid and strengthen their bodies.
Therefore, the mantid called it Kypari amber, meaning the blood of the earth.
Since then, amber has become the cornerstone of mantid society, and they have applied this material to architecture, art, technology, and other fields.
The Empress and her Klaxxi'va guarded these large trees growing in Pandaria. Later, the powerful mogu empire, in its endless war with the mantid, paid a huge price to cut down most of the Kypari trees that once grew lushly east of the Great Wall.
Today, there are only a few Kypari giant trees left within the mantid's sphere of influence, all of which they rescued from the hands of the mogu.
During his flight, Vek'nilash rapidly familiarized himself with his new body, while constantly stimulating his soul power to nourish the nascent form, ensuring he could unleash his original demigod strength as quickly as possible.
This process wouldn't be very long, but according to Galen's plan, his time wasn't abundant either...
Pandaria wasn't large, but its waters ran deep.
This conclusion was reached by Vek'nilash after carefully reviewing the intelligence gathered by the night elf squad ten thousand years ago, following Galen's plan!
On the surface, the pandaren were the current overlords of Pandaria, but the power sealed away by the mogu and the preserved heroes of the mantid could instantly overturn pandaren rule.
Most ridiculously, Shaohao had even disbanded the pandaren empire's army, leaving only a portion of the elite to form the Shado-Pan.
If it weren't for the Four Celestials overtly suppressing them, and the latent threat of the sha, the pandaren might not have been able to leisurely pass these ten thousand years.
Soon, Vek'nilash approached the Kypari tree. Strangely, the area surrounding this giant tree was eerily quiet.
Vek'nilash descended from the sky and walked towards the base of the Kypari tree. What entered his compound eyes were the enormous, robust roots exposed to the outside, encircling the surrounding passages like magnificent arcades.
Scattered amber resin dripped along the branches, resembling fireflies lazily wandering in the air. Throughout the Kypari tree's trunk were arched doorways and honeycomb windows, filled with a certain insectoid style.
The mantid lived in the tree, but Vek'nilash didn't see even a single guard. This was abnormal.
However, the Twin Emperors quickly got their answer. As they arrived at the base of the tree, it was littered with insect corpses, as if a great battle had recently erupted.
Vek'nilash carefully examined the corpses on the ground, discovering that besides the mantid, there were no traces of other races. Moreover, some of the mantid corpses had faint traces of Old God aura.
For Vek'nilash, who once served C'Thun, this aura was all too familiar!
And the only thing on Pandaria with the aura of the Old Gods was Y'shaarj's derivative, the sha.
Then a civil war must have occurred here. The master's plan had succeeded! The Sha of Fear had already controlled the Heart of Fear, corrupting the mantid high command!
Thinking this, Vek'nilash no longer lingered. Spreading the wings on his back, he continued to fly towards the depths of the Dread Wastes!
Comparing it to the approximate terrain of the Dread Wastes provided by Galen in his mind, the Twin Emperors patiently searched. During this time, he also continuously used some void power to continue modifying his body.
Finally, on the third day, his body had been quietly transformed by the power of the void, changing from its original yellowish-green color at birth to a faint purple, and his strength had also broken through to the legendary rank.
At the same time, he also found some clues!
In a muddy pool in a mountain hollow on the eastern side of the wastes, Vek'nilash dug out a huge pale yellow amber, with a mantid sealed in the center!
This mantid had been sealed in amber for an unknown amount of time, and its life fluctuations seemed very weak.
Vek'nilash thought for a moment and began to use this new body's talent: sonic waves!
The powerful sonic waves struck the surface of the amber, and spider web-like cracks began to appear on the amber's crystal clear, translucent surface!
Bang!
A slight cracking sound rang out in the silent night. The original whole piece of amber shattered into a pile, and the mantid sealed within fell to the ground.
This mantid slowly opened his eyes. Although he looked very weak, his eyes were quite sharp, and he looked like a god of slaughter at a glance.
"Oh, my young compatriot," the mantid's voice was very weak, "forgive my current state of weakness, I have been asleep for too long!"
"Great hero, I am Kael'thas from the Sik'vess tree!" Vek'nilash said the false name Galen had prepared for him without changing his expression.
"I am Wind Reaver Kirthruk. Young compatriot, perhaps you have experienced countless battles and annihilated countless enemies. However, everything you have done in your life is irrelevant until you cross the Ravendereach and come here to awaken me from my long slumber. Your life finally has meaning at this moment."
The identity of a hero was quite sacred in the mantid's clan. Obviously, Wind Reaver Kirthruk was very proud, and even filled with a sense of honor as a hero.
According to Vek'nilash's understanding, this hero was equivalent to a paladin in the Alliance, not only possessing great prestige, but also being the strongest top combat power in the clan!
The fact was indeed the case. The most numerous in the mantid empire were the low-level mantid commoners or soldiers without much intelligence. Their responsibility was to serve the upper class and die in battle.
The second class was the mantid officers and nobles. They formed the backbone of mantid society, responsible for the operation of the entire empire and serving as commanders during battles.
Located at the top of the ruling pyramid was the mantid empress, the nominal ruler of the mantid empire, the symbol of the empire, and the most powerful female.
At the same time, there was also the Klaxxi'vess council, which could contend with the empress's power. They were the empress's think tank, composed of wise mantid elders and valiant mantid heroes.
The Wind Reaver rubbed his abdomen, somewhat distressed: "Perhaps the Klaxxi'va also sent someone with Kypari tree resin to participate in my awakening ceremony... but I may not be able to wait. As my awakener, I need your help!"
"I sense resin cocoon fireflies buzzing to the south. The nutritious resin they are gorging on is exactly what I need!"
Vek'nilash didn't say anything extra, turned around and flew towards the direction Kirthruk said!
This mantid hero was also a high-level mantid accustomed to giving orders. Obviously, he failed to sense the strength of this young compatriot who was not like one.
The legendary-level Vek'nilash easily drove away the resin fireflies living in this forest, and then took a large amount of nutritious resin from their nests and brought it back.
When he came back, he saw Kirthruk being besieged by a group of mogu ghosts. The weak hero was struggling to cope, only dodging the attacks of those ghosts!
Seeing this, Vek'nilash immediately spread his wings and performed a long-range leap. When he landed, he fired a large number of spikes from his hand, forcing the ghosts back. Finally, he used the blade on his arm to kill all the ghosts one by one!