Chapter 406 – Caught You

The gray-black land was covered with patches of unknown withered yellow plants. Due to their uneven distribution, it looked like a dirty, wrinkled old carpet that was nearly bald.

“Whoosh-“

Accompanied by a sharp tearing sound, a figure swiftly flew close to the ground from afar.

His speed was extremely fast, so fast that he created a brilliant white air wave in the atmosphere. Wherever the air wave passed, the ground below was forcibly “plowed” into a deep trench.

But as fast as he was, there was someone even faster.

Behind the white air wave, a streak of light closely followed.

With every flicker of the light, it dramatically closed a large distance between itself and the air wave.

After a few flickers, the streak of light was already directly above the air wave.

“Swipe-“

A hundred-meter-long energy blade light burst forth from the streak of light, slashing straight towards the figure at the front of the air wave.

“Boom!”

The rapidly extending air wave was abruptly cut off by the energy blade light, exploding into a small white mushroom cloud on the ground.

A figure, looking somewhat disheveled, ran out from within the mushroom cloud-it was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man with a somewhat gloomy demeanor.

The middle-aged man had barely escaped from the center of the explosion when his figure quickly came to a halt.

He slowly looked up, only to see a bald strongman with a blue scorpion tattoo on his face.

The bald strongman was clad in a rugged, purely black, armor-style combat suit. He was about twice the size of an average person, holding a scarlet alloy combat blade as large as a door on his shoulder, casually resting it there.

He looked down from his higher position at the middle-aged man below, his lips curled into a lazy yet slightly ferocious smile, and said, “Friend from Ancestral Star No. 1, leave that piece of Ayer gold ore, and I might not harm you.”

The middle-aged man, clearly less powerful than the bald strongman, hesitated for a moment under the overwhelming aura exuding from the other like a vast ocean.

He quickly made up his mind.

Reaching into his chest, he slowly pulled out a piece of ore the size of an adult’s fist.

The ore appeared dull and unremarkable on the surface, but where the outer layer had flaked off, beautiful colored lights shimmered through.

The bald strongman, upon seeing the ore, revealed a satisfied expression and nodded, “Good, hand it over to me now, and I will let you go immediately.”

The middle-aged man didn’t speak; he just nodded.

Then, cradling the ore in both hands, he stepped toward the bald strongman, who was suspended in mid-air.

The bald strongman watched the middle-aged man approach indifferently, waiting until he was almost within reach.

Suddenly, the latter fiercely flung the ore to one side.

As the ore was thrown, the previously cautious and tense expression of the middle-aged man abruptly changed into one of ferocity.

He lunged at the bald strongman like a wild beast.

“Ha-“

The bald strongman scoffed, “I knew you weren’t honest.”

“If you won’t listen to reason, don’t blame me for being ruthless…”

A fierce light flashed in the eyes of the bald strongman as the scorpion tattoo on his face shifted with his expression, and his muscles seemed to come alive.

A massive surge of energy erupted from within him, and the scarlet battle sword resting on his shoulder awakened like an enraged dragon.

“Boom!”

The bald strongman violently swung his sword forward.

The blade’s light cascaded like a galaxy, striking the charging middle-aged man squarely.

The middle-aged man, hit by the blade’s light, didn’t even utter a sound before he exploded with a loud “bang.”

Before the bald strongman could let out a scornful laugh, he saw that instead of blood and flesh scattering, the middle-aged man transformed into a thick, black liquid.

This mass of black liquid moved with astonishing speed, covering the bald strongman before he could react.

It then desperately tried to burrow into his body like a living thing.

“What is this?!”

Caught off guard, the bald strongman was both shocked and angry, his body’s energy swelling and forming a tangible blue flame on his surface.

Dense, brilliant specks emerged from within him, staunchly resisting the invasion of the thick black liquid.

As the stalemate continued,

suddenly, a figure silently appeared behind the bald strongman.

The figure was entirely black, devoid of any facial features or hair.

He stood behind the bald strongman, his expression neutral as he separated his limbs.

Then, astonishingly, the figure split down the middle, and numerous tentacle-like appendages emerged from within.

These black tentacles quickly entwined and enveloped the bald strongman.

The figure that appeared after adopted an embrace from behind in a seemingly affectionate manner, gently holding the bald strongman.

Following this, under the terrified gaze of the bald strongman, more and more black tentacles appeared, wrapping around him…

Until he was completely enveloped and fully merged into the embrace of the figure.

After completely “devouring” the bald strongman, a large mass of black liquid continuously shifted into irregular shapes.

Beneath the viscous black liquid, it seemed as if something alive was struggling to escape.

This process evoked images of a python swallowing its prey whole.

It wasn’t long before the movement within the black liquid finally settled.

The black liquid returned to a form that closely resembled a human shape.

A large pool of black liquid slowly separated from beneath his feet, and soon after, the middle-aged man, whose body had previously exploded, reappeared, kneeling respectfully before the black humanoid figure.

“Lord.”

“You have worked hard.”

The black humanoid emitted a faint ripple of consciousness, “I have almost regained the strength of a tenth stage star spirit. Now… we can hunt without any reservations. There is no creature in this space that can threaten our existence…”

“Congratulations, Lord.”

A hint of joy appeared on the middle-aged man’s face, just as he was about to say something.

Suddenly, the black humanoid’s consciousness fluctuated intensely.

“Hmm?”

The middle-aged man looked up in surprise, only to see the black humanoid slowly morphing from the shape of the black liquid mass into the appearance of the bald strongman he had previously absorbed.

As this form materialized, a voice from the black humanoid, devoid of any trace of human emotion, murmured softly.

“Saar has made an unexpected discovery…”

“It’s an unplanned feast… Oh, no, it should be two.”

On the desolate gray plains, a group of people were desperately fleeing.

These individuals were clad in combat suits of varying styles, evidently hailing from different planetary forces participating in the trials.

However, the expressions on their faces were uniformly one of panic and terror.

They resembled a herd of antelopes being chased by a lion, exerting every ounce of their strength to run forward.

A woman in a light red combat suit, due to her lesser strength, was running slower and had fallen to the back of the group.

Suddenly, a silver light descended from the sky and swiftly passed over the woman’s figure.

She didn’t even have time to scream before her entire body exploded into a cloud of blood mist with a loud “bang.”

This horrific scene was witnessed by the others, causing their scalps to tingle with horror.

The woman’s fate was clearly not the first of its kind; everyone’s face showed a shared sense of mournful dread.

The source of the silver light that killed the woman revealed itself-it was a silver vine, about as thick as a wrist, intricately engraved with mysterious and ornate patterns, even sporting branches and leaves growing from its sides, adding to its bizarre appearance.

This long silver vine extended from the back of a youth with silver braids.

The youth, stepping on the void, followed behind the large group of fleeing people at an unhurried pace, like a shepherd watching over his flock with a tranquil demeanor.

The escapees had thought about fleeing to the sides, but whenever they strayed from the path set by the youth, the silver vine would silently appear and effortlessly snatch any of their lives with a mere flick.

Among the fleeing crowd were top-tier powerhouses at the ninth stage, yet under the control of the youth wielding the silver vine, they were as insignificant as ants on the ground.

“Indiscriminately slaughtering fellow trialists, you’ve broken the rules, and the Bai Family won’t let you off once we’re out!” one of the fleeing trialists finally couldn’t stand the humiliation and threat of death any longer, stopping to shout at the silver-braided youth behind him.

But before he could finish his words, the omnipresent silver vine appeared once again.

It pierced directly through his body, impaling him and lifting him into the air.

“Rules?”

The silver-braided youth sneered as he spoke, “The Bai Family’s rules count for nothing!

The rules of Anders Tulan are the real rules!”

After saying this, a cruel smile flickered across his face. The silver vine shook violently, instantly turning the trialist strung upon it into a spray of blood.

The blood mist drifted down onto the ashen plains, leaving all the trialists feeling a chill to their bones.

They had tried to contact the outside world, the Bai Family, who were responsible for overseeing this trial from an advanced civilization.

But this silver-braided youth, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, evidently had some means to block their messages from getting out. No matter how many times they attempted to call for help, their signals disappeared like stones sunk in the ocean, utterly failing to escape the confines of this area.

It seemed the silver-braided youth was growing tired of this expulsion game.

Suddenly, he twisted his neck, and the braids connected to the silver vines behind him autonomously took flight, with dozens of silver vines sprouting abruptly.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh-“

A flurry of silver vines tore through the air, darting towards the crowd ahead like sharp arrows.

It was like a gigantic meat grinder.

In less than half a breath, the large group of trialists he had been driving forward were all minced into blood foam.

“Hmm?!”

The game-ending revelation startled the silver-braided youth when he noticed a large pool of black, viscous, unknown substance amongst the residual blood foam.

This material was nothing like the normal flesh and blood of living beings, and it looked rather strange.

Just as he was about to step forward to investigate, a Black Robe Elder suddenly appeared silently behind him.

“We’ve locked down the exact location of that Immortal Bloodline.”

“Good.”

The eyes of the silver-braided youth instantly lit up.

The thought of investigating the odd black liquid vanished in an instant.

Without another glance, he disappeared in a flash with the Black Robe Elder.

Once the two had left.

The pool of black liquid that had caught the attention of the silver-braided youth suddenly began to move.

It rapidly reformed into a pale young woman.

The first thing the woman did after “reviving” was to open her mouth and devour all the scattered essence of flesh and blood around her.

After completing this, the woman deeply gazed in the direction the two men had left, her eyes flickering as she quietly followed after them.

“Boom-Boom-“

The ground trembled slightly, cracking open deep gorges one after another.

With each tremor, a dazzling radiant glow leaked from the fissures, mixed with a thick essence of life, as if nurturing some mysterious and powerful entity.

“It feels like there’s something good…”

Two figures stood a few kilometers away from the epicenter, squinting at the location where the radiant glow was emerging.

“I remember once, a creature from the secret realm was captured by someone from No. 3 Ancestral Star. It wasn’t very powerful, just eighth-stage.

But the rewards were extraordinarily generous, earning No. 3 Ancestral Star three spots to study with the Bai Family.

In the time that followed, several tenth-stage creatures emerged, and to this day, No. 3 Ancestral Star is still recognized as the strongest among our several planets…”

One of the two spoke in a low voice.

The two had different appearances-one with blond hair, the other with blue hair-but both wore silver combat suits with broad shoulders that slightly pointed upward at the tips and different patterns emblazoned on the chest, indicating they were from one of the major planetary forces.

“Have you notified Lord Yongdu?”

One of them asked his companion.

The other nodded, “Yes, Lord Yongdu is on his way. Timing wise…”

While he was speaking, his eyes suddenly brightened, staring at a rapidly enlarging light spot in the field of view, and quickly said, “He’s coming!”

The light spot rapidly expanded in their gaze, and soon a figure emerged.

It was a short-haired, blue-skinned man with a rugged appearance, wearing a combat suit similar to the others but in luxurious golden color, and emblazoned with a three-headed shark on the chest.

The blue-skinned man appeared to teleport through the air, flickering, and in no time, he was directly above the two.

The two hurriedly approached to greet him, standing slightly shorter than the blue-skinned man.

“Very well.”

The blue-skinned man squinted his eyes towards the location of the vibrations and radiant glow, nodding in satisfaction and said, “It indeed looks like the scene of a creature from the ancestral land secret realm breaking out of its shell. If this works out, you two will have made a significant contribution.”

The blond and blue-haired men’s faces lit up with joy, thinking of the rewards represented by capturing a prized creature from the secret realm, both felt a rush of excitement.

The most treasured items in the ancestral land secret realm are various living creatures, fossils, and even genetic samples… with various types of energy plants and ore resources being a secondary priority.

It is said that among advanced civilizations, some Starry Sky nobles particularly enjoy collecting exotic creatures from secret realms as pets, thus making these items highly valuable…

For this reason, after discovering a suspected living creature from the secret realm, the two did not rush to capture it.

Instead, they waited for their own top-tier, tenth stage powerhouses to arrive before starting the capture.

This opportunity was rare and had to be managed with the utmost certainty.

“One of you stay here to prevent individuals from other planetary powers from attempting to snatch it… The other, come with me.”

The tenth stage blue-skinned man quickly issued the command, leading one of the ninth stage blond men swiftly towards the location of the vibrations and radiant glow.

They soon arrived at the epicenter of the activity.

Standing there, they could feel an even stronger life force emanating from beneath the earth’s crust, carrying a sense of new life.

Using their mental power to probe deeper, they detected a huge white light sphere hundreds of meters below ground, pulsing as if alive.

Inside the sphere, they could indeed sense the presence of a living creature.