Chapter 411 – Blood Sprout Mech, Monsters in Human Skin

The vast, boundless cosmic starry sky.

Before a huge vortex emitting an ancient and mysterious aura, a moon-white triangular platform was enveloped in pale green energy.

Atop the platform, three figures were casually seated around a small round table.

Upon closer inspection, they were the handsome youth and the bespectacled old man from before, now joined by a white-haired middle-aged man.

“Is there really a monster that managed to pass the tenth stage of the Star Spirit Tower trial on its first attempt? Taking the path of a heretic…”

Upon hearing the purpose of the white-haired middle-aged man’s visit, the handsome youth was momentarily startled, but quickly regained his composure and casually asked, “What does that mean exactly?”

The white-haired middle-aged man picked up a teacup from the table, took a light sip, and said indifferently, “Most likely imprisonment or extermination. Reporting this to the Star Deity Association would bring unnecessary trouble…”

“Indeed.”

The handsome youth nodded in agreement, “The people at the Star Deity Association don’t care about the details. With their way of doing things, once they learn that a heretic of such potential was born on one of the ancestral stars within Bai Family territory, they might just shatter the whole planet first and ask questions later… In that case, we’d have to start searching for a new ancestral star and slowly cultivate natives again, which would be too time-consuming and labor-intensive.”

“Yes.”

The white-haired middle-aged man nodded.

At that moment, the bespectacled old man slowly said, “These kinds of heretics with certain potential always seem to fetch a good price on the black market1. Some cosmic nobles are quite fond of keeping such slaves as part of their collections…”

The bespectacled old man’s words made the handsome youth’s eyes light up, unable to resist saying, “You really do have extensive experience.”

He turned to the white-haired middle-aged man and said, “Remember to mention this to the Council of Elders. If they actually go for this idea, you might even get an extra reward…”

Clearly tempted, the white-haired middle-aged man silently nodded, covertly taking note of the bespectacled old man’s suggestion.

As the three casually chatted, suddenly, the handsome youth and the bespectacled old man almost simultaneously received a message.

Their bodies stiffened slightly, then with a “swoosh,” they leaped up from their seats.

“Damn it, something’s gone wrong!”

The handsome youth stared at the source of the message, his expression turning extremely grim.

The bespectacled old man’s face also took on a serious look, his eyes flickering as if he were quickly pondering the situation.

Seeing the unusual behavior of the two, the white-haired middle-aged man was surprised and couldn’t help but be curious, asking what exactly had happened.

“We just received news. Someone is currently rampaging through the ancestral land secret realm, slaughtering the natives of the ancestral star we had sent there. Moreover, it seems their target… is directly related to the Immortal Bloodline!”

“What?!”

The white-haired middle-aged man was truly shocked now, finally understanding why the handsome youth and the bespectacled old man seemed so instantly disorganized.

Even if all the people the Bai Family had sent into the ancestral land were killed, it wouldn’t matter much.

But the involvement of the Immortal Bloodline, the key to the Bai Family’s future rise… suddenly made the situation very serious.

“It must be someone inside our clan who leaked the information, attracting members from other families who even went to the extent of using Star Lord Level powerhouses to forcibly open the entrance to the ancestral land just to come in and abduct people…”

The handsome youth cursed in disgust, “These traitorous beasts.”

The white-haired middle-aged man quickly reminded, “Report this to the Council of Elders immediately.”

“It’s already been reported, but by the time they come up with a solution, it might be too late.

Now, we need to think of a way to handle this…”

The handsome youth’s eyes shimmered for a moment as he calmed down and said, “I’ll try to open the exit right now, so they can try to escape on their own…”

The white-haired middle-aged man frowned, “Opening the exit could take several hours, will there be enough time?”

The handsome youth shook his head, “I hope so…”

“Don’t hope anymore.”

His words were cut off by a voice.

Both men turned to look, finding that the usually quiet bespectacled old man had spoken up.

“It’s a hassle to get people out from there, but sending them in is much simpler.”

The bespectacled old man said indifferently, “We should start by sending some people in to cover for the escape of the Immortal Bloodline. At least until the exit we’ve prepared for her is fully open…”

“That makes sense!”

The handsome youth’s eyes lit up upon hearing this, but his brow quickly furrowed again, “But who can we send in?

Those natives we’ve absorbed into the family’s ancestral land might not be much stronger than before.

Even if we send them, they won’t hold off the attackers for long.

From what these guys have reported back, the two intruders in the secret realm are not the kind who can be handled by ordinary tenth stage star spirits…”

The bespectacled old man glanced at the handsome youth and then spoke solemnly, “I recall you were about to merge with a second planetary will, weren’t you?”

“That’s right. But what does that have to do with whether or not I’m ready to merge with a second planetary will…”

The handsome youth was frowning when suddenly, as if a thought struck him, his expression changed dramatically, and he blurted out, “You want me to use the Blood Sprout Mech?!”

The bespectacled old man smiled slightly, sat back down in his place, picked up the teacup beside him, and gently blew on it, saying, “It’s all about whether you’re willing to part with it.”

The handsome youth’s face shifted through various shades.

The Blood Sprout Mech is a type of planetary level bio-weapon.

Its function is to rapidly slaughter life forms and absorb the energy from their flesh and blood to enhance its own capabilities.

Theoretically, the strength of a single Blood Sprout Mech can grow to nearly that of the Star Lord Level.

Generally, it is only used in scenarios involving the extermination of all life forms on a planet.

Of course, it is also widely used by Star Lord Level powerhouses to perform “surface cleaning” on a planet before merging with its will.

The handsome youth was indeed preparing to attempt a merger with a second planetary will, so he had a Blood Sprout Mech on hand.

This type of bio-weapon is not cheap, with a single unit costing ten to several dozen times that of a life-sustaining planet.

Once activated, it cannot be recycled or reused; it is a one-time-use bio-weapon.

However, the bespectacled old man was right.

The Blood Sprout Mech is indeed the best solution to their current predicament.

Though not up to the Star Lord Level, it is much more powerful than ordinary tenth stage star spirits, and should more than suffice to cover the escape of the Immortal Bloodline, buying them some time.

“Alright!”

The handsome youth wrestled with his decision for a long while before finally making up his mind.

Gritting his teeth, he spoke in a deep voice, “I’ll have the natives of the secret realm serve as nourishment, preparing to deploy the Blood Sprout Mech.”

The bespectacled old man beside him smiled, nodding in satisfaction.

…

“Let’s wait for the news here.”

Chen Wu Hao led Lu Yuan to a depression in the mountains that resembled a broken bowl and stopped.

After inserting his alloy Spear into the rock beside him, he busied himself with his communicator, head bowed.

Lu Yuan looked out at the sky from the edge of the depression, where the hazy, fragmented sun and moon still hung.

Occasionally, a streak of light flashed by-unclear whether it was a meteor or a person.

Lu Yuan stood at the mouth of the depression for a while, flipping through the contact list on his communicator.

He tried sending several messages to Yuwen Tong, but there was no response.

However, the messages showed as “Read,” indicating that Yuwen Tong was receiving his messages but had no time to reply.

She might be in a battle but apparently was unharmed, which slightly reassured Lu Yuan.

“There’s a response!”

Chen Wu Hao suddenly exclaimed while fiddling with his communicator.

Lu Yuan turned and couldn’t help but ask, “Who responded? Did Lord Tong reply to you?”

Chen Wu Hao glanced at him and answered, “It’s from the Bai Family.

They’ve informed us that they will open the secret realm’s exit ahead of schedule and will send us the coordinates of the exit location soon…”

Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered, and he asked, “How long will this process take?”

“Not sure.”

Chen Wu Hao shook his head, “It should be quick. Usually, by the time the trial ends and we arrive at the coordinates, the exit is already open.”

Lu Yuan nodded and fell silent.

Both men then lapsed into silence.

The unexpected turn of events in this trial took everyone by surprise.

Lu Yuan had previously thought this trial was the most harmonious and peaceful, and the one with the lowest risk he had ever experienced.

But unexpectedly…

In a flash, what was the least risky trial turned into the most dangerous one.

So far, even tenth-stage powerhouses have perished, and a number of ninth and eighth-stage participants have gone missing, with the numbers possibly still increasing.

Lu Yuan flipped through the group chat messages on his communicator, where the personnel who had come together for this extraterrestrial trial had already reported their numbers several times.

About a quarter of them were missing.

Although most of them were from the Distant Star Federation, no one was in the mood to feel fortunate at others’ misfortune; everyone was quite downhearted.

Lu Yuan didn’t care about the others’ fate; he was only concerned about the safety of Yuwen Tong.

At this moment, she was in the most perilous situation of all.

He was still maintaining a frequency of sending her a message every five seconds, using the “read” status of the messages to gauge Yuwen Tong’s current situation.

The good news was, so far, all his messages to Yuwen Tong had been marked as “read.”

The bad news was, Yuwen Tong had not replied to any.

This indicated that she was still unable to completely extricate herself from the battle.

“It’s been such a long time, and she hasn’t shaken off those two yet. It looks like Yuwen Tong’s situation is much more complicated than any of us could have imagined…”

Lu Yuan stared at his chat box with “Lord Tong,” his eyes flickering rapidly.

“I should go.”

Lu Yuan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Yet, he couldn’t completely suppress a slight restlessness and anxiety that lingered in his heart.

He opened his eyes, having made up his mind.

“I…”

He was about to greet Chen Wu Hao, but Chen Wu Hao spoke before him.

“Here it is! The Bai Family’s coordinates have come through!”

Chen Wu Hao abruptly pulled out the spear beside him, walked briskly to his side, his expression excited and slightly joyful as he urged, “The coordinates of the exit have been confirmed.

It’s quite a distance from here; we need to hurry…”

“You go ahead.”

“Huh?!”

Chen Wu Hao was taken aback, looking up at Lu Yuan with a surprised expression.

“I have something to take care of; I’ll be back soon.”

Lu Yuan gazed at Chen Wu Hao with a calm demeanor, his tone more informative than consultative.

Chen Wu Hao blinked, probably guessing what Lu Yuan intended to do.

Biting his lip, he couldn’t help but speak up, “In a battle between tenth stage warriors, what help could you possibly offer? And you…”

“Boom!”

Before Chen Wu Hao could finish his sentence, a terrifyingly tangible burst of mental power erupted in front of him, forcing him to stagger backwards.

His eyes widened as he stared at the figure before him, enveloped in a dense aura that seemed to twist the very void around him, surrounded by an invisible, translucent flame-hardly distinguishable from those tenth stage powerhouses in his memories, perhaps even stronger.

His mouth agape, his face was a picture of utter disbelief.

“I am already at the tenth stage, qualified to join the battle,” Lu Yuan said calmly.

After speaking, Lu Yuan turned around, picking up a handful of dirt from the ground and gently shaking it off in front of him.

His eyes quietly turned gray; chaos divination was already activated.

As the dust settled, Lu Yuan’s eyes returned to normal.

“I know where it is now.”

He murmured softly to himself, stepping towards the direction that seemed to beckon him, and in a blink, he vanished into the vast horizon.

It was just for asking directions, nothing more.

The success rate and accuracy of his level 4 chaos divination were still quite high.

After Lu Yuan had left, Chen Wu Hao continued to stand there, lips moving unconsciously as if repeatedly muttering something.

If one were close enough, they could hear his dazed murmurs.

“Tenth stage… tenth stage…

He had only advanced to the ninth stage not long ago; how could he reach the tenth stage so quickly?

Is he really a monster in human skin?”

“Gurgle, gurgle-“

A black, unidentified object hovered midair, resembling a giant bubble blown from a mass of viscous fluid.

The surface emitted sounds akin to boiling liquid.

Mixed within were various human screams, wails, and sounds reminiscent of teeth vigorously chewing.

Eventually, everything quieted down.

The irregular giant bubble slowly contracted, finally morphing into a black humanoid figure over two meters tall, with blurred features but an impeccably proportionate body.

The black figure took a deep breath, as if savoring a delicious meal he had just tasted, a faint look of ecstasy fleeting across his face.

“Lord.”

A figure appeared silently in front of him, respectfully kneeling at his feet.

“How many does this make?”

The black figure asked indifferently.

“The seventh.”

The figure responded, “Nearly everyone on the priority hunting list has been devoured by you, Lord, with only…”

The figure quickly listed a few names.

The black figure closed his eyes in thought, then opened them again.

His eyes were also a pure, deep black, exuding an indescribable intensity of strangeness and malevolence.

“Lord Saar has sent word that it might take some more time. Those three are deep within this space; there’s no rush to deal with them. But this one…”

The black figure visualized someone exuding an aura of mythic life, which left a deep impression on him, and after a moment of thought, he spoke, “Go and assimilate him first. It looks like these people plan to evacuate; let’s not let him escape…”

“Yes.”

Having made his decision, the black figure casually grasped the figure before him, his dark, strong body exploding through the void like a cannonball, “Boom!” He vanished on the spot, leaving behind large, transparent ripples continuously spreading outwards, violently shaking the void…

Footnote:

1. Black Market(黑市): The term “black market” refers to an illegal or unregulated marketplace where goods and services are bought and sold without government oversight or in violation of the law.