Chapter 99: The Assassinated Meng Yao Zu Prodigy: Ambush (Wishing Everyone a Happy New Year)

310 million kilometers away from the spaceship carrying the Xuan Kong squad, a completely black biological spaceship was slowly flying.

Inside the rest area of the spaceship, nine figures of varying appearances sat seated.

Five of these figures looked as if forged from alloy, resembling the alloy mechanical puppets used by mechanical race elites, utterly unlike living beings.

In truth, these five figures were all puppet bodies controlled by Meng Yao Zu elites, forged from alloy and containing consciousness receivers that allowed control via thought.

After all, many Meng Yao Zu elites possessed bodies too massive to fit aboard normal starships, even after using secret techniques to shrink them.

Thus, many Meng Yao Zu elites hid their true bodies within World Rings, then sent their puppet bodies to board starships carrying the World Rings containing their true forms; should combat or danger arise, their true bodies could burst forth from the World Rings at will.

The World Rings they hid within had long been subjugated, and their materials were relatively weak; even if they could not be actively opened during battle, they could simply shatter the entire World Ring to emerge.

Of course, this combat method was undeniably wasteful of World Rings, so only the strongest among the Meng Yao Zu could afford it.

"Captain!"

One figure with a human body and serpent head suddenly spoke: "We just received news from our clan—Spencer, the peerless genius of the Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage, has been assassinated by a human clan spy!"

"Spencer?"

Another man, with a human body, scaled armor, and wolf head, exclaimed in surprise: "The one from the Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage who, in merely a thousand years, gained recognition from the three fundamental principles of Light, Lightning, and Flame?"

The Time-Space Nightmare Beasts are one of the sixteen royal clans of the Meng Yao Zu, capable of reaching Lord Realm upon reaching adulthood!

Moreover, the Time-Space Nightmare Beasts reaching Lord Realm upon adulthood is entirely different from the Man Ka Star people reaching Lord Realm upon adulthood!

The Man Ka Star people reach Lord Realm upon adulthood because their ancestors continuously elevated their own realms, gradually enhancing their bloodline until it became one of the most supreme bloodlines in the human clan today;

but the Time-Space Nightmare Beasts reach Lord Realm upon birth, a natural endowment stemming entirely from their life gene layer surpassing that of most ordinary lifeforms in the universe!

The Time-Space Nightmare Beast clan possesses two heads—one with a golden eye, one with a silver eye; the golden eye influences space, the silver eye influences time; when both eyes are used together, they exert immense control over surrounding spacetime.

Precisely because of this, the Time-Space Nightmare Beasts often possess exceptional innate talent in comprehending the two fundamental principles of time and space!

Yet even so, a Time-Space Nightmare Beast elite who gains recognition from any single lower-tier fundamental principle within ten thousand years is already considered a peerless genius.

To gain recognition from three lower-tier fundamental principles within a thousand years is an unprecedented prodigy, appearing once in countless eons of the Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage!

"I recall many in our clan saying Spencer would become the new Cosmic Venerable of the Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage; some even claimed he might become the second Cosmic Lord of the Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage!"

The man with the scaled wolf head continued: "How could he suddenly be assassinated by a human clan spy? Are the Time-Space Nightmare Beast elites all fools?"

"The main reason is that the human clan spy was too cunning!"

The serpent-headed man continued: "According to intelligence from our clan's elites, it seems the human clan spy enslaved an immortal spirit from your Kǒng Jīn Jiū lineage, then had that immortal spirit defect to Spencer!"

"Although Spencer is a peerless genius of the Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage, he has only just entered the Lord Realm—he naturally could not refuse the defection of a Wang Zu immortal!"

"And at the critical moment of Spencer's cultivation, the immortal spirit enslaved by the human clan elites suddenly detonated right where Spencer was cultivating, even consuming an extremely rare special potion, pushing Spencer to the absolute limit of his Lord Realm lifespan—so even the leader of the Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage could not revive him by reversing time!"

"Scum! Humans are all damned scum!"

Upon hearing this, the leader, the scaled wolf-headed man, immediately roared in fury: "Those human scum dared to enslave our noble Kǒng Jīn Jiū lineage—and used them to scheme against the Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage's prodigy! They deserve to die!"

"But… Praise, did the Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage come after our Kǒng Jīn Jiū lineage over Spencer's death?"

"That's beyond what I can find out!"

The serpent-headed man shook his head: "But now both the Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage and the Kǒng Jīn Jiū lineage have jointly issued a bounty—starting now, for the next one hundred thousand eons, anyone who kills a human clan elite will receive double military merit and contribution points!"

Hearing this, the scaled wolf-headed man could not help but curse: "Damn human scum!"

Clearly, the Kǒng Jīn Jiū lineage could only jointly issue this bounty because the Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage had confronted them.

The leader of the Kǒng Jīn Jiū lineage is a top-tier Cosmic Overlord, placing the Kǒng Jīn Jiū lineage among the highest-ranked Wang Zu clans of the Meng Yao Zu—but compared to royal clans like the Time-Space Nightmare Beasts, which possess Cosmic Lords, they are clearly at a disadvantage!

Now that the Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage's prodigy was killed by an immortal spirit of the Kǒng Jīn Jiū lineage—even if that immortal had been enslaved by an alien soul—the Kǒng Jīn Jiū lineage still faces some trouble.

And issuing such a bounty clearly requires both the Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage and the Kǒng Jīn Jiū lineage to contribute their own resources.

The Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage losing their peerless genius, they issue the bounty to vent their rage—that's understandable—but why must our Kǒng Jīn Jiū lineage issue one too?

"Damn human clan! And hateful Time-Space Nightmare Beast lineage!"

The scaled wolf-headed man silently thought: "If one day I ever reach the Cosmic Lord realm, I will make you pay for this humiliation of the Kǒng Jīn Jiū lineage!"

As the scaled wolf-headed man's thoughts raced…

"Huh?"

Another member of the Meng Yao Zu squad, a man with a human body and ox head, suddenly looked down at the screen on his forearm guard.

Hearing his surprised exclamation, all other members turned to look.

The scaled wolf-headed man immediately asked: "Wu Ci, what is it?"

"Captain, we've detected a starship—it's human clan elites!"

The ox-headed man quickly said: "Eight of them. They're flying toward our position, and it seems they haven't noticed us yet—if they had, they'd be hunting us."

"They probably haven't noticed us!"

The serpent-headed man quickly said: "The detector in the captain's possession cost a full one hundred trillion military merit to acquire, precisely to gain an advantage in detection! Moreover, this human squad has only eight members—the possibility of a Hei Fengwang immortal among them is negligible!"

Remember, Hei Fengwang elites are the peak combat force on Yan Ji Continent, so they usually operate alone or with a few followers; forming squads of five or more is extremely rare.

"In fact, given the captain's strength and massive divine body, even if we truly encountered a Hei Fengwang immortal, they'd likely dare not fight us to the death!"

"Exactly! The captain is at the peak of Marquis Realm, with a terrifying divine body stretching over ten kilometers—how would those tiny-bodied human Hei Fengwang immortals dare trouble us?"

"Then let's slightly alter our course and see how they react!"

The leader, the scaled wolf-headed man, immediately ordered: "If they haven't noticed us, get closer, then use the detector to monitor their conversations. If their strength isn't too great, give them a surprise!"

"Yes, Captain!"

No sooner had the scaled wolf-headed man spoken than the other Meng Yao Zu elites nodded in agreement.

Whoosh!

The biological spaceship quickly adjusted its course slightly.

Moments later, after confirming Lu Qingshan's group had not noticed them, the biological spaceship changed direction again, heading toward Lu Qingshan's group's path.

…

As the Meng Yao Zu squad's spaceship drew closer to Lu Qingshan and his group, Lu Qingshan and his companions remained completely unaware, continuing to chat inside their ship.

"Since leaving our base, we've been through plenty of battles, and everyone has burned some Immortal Power in those fights—it's time to head back and rest!"

Captain Xuan Konghou smiled and said: "Alright, let's return to our base now. If we encounter a good opportunity along the way, we strike; if not, we head straight back."

Since Lu Qingshan joined, the Xuan Kong Squad's rate of accumulating military merit and wealth hasn't increased much, but their survivability has improved significantly.

After all, Lu Qingshan's presence added another Hei Fengwang to the Xuan Kong Squad, making many alien squads far more cautious.

As for the "base" Captain Xuan Konghou mentioned, it wasn't the distant Base 026, but rather a resting point the Xuan Kong Squad maintained on the main continent of Yanji Continent.

Near that resting point lived a Peak Hei Fengwang from the human faction—Saint Light Wang!

Saint Light Wang was a Peak Hei Fengwang alien immortal capable of teleportation; with his power, even if his residence's coordinates were known to many alien factions, no one would dare trouble him.

Precisely because of this, many human faction elites gathered near Saint Light Wang's abode, so they could watch out for one another.

Of course, on Yanji Continent, other major factions also had similar figures.

All of them possessed Peak Hei Fengwang power—they stood at the very pinnacle on Yanji Continent—so their usual haunts naturally drew together elites from their own faction.

"Hahaha! This time was a bit dangerous, but we gained plenty too—we really should rest for a few days!"

"Mainly because that Low-rank Hei Fengwang Jinjin Kou didn't want to fight to the death. If he had truly fought us to the end, we'd have been in serious trouble!"

"That's right! Jinjin Kou is one of the Wang Zu of the Meng Yao Zu. After reaching the Immortal Realm, their divine bodies can stretch over ten kilometers. Even if we burned our divine bodies to the limit, we couldn't kill him!"

…

While Lu Qingshan and the others chatted, their appearances and conversation were detected by Meng Yao Zu elites and transmitted to a Meng Yao Zu squad millions of kilometers away.

"A Low-rank Hei Fengwang Jinjin Kou?"

The lead figure—a man with a scaled body and wolf head—exclaimed in surprise: "Could this human squad be talking about Lennard? It seems Lennard's subordinates were killed by this human elite squad!"

"Good! We haven't even come looking for you, and you've already started targeting our Jinjin Kou lineage!"

Although the Jinjin Kou lineage of the Meng Yao Zu had many strong members, only three roamed the Seventh Outer Battlefield and Yanji Continent.

One of them was only a High-rank Military Lord; the only Low-rank Hei Fengwang left was Lennard!

"Captain!"

The man with a scaled body and snake head quickly said: "This human squad seems to be the Xuan Kong Squad mentioned by other allies! Their captain, Captain Xuan Konghou, is a High-rank Hei Fengwang, and they have three Low-rank Hei Fengwang—taking them down won't be easy. Should we still attack?"

"Attack!"

The scaled wolf-headed man immediately replied: "Our squad has nine members—more than them by one, and we have one more Hei Fengwang than they do. Our strength can completely crush them! This time, we must kill at least a few of them!"

"What if they burn their Immortal Power to fight to the death?" the snake-headed man asked.

"Then we burn our Immortal Power too—finish them off completely!"

The scaled wolf-headed man's face darkened, and he coldly said: "They're just weak human immortals, their divine bodies tiny and pitiful. Even if they burn their power, we'll lose less than one percent of our divine bodies and still wipe them out!"

"I think it's feasible!"

The snake-headed man nodded quickly: "But we must be careful of their divine body explosions. Those Military Lords are fine, but if those Hei Fengwang explode, many of us won't survive!"

"Have them keep their distance from those Hei Fengwang during battle!"

The scaled wolf-headed man immediately said: "As long as they're far enough, even if that High-rank human Hei Fengwang explodes, he won't threaten you much. And if you truly face mortal danger, I'll definitely shield you!"

This scaled wolf-headed man was the captain of this Meng Yao Zu squad, possessing Peak Hei Fengwang power.

If he was willing to burn vast amounts of divine power to block an enemy's explosion, he could fully absorb it.

But divine body explosion differs from mutual annihilation: if we annihilated a human High-rank Hei Fengwang in battle, with his ten-kilometer-long divine body, even burning his Immortal Power would cause us negligible loss!

Yet to fully withstand the full force of a human High-rank Hei Fengwang's explosion, even while burning his power, he would suffer massive divine power loss—this is precisely why explosions are so terrifying!

"No problem!"

"Captain, we're counting on you!"

The Meng Yao Zu elites all nodded.

"Then let's go!"

The scaled wolf-headed captain immediately said: "Move in quietly—don't alert them yet. Then give them a surprise!"

"Distance decreasing: ten million kilometers, eight million kilometers, six million kilometers..."

"Slow down and stop! Everyone disembark—we fly the rest of the way!"

…

On the other side, Lu Qingshan and the others remained completely unaware of the approaching danger, still chatting inside the F9-grade metal spaceship's lounge.

"Captain!"

Vice-Captain Tie Xue Hou smiled and said: "We've been away from the base for over a thousand years. After returning to the safe point, should we head back to the base?"

"Yes, Captain!"

The tall Jingtao Hou added: "I've gathered over 300,000 worth of spoils now. Combined with my previous military merit, I might finally be able to push my Moyun Teng to the Immortal Realm!"

"Once Moyun truly reaches the Immortal Realm, my survivability will skyrocket again!"

"I also want to return to the base to restock on potions!"

The mentalist 'Leng Xin' quickly said: "To quickly kill that alien High-rank Military Lord, I used up most of my special potions."

"Alright!"

After hearing them, Captain Xuan Konghou said: "Since everyone wants to return to the base, after we reach our resting point, we'll inform nearby allies, then head to the cosmic transit point to return to the base!"

And just then…

Boom!

Several terrifying light spheres, formed by compressed Immortal Power, instantly crossed over a hundred thousand kilometers and slammed into the E-grade spaceship carrying Lu Qingshan and the others.

Boom—!

With a deafening roar, the E-grade spaceship was instantly shredded by the spheres' terrifying power, exploding violently. The cosmic space tore open, sending countless space fragments and vast amounts of alloy debris flying in all directions—only the central F9-grade metal lounge remained barely intact, though cracked and deeply dented.

Although Lu Qingshan and the others detected the attack the moment it appeared via their sensors, the attack was too fast—they had no time to react.

Thus, even protected by the F9-grade metal lounge, each of them spat blood.

With their undying bodies, Lu Qingshan and the others naturally recovered very quickly, but the Giant Elephant, the Nightmare, and the rest had all sustained injuries of varying severity. Among them, the Nightmare, whose defenses were the weakest, was hurt the most badly—his original 98% divine body had dropped to just 89%!

After losing more than ten percent of his divine body, the Nightmare's strength was affected to a certain extent.

(End of chapter)