Chapter 135: Talisman Seals the Vast

The tight, delicate skin of her lower abdomen seemed as if it were being disintegrated by some strange force.

As a tiny purple speck, like a grain of sand, drifted down.

A soft hiss—directly dissolving a small hole into the ground.

Li Ke slightly furrowed her brow, her hands glowing with magic power, then lightly brushed over the wound.

When she removed her hand, the grotesque damage had vanished, leaving only a sharply defined, taut, white skin.

At Li Ke's realm, unless the injury was extremely severe, it would hardly leave any trace on the body.

After treating the wound, she lowered her garment, and the previously detached silver battle armor automatically reassembled and reattached itself.

"Damn old bastard."

He hadn't moved in thousands of years, yet now he suddenly struck, leaving me no time to react…

Is it because the Master has emerged from seclusion, and the world has shifted drastically, forcing him to finally act?

But soon she dismissed this thought.

No.

It shouldn't be just that.

If it were only because of that, I wouldn't have survived today.

That old man must have other schemes.

"Li Ke!"

A black-clad man, his aura steady and his posture upright like a pine tree, his face rugged, strode in with dragon-like steps and tiger-like bearing.

"Jing Hai?" Li Ke frowned. "Why are you here?"

The newcomer was none other than Jing Hai, the former Lord of Absolute Death Sword who had just relieved Li Ke of duty.

"You should address me as Senior Brother," Jing Hai corrected coldly.

"Pfft." Li Ke remained unmoved. "Get to the point."

"You return to the Central Continent. I will continue serving as Warden here. You'll come back to relieve me in fourteen years."

According to his calculations, with the Master's help, Li Ke's injury should recover within fourteen years.

"If you don't go back, your injury will worsen—possibly kill you."

Jing Hai's tone was harsh, as if merely stating an unrelated fact.

But Li Ke knew well: this was just Jing Hai's usual way of speaking—he spoke this way to everyone.

If he truly didn't care, he wouldn't have rushed over the moment he heard.

As the eldest among Xu Xing's surviving disciples, he always expressed his care for his junior brothers and sisters through action.

"No! Your wife—"

Li Ke hadn't finished speaking when Jing Hai cut her off.

"She already knows." He frowned slightly. "You've become so sentimental. When did you turn so delicate?"

I'm sentimental…?!

Li Ke nearly choked with rage at those words.

"Besides, the Master has emerged from seclusion—wasn't this exactly what you wanted? Yet now you hesitate…" Jing Hai paused, as if recalling something. "Is it because of Little Sister?"

"…." Silence stretched. After a long while, Li Ke sighed softly. "Your mind should be as straightforward as your speech."

"So it is."

Li Ke's reason for wanting to stay here was indeed because of Little Sister.

Little Sister—Chi Jiu Yu.

Although she was adopted by Master's Elder Brother, who was cold by nature, it was Li Ke who cared for her most daily, making them the closest.

Her reluctance to return was surely due to worry for her.

"With me watching over her, you can rest easy."

"Pfft. Can you even protect her?"

Jing Hai was at most her equal, perhaps winning two moves at most—while the old Cang clan creature was on the same level as the Master.

In actual combat, surviving would be a miracle.

"If necessary, I will summon the Ancestral Sword's aid."

Though the Master cannot now step onto the frontline, he can still channel the Ancestral Sword's power.

With the Ancestral Sword's power, holding off is possible.

At that time, other elders will intervene.

"So, go back."

Li Ke still shook her head, then voiced her concern: "That old bastard suddenly moved—he must have a scheme. He might target Jiu Yu. I'll stay a little longer until she finishes her mission, then I'll leave."

"…Fine."

Jing Hai's sudden agreement left Li Ke stunned—she'd prepared a whole arsenal of arguments.

By the time she regained her composure, Jing Hai had already turned and left the palace. …………

Meanwhile, in the Chi Yu Star System, Chifeng System 47.

Thirty light-years from the star system, a small starship hovered silently in the starry void.

Inside the control room, after the communication ended.

"Huh~"

Chi Jiu Yu finally exhaled in relief.

Perhaps Sister had hidden something, but as long as she wasn't dead, it was fine.

With the Master alive, not being dead meant everything could be fixed—especially now that Uncle was here too.

She turned around and noticed Zhang Yunlu's unusual gaze.

"What? Why are you looking at me with that 'you actually did something like this' expression?" Chi Jiuyu read the meaning of the gaze outright.

She then muttered resentfully, "Do you really think I'm someone heartless and soulless?"

"No." Zhang Yunlu shook her head slightly.

"Then that's settled! Don't worry— as a member of the 'Future Sect Lord Alliance,' when you're about to die someday, I'll care about you just like this too."

"..."

She always seemed able to dissolve tense atmospheres.

"Alright, alright." Chi Jiuyu patted Zhang Yunlu's shoulder. "Our mission has started earlier than planned—I need to do some basic preliminary preparations first."

Preliminary preparations?

Then Chi Jiuyu walked to the control panel, flipped her right hand, and a luminous talisman engraved with the character "Sword" appeared in her palm.

Was this the talisman she had just mentioned while chatting with the Master of Cangfeng Sword? The talisman slowly rose, and under their watchful eyes, it began to grow fainter, more ethereal.

In less than ten seconds, the luminous talisman vanished completely.

"That's enough!" Chi Jiuyu clapped her hands and turned to explain to Zhang Yunlu. "That talisman will suppress all existence within the Chifeng 47th star system to the same realm as yours."

"Huh?"

It could do that?

"Of course it has to!" Chi Jiuyu read her gaze again.

"The alien race on the fifth planet of this star system isn't particularly strong, but their king is still comparable to a Nascent Soul. If you don't suppress them, you plan to use Foundation Establishment to fight a Nascent Soul?"

Even a Creation Foundation Establishment cultivator facing a being comparable to a Nascent Soul has only one possible outcome: crushed by a single finger!

This is a trial mission, not a suicide mission.

"Still, even so, don't let your guard down—a whole race isn't some grass you encountered during your Secret Realm trial."

"Mm."

On this point, Zhang Yunlu understood better than anyone—during her first trial in Xuan Jian City, she had been killed in reverse because of her carelessness.

…………

On the fifth planet of the star system, in a lush forest, a peculiar figure walked slowly.

He moved like a sovereign deity, his long crimson hair flowing like flickering flames.

His face was exquisitely perfect, flawless in every detail; a crimson divine flame mark glowed on his brow, but most striking were his eyes—colorful as polished glass.

Aloof, cold, serene.

Wherever he walked, birds, beasts, insects, and fish knelt in worship; plants, trees, even soil and stones sent forth faint whispers of submission.

"Feeble spirituality—useless," he remarked coolly.

Had he not been cautious, he could have drained the life essence of this entire planet, this star system, even the entire Chi Yu Star System in an instant.

But... doing so would be no different from seeking death.

Moreover, the lifeforms of this planet had already submitted to the supreme radiance of the Cang Clan!

He would not lift a hand against them.

Boom! Suddenly, a muffled crash echoed as a streak of light, trailing a long tail of flame, pierced through the clouds like a meteor striking the planet's surface.

Immediately following it came an arcane force, as exalted and absolute as that of the Ancestor.

His expression changed drastically, but before he could react, his terrifying cultivation, rivaling that of a Star Domain Warden, was entirely suppressed.

His body, his soul, even his understanding of the Dao, all grew frail and powerless under the absolute supremacy of this force.

It was as if he had returned to the moment of his birth.

The nature of this power...

He looked up at the sky, his glass-like eyes no longer calm—now blazing with fury.

"Sword! Reverence!"

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(End of chapter)