Chapter 419: A-Tier Like a Candle in the Wind, Tottering; E-Tier Like a Grand Stellar Sun, with a Promising Future!

The thick Black Mist slowly receded. The Solar Councilor's Subordinate Deities, and the Neutral Deities represented by the God Of Justice, seemed to have noticed something.

Eyes of various colors looked at them simultaneously, flashing with bizarre colors belonging to Divine Spirits.

"We agree to launch an attack on Horus, but, wait a bit..."

As soon as these words came out, the God Of Justice's eyes widened in anger, but just like the situation the Solar Councilor's Subordinate Deities faced a moment ago, under a two-to-one scenario, he had no ability to refuse.

"I will Stand Idly By, I won't wallow in the mire with you!" he said angrily. There was nothing he could do. He was the God Of Justice; unless he abandoned this Divine Name, he could only practice the way of justice.

And the Subordinate Deities of the two Councilors also knew the other party couldn't possibly abandon the Divine Name "Justice," which held boundless potential, so neither bothered with him.

The gazes of both sides intertwined in the Void, then shot out invisible sparks.

They both knew exactly who each other's target was, but right now, they both tacitly refrained from mentioning it, because the time wasn't ripe yet.

...

If looking from afar, it looked like a supercontinent suspended in the Universe. Multiple planets bobbed in the Black Mist. If one got close, they could faintly sense frenzied sounds of prayer.

In the deepest part of the Black Mist, atop a steep and jagged black mountain peak, His Holiness Nightmare, clad in archaic cyan-black Armor, looked down at the Mechanical Lifeform flashing with sparks below.

The Nightmare Warhorse, burning with flames, crawled at his feet, also staring curiously at this strange lifeform.

"No soul, yet it has another thing suspected to be a soul, interesting."

Beside the Nightmare Knight, there was a hazy ball of radiance that seemed like it would extinguish the next second.

"I originally thought the person behind him was a Councilor who stepped down from the altar, but upon my investigation, I found it's not just that."

Azkana's voice came from that hazy radiance.

"The birth method of this Mechanical Lifeform is very special. My people observed on that planet for a period of time, and his High Priest is utilizing an unprecedented method."

"If it can be analyzed, it would be an immense gain for us as well. Of course, there's also that Glove..."

After conversing with Li Yu, Azkana originally planned to reach a cooperation with the old geezer behind him.

But, after his careful investigation, and after sending people to the Hengfeng System where Li Yu became a Divine Spirit, he changed his mind.

This guy had many secrets on him, especially the dark golden symbols used by that High Priest, which he had never heard of.

And that Glove that appeared later completely made him change his mind. Catching Li Yu first was the priority.

However, out of caution, he pulled in the Nightmare Knight. Although those Divine Spirits who fell from the position of Councilor could be called losers.

However, those guys' methods and Strength still couldn't be underestimated.

Moreover, it was said that those Eking out a miserable existence Former Council Members formed an organization called "Old Ones", secretly plotting something.

This was what worried him the most. He suspected Li Yu was inextricably linked to this Old Ones organization.

Unfortunately... those top-tier civilizations were strictly guarding against and Covetously Staring at these Councilor-level Divine Spirits, even developing various methods to specifically detect if they left the Council.

Otherwise, Azkana wouldn't mind taking action personally.

On one hand, it was to avoid the damage caused by their powerful Strength, and on the other hand, they were also after their bodies.

Many top-tier civilizations and factions wanted to figure out the standard for the birth of a "Councilor".

It wasn't something where you could just plant a flag, say a few words, and become a Councilor.

Since the formation of the Council, the twelve Councilors had never changed.

Wanting to become a new Councilor meant an old Councilor had been pulled down from their horse.

Many top-tier civilizations and Research Institutes believed this contained the deepest secrets of Divine Spirits.

So, if they could capture a live Councilor, it would hold extraordinary significance to them.

And the Nightmare Knight also knew Azkana only told him this to share the risk.

But who the final beneficiary would be when the time came, was still unknown.

...

"Hum!"

The sealed Blast Door abruptly opened. Hunter rushed in excitedly, his robust upper body bare, the sweat on it not yet evaporated.

"Ah, pervert!" Keller hurriedly raised her small hands, covering her eyes, crying out that it burned her eyes.

Hunter ignored the goofy Little Squirt, but said excitedly, "My Gene Chain Development Progress finally reached 100%. It's been less than three months, which is several times my previous development speed."

After this period of arduous training, coupled with an unlimited supply of Gene Development Potion.

Hunter's Strength finally stepped onto a new level again, taking a pivotal step, about to become an astonishing—E-Grade Genetically Evolved Lifeform.

Li Yu's eyelids lifted slightly, his tone lacking enthusiasm, perfunctorily saying, "Congratulations, congratulations. From now on, you'll have a place in the Interstellar space."

"Yes, your path to becoming an A-Tier Lifeform has shortened by a tiny step." Claptrap also chimed in.

"E-rank? Does this rank even exist?" Keller stared with large, doubtful eyes.

Only Tu Ying dully spat out a sentence: "Congratulations."

Hunter also didn't mind everyone's coldness, sneering, "I'm happy for myself. You guys do as you please, I'll just assume you're jealous of me."

Even Li Yu was left Speechless by this sentence. I, an A-rank, am like a candle in the wind, tottering; you, an E-rank, are like a grand stellar sun, with a promising future, right?

It was very difficult for everyone to understand Hunter's mindset. This wasn't just the degree of Strength improvement, but a joy of recovering something lost.

After "showing off" to everyone for a bit, he cheerfully headed to the Warehouse to select a suitable Gene Chain.

"Uncle Hunter's mindset is really good..." Keller continued playing her game, utilizing her super reaction ability to continuously carry, leading her teammates towards victory.

Li Yu then glanced at his own Gene Chain Development Progress; it had already reached—17%.

It wasn't only because of the effect of the Mental Tempering Device, but also the device Peyton researched for him, providing Stellar Radiation anytime and anywhere, which played a non-negligible supporting role.

Due to the impact of the development progress, his Strength also slightly increased.

They had left the Stuart Civilization for some time now, and during this period, the attacks they suffered were not few.

But most were intercepted by the Twelve Golden Immortals, though there were a few gray factions that were worth Li Yu taking action personally.

But overall, it was more of a scare than real danger. However, this didn't make Li Yu feel happy.

Instead, it gave him a feeling of a brewing storm. Some hostile factions hadn't appeared at all. If they hadn't given up on attacking, they must be brewing a larger attack.

"Huh... why are stars popping up in front of my eyes again?" As she played, Keller's small head wobbled, and she planted face-first onto the ground.

Tu Ying frowned, grabbed Keller by her calf, shook her, and called out, "Wake up?"

Because the déjà vu of this scene was too strong, Li Yu didn't react immediately, watching as Tu Ying was already preparing to smash Keller awake.

Only then did he stop him with a head full of black lines. Both these guys belonged to Non-human races, and their Strength improved extremely fast. They were now close to becoming B-Tier Lifeforms.

So they usually "played around" frequently, shooting Laser Cannons at each other. Li Yu hadn't felt anything during their training, but now he felt it was a bit strange.

"Her state is not right. Her blood flow is accelerating, her body surface temperature is rising, and her heart is about to explode. Take her to Peyton..."

Li Yu's eyes were now basically equivalent to x-ray vision. He could tell at a glance that something was wrong with Keller right now.

"Oh, oh..."

Tu Ying dangled Keller again and headed to Peyton's Laboratory.

...

"She is currently returning to her ancestral form, it's no big deal. Give me two drops of your blood, the nutrition inside is enough." Peyton said to Li Yu.

Next to them, Sinai was sweating nervously, her two fair hands tightly clenched together, but she didn't dare to disturb Peyton's testing.

Li Yu was somewhat Speechless. He casually squeezed out two drops of blood. One drop was placed in a test tube, diluted, and injected into Keller's body.

The other drop was put away by Peyton, but he didn't use it. Li Yu stared suspiciously at Peyton, "What are you putting away my other drop of blood for?"

"As a spare..." Peyton explained indifferently, not blushing and his heart not skipping a beat. Immediately after, he wondered again, "It's just that, this little one's Bloodline concentration is already high enough, how could she experience ancestral return again?"

"This kind of situation, whether it's an active blessing or passive influence, requires being extremely close to the Progenitor."

"Extremely close to the Progenitor? You mean, that rumored Grand Duke of Blood, the existence who once set foot as a Councilor, is nearby?" Li Yu frowned.

"This 'nearby' is actually extremely generalized. Have we already entered the range of the No Man's Land?" Peyton inquired.

"Mhm..." Li Yu seemed to be pondering something, "Just entered the range of the No Man's Land a day ago..."

Peyton explained, "There are many causes for ancestral return, but Keller's Bloodline concentration is already very high. If it's her first time coming into contact with the Progenitor's influence, it's very likely to trigger an ancestral return."

Li Yu secretly pondered: "No Man's Land... Vampire Progenitor... Gensokyo, the secrets hidden here seem to be increasing."

If there was really some conspiracy behind this, there must be a connection between them.

After all, the Universe was so big, why did it happen specifically in the No Man's Land? It couldn't be that everyone had a Tacit Understanding and jointly chose this place.

However, for a time, Li Yu had no clues.

"I suggest sending someone to watch her first, and then use a Containment Device to cut off outside contact. For the Vampire Race, the upper echelons have almost absolute control over the lower echelons..." Peyton said in a low voice.

Li Yu knew Peyton was worried that if it was really because of the Vampire Progenitor, Keller would become a breakthrough point and expose some of their secrets.

This was indeed a hidden danger. Li Yu immediately secretly assigned Soul-Shaking Heaven to attach to Keller's Smart Terminal to prevent any unexpected situations from occurring.

"Right, about Number Sixteen, have you found any clues?" Li Yu inquired.

He handed Number Sixteen over to Peyton, naturally not for rough research like before, just drawing blood occasionally and the like.

Coupled with Gust's partial experimental data, there was no need for dissection or anything.

"The so-called Alpha Cell that Gust mentioned, I have seen it before. Actually, every Permanent Gene in the bodies of the Nobles has shadows of this cell." Peyton's words made Li Yu somewhat surprised, but upon careful thought, it made sense.

No matter how mysterious the Titans were, after experiencing such a long time and the research of so many factions, the veil had long been partially lifted.

However, this thing similar to Titan Cells wasn't something just anyone could easily fuse with.

It had to be modulated to become the Permanent Gene that Nobles could continuously pass down.

Li Yu listened to Peyton's explanation, his eyes flickering, not knowing what he was thinking about.

...

In an extremely remote Barren Zone of the No Man's Land, a surging Blood Sea covered several Barren Planets in succession.

And on a Spaceship above it, three figures stood side by side. Two of them were fluorescent blue remote projections, and the other one was an Avatar made of blood.

"The setup has been laid, just quietly wait for the situation to develop." The tone of the projection on the left was calm.

The projection on the right was somewhat worried, "There are many more variables. For some unknown reason, The Council has entered the field."

"And because of the impact of Li Yu's Glove, many factions have also sent people. Although their target is Li Yu, it might also affect our plan."

"The more people, the better..." The Blood Avatar's tone was eerie.

"Don't underestimate the others..." The projection on the right shook his head. "And that Li Yu, his people seem to be investigating this matter recently, and have already followed the trail and cleaned up several places."

"Him? No need to worry..." The projection on the left shook his head, laughing, "Just a Pawn used to attract Attention. The people behind him should be making a big move in recent years and have to expose themselves to the world. In order to hide their main purpose, they pushed out a Pawn first."

"It's a method we've long used. When we explored the Eternal Kingdom back then, we used this method."

"Everyone's Attention will only focus on this pushed-out light bulb, and no one knows what the people under the light are doing."

"When you guys react, we've already finished."

The guy on the right was slightly silent, but didn't say anything.

"No one can stop us!" The Blood Avatar's whole body surged, his tone high-pitched. "For glory!"

"For Gensokyo!" The projection on the left echoed.

The projection on the right didn't speak for a long time, and under the gazes of the other two, he finally forced out two words, "For ideals!"

"..."

Motherfucker, hypocrite!

The other two cursed inwardly in unison.

(End of this chapter)