Chapter 1538: Shocked Team Members! Six Months!

"It seems your fists aren't strong enough."

Xu Jingming revealed a cruel smile and loosely clenched his right hand.

Deep within his core nucleus, the deep-blue lightning core suddenly trembled!

Vast amounts of yuan energy surged forth like a breached dam, wildly condensing and compressing above his palm!

A long spear, entirely black and entwined with golden lightning runes, materialized out of thin air!

Though only three feet long, it radiated a terrifying aura that made souls tremble!

The surrounding space quivered, emitting agonized cries under unbearable strain!

Core Nucleus Technique: Shattered Star Lei Mao!

Shhh—!

Xu Jingming flicked his wrist, and the Shattered Star Lei Mao became a bolt of black lightning.

In an instant, it vanished, piercing straight through the chest of the Blood Flame Demon!

No, not just piercing.

With the core nucleus locked, the Shattered Star Lei Mao struck with pinpoint precision directly into its core nucleus location!

"Chii—"

A faint piercing sound.

The Blood Flame Demon's grotesque face froze instantly; its crimson pupils flickered with disbelief and terror.

It opened its mouth, as if trying to speak.

But the next instant.

Boom—boom—boom—!!!

Centered on its chest, a black thunderstorm over a kilometer in diameter erupted violently!

The lightning did not spread—it violently twisted inward, annihilating everything!

The Blood Flame Demon's massive body was obliterated in an instant, without even a scream.

The thunderstorm lasted several seconds before slowly dimming and dissipating.

In the center of the battlefield, only a blackened crater several meters deep remained, along with lingering waves of destruction still hovering in the air.

'Ding, defeated one Cosmic Rank 8 Flame Demon, Source Points +5.71 million!'

Xu Jingming slowly retracted his right hand, his surrounding Lei Gang receding.

He glanced down at his undamaged battle suit and lightly brushed away nonexistent dust.

Then, he lifted his head.

He looked toward Du Ke and the others, frozen in place, and offered a faint smile:

"Captain, it's taken care of."

Silence.

Deathly silence.

Du Ke and the others were stunned.

Endured a life-or-death strike from a Cosmic Rank 8 Demon without a scratch?

Counterattacked with a Core Nucleus Technique and instantly killed?

What kind of defense is this? What kind of attack is this?!

"Freak..."

Du Ke finally found his voice.

He swallowed hard and forced out two words through clenched teeth.

Lai Er exhaled and remarked:

"The boss said you could fight a Cosmic Rank 8, and I thought it meant barely holding your own.

You come out and instantly kill—this is just too exaggerated."

"Impressive!"

Shi Shan earnestly gave a thumbs-up.

Even the ever-cold You Yue.

When her icy eyes fell upon Xu Jingming, they seemed to flicker slightly.

Though still silent, the icy aura that repelled others had slightly lessened.

"You're all too kind," Xu Jingming smiled.

"A Cosmic Rank 1 killing a Cosmic Rank 8—your strength needs no modesty."

Du Ke laughed heartily, "This mission exceeded expectations. When we settle the military merits, you take the lion's share!

Let's go, clean up the loot, see if there's anything valuable, then take on the next mission!

This launch has set a great tone for you!"

Since they had already left the planetary fortress, they wouldn't return so easily.

The group began clearing the battlefield, collecting rare materials or space rings from the demons.

After gathering all the loot, Xu Jingming's team returned to the Shadow Stalker spacecraft.

"Xu brother, the enemy you just killed has been recorded.

You should have military merits now—you can enter the Virtual Universe."

Inside the cabin, Du Ke selected the next mission while smiling at Xu Jingming.

"Alright."

Xu Jingming sent out a thread of spiritual energy to connect with his neural helmet.

After breaking through to the Cosmic Rank, his mental force surged dramatically.

He no longer needed to wear a neural helmet as he once did.

Simply projecting a thread of mental force was enough to connect to the Virtual Universe.

"Congratulations, Master! You've slain alien races in the Outland Battlefield and earned 120,000 military merits!"

As soon as he entered the Virtual Universe, Number One appeared before him, clad in the academy uniform, offering congratulations.

"Only 120,000 military merits?"

Xu Jingming raised his sword-like eyebrows.

In the 102nd Planet Fortress, Senior Sister Lin Qianxue had accumulated over 11 billion military merits.

At this rate, when would he ever catch up to her?

"Then again, Senior Sister has been stationed in the Outland Battlefield for centuries."

"I'm just a newcomer—I'm still far behind. I'll just accumulate these merits slowly."

Xu Jingming silently thought to himself, then severed the connection.

"How's it going? Saw your military merits?"

Du Ke laughed heartily. "In the Outland Battlefield, military merits are hard currency."

Once you've amassed 500 million military merits, you can be promoted to a One-Star War General."

Also, these military merits come from slaying alien races; completing this B-rank mission grants an additional 10,000 military merits as a reward."

But these merits are credited to the team leader—that is, my account."

This portion of the merits, along with the spoils from slain alien races, will be distributed after we complete all our missions."

We'll divide them upon returning to the planet fortress. That should be fine, right?"

"Fine." Xu Jingming nodded.

"Good. I've already selected our second B-rank mission. Let's move out!"

The Shadow Strike spaceship powered up and swiftly headed toward the second mission point.

The universe is vast; the distance between each mission point is measured in light-years.

Thus, most of their time was spent traveling—actual combat time was minimal.

Whenever a battle erupted, Xu Jingming was always the first to strike.

Gradually, he earned the recognition of Du Ke and the others.

Even You Yue's cold expression softened somewhat.

In this way, half a year passed swiftly.

The Wildfire Team, having endured countless battles large and small, began their return voyage.

In the pitch-black void of space, the Shadow Strike spaceship glided silently like a ghost.

Inside the cabin, Du Ke, You Yue, Lai Er, and Shi Shan sat or stood.

Their expressions bore the weariness and relief of prolonged combat.

Xu Jingming sat by the window.

His gaze passed through the viewport toward the gradually enlarging silhouette of the planet fortress.

Yet his attention was fixed on the pale blue panel in his mind.

【Name】: Xu Jingming

【Rank】: Cosmic Rank One (+)

【Ability】: Annihilation Doushen Shenlei (T2 Level)

【Physique】: 0.7 billion blood qi (+)

【Mental Force】: 0.3 billion Hz (+)

【Skills】: Spear Intent (Intermediate +), Heavenly Thunder Wings (T2 Level, Perfect)......

【Body Cultivation】: Star Core Lei Gang Body (T0 Level, First Stage +)

【Spirit Refinement】: Ninefold Refining Spirit Method (T0 Level, First Stage +)

【Origin】: Thunder Origin (First Stage +), Destruction Principle (First Stage +), Life Law (First Stage +)

【Gene】: Source Core Secret Scripture (First Stage +)

【Bloodline】: Thunder Prison Demon (Purple Nightmare Scripture T0 Level, Fourth Stage +)

【Source Points】: 5.63 billion

These were Xu Jingming's gains over the past half-year!

Each battle yielded roughly 100 million source points.

Sometimes, when luck favored him and he encountered multiple low-rank cosmic alien races, he could gain 200 million source points in one go!