Chapter 1707: Royce

In the virtual universe, inside a luxurious palace.

Royce sat upon a throne carved from dark red crystal stone.

His crimson eyes fixed on the floating screen before him, his face dark as if dripping with water.

The screen displayed the latest progress update for Xu Jingming's chain mission in the Starfire Project.

【Xu Jingming: Fourth mission phase — 'Kill an Alien Level-7 Immortal with a Top-Tier Divine Body' — completed.】

【Fifth mission phase released: Travel to the Judgment Domain of the Tianfa Star Region to conduct final verdicts on detained felons. Deadline: One century.】

"Damn it!"

Royce slammed his fist onto the arm of the Wang Zuo.

The arm shattered instantly, turning to dust.

"That useless Kongming Shen!"

"He didn't kill Su Chen — instead, Su Chen became famous and earned the title 'Lei Shen'!"

His chest heaved violently, flames of rage burning in his eyes:

"Now Xu Jingming, this bastard, has completed another mission!"

"Bad luck! Pure bad luck!"

Su Chen. Xu Jingming.

Both names now filled him with intense revulsion.

"Xu Jingming's side must have had Shuang Mian Zhuzai exerting influence, arranging someone to help him complete the mission."

"But this fifth mission phase seems surprisingly simple?"

"Just judging some criminals."

Colte stood beside him, staring at the screen, his brow furrowed.

"Simple?"

Royce snorted, a mocking glint flashing in his crimson pupils:

"Ko'erte, you're too naive."

"Judging criminals sounds simple — but do you know what kind of backgrounds these 'criminals' have?"

He turned to face Ko'erte, fixing him with a stare:

"Anyone detained in the Judgment Domain but never executed — isn't every single one of them connected to the highest powers?"

"Some are direct descendants of supreme Zhuzai, guilty of grave crimes yet spared due to blood ties."

"Some are direct descendants of core elders from major factions, entangled in such deep webs of interest that no one dares touch them."

"Some might even be blood descendants of Jie Zun-level cultivators!"

Royce's voice grew colder:

"If Xu Jingming truly goes to judge — how will he judge? Should he judge or not?"

"Judge too lightly, and he violates the law — he may fail the mission."

"Judge too harshly, and he incurs the wrath of those behind them."

"One misstep, and he could draw the enmity of supreme Zhuzai — even Jie Zun-level beings!"

"This fifth mission phase appears simple — but it is in fact the most difficult!"

"The Starfire Project is testing his choice between power and law."

"Testing whether he has the courage to offend those colossal forces!"

Upon hearing this, Ko'erte suddenly understood, and exclaimed with delight:

"So that's it — now we'll see him caught between a rock and a hard place."

"Exactly. We just wait and watch the show."

Royce's lips curled into a cruel smile.

"Then what's our next move?"

Ko'erte asked tentatively.

Royce took a deep breath, suppressing his irritation, and sat back down on the Wang Zuo:

"Su Chen is out of reach for now."

"He's on guard, and he has teleportation — hard to set another trap."

"For Xu Jingming, this fifth mission phase will give him plenty of trouble — we'll wait and observe."

He shifted tone, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes:

"But we can't just sit idle."

"Ko'erte, prepare yourself."

"Prepare?" Ko'erte blinked.

"Hei Shi Yi Ji."

Royce uttered four words, a look of anticipation crossing his face:

"The ancient battlefield relic of a Jie Zun-level cultivator will open in half a year."

"A Jie Zun-level relic?!"

Ko'erte's eyes flashed bright, his breathing quickened.

Jie Zun-level!

That was a power above Zhuzai!

Even a single fragment from their relic could rival a major treasure!

"That relic has special restrictions — only those who possess the 'Hei Shi Ling' may enter."

"I have one in hand that can carry four people."

"You, me, and we'll find two more with sufficient strength, and we'll go in together."

Royse said calmly.

"Many thanks, Your Highness!"

Colt was overjoyed, hurriedly bowing, his heart pounding wildly.

The Blackstone Ruins!

Exploration slots for ruins of this level — how precious they are!

Royse was actually willing to bring him along!

He secretly congratulated himself that his original choice to follow Royse had indeed been a wise one.

Otherwise, how could such a stroke of fortune ever fall to him?

"Prepare well."

Royse waved his hand. "The ruins are fraught with danger, but also boundless opportunity.

If we can find the treasures or legacy left behind by the Realm Lord.

Hmph, when that time comes, what Su Chen, what Xu Jingming — they'll be nothing but ants!"

"Yes!" Colt replied excitedly.

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

In a hidden mountain cave somewhere in the Primordial Ancient Battlefield.

Xu Jingming sat cross-legged, Lei Guang swirling around his body, his aura deep as the sea.

On the surface his eyes appeared slightly closed, but in reality he was looking at his system panel.

【Name】: Xu Jingming

【Level】: Immortal Sixth Order (+)

【Quality Points】: 1,036,473 points

Looking at the quality points on his system panel that had broken the million mark, Xu Jingming's lips curved slightly.

This half year, he had nearly become the Grim Reaper.

Frantically hunting all across the Primordial Ancient Battlefield.

Relying on the teleportation ability brought by his Void Realm Demon bloodline, combined with the enormous amplification to divine sense perception from his dual soul-type equipment.

He specifically targeted lone, or small groups of, foreign-race Immortal-order beings.

The gold-green name of 'Lei Shen'.

Had already become a fearsome star that made the foreign races tremble at the mere mention.

The accumulated quality points had also reached an astonishing number.

"Over a million quality points..."

Xu Jingming calculated in his heart. "If used to boost my strength, I could immediately break through to Immortal Seventh Order.

My comprehension of the Origin Laws would even rise several levels.

But he held back.

A Realm Lord-level ruin — its interior must surely be layered with prohibitions, countless secret-pattern formations.

The Deep Blue system's cracking function might well prove extremely useful.

These quality points were one of his trump cards for dealing with unknown situations inside the ruins.

At critical moments, whether it was an instant breakthrough in strength.

Or forcibly cracking prohibitions, both could play a role in turning the tide.

"Master, it's about time, we should set out and rendezvous with Princess Yeli."

At this moment, the soul body of the succubus loli Vela drifted out and reminded him.

After Xu Jingming's long period of discipline through the Heart-Eroding Pattern.

Vela was now considerably more well-behaved.

At the very least, every time she appeared she would call him Master now.

"Good."

Xu Jingming opened his eyes, a flash of gold-green Lei Guang vanishing from his pupils.

He rose to his full height, transforming into a streak of gold-green Lei Guang.

Racing toward the coordinates Yeli had given.

Three stellar days later.

On a barren plain, the spatial structure was extremely unstable.

Fine spatial rifts frequently flashed into existence, devouring everything around them.

This was the area inside the Heavenly Pit of the Primordial Ancient Battlefield.

The so-called Heavenly Pit was not truly a pit.

Rather, it was a spatial collapse zone with a diameter exceeding 0.5 light-years.

Here, space was in an extremely unstable state.

Ordinary Immortal-order beings wouldn't dare approach, lest they be torn apart by the spatial turbulence.

After entering the Heavenly Pit, he flew for another half a day.

Only then did he arrive before a valley surrounded by three giant black stones arranged in a triangular formation.