Chapter 211: Life Deprivation

"Your Majesty, are we really withdrawing?"

"Your Majesty, this…"

Inside the vast hall, a group of ninth-star civilization royalty and high ministers were all stunned.

We came all the way from our homeland—just to withdraw like this?

"Be silent."

Blood Cauldron King's icy gaze swept across, and silence immediately returned below.

The emperor seated high above spoke calmly: "The Earth civilization inherited the legacy of the previous civilization and buried a weapon capable of annihilating a planet in its depths—what else can we do but retreat?"

"Annihilate a planet?"

The royal nobles and high ministers below all froze.

Even a Star Divine, whose power could shake continental plates, would likely exhaust himself trying to utterly shatter a planet.

While void beings possess the power to destroy planets, they usually require multiple full-power strikes—only certain special races or high-output technological weapons could possibly achieve instantaneous planetary annihilation.

Even a ninth-star civilization doesn't possess such a weapon—how could Earth possibly have one?

Indeed, it must be forged from the core fragment of a level-two civilization…

"But there's no need to worry."

The emperor said coldly: "This kind of level-two civilization weapon, used to clear the stars, cannot maintain its material state for long—each piece lasts only one or two years at most. How many could the Earth civilization possibly produce? We merely need to wait a few more years."

He swept his gaze and ordered: "Withdraw temporarily and await orders on Mars."

After the royal nobles and high ministers dispersed, only Blood Cauldron King remained in the hall.

"Elder brother."

The emperor spoke: "You will oversee the Mars garrison from now on—I am returning to Earth immediately."

"Return to Earth now?" Blood Cauldron King exclaimed.

"As long as I merge into the void layer, no one on Earth can detect me," the emperor said indifferently. "The Earthlings' threat means nothing to me—but you, elder brother, will have to wait several more years before exploring Earth's treasures."

Blood Cauldron King fell silent for a moment, then said: "It doesn't matter. Though my lifespan is nearing its end, I still have tens of thousands of years left—waiting a few more years is nothing."

The emperor nodded slightly and said: "With your accumulated foundation, there's still hope you'll comprehend one void essence and master the void. If Earth's relics aid you, I'll inform you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Blood Cauldron King said respectfully.

"I'm leaving."

The emperor said no more, immediately rose, and vanished into the void.

…

Earth.

Inside the defense base, Lin Qing sat cross-legged in silence, cultivating while quietly waiting.

Suddenly—

In his perception, the six relic spaces connected to Earth, previously calm and still, suddenly shifted—as if a stone had been cast into a silent lake.

Only Lin Qing, a Star-level Primordial Realm subject, could sense the changes in those six relics.

"Someone has entered Bronze Demon Mountain!"

Lin Qing immediately extended his mental force and transmitted a message: "Yi Leina Duo, have you detected anyone on Earth entering Bronze Demon Mountain?"

Yi Leina Duo immediately replied: "No, I've been observing with mental force at all times—do you mean…?"

"It must be the void beings."

Lin Qing's lips curled into a mocking smile. "They came this quickly? They truly don't take us seriously at all. Perfect… climbing Bronze Demon Mountain takes a long time—we can begin planning now."

…

Mars.

The massive fleet of the ninth-star civilization had entered Mars and established its garrison, with numerous exploration instruments and defense systems rapidly deployed.

Inside the enormous Jin Zita spaceship, Blood Cauldron King stood before a pool filled with viscous fluid, watching the lifeforms within pulse and occasionally commanding the AI to inject special substances or materials.

The unknown lifeform inside the pool periodically trembled and roared, causing the liquid to ripple continuously.

"Experiment subject No. 935 still hasn't reached the target…"

Blood Cauldron King frowned slightly. "The gene optimization technology based on this model has consistently failed—if this improvement succeeds, the gene index should break through the 22,000% bottleneck."

Since birth, his life spanning over a million years has always been aimed at becoming a void being.

Even with a Level Nine talent enabling him to sense space, he still cannot comprehend the true nature of the void—he cannot see it clearly, nor recognize it.

Thus, he was forced to try those crude methods: attempting to understand the essence of various life-energy systems and maximizing his own gene structure, so his eventual transformation into a void-level lifeform would be more stable.

"If only I could properly study at a level-two civilization's system… I'd have succeeded long ago…"

Blood Cauldron King took a deep breath.

But he knew well—those level-two civilizations dwelling in the void sanctuaries looked down on someone like him, born from a level-one civilization.

Even void beings must sign countless unequal treaties to truly become members of a level-two civilization.

This universe is filled with class and cruelty.

"Soon…"

Blood Cauldron King's heart burned with intense anticipation: "Earth is my greatest chance…"

Suddenly—

"Minister."

The spaceship's AI alert sounded: "The surveillance system deployed near Mars has detected a Zhi Star person—Kaduan, elder of the Yuan Chen civilization."

"Elder of the Yuan Chen civilization?" Blood Cauldron King said coolly. "Weren't the Yuan Chen's main forces and the Seventh Imperial Prince annihilated by the Earthlings? I didn't expect Kaduan to still be alive."

The AI replied: "According to Kaduan's spacecraft data, he was not on Mars that day—he escaped by chance."

Blood Cauldron King waved dismissively: "Regardless of truth or falsehood, make him reveal everything he knows."

"Yes," the intelligent system said. "Kadoan claims to know a secret of the Earthlings. He demands an audience with His Majesty the Emperor."

"His Majesty is not here."

The Blood Cauldron King spoke calmly, "I shall handle this matter entirely. After a thorough inspection of him, arrange for him to meet me."

"Yes."

Ten minutes later.

In the vast hall, the Blood Cauldron King looked at the silver-haired elder below and said, "Kadoan, a senior figure of the Yuanchen Civilization, who voluntarily possessed a body and downgraded to enter Earth in search of a ninth-level genius of the Three-Eyed Clan. Is that not correct?"

"Greetings, Blood Cauldron King," the silver-haired elder said, neither humble nor arrogant.

"Speak."

The Blood Cauldron King said indifferently, "What is this secret of the Earthlings you speak of?"

The silver-haired elder glanced at the two Guard Commanders beside him and asked hesitantly, "I wonder where His Majesty the Emperor is?"

"You are not qualified to pay homage to His Majesty," the Blood Cauldron King frowned slightly and said, "If the secret you speak of is truly useful to His Majesty, you will naturally be given the opportunity to pay homage to Him." "In that case, Blood Cauldron King, please look."

The silver-haired elder flipped his hand, suddenly producing a precise and delicate spherical instrument. He then applied force with his fingertip, crushing it.

In an instant, an invisible wave spread out, filling the hall.

At this moment, all devices used by everyone present to log into the Second Universe Network were instantly blinded, and consciousness sensing was immediately interrupted.

"Hmm?" The Blood Cauldron King's eyes grew cold.

"Audacious!"

The two Guard Commanders, both with Yu Xingyuan Ninth Layer strength, also became instantly alert.

Although Kadoan's strength was weak and hardly worth mentioning, the act of blocking the Second Universe Network login devices was very strange!

Just then—

A wisp of light suddenly flew out from between Kadoan's eyebrows. The spatial scale where that light point was located also expanded rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a naked young man.

"Lin Qing?"

The Blood Cauldron King instantly recognized the other party and could not help but feel even more suspicious, a trace of unease arising in his heart.

No mistakes, one sentence, one release, one content, one look!

The moment Lin Qing was reborn, the vertical eye on his forehead lit up as well. Immediately after—

"Boom!!"

Under the terrifying energy impact that erupted suddenly, rolling out in all directions, space twisted and undulated!

Inside this incredibly sturdy Eighth-Order spaceship, even an attack from the Yu Xingyuan Tenth Layer would be hard to break through, and the sealed hall completely withstood this terrifying explosion!

"What is this?"

The Blood Cauldron King's pupils contracted. A phantom image of a large crimson cauldron instantly appeared on his body surface, and terrible power immediately enveloped him completely within it.

The two Guard Commanders also resisted the explosion impact to the best of their ability.

Although the terrifying energy impact that erupted in an instant was very powerful, with their Yu Xingyuan Ninth Layer strength, they could still withstand it.

Meanwhile, Lin Qing took this opportunity to release the Black Flame Clone from his forehead again.

"Merge!"

Amidst the violent and chaotic energy impact, the Black Flame Clone, with black flames burning all over its body, immediately transformed into a streak of light and shadow and merged into Lin Qing's body.

The powerful foundation brought by the Merge Technique caused Lin Qing's aura to surge instantly.

"It is enough."

Lin Qing suddenly flipped his hand and took out a dark red metal plaque.

This was the 'Life Plaque' he had once obtained from Kadoan, possessing the divine ability to strip life!

"I... one million three hundred thousand years of lifespan. I will leave only ten thousand years; the rest will all be invested into the Life Plaque to cast Life Stripping!"

In that instant, as Lin Qing used his will to activate this strange Life Plaque, his life force also began to be continuously drained away by the Life Plaque at a terrifying speed.

One million three hundred thousand years of lifespan was truly too vast; even this Life Plaque needed some time to absorb it.

Lin Qing did not care at all, simply maintaining the impact of the World God energy. Within this hall of merely a few hundred meters, the World God could not take shape.

However, he extended his right hand. Streaks of light formed by divine weapons quickly condensed and collapsed, turning into a patch of pure, lightless darkness, resembling a black hole, radiating an endless aura of extinction.

"Lin Qing!"

Indeed, the two relatively weaker Guard Commanders were suppressed by the World God energy impact, but the Blood Cauldron King, under the protection of endless crimson light, forcibly tore through the World God energy impact and rushed to kill Lin Qing.

"Strength nearly at the Yu Xingyuan Tenth Layer is indeed formidable..."

Lin Qing narrowed his eyes slightly. His body continuously absorbed World God energy while simultaneously releasing World God energy, maintaining the explosion impact in a cycle to suppress the Blood Cauldron King as much as possible.

Under the cover of the phantom image of the crimson cauldron, the Blood Cauldron King himself transformed into a scarlet meteor and crashed directly toward Lin Qing.

Wherever he passed, space undulated violently like waves!

Even suppressed by the World God energy impact, its power was still terrifying!

"Primordial Annihilation!"

Lin Qing waved his single hand. That pure darkness that devoured and extinguished everything instantly transformed into a narrow dark blade and directly met the Blood Cauldron King!

When the scarlet meteor formed by the Blood Cauldron King collided with the dark blade, he felt an astonishing devouring power surge wildly, rapidly absorbing and annihilating his energy. Even though the power he cast was vast enough, it was as if he were sucked by endless gravity, and his energy began to constantly drain away.

"What divine technique is this? Could it be a combined divine technique?"

The Blood Cauldron King was even more shocked, his heart filled with disbelief. "A small fellow who is not even a Star Deity has such strength? Only top-tier geniuses in Second-Level Civilizations can master combined divine techniques. Does Earth have such a genius?"

He did not know that Lin Qing was only using a Seventh-Level divine technique; it was relying on a powerful gene index and the surging base attributes after merging to exert such strength.

If it were an Eighth-Level divine technique, the World God impact at the moment of meeting would have annihilated him!

"Kill him!"

Shocked, the Blood Cauldron King fought even more desperately. However, that terrifying divine technique resembling a black hole, which extinguished and devoured everything, restrained him again and again. The terrifying energy constantly surging around also suppressed him, making it difficult for him to exert his power.

Lin Qing kept blocking the Blood Cauldron King's attacks, and his heart eased: "Although he's no match for me, I can still hold him off…"

The Blood Cauldron King's strength was indeed formidable, close to the tenth layer of Yu Xingyuan.

And after he activated his Fusion Art, within ten seconds his strength was also at the peak of the ninth layer of Yu Xingyuan, and now he was single-mindedly stalling and defending, so naturally he could hold his ground.

"Just one second is enough…"

Lin Qing let his life force pour out like a flood, continuously drained by the Life Card, focusing solely on defense.

"What's going on with this Lin Qing?" The Blood Cauldron King attacked wildly, but still couldn't understand—unable to defeat him, and what was the point of doing this?

Clearly there was some other purpose, but he couldn't figure it out.

Suddenly—

"Enough!"

Lin Qing sensed that the Life Card within his body had already absorbed 1,290,000 years of his lifespan; that vast life force had fully merged into the Life Card, then transformed into a strange and terrifying power!

In an instant, an eerie crimson light flew out from within his body and, at the speed of light, plunged into the Blood Cauldron King's body.

"Life, Severance!"

"Hm? This is…"

The Blood Cauldron King only felt the crimson light flash, and then discovered his life force was beginning to plummet at a terrifying rate, being constantly annihilated and dissolved by that strange power!

Nearly every second, his lifespan dropped by tens of thousands of years!

"What is this!"

The Blood Cauldron King felt his lifespan draining away madly, and couldn't help growing increasingly shocked and terrified; his attacks grew ever more frenzied.

He only had a little over four hundred thousand years of lifespan left, but he was losing nearly fifty thousand years of lifespan every second!

"As expected…"

Lin Qing kept blocking the opponent's attacks, a cold laugh rising in his heart: "One portion of my lifespan can almost erode five portions of the Blood Cauldron King's lifespan—looks like my gene index is five times his?"

This Life Severance was actually a life-force offset and cancellation, and the quality of life force mainly depended on life tier and gene index.

He and the Blood Cauldron King were both at the Ultimate Star Creature tier, but his gene index was over a thousand times the cosmic standard, while the Blood Cauldron King's was estimated to be only a little over two hundred times.

The 1,290,000 years of lifespan he had just channeled in could theoretically erode over six million years of the Blood Cauldron King's lifespan!

Nine seconds later—

"I'm not willing! I'm not willing!"

The Blood Cauldron King let out a furious roar, and his entire being lost all vitality, crumbling completely like a sand statue, dissolving into nothingness amid the energy shockwave.

At the same time, Lin Qing also sensed the Gate of Eternity in his mind drawing a soul into itself.

(End of Chapter)