Chapter 399

Vik System.

Eternal Crystal Mine Zone.

Countless emerald sword lights spread across the heavens, filling the universe.

Behind Heng Dong, the sword-shaped feather wings rotated and multiplied endlessly... Hundreds of super-alloy steel sword-feathers moved as if guided by a single conscious will, slicing through space with intricate coordination.

Li!

Countless emerald beams that cut through space converged, forming the shape of a mighty eagle that suddenly let out a long cry, flapped its wings, and dove downward!

Xiong Xiong!

Within the mine zone, dense networks of blood-red lines surfaced.

At the center of the network stood a giant entirely wreathed in flame!

He was the Fire Luo Sovereign guarding this place—Duo Luoluo!

"Humans!"

Duo Luoluo roared, and within his body, as if a military camp had materialized, countless Fire Luo warriors assembled into formation after formation.

A formation composed of over a million Fire Luo, each at least a Professional-level cultivator, radiated an aura so potent it could make a Martial God tremble.

Countless streams of blood-red mist rose and coalesced upon Duo Luoluo's twenty-meter-tall frame, forming a blood-red armor.

Helmet, breastplate, arm guards, gauntlets, skirt armor, knee guards—all present, adorned with intricate, ancient patterns.

The shimmering trails of countless sword-feathers slicing through space struck the crimson armor—and instantly shattered.

"This is... a wonder? A space-type wonder?"

Heng Dong immediately knew he was in trouble.

He had previously inflicted heavy damage on Duo Luoluo's subordinate legion through ambush.

But this Fire Luo Sovereign was different—he possessed a space-type cosmic wonder, directly building his military camp inside his own body.

To encounter such an astronomically improbable event left Heng Dong utterly speechless.

At this moment, a flood of bad news poured in through the military comm device.

'Under these circumstances... even Turing's psychic-controlled slaves must have failed...'

Heng Dong felt the urge to retreat.

He was a Level-10 mech Shi, only an upper-tier combatant within his rank.

Opposite him, Duo Luoluo was a Fire Luo Sovereign—equivalent to a Level-10 Professional—and with the support of his battle formation, he was among the absolute peak combatants of Level-10.

Had the Fire Luo battle array been capable of elevating a Level-10 Professional by a full realm, he might have died here today!

"This is hopeless... retreat!"

Heng Dong maneuvered his mech and flew backward.

But suddenly, a labyrinth of blood appeared in space, engulfing him.

"Think you can just leave? Did you ask me, Duo Luoluo?"

The Fire Luo Sovereign roared to the heavens: "I'll tear off your wings and hang them in my parlor!"

In his hand, a battle spear materialized—seemingly forged entirely from blood, its tip continuously shattering the void...

"Huh? Distress call?!"

Fang Xing stepped on Tu Ya's head, activated the military comm device, and was stunned.

"Aside from Duan Hai the Martial God's team, all other teams have run into trouble?"

"No—what about me?"

Though his inside man hadn't failed, Tu Ya's power had collapsed catastrophically—failure here meant total ann

This stirred a spark of anger in Fang Xing; the heads of the Federation's intelligence department ought to be taken out and shot.

Can a Ninth Realm King possibly be the same as a Tenth Realm Emperor?

"If I didn't know the Federation would never deliberately destroy the Academy Faction, I'd almost suspect this was a Federation conspiracy."

A thread of his consciousness entered a virtual meeting room via the comm device.

Xu Sanyang and Vivienne were both there; seeing Fang Xing appear, they exhaled in relief: "Captain… are you alright?"

Vivienne asked with concern.

"I'm fine. What about the other squads?"

Fang Xing asked.

"Commander Hengdong is locked in a brutal battle with the Fire Luo Emperor… Duanhai, the Martial God, has already dispatched support to the Gaia Squad… As for us, if we're at full strength, we should move toward 'Kairo Star' to coordinate with 'Dragon Slice, the Martial God'…"

Xu Sanyang spoke, glancing at Fang Xing.

"The surprise attack plan has been compromised. I order:"

Fang Xing looked at the two: "You return to the ship immediately, ready for evacuation at any moment. As for me, I'll maneuver independently—support if I can, and if not, I'll cross the Fire Luo Star Cluster and return to human territory."

"What? Cross the star cluster? That's far too dangerous."

Vivienne immediately objected.

But Xu Sanyang fell into thought: "Hmm… now that we're exposed, our ship's coordinates may already be detected—there, it's a trap… I'd rather advance Zhudong into the Fire Luo heartland than passively walk into a trap…"

Though this path was equally perilous, and could easily mean death.

How could one possibly traverse such an unimaginably vast star cluster in a short time?

Xu Sanyang was somewhat swayed—eighty percent likely because he wanted to remain behind in Fire Luo territory.

"This is a military order."

Fang Xing imposed his authority directly: "Don't worry about me—I'll act according to circumstances."

After ending the military comm device, he moved instantly, flying into space.

After dashing tens of thousands of miles, Fang Xing's surrounding aura scattered chaotically.

Crack!

The military comm device and supply belt snapped apart, drifting into space, swallowed by a void fissure.

Then, he concealed his form and slipped inside an ordinary-looking meteorite.

After activating various martial secrets and cultivator techniques, confirming no anomalies around him or himself:

The 【Immortal Martialist】 trait activated; waves of spiritual energy surfaced, transforming his face and demeanor entirely.

"This disguise technique from the 'Nine Schemes of the Heavenly Demon' is quite effective."

Fang Xing spoke slowly—his voice had changed too.

Then…

His consciousness connected to the Gates of All Realms; three seconds later, a flash of silver light.

Fang Xing's form vanished, reappearing at the Death God Island Palace in the Immortal Realm.

Three seconds later again.

Blue Star Federation.

Inside a cheap rental apartment.

The cultivator avatar, who had been meditating and gathering Qi, opened his eyes to see Fang Xing's true body standing before him, and smiled faintly.

Using the Immortal Realm as a transit point, Fang Xing returned to the heart of the Blue Star Federation in mere seconds!

Isn't this far better than any teleportation for escaping?

"Thus, I've exploited a bug in the Gates of All Realms—after all, when I cross over, I appear beside my avatar…"

According to the Gates' rules, if no avatar existed at the destination, he'd automatically appear at his last known spatial coordinate.

If an avatar was present, he'd appear near it.

Relying on this long-discovered rule, Fang Xing's true body achieved instantaneous relocation.

But the cost was that he could never return to the Vik Star System's spatial coordinates again.

After all, he'd left no avatar there.

"But that's enough… Even Duanhai can't teleport back. Now, if I cause trouble on Blue Star, who could possibly suspect me?"

Fang Xing's lips curled into a faint smile: "Better still… the Federation is currently mobilizing for a massive war against the Outer Demonic Gods—its high-end combatants won't have time to watch this backwater, right?" For him, any external campaign was just a formality.

Besides, he'd already slain an extra Tenth Realm Fire Luo Emperor—more than enough to justify the price Qi Aolisi offered.

Now, what matters most is settling old scores and avenging past grudges!

"Ten years honing a sword, its frost-edged blade never tested. Today I show it to you—who has injustice to right?"

A sword's chime echoed from the cultivator avatar's body as he gazed toward August Manor.

As the master of the Academy Faction, he'd long since gathered intelligence.

Uwe August, as the governor, now oversees Blue Star's defense—and he's on Blue Star itself!

"Past betrayals aside."

"This mission was hostile to the Academy Faction—those Martial Gods may not even return… Perhaps the August family and other surrenderists secretly sabotaged it!"

"He must die."

This had been the plan all along.

No matter how the front-line battle turned, he'd find an excuse to break from the main force and act covertly!

Fang Xing and his cultivator avatar both formed hand seals, their forms dissolving as they employed Earth Submersion Technique, vanishing into the ground…

…

August Manor.

Uwe August had been in good spirits lately.

Especially after receiving news that the vanguard squad had suffered setbacks.

In the underground wine cellar.

Salin Augustus, selecting a red wine, smiled happily: "We need to celebrate—your strategy was truly…"

"I had no strategy. Punishing the Fire Luo clan and seizing the Eternal Crystal Mine were both long-standing Federation plans—I merely went with the flow."

Uwei, with his emerald hair, sighed deeply: "If we're speaking of strategy, it belongs to that one… I even suspect the assassination attempt against Fang Xing was pre-planned to fail, and he's been subtly guiding events all along… Of course, this would leave traces, inviting attacks—so this period is the most dangerous for him."

"So that's why Brother returned?"

Salin Augustus suddenly understood: "Right… If we'd stayed at the Executive Residence, there'd be too much surveillance—many things couldn't be done."

Practitioners who've reached the Tenth Realm enjoy privacy privileges.

For instance, this Augustus Estate would never be monitored by the Omniscient Brain.

"The Federation's top combatants have all gone missing lately… Clearly, the plan has begun. I hope it fails—otherwise, humanity's hatred toward the Divine Ones will only deepen."

Uwei Augustus sighed.

The whereabouts of the Saint Armored University's founding chancellor are easy to track—after all, such a massive mechanical planet can be spotted at a glance by any satellite.

Uwei Augustus's words were even more absurd, and worse—he genuinely believed them.

Moreover, Salin beside him wore the same resolute expression, as if he firmly believed it too.

Suddenly!

Salin Augustus's expression changed.

He tore open his shirt—on his chest, a shattered screen had appeared, inexplicably.

The screen seemed fused into his flesh; it had been dark, but now glowed faintly, like an old computer struggling to boot.

"It's a Divine One's avatar!"

Uwei Augustus stared at the screen: "Of course… Interfering with fate too often ultimately invites fate's mockery. The Federation destroyed the Divine One's true body, but His prior preparations succeeded…"

"No one would have thought He'd place part of His consciousness on Blue Star!"

Salin Augustus smiled: "So this is what they call 'blind spot under the lamp'?"

At that moment, the screen flickered with static, as if the signal was poor—then suddenly displayed lines of text:

【RUN!】

【RUN FAST!】

…

"Run?"

Salin Augustus and Uwei Augustus exchanged glances, both feeling an inexplicable unease.

The next instant, a barrier—neither fully real nor entirely illusory—sealed off the entire Augustus Estate from the outside world.

Fang Xing did not hesitate—he unleashed flag-stand artifacts of Fifth Rank, even quasi-Sixth Rank, and spirit treasures… summoning a vast array to envelop the area.

Most were treasures hoarded by Wuji Palace; among them was even a supreme artifact that sealed space—the Shanhe Map!

Beneath layer upon layer of seals, the Augustus Estate was now completely cut off from the outside—yet from without, it appeared exactly as before.

One could even walk inside and encounter living people.

But this "interaction" was merely an illusion: the moment one stepped through the gate, they were instantly teleported to another dimension, their senses deceived, bombarded by countless illusions…

Meanwhile, within the true Augustus Estate:

Shhh!

Fang Xing slashed with his flying sword!

In an instant, the sword split into countless blades—its speed even surpassed his previous "Great Freedom Mystical Golden Sword Qi."

Each thread of sword energy fell, severing every surveillance device, cable, and hidden signal…

From the perspective of his Yuan Shen, Fang Xing could see every "thread" connecting the Augustus Estate to the outside world!

And now, with one strike, all those threads snapped.

Without hesitation, he swept his Yuan Shen's awareness across the estate—hundreds of Augustus clan members fell like cut wheat.

Only two brothers remained standing in the underground wine cellar—still capable of fighting.

"Huh? Two still alive?"

"This Salin Augustus… isn't an ordinary practitioner. He radiates strong demonic god energy!"

"But now, no more hesitation!"

Faster than a swordsman's heart is the swordsman's blade!

As Fang Xing's cultivation avatar activated his Yuan Shen, the Rusty Iron Sword struck first.

Its single slash pierced the void—Great Void Flying Sword Art—teleporting instantly before Salin Augustus.

Streams of silver light converged at the sword's tip, then shattered violently.

The void itself shattered!

It was the ultimate sword technique—"One Sword Shatters the Void"—a fusion of "One Sword Shatters Ten Thousand Methods" with spatial law insight!

At the very moment his cultivation avatar moved, Fang Xing's true body also acted.

His martial will blazed like a sun, radiating countless will runes, vast and overwhelming, crushing forward.

Simultaneously, a terrifying gravity emerged.

The buildings of the Augustus Estate were instantly crushed; bricks, steel, and rubble floated upward, compressed by the gravity into a tiny sphere.

This was planetary-level gravity of the Star Lord Realm!

Swoosh!

He wore a black robe, his face hidden behind a pitch-black mask.

In his hand appeared a long black spear, its tip blazing like a star exploding.

It was the Eighteen Spears of Flame—Star Like Fire!

In the blink of an eye, Fang Xing unleashed his full power!

Boom!

As he struck, both Fang Xing's true body and his cultivation avatar felt a terrible corruption.

The corruption had no form or substance—it appeared directly within their minds, carrying a devastating impact.

'This isn't some disciple or demonic god offspring level!'

'This is the corruption and impact of an Outer Realm Demonic God!'

Fang Xing's killing intent surged instantly: 'The Augustus family aren't peace-seekers—they're human traitors! They must die!!'

(End of Chapter)