Chapter 269: Great Harvest and Great Price

Li Yu did not wait to ask what the "Star Burst" function was.

Hong Dou had already executed the command directly, which also made Li Yu instantly understand why Hong Dou felt this was the only chance of survival.

Without even a countdown, the entire 【Despair Death Star】 began to shatter.

The scene before their eyes could no longer be described as mountains collapsing and the earth splitting; everyone could clearly see the planet beneath their feet disintegrating and exploding.

Unimaginable energy waves surged from deep within the planetary core, blinding light flared at the poles, countless dust particles rose, the ground cracked, and scorching magma erupted... Although everyone had begun trying to flee the moment they sensed the "Ancient Saint Will" descending.

Yet when these scenes appeared, expressions of despair appeared on all their faces simultaneously.

The difficulty of the Weird Domain conquest seemed to allow for no shortcuts.

Or rather, fate was just that fickle.

Nightmare-level difficulty was inherently meant to create an extremely, extremely high mortality rate.

Previously, because of the "intervention" of the master-servant pair Li Yu and Hong Dou, more than half of the participants from both factions had a chance to survive.

Now, this outcome had been corrected.

With the Ancient Saint Will descending, the outcome was bound to be no survivors—everyone would die.

The planet's self-detonation looked even more severe, also resulting in total annihilation.

However, in Hong Dou's "calculations," it was not like that.

"After the Star Burst function is activated, it will form a vortex with excessively high energy intensity, which will delay the descent of the Ancient Saint Will by at least five seconds."

"These five seconds are Master's only chance of survival."

"Inside the 【Star-Swallowing Goddess】 shell, over ninety percent of the energy radiation's power can be neutralized. For the remaining radiation, Master's Longevity Body only needs to endure for about a second before being able to borrow the power of the Demon Star Order to return."

"What about the others?"

After hearing Hong Dou's explanation, a question subconsciously arose in Li Yu's mind.

And in the next moment, he saw the answer.

The self-detonation of a planet should clearly not be this rapid.

But the Death Star explosion began under control.

It was Hong Dou who pressed that Star Burst button.

When the spiderweb cracks covering the Death Star reached their limit and the star core collapsed violently, an earth-shattering explosion was unleashed.

The entire planet was torn apart, countless fragments engulfed in high-temperature plasma and energy waves surged out; the star sea was, because of this, as bright as day.

In the center of the explosion, a giant fiery-red vortex was born, constantly devouring all matter and energy, and an unimaginable tide of radiation began to be released as if without end.

The others?

There were no wails or struggles; they didn't even have time to complain or curse Li Yu for taking protection fees without providing protection before they were directly submerged in the massive explosion.

Next were the five flesh-and-blood planets that had dismembered Shang Yang; they were alive.

In a sense, they counted as clones of the Nest Mother.

Upon detecting the Star Burst radiation, they also wanted to flee.

As "Nest Mother bodies" transformed from entire planets, their speed was extraordinary; after all, they used star cores as their driving force.

Unfortunately, they still had things in their mouths.

They had each eaten a head, two legs, two arms, and the torso of the six-gem-armored Shang Yang... having eaten too much and still digesting, they naturally could not run fast.

Consequently, they all took this Star Burst hit squarely; flesh and blood dissolved, and the Nest Mother wailed.

As for Li Yu himself, he had no time to pay attention to anyone else at this moment.

Under Hong Dou's control, the Star-Swallowing Goddess avoided the core explosion and even made a defensive posture, but since the shell was on the planet after all, the first wave of power still descended upon it.

In an instant, the Star-Swallowing Goddess, which had been majestic not long ago, was crippled.

With its back scorched and melted, limbs severed, and within the most heavily defended brain region, Li Yu felt as if he were experiencing a "nuclear explosion" once again.

And the power was immeasurably stronger.

While immersed in the struggle, he also belatedly heard Hong Dou's answer to that question.

Afterward, he also heard the countdown, as well as the command from Hong Dou.

Even at this juncture, the two still maintained that state of spirit-flesh unity.

Thus, the return was also carried out simultaneously.

"Participants of both factions!"

"Except for the 【Forbidden Child】, the probability of others surviving is zero."

"Star Burst radiation field formed!"

"Ancient Saint Will descent delayed!"

"Countdown five, four, three, two..."

"Return!"

"Return!"

In the Demon Star Order space, a piece of charred remains only the size of a palm appeared without warning.

Not long after, this charred shell cracked open, revealing the tender flesh inside.

And it began to grow, as if it were the gestation process of a "new life" in a womb; blood vessels, internal organs, bones, skin... grew out bit by bit, visible to the naked eye.

Because there was no amniotic fluid to wrap it, growing out of thin air like this appeared somewhat eerie.

That's right!

It was Li Yu.

That charred remains was the result of him enduring about three seconds of Star Burst radiation.

And that was with the Star-Swallowing Goddess filtering out over ninety percent of the power.

Li Yu was very satisfied with this; that was a Star Burst.

Compared to it, a nuclear explosion was nothing.

Just a moment, one second, or perhaps two seconds more, and he would have died.

The Rank 5 "Longevity Daoist" was known for immortality and rebirth from a drop of blood.

But that was when facing ordinary opponents or attacks; being in that situation, being able to withstand it for a second was actually because Li Yu had ascended at the peak level and his body had mutated multiple times, and to some extent, it was also the result of protection from a True God.

The others were not so lucky.

The newly resurrected Li Yu seemed to have thought of something, and a look of lamentation appeared on his tender face.

"As expected of nightmare-level difficulty, there is simply no loophole to exploit."

"There are too many factors inside that can lead to a total wipeout; eliminate one, and countless more will pop up."

"Originally, if not for the intervention of me and Hong Dou, the outcome for the others would likely have been: Shang Yang successfully killing everyone and possessing the Apostle Mothership, returning to the present world with terrifying gains."

"Because of my master-servant pair, Shang Yang died, but the incidents and secrets within his machine soul attracted the Ancient Saint to silence him."

"The process is different, but the outcome is the same."

"Except for me and Hong Dou, it was still a total wipeout?"

The many thoughts and doubts Li Yu had after regaining his clarity were soon answered by the notification sound of the Demon Star Order.

"This 【Despair Death Star】 Weird Domain conquest mission has ended... Evaluating!"

"Evaluation complete!"

"A total of three people survived: two from our faction, one from the Reincarnator faction."

"The Calamity Star Order Master has completed all main missions: 【Explore】, 【Collect】, and 【Survive】, and has been awarded merit points respectively... Currently possessing merit points: 300,000."

"Once again achieved first place in contribution! Unlocked new permission: Can limitedly select the next Weird Domain to enter."

"Due to the appearance of multiple unknown factors in this Weird Domain conquest, which caused changes to the established results... leading to various unknown disturbances in this super-large Weird Domain 【Demi-Human Star Sector】, as a survivor and the top contributor, once a large-scale conquest is launched against this super-large Weird Domain, the Calamity Star Order Master will be 100% conscripted."

"And as a survivor, the Calamity Star Order Master will definitely be dropped at the original site of the Despair Death Star."

"And will directly gain the hostility and hatred of the three major danger sources: the Modifier race, the Machine Apostle race, and the Nest Mother... at the same time, will also gain the favor of another danger source, the 【Super Star Being】."

In the not-so-complex notification, the amount of information was quite substantial.

"Of the three, Hong Dou and I take up two spots; the third is probably that Forbidden Child."

"After all, he is the male pet that the 【Slaanesh God】 likes to micromanage the most; once it reaches a life-or-death moment, it's normal for him to come out to save the situation."

"300,000 merit points! That counts as a big harvest."

"This new permission has great use."

"It is equivalent to being locked into a higher-difficulty super-large Weird Domain in advance, and entering it will attract the hatred of the three major sources."

Not a single word missed, not a single word wrong, all content seen at a glance!

"Only one Super Star Being will have favor; it's another deadly mission."

"Death Star original site?"

"With the style of the Demon Star Order, it shouldn't drop me into the star sea void or a pile of planetary dust, which means there really is an original site there."

"Star-Swallowing Goddess?"

As thoughts flickered, Li Yu felt he had grasped the truth.

Although the Death Star self-detonated, this 【Divine Machine Body】 of the Star-Swallowing Goddess might not have been completely destroyed.

Perhaps, some remains could still be left.

"If that Star-Swallowing Goddess still has a bit left, then next time Hong Dou and I are conscripted to enter again, wouldn't we be able to take a preemptive advantage?"

"Although I don't have ownership of that thing, Hong Dou has a part of it."

"As for Hongdou being unable to bring it back, that is reasonable."

"To take something away from a Weird Domain, one must first possess it completely."

"Hongdou's control permissions were incomplete to begin with, and were completely exhausted later to trigger the Starburst, so naturally, she could not gain the recognition of the Samsara Heavenly Net."

"However, even if she brought it back, Hongdou couldn't use it; the Goddess's shell is full of the Hive Mother's radiation virus. Once used, Hongdou would mutate and degenerate into a new Hive Mother."

As this thought crossed his mind, Li Yu's body had already recovered halfway; the first part to recover was his brain.

A clear perception emerged, confirming a state of severe injury without a doubt.

His long lifespan had been cut by more than half.

At this moment, he was even too weak to launch the 【Myriad Dharma Tribulation-Extinguishing Longevity Sword Array】 again. If he did not consume some "Undying Medicine" to replenish his severely depleted lifespan, he might very well die of old age.

However, at this time, Li Yu had no mood to think about replenishing his losses.

In his mind, he completed a review of this Weird Domain expedition in the blink of an eye.

His brows furrowed tightly as he uttered a conclusion: "Great gains! But the losses and costs are also heavy."

The gains were easy to understand!

Hundreds of thousands of merit points, a large amount of secret lore and knowledge, a perfected twenty-second Truth Bubble, a Qi-Eating Treasure Pouch that could hold more than one mountain, and some exotic inheritances, such as the 【Racial Modification Technology】 of the Modifier clan, and so on.

Not to mention the mission rewards.

Although, added together, they seemed to pale in comparison to the 【Immortal Qin Imperial Jade Seal】 obtained from the previous Weird Domain.

But such fortuitous encounters were things that could be sought but not found.

To have these gains from this trip was already enough to make others envious.

Most importantly, he had survived.

This was the greatest gain.

After all, both sides participating in this expedition were almost completely wiped out, and there was even a Rank 4 powerhouse among them.

General Thunder Duke Yang Yang Tiangang!

Elsewhere, he was a powerhouse capable of slaughtering his way through a Weird Domain.

But his misfortune lay in entering a technological-side Weird Domain that was incompatible with his nature, where he could not exert his advantages; he died in the Starburst before he could show his might, which was truly stifling.

On the contrary, the first exotic Demon Star Order Master, 【Child of Taboo】, who was not as strong as him, luckily survived.

It was just that Li Yu did not yet know:

After the Child of Taboo returned to his own world, he had originally thought that only he, who was specially protected by the Slaanesh God, had not died.

But the notification from the Demon Star Order left him stunned.

He had not taken that surviving Samsara traveler to heart.

The one who truly made him wary from then on was the "Calamity Star Order Master" who, in his eyes, controlled the Star-Swallowing Goddess.

Li Yu's title!

Because of this, it spread to the exotic realm.

It even went a step further, being remembered once again by an Evil God, namely the Slaanesh God, who had taken an interest.

Li Yu did not know these things, but he was clear about the other costs.

"This time, I've truly poked a giant hornet's nest."

"Shang Yang is dead!"

"The Ancient Saint's will will spare no effort to silence everyone who knows the secret."

"Although I only know two keywords and nothing of the details, the Ancient Saint clearly won't listen to my explanation."

"The only hope now is that the Ancient Saint mistakenly believes there is no need to silence anyone; after all, under that 【Starburst】, let alone a group of Rank 5s and Rank 4s, even a Rank 3 might not necessarily survive the power of the Starburst."

"The authority and closed nature of the Demon Star Order and the Samsara Heavenly Net are certainly things the Ancient Saint cannot peer into."

"Therefore, there is a high probability that He will mistakenly think all participants are dead and will no longer bother with silencing them."

"But one cannot be too careful."

"After all, my provocative bet with that fellow Shang Yang before entering the Weird Domain was known to everyone."

"If I reappear, everyone will surely know that I lived and Shang Yang died, and my reputation will explode again... If the Holy Hive only comes to take revenge on me alone without reporting to the 【Ancient Saint】, although it will still plunge me into a life-or-death crisis, I might still be able to hide it, and the chances of survival are not small..."

"I just fear that those people in the Holy Hive might mention it during their daily prayers, then I will be completely finished and hunted across the world by the Ancient Saint."

"No, this world is like a pile of dog shit; the more you don't want something to happen, the more it happens; there is simply no moment of peace."

"I had already caused a huge incident in Wanfu City... I provoked Shang Yang to create an alibi... and as a result, I've caused a new, greater disaster... Why do the calamities on me keep snowballing, getting bigger and bigger."

"If I weren't certain that the 【Lord of Myriad Changes】 was still being deceived by me, I would start to suspect that all of this was the work of that old schemer, the Lord of Myriad Changes, with the goal of taking me in."

"How is this predicament to be solved?"

The more Li Yu pondered, the tighter his brows furrowed.

It was thanks to his current heart and soul being effectively influenced by the "Authority of Truth."

The whole person had also blended into the atmosphere of Wanfu City.

Even a heaven-sized disaster could not make him tremble in fear.

Li Yu, who had not yet thought of a solution, did not bother to enjoy the merit points that were so abundant for the first time the moment his body fully recovered.

He was anxious to return, eager to reunite with Hongdou.

In his heart, he thought:

"I have gained so many benefits; Hongdou briefly controlled that 【Star-Swallowing Goddess】 and obtained the inheritance of the Modifiers and the Hive Mother; her gains should also be quite significant."

"Return to the present world!"

(End of chapter)