Chapter 969: Taking the Chestnut from the Fire and Who Claims the Flower (Combined Chapter, Requesting Monthly Votes)

At the center of the stellar surge, two alien Emperor Monarchs and two human Emperor Monarchs from the Red Phoenix War Zone hung suspended high in the air, their qi signatures locked onto the Purple Yuan Bodhi Root below while also tightly gripping each other’s energy traces.

Under this entangled qi pressure, any Emperor Monarch attempting to claim the Purple Yuan Bodhi Root would immediately draw a full-scale assault from the other two.

Whether one would be instantly killed was uncertain.

But two things were certain: first, the Purple Yuan Bodhi Root could not be taken away—it would be shattered before it could be removed.

Second, any sudden movement by one Emperor Monarch would trigger an all-out war among them.

After such a war broke out, one or more Emperor Monarchs might perish here today.

The unspoken rule that Emperors only held position and restrained each other would be shattered.

If Emperor Monarchs could act without restraint, it would be catastrophic for both sides.

First, Emperor Monarchs moved at incredible speed; if they launched surprise attacks on True Persons and Star Juniors during battle, all but a handful of top-tier Ninth-Catastrophe and Boundary-Breaking True Persons would be instantly slain.

The final battlefield would devolve into the near-total annihilation of True Persons and Star Juniors, leaving only the remaining Emperor Monarchs to fight to the death.

No matter who won or lost, only a tiny fraction would survive.

That was not what they wanted.

None of them wished for such a scenario.

If such a scenario occurred, the entire Star Ruins battlefield would become a meat grinder—even Emperor Monarchs could not guarantee their own survival.

So the question returned to its origin—why had they come to the Star Ruins?

Certainly not to fill this meat grinder.

They came to cultivate, to acquire more cultivation resources, to obtain Star Realm fragments, to gather shards into a realm, and to secure the foundation of the Dao.

This was the consensus among Emperor Monarchs.

It was also an unspoken consensus among the tiniest elite of this world.

All who became Emperor Monarchs were elites.

Upholding this unspoken rule was, in fact, upholding themselves.

Thus, although the four Emperor Monarchs saw the priceless Purple Yuan Bodhi Root, they remained relatively restrained.

“Gentlemen, shall we chop this cursed root into four pieces, each taking one segment as a reward?” proposed Long Yu, the Emperor Monarch of the Dragon-Mantis Clan.

“Wouldn’t that be a pity?” chuckled Qianhuang, the Emperor Monarch from Qingman Star Island.

“Then let the two sides compete—winner takes it all?”

Jù Líng, the Emperor Monarch of the Golden Pillar Clan, offered.

“If it were a fair contest, Jù Líng, your chance of victory would be about seventy percent—but even if you won, do you think we’d let you walk away with this treasure? Before you could take it, we’d shatter it,” said Xuelang, the Emperor Monarch from Lotus Star Island, bluntly.

“Then it seems only destruction remains!” said Long Yu, spreading his hands. “Or shall we all fight freely—whoever grabs it, keeps it?”

“Do you think your ally will stand idly by while you claim this priceless Purple Yuan Bodhi Root?” Qianhuang’s words caused Long Yu to instinctively glance at his ally, Jù Líng of the Golden Pillar Clan!

“Don’t sow discord!” snapped Emperor Jù Líng. “If our side secures it, we’ll naturally negotiate fair compensation!”

“No amount of compensation can match a Purple Yuan Bodhi Root capable of directly forging a secret realm!”

With a suitable secret realm, within a hundred years, you could harvest vast quantities of Purple Yuan Bodhi branches—even cultivate an entire Purple Yuan Soul-Refining Secret Realm!

That’s a treasure even Emperor Monarchs crave!” said Qianhuang.

At these words, Jù Líng of the Golden Pillar Clan instinctively glanced at Long Yu, and Long Yu of the Dragon-Mantis Clan likewise turned his gaze toward Jù Líng.

In an instant, a flicker of wariness appeared in both their eyes.

It wasn’t that they’d fallen for the provocation.

Emperor Monarchs possessed mature minds.

Rather, it was dictated by the internal structure of their sacred clans.

The very term “Twelve Sacred Clans” reveals this.

The twelve families were more like an alliance—each one a separate power.

In contrast, the human factions’ war zones were more unified, their forces more concentrated and powerful.

Precisely to resist the humans, the previously fragmented Twelve Sacred Clans had reluctantly united for battle.

But internal interests and territorial divisions remained strictly clan-based.

In other words, whoever claimed this treasure would claim it for their entire clan; others would have to pay a heavy price to use it later.

Under this inherent structure, this treasure could never be fairly divided among them.

“So better to destroy it!” said Emperor Long Yu again.

Upon hearing this, all four Emperor Monarchs fell silent.

It was the best option.

And each had a general sense of the others’ strength.

None held decisive superiority.

If they truly fought, it would be a life-or-death struggle.

But that was not what they wanted.

Yet destroying it was unbearable.

Massive stellar surges were exceedingly rare, and not every massive stellar surge produced a Purple Yuan Bodhi Root.

The last time one appeared was three hundred years ago.

The one who claimed it then had since become a Grand Prohibition Emperor Monarch, said to stand but a step away from Emperor Sovereign.

If this root could be brought back intact and cultivated, whether used personally or traded for resources, it would yield them countless treasures.

To destroy it—truly unbearable.

And even more infuriating.

Far away, in the chaotic stellar surge zone, starlight had begun to flicker.

Under the suppression of the stellar surge chaos, even Emperor Monarchs had limited perception range—but their eyes could still see.

Those flickering lights were likely the vanguard scouts from both sides who had arrived first.

Watching this, Xuelang Emperor Monarch suddenly had an idea.

“What if we let our subordinates fight for it? We four merely watch, and do not interfere?” proposed Xuelang.

“Not interfere?”

Jù Líng of the Golden Pillar Clan sneered. “You’re the ones who love trickery! If one of you even applies qi pressure to a single True Person, or if Xuelang quietly unleashes that soul-shattering technique of yours, our True Persons will be slaughtered without a trace!”

In the end, it would still benefit you.”

“Do you think we’re fools?”

The two human Emperor Monarchs fell silent at once—Xuelang had indeed considered this, but his intent had been instantly exposed.

Suddenly, Long Yu of the Dragon-Mantis Clan laughed. “Actually, I think this idea is quite good.”

Jù Líng immediately glared at Long Yu. “Long Yu, don’t be fooled—the humans are cunning!”

“Jù Líng, let me finish!”

“Gentlemen, Jù Líng is right—but if we fight directly, someone will win, but someone will die horribly, and none of us can guarantee we won’t be the one who perishes!”

So let us leave this matter to our subordinates!”

Whoever’s subordinates claim it, it belongs to them!”

To prevent any of us from interfering in the battle!”

Let us retreat from here, find a place to play chess and drink tea, and wait for the outcome?” said Long Yu.

“That’s a fine idea,” agreed Qianhuang.

“But what if another Emperor Monarch arrives?” asked Xuelang.

“First, all four of us have left our qi marks on this treasure—any movement will be detected immediately!”

Second, if another Emperor Monarch comes to seize it, we four will deal with him together!”

Third, we wait until our elite forces have mostly arrived before leaving—then let them fight for it.”

Whoever ultimately claims this massive Star Realm fragment, whoever claims this Purple Yuan Bodhi Root—it will depend on the strength of their subordinates,” proposed Long Yu.

The three other Emperor Monarchs did not immediately agree; they carefully weighed the proposal for over a dozen breaths, confirmed there were no loopholes, then sequentially gave their assent.

Then, the four Emperor Monarchs each imprinted their qi signature onto the Purple Yuan Bodhi Root.

Ensuring that even from thousands of miles away, they could sense its location.

Then came the quiet wait.

In the Star Ruins’ starry void, Xu Jin activated Ming Qian Chu, carefully approaching the location of the Purple Yuan Bodhi Root.

He dared to do so because he understood that even Emperor Monarchs had their spiritual perception severely suppressed within the chaotic stellar surge zone.

The range was generally between one thousand and ten thousand meters.

It rarely extended beyond ten thousand meters, unless one had cultivated a special technique.

That was why Xu Jin used Ming Qian Chu—if discovered, he could detect it early.

Spatial teleportation combined with time acceleration should allow him to escape.

He risked approaching because he still sought the Purple Yuan Bodhi Root.

The Purple Yuan Bodhi Root was a rare secret realm treasure in the Star Ruins.

A “secret realm treasure” meant a treasure capable of forming a secret realm—Xu Jin had previously used the Wordless Heaven Stele, the Star Vortex Shattered Realm from Tongxuan War Zone, and the Spirit Soul Shattered Realm—all required such a crucial secret realm treasure to form.

The Purple Yuan Bodhi Root was not only a secret realm treasure; crucially, it was said to have divine effects in refining the Purple Yuan Bone Veins.

But in most cases, no one dared use it for Purple Yuan Bone Vein refinement.

At this moment, Xu Jin didn’t care about whether it was worth using—he first wanted to see if he could seize it.

Upon discovering it and the four Emperor Monarchs, Xu Jin had already formed a preliminary plan.

Although the difficulty is extreme.

But nothing is impossible for man.

Could there be a chance to take advantage of the chaos?

If these four Emperor Lords were to fight to the death over this, perhaps he could snatch a lucky gain?

If these four Emperor Lords killed each other in a cataclysmic battle, all severely wounded and dying, Xu Jin even wondered if he could harvest one or two of them.

Observe first.

Don’t give up just because there are four Emperor Lords—that would leave no chance at all.

At closer range, Ming Qian Chu could sense the changes more clearly, yet still hear no sound, only perceive more distinct fluctuations in their qi.

After carefully sensing for dozens of breaths, Xu Jin suddenly furrowed his brows.

There’s no battle!

Their qi is calm.

Are these four Emperor Lords having a tea party?

The script of these Emperor Lords seems off.

“Could they be negotiating a division? If so, then I have no chance! But if the Zi Yuan Pu Ti Root is split into four parts, it would essentially become worthless—surely not?”

Continue sensing.

After dozens of breaths, Xu Jin’s gaze shifted—he sensed a synchronized, steady surge in the qi of the four Emperor Lords.

Then, upon the Zi Yuan Pu Ti Root, four distinct qi imprints of the Emperor Lords appeared.

“What is this?”

Xu Jin was confused.

After imprinting their qi, the four Emperor Lords simply stopped moving again!

Xu Jin had no idea what they were doing!

What were they planning!

Bored, Xu Jin idly picked up a nearby Zi Yuan Pu Ti branch.

He had already prepared himself for the worst.

If he couldn’t get the root, then at least gather as many Zi Yuan Pu Ti branches as possible.

Within moments, Xu Jin sensed a Space True Person approaching from his direction.

After thinking it over, Xu Jin still chose to evade in advance.

With four Emperor Lords nearby, any commotion from him might draw their attention—and that would be disastrous.

After all, there were very few True Persons here at the moment.

As he gathered, Xu Jin actively avoided others.

Within two watches, Xu Jin had evaded more than five Space True Persons.

Meanwhile, around the four Emperor Lords, eleven Space True Persons were already searching.

Among the alien races, six Space True Persons were present: three from the Silver Wing Clan, three from the Dragon Serpent Clan.

Yet in the Hong Luan War Zone, it seemed unaffected by the Tong Xuan War Zone—these Space True Persons were all acting alone.

With so many True Persons moving about, they soon discovered fragments of the Star Realm, and star-marked messages flew everywhere.

Two watches later, the first elite Gao Jie True Person squads arrived.

Soon after, alien True Person squads arrived.

Yet the four Emperor Lords remained, neither leaving nor fighting.

This made Xu Jin increasingly frustrated.

What exactly are these four doing?

After waiting another two watches, as more True Persons arrived, Xu Jin was forced to retreat toward the more peripheral regions.

After all, he was still an illegal.

Sporadic battles had already broken out among the True Persons.

Xu Jin even witnessed a great battle between a seventh-realm Space True Person and a sixth-realm Silver Wing Clan True Person.

A battle to determine victory, not death.

Primarily because their cultivation levels were nearly equal.

Xu Jin began to understand why, before this, True Persons in the Tong Xuan War Zone rarely died in combat.

One watch later, as a flood of True Persons arrived, in Xu Jin’s perception, the qi of the four Emperor Lords suddenly receded rapidly.

Xu Jin was overjoyed.

But in the same instant, he noticed that nearly equal numbers of Gao Jie True Persons from both sides surged toward that direction immediately.

As for other True Persons, they rushed toward the massive Star Realm fragment.

Yet since neither side held an advantage, most clashes among the True Persons now were restrained, stopping short of lethal force.

Everyone was scrambling for treasures scattered in all directions.

Especially when valuable celestial treasures were discovered—that’s when real bloodshed erupted.

This massive Star Surge produced an abundance of celestial treasures; every so often, a primordial material could be found.

Xu Jin immediately abandoned spatial teleportation and began slowly circling the areas where Gao Jie True Persons were fighting.

Xu Jin now roughly understood the strategy of these Emperor Lords.

They were letting the True Persons below fight it out to determine ownership.

“Perhaps there’s still a chance for me!”

But my first priority now is to determine how far away these Emperor Lords are from here.”

Xu Jin fully activated Ming Qian Chu, sensing and searching for the location of the four Emperor Lords.