Translator: CinderTL
In the vast expanse of space, the Silver Leaf sped through the void at breakneck speed.
Inside the captain's quarters, Li Chunjun activated his Mind Power, instinctively searching for the Heart Demon fleeing into the cosmos. Beside him, Yu Jin personally piloted the Silver Leaf, executing Void Travel maneuvers according to Li Chunjun's instructions. Elsa stood anxiously nearby, occasionally stealing glances at Li Chunjun, her eyes filled with disbelief.
Mind Power!
That was the Human term for it. In the Wood Spirit Clan, this power—which allowed one to resonate with minds without relying on Divine Sense—was known as Divine Power. Throughout the Wood Spirit Clan's million-year history, fewer than five Wood Spirits had ever cultivated Divine Power. Each one who did became their clan's greatest emperor or most legendary hero.
And now...
Elsa, an Imperial Princess recently thrust into managing state affairs after His Majesty the Emperor was critically injured and fell into a deep slumber, had not only received a Life Tree Seed from the Life Mother Tree, granting her dominion over the Spirits of Nature, but also stood on the verge of mastering Mind Power—a power traditionally reserved for the most exalted emperors!
The sudden surge of joy left Elsa feeling as if she were in a dreamlike haze, disoriented and bewildered.
"Right," Li Chunjun's voice suddenly echoed in her ear.
It was an order directed at Yu Jin, who immediately adjusted the warship's course.
Moments later, Li Chunjun instructed, "Decelerate!"
As the ship slowed, he took a single, ethereal step into the void and exited the Silver Leaf.
His Lifebound Flying Sword tore through space, its velocity skyrocketing to tens of thousands of miles per second. With this terrifying speed, it slammed into an asteroid over a hundred miles in diameter.
The instant the sword struck, energy erupted, shattering the celestial body into countless fragments visible to the naked eye.
From the debris emerged a panicked figure, desperate to flee.
But before it could escape, the Scarlet Sky Sword that had shattered the asteroid was already in pursuit.
Utterly defenseless, the figure—a Fifth-Tier Wood Spirit—was impaled by the Scarlet Sky Sword.
The intense heat incinerated its body into ashes.
With a final turn, the Flying Sword silently sliced through the void, returning to Li Chunjun's body.
As the Flying Sword entered his body, the Heart Demon it had suppressed immediately began to struggle violently against its confinement.
But as Li Chunjun ignited his Mental Power Fire, the Heart Demon's struggles turned into agonized screams, desperately pleading for mercy and even offering to betray the number and rank of all other Heart Demons.
Alas...
Any being who has ever dealt with Heart Demons knows this ironclad rule: never trust a single word they say.
When the Heart Demon Refinement was nearly complete, Li Chunjun beckoned Elsa over.
"Come here."
"Your Majesty."
"Have you reviewed the Heart Demon's information?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Elsa replied dutifully.
"Good. You should now understand the true purpose of Heart Demons. Use their Demonic Heart Force to temper your own mind."
Li Chunjun instructed. He hadn't even considered the possibility of her succeeding on her first attempt.
"Understood, Your Majesty," Elsa responded.
Li Chunjun then gently touched her forehead, pressing the Heart Demon into her spiritual realm.
Simultaneously, he pointed Yu Jin in another direction. "Over there."
Yu Jin cast an envious glance at Elsa.
Yu Jin understood that Li Chunjun needed the Wood Spirit to communicate with the Spirits of Nature, enabling her to swiftly gather information about other Lesser Thousand Worlds. Her methods were far safer than sending warships to visit each world individually.
Therefore, he diligently piloted the warship in the designated direction.
This flight lasted less than half an hour before Li Chunjun shook her head. "Stop here."
The Heart Demons scattered across the exiled space were too dispersed.
Mind Power wasn't omnipotent.
Precisely tracking every trace of the fleeing Heart Demons through mental perception still proved challenging for her.
Fortunately...
This region of space was teeming with Heart Demons.
At that moment, a Primordial Spirit True Monarch hurried over, his voice tinged with excitement. "Sword Master, Commander! Our technicians have been working tirelessly to decode more information from that silicon-based lifeform. They belong to a secondary administrative district of the Titan Empire. According to their hierarchical system, only primary districts possess Seventh-Rank lifeforms!"
Yu Jin turned his gaze toward Li Chunjun.
Li Chunjun pondered for a moment, then glanced at the star chart.
The Titan Race's Lesser Thousand World was relatively distant from Blue Star.
However, three other Lesser Thousand Worlds were clustered nearby.
Once they arrived, Li Chunjun planned to have Elsa attempt to contact the Spirits of Nature in those three worlds to gather intelligence. After confirming the risks were manageable, he would act swiftly to purge the Heart Demons from those realms.
He issued the order: "Set course for the Titan Race's Lesser Thousand World."
"Yes, sir," Yu Jin acknowledged.
The warship rapidly altered its trajectory.
The Wood Spirit Clan's territory wasn't far from the Titans'.
Although the Silver Leaf's flight speed couldn't match the enhanced warship Su Fang and his group were using, the Titan Race's Lesser Thousand World still loomed into view after four days.
Within another day, they would fully enter the Lesser Thousand World.
It was at this moment that Li Chunjun's gaze fell upon Elsa of the Wood Spirit Clan.
Sensing her rapidly collapsing mental battlefield, he was utterly speechless.
Among the Human Race's four Ninth Tribulation True Monarchs, even the weakest, True Monarch Huang Tian, had managed to hold out for half a month before nearly succumbing to Heart Demon corruption. Yet Elsa had crumbled in just four days.
A Primordial Spirit with Divine Sense comparable to a Ninth Tribulation True Monarch had been eroded by a Heart Demon in just four days.
And this was a Heart Demon he had personally tormented into a weakened state...
Her mental resilience was inferior even to some Fourth or Fifth Tribulation True Monarchs of the Human Race.
In fact, her meager performance was likely due to the harrowing experience of her race nearly being annihilated six months prior, which had forced her to toughen her resolve.
Otherwise, it was doubtful she could have lasted even four days.
He should never have placed such high hopes on Fifth-Tier beings from minor races.
The disparity between these minor races and the Human Race, one of the strongest civilizations in the cosmos, was simply too vast.
"Wasteful," Li Chunjun muttered.
Fortunately, this Forbidden Zone could afford such losses.
Li Chunjun prepared to enter Elsa's mental world, intending to extract the Heart Demon and crush it.
But at that moment, he keenly sensed a peculiar energy fluctuation emanating from Elsa's body, silently merging with her mental power.
The fusion of these two forces miraculously allowed Elsa, who was on the verge of being completely consumed by her Heart Demon, to barely cling to life.
"What's this...?" Li Chunjun glanced at her and quickly sensed the Life Tree Seed within her body—a final gift left by the dying Life Mother Tree.
However, even this legacy proved insufficient for Elsa to complete her transformation. After ten more days of grueling effort, she barely reached the level of True Monarch Huang Tian before ultimately failing.
Beyond saving.
Completely beyond saving.
Li Chunjun shook his head and swiftly extracted the significantly strengthened Heart Demon from Elsa's body.
With the Heart Demon removed, Elsa collapsed in exhaustion. Li Chunjun, indifferent to comforting her, left her to rest alone in the cultivation chamber. He crushed the Heart Demon to replenish his recently enhanced Mind Power before returning to the bridge.
"Sword Master," Yu Jin said, bowing deeply to Li Chunjun in the bridge.
While waiting for Elsa to complete her Heart Demon Refinement, they remained hidden on an asteroid on the outskirts of the Titan Lesser Thousand World, roughly a day's journey away.
Any closer, and the Titan Lesser Thousand World's silicon-based lifeforms, with their innate "talent," would easily detect the warship's presence.
"Any word from Su Fang and his team?" Li Chunjun asked.
"Yes," Yu Jin replied with a smile. "Su Fang has entered the Titan Lesser Thousand World three times recently. Though discovered each time, none of the Titans, including those personally deployed by Sixth-Rank Titans, could catch them. This proves beyond doubt that there are no Seventh-Rank lifeforms within the Titan Lesser Thousand World. Their ability to withstand the spatial storms stems solely from the relatively low intensity of the storms in their region."
"Good," Li Chunjun said, glancing at Su Fang.
More precisely, he focused on Liu Feng, Su Fang's companion, who carried his Heart Seed.
He discovered that Su Fang's group was once again being pursued by the Titan Race.
They were discovered before they could even enter the Titan Lesser Thousand World. Over two thousand silicon-based lifeforms, ranging from Fourth to Fifth-Tier, formed a tight battle formation and relentlessly pursued them. At the head of the pack was a formidable Sixth-Rank entity.
However, Su Fang's warship engine, salvaged from the Golden Crow Battleship, provided immense power. Despite being relentlessly hunted by such a massive force, they deftly maneuvered through the swarm, narrowly escaping danger time and again.
"Are silicon-based lifeforms considered Advanced Intelligent Life?" Li Chunjun mused, his tone uncertain. "Each of these entities possesses a 'mechanical mind' to suppress all emotions. As a result, this Lesser Thousand World is one of the few that remains untouched by the Heart Demon..."
As he pondered, Li Chunjun swiftly issued an order through Liu Feng: "I'm sending you coordinates. Lure these silicon-based lifeforms there."
Upon receiving Li Chunjun's message, Liu Feng, who was currently engaged in a desperate "death flight," was both startled and delighted. He quickly relayed the information to Su Fang.
Su Fang repeatedly ventured deep into the Titan Lesser Thousand World, using these incursions to probe the true strength of the Titan Race. He wanted to ensure that Swordmaster Li wouldn't face any unexpected dangers when he made his move.
After four such excursions, Su Fang couldn't claim to have fully uncovered the Titans' secrets, but he had gained a solid understanding of their capabilities.
It was time to strike back.
"Let's move!" Su Fang commanded.
He steered his warship straight toward the coordinates Li Chunjun had provided.
The moment he changed course, the pursuing Titan fleet surged forward, forming a formidable battle formation. Two thousand warships spread out like a vast net, closing in on Su Fang's lone vessel.
Like catching a turtle in a jar.
Their advanced detection systems swiftly scanned for any potential ambushes.
Unfortunately for the Titans, Li Chunjun had mastered the Great Void Destruction Sword Intent. While this Sword Intent might struggle to conceal his presence from Void Refining Great Powers, how could these Titans—whose strongest members barely reached the Sixth-Rank—possibly detect his hidden position?
As Su Fang's warship hurtled toward the designated coordinates, the leading Sixth-Rank Titan suddenly sensed something amiss.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Alarms blared throughout the Titan warship!
The next instant, flames erupted.
(End of the Chapter)
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