“Why help me?” Wu Yuan didn’t answer directly.
Whether the karmic secret art or the Astral Lord-level power she displayed, Zhuo Haiyue was unimaginably powerful.
If she wanted to seize the Black Devil Star, Wu Yuan would be powerless to stop her. So, there was no need to talk about compensation, nor was there any possibility that Zhuo Haiyue would intentionally deceive him.
Wu Yuan knew for a fact that if it had been High Deity Mi Yun or even High Deity Nie Zhen instead of her, without a prior spacetime contract, they would likely kill him on sight and snatch the Black Devil Star.
“Why? You are my friend.” A slightly stiff smile appeared on Zhuo Haiyue’s beautiful face. “Isn’t helping each other what friends do?
Have you forgotten what I said back then? I will treat you as a true friend.”
Wu Yuan was stunned.
Friend? True friend? Wu Yuan felt that he was transported back to when he first entered the Redmoon Immortal Continent, facing Zhuo Haiyue’s overwhelming pressure, and making a choice.
“Haiyue, by saving me, you’ve exposed yourself, haven’t you?” Wu Yuan suddenly realized. “This rate of progress… it isn’t through normal cultivation, right?”
It was similar to why Wu Yuan never dared to reveal the black pagoda. It was simply too mysterious, its implications too great, and he feared it would attract the covetous gaze of some powerful beings.
And Zhuo Haiyue’s performance was ten, a hundred times more monstrous than his own, evidently abnormal.
Not to mention, the Spacetime Dao Realm was the territory of the Spacetime Dao Master.
“Don’t worry, I understand what you’re thinking,” Zhuo Haiyue smiled. “But from the moment I became a High Immortal, I knew the Dao Master wouldn’t act against me.
Those capable of erasing me won’t act… those who want to erase me no longer have that ability.” Zhuo Haiyue spoke vaguely.
But Wu Yuan understood. Simply put: there’s no need to worry!
“Choose quickly, time is of the essence,” Zhuo Haiyue said. “I’m not interested in the Black Devil Star. I’m here to help you purely as a friend… Whatever you want to do, it’s up to you.” freёwebnovel.com
“The first option,” Wu Yuan said directly.
There was no real choice. Returning the Black Devil Star as soon as possible was the right option. As for his mana body? Even if it perished, the loss would be insignificant.
As he spoke, Wu Yuan waved his hand, producing a storage artifact ring. Still surrounded by lightning, he sent it to Zhuo Haiyue. “The object is inside. After you return, just pass it to my true self.”
“You really do trust me,” Zhuo Haiyue shook her head, giving Wu Yuan a deep look. “Aren’t you worried that I’m deceiving you, tricking you into taking out the Black Devil Star?
After all, you could have hidden the Black Devil Star anywhere along your journey back. Even if I killed you, I wouldn’t have been able to get my hands on the Black Devil Star.”
Wu Yuan couldn’t help but smile.
Hiding the Black Devil Star in a random location? This plan was one of the three Wu Yuan had initially considered but ultimately rejected.
“I trust you. We are friends,” Wu Yuan smiled.
“Alright,” Zhuo Haiyue nodded and collected the storage artifact Wu Yuan had given her with a wave. “From here on, whether your mana body can escape depends on your own abilities.”
“I’ll be going on first,” Zhuo Haiyue said.
“Okay,” Wu Yuan nodded.
Boom! Zhuo Haiyue acted decisively. A majestic spacetime fluctuation from the depths of spacetime swept over her. Then, Zhuo Haiyue’s mana body disappeared without a trace.
Wu Yuan waited till the powerful spacetime fluctuation disappeared into the distance, and the void returned to tranquility.
She sure left quickly, not even sending me out of the Hundred Gales Domain first. Wu Yuan muttered, unable to suppress a smile.
With the heavy burden finally lifted from his shoulders, he felt a profound sense of relief and lightness.
Over a hundred Astral Monarchs? Thousands of Astral Lords? Wu Yuan shook his head and laughed. Come and catch me if you can.
Even if you catch me, you won’t gain anything.
It wasn’t just the Black Devil Star. In the storage artifact Wu Yuan gave to Zhuo Haiyue, he had included the spirion equipment, celestial equipment, and gains from his adventures over the past few decades. She had left with almost everything he owned.
Right now, even Wu Yuan’s underwear was formed from mana. He was truly as bare as the day he was born.
Time to go. Wu Yuan casually chose a direction, heading out of the Hundred Gales Domain.
If his mana body could make its way back on its own, that would be good. Cultivating a new one would cost considerable resources and time.
…
Zhuo Haiyue took advantage of the spacetime mission to return directly to the Spacetime Island, and Wu Yuan continued to make his way through the Hundred Gales Domain.
Meanwhile, the Archimmortal and two Archdeities reported the feat of Zhuo Haiyue killing them in just a few moves to their superiors, causing the news to spread like wildfire.
The Archimmortals and Archdeities from the nine major factions of the Dao Realm were in constant communication with each other as they hunted Wu Yuan. Thus, they all learned about it immediately.
“What?”
“The Thunder Knife Fairy killed a sixth-stage Archimmortal in one strike? Even Archdeities couldn’t withstand a few of her knife strikes?”
“With such strength, she’s definitely on par with a ninth-stage Archimmortal.”
“How can a High Immortal have such strength? It’s inconceivable.” Tens of thousands of Archimmortals and Archdeities were in an uproar.
Ninth-stage Archimmortal? This level of strength was the pinnacle of the Astral Lord level, though not considered heaven-defying. Among the Astral Lords deployed this time, some had such strength.
But, it was extremely bizarre for a High Immortal to display such strength.
“It’s been at least a hundred million years since the Spacetime Island and Dao Realm produced such a monstrous prodigy. For a High Immortal to unleash ninth-stage Archimmortal strength, it should require Dao comprehension at the peak Astral Monarch level.”
“The last time we saw this was over a hundred million years ago, when Astral Monarch Gui Yi killed over ten Archimmortals in one battle as a High Deity. Now, Astral Monarch Gui Yi is a super Astral Monarch ranked in the top ten of the Dao Realm, with the potential to become a Sovereign.”
“Monster.”
“Terrifying.” Many ancient Astral Lords recalled certain scenes they had witnessed in the past.
A High Immortal erupting with ninth-stage Archimmortal combat power? Such occurrences had happened in the history of the Dao Realm, but they were rare.
Those who could achieve this eventually went on to become late-stage Astral Monarchs, and some had even become Sovereigns.
Quickly, news of this battle made its way to the Astral Monarchs, who were even more shocked.
“How is this possible?”
“This Thunder Knife Fairy, whose real name is Zhuo Haiyue, has only been cultivating for less than a thousand years, right? She’s a monstrous prodigy from the Taiyuan Divine Court lineage.”
“If she had cultivated for a hundred thousand years, such strength wouldn’t be too shocking, but she’s only cultivated for a thousand years.”
“I’ve never seen anything this absurd in the history of the Dao Realm.”
“How did she do it?” A large group of Astral Monarchs, like Astral Monarch Ya Hei, were completely stunned.
It was too exaggerated! Throughout the history of the Dao Realm, the so-called number one genius was far, far inferior compared to the current Zhuo Haiyue.
Therefore, as expected, the Sovereigns of the nine major factions standing at the pinnacle of the Dao Realm also successively received messages from their subordinate Astral Monarchs and Astral Lords.
Looking across the entire river of space and time over endless years, there were only a handful of such monstrous prodigies.
However, these Sovereigns were not stunned by the news. Their perspective and experience were incomparable to ordinary Astral Monarchs.
“This cultivation speed cannot be explained by talent alone.”
“Does it involve a supreme existence?”
“Probably.” In a majestic hall within the Spacetime Immortal Voidrealm, in a special plane, many Sovereigns from the Dao Realm communicated.
Whoosh! Purple flames gathered, and a slightly blurred figure in purple robes appeared.
“Lan Yan.”
“Lan Yan is here.” All the Sovereigns looked over.
“By order of the Dao Master, the Sovereigns of the Dao Realm are not to move against Zhuo Haiyue, nor provoke her,” Sovereign Lan Yan’s gaze swept over everyone. “Do you all understand?”
“Understood.” The Sovereigns nodded.
The Dao Master rarely gave orders.
“Lan Yan, should we conceal the news about Zhuo Haiyue?” A Sovereign asked, “Also, how should we deal with that little fellow called Ming Jian, who obtained the Black Devil Star?”
“The Dao Master hasn’t given any instructions, but I’ll offer you a friendly word of advice.” Sovereign Lan Yan spoke calmly, “The Black Devil Star is inconsequential. Black Devil has been dead for so many years, why dwell on it?
Moreover, you should be aware of Ming Jian’s talent. What lies behind him may not be less significant than Zhuo Haiyue. This is all I have to say.”
Whoosh! Sovereign Lan Yan instantly vanished from this special plane.
The numerous Sovereigns of the Dao Realm all wore expressions of deep contemplation. They had once suffered greatly at the hands of Sovereign Black Devil, and were naturally unwilling to see the possibility of his legacy resurfacing.
…
News of the battle soon spread throughout the nine major factions of the Dao Realm, as well as the Spacetime Island.
Nearly ten million imprint bearers were in an uproar.
“It’s too heaven-defying.”
“Zhuo Haiyue!”
“With the strength of a ninth-stage Archimmortal, she’s undoubtedly the strongest among us.”
“Indeed, in terms of absolute strength, High Deity Mi Yun, High Deity Nie Zhen, and the others are far inferior.”
In no time, Zhuo Haiyue’s was unanimously acknowledged as the most powerful imprint bearer in the current generation on Spacetime Island. The undisputed number one.
Figures like High Deity Mi Yun and High Deity Nie Zhen could only unleash seventh-stage Archimmortal-level power at their limit.
One had to understand that each subsequent increase in combat power grew exponentially more difficult to attain the further one advanced.
But similarly, the prodigies from various factions on the Spacetime Island were no fools. They all sensed that something was off about Zhuo Haiyue. How could one’s strength improve so dramatically in just a few hundred years?
Moreover, if this was the result of normal cultivation, it would be even more heaven-defying for her to be so formidable in just a few centuries. What kind of natural talent was this?
Thus, many imprint bearers began relaying intelligence about Zhuo Haiyue back to their respective factions via their own special channels.
The Taiyuan Divine Court was the first to learn of it.
Soon after, the upper echelons of various superpowers throughout the river of space and time, such as the Immortal Court, the Eldritch Court, the Desolation Divine Court, and the Nine Phoenix Alliance, were all made aware of Zhuo Haiyue’s existence.
The impact was extensive!
However, it was Zhuo Haiyue at the center of this massive storm. It had little to do with Wu Yuan.
Although the talent he had displayed was also monstrous, it was still overall within the realm of normalcy.
Therefore, Wu Yuan was not caught up in it for the time being.