Pale Golden Blood

The moment Shen Mu approached, he startled the Golden Horned Beast awake.

At once, the Golden Horned Beast's dark-gold vertical pupils locked onto Shen Mu, and an invisible pressure instantly descended over him.

"Wuu?"

When the Golden Horned Beast saw the piece of spaceship wreckage Shen Mu held in his mouth, that terrifying pressure vanished at once.

Seeing this, Shen Mu hastily used his psychic power to send over the massive chunk of spaceship wreckage.

"Wuu wuu!"

The Golden Horned Beast cried out twice in delight. The space before it twisted slightly, and then it swallowed the enormous metal wreckage, nearly ten meters long, in one gulp.

After swallowing the wreckage, the golden patterns on the Golden Horned Beast's body faintly lit up.

"Wuu!"

As it digested this high-quality piece of A9-grade metal wreckage, the Golden Horned Beast let out an approving cry, expressing satisfaction with its capable little underling.

Roar!

"Great Emperor, I found a fallen metal ship. This piece of wreckage came from it."

Shen Mu conveyed his meaning through psychic communication.

A powerful aura immediately erupted from the Golden Horned Beast. It gave an urgent cry, asking Shen Mu where that metal ship was.

Above the atmosphere of the South American continent, King-Class Fighters hovered in space. At their head was the world's only Primordial-Class Fighter, accompanied by the King-Class Fighters of Shen Mu, Thunder God, and Luo Feng.

Within the virtual space, inside the War God Palace.

A virtual projection of Earth floated at the center of the assembly hall. Everyone stared intently at the two red dots on the virtual screen—the life signatures of the East Sea Azure Dragon and the Golden Horned Beast.

"It's moving, it's moving!"

"The Devouring Beast Emperor is rapidly approaching the Andes Mountains. The first step of the plan has succeeded!"

Everyone in the hall was somewhat excited. Ever since learning that an Emperor Beast at the Star-Level—a beast surpassing the Councilor-level—had appeared on Earth, all the councilors and the upper echelons of the five major nations had been under immense pressure.

In the Speaker's seat, Hong stared fixedly at the points of light on the virtual projection. He did not relax simply because the Devouring Beast was stepping into the trap bit by bit.

Beside him, Thunder God and Luo Feng wore equally grave expressions. Knowing more detailed information, they knew that the explosive power of merely five hundred million tons of TNT might not necessarily kill this Devouring Beast Emperor.

Both Shen Mu's Azure Dragon Avatar and the Golden Horned Beast were exceptionally fast in the ocean, exceeding three kilometers per second.

In just half an hour, they crossed more than four thousand kilometers, reached the eastern coast of the Pacific Ocean, and came ashore in the Andes Mountains.

"As long as it enters that karst cave, we'll have succeeded!"

"We can't let our guard down!"

At this moment, Shen Mu's entire focus was on his Azure Dragon Avatar.

Inside the stalactite cave, beneath the cover of countless stalactite pillars, a flying-saucer-shaped metal wreck lay hidden. It was roughly a hundred meters in diameter, as though it had slumbered here through long ages.

This technology far surpassed that of Shen Mu's previous life. At least, with Shen Mu's knowledge, he could not spot the slightest flaw.

Buried beneath the fallen saucer were cradle-triggered bombs, one after another. The moment the signal suppressing their detonation vanished, they would automatically explode.

"Wuu!"

The Golden Horned Beast cub's eyes seemed to shine. With a cry, it pounced forward. The fragile stalactite pillars were smashed apart at once, and the entire cave shook violently, on the verge of collapse.

Human-like emotion appeared in the eyes of the East Sea Azure Dragon behind the Golden Horned Beast. Its body instantly liquefied, forming a transparent sphere of water, while a layer of black rapidly spread across the water sphere's surface, enveloping the Azure Dragon Avatar within.

Boom!

Endless light and heat erupted in that instant!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Within the mountain, temperatures of hundreds of millions of degrees and terrifying energy burst forth in an instant.

It was as if a star had detonated underground. An incomparably dazzling, resplendent radiance bloomed.

The longest mountain range on Earth trembled violently. The ground collapsed, and rocks burst from the center of the explosion like ocean waves, sweeping in every direction.

Terrifying seismic waves swept across the entire American continent, violently shaking the whole continental plate.

Before the Great Nirvana Era, a single Tsar Bomb had shifted the Eurasian continent nearly a centimeter. This time, the simultaneous detonation of bombs exceeding five hundred million tons of TNT produced destructive power several times greater than before.

"Did it work?"

Inside the virtual space of the War God Palace, everyone stared fixedly at the screen. Displayed on it was the live projection transmitted by Hong's Qiankun-Class Fighter. Everyone could see an incomparably massive mushroom cloud spreading outward, as if a second sun had appeared above the atmosphere.

Inside the crimson Primordial-Class Fighter, Hong, Thunder God, Shen Mu, and Luo Feng had gathered together.

"Could this Devouring Beast Emperor have been blown to death outright?"

Shen Mu's mouth twitched slightly. He had somewhat underestimated the power of five hundred million tons of TNT.

Although the Golden Horned Beast possessed a genetic level ten times that of ordinary cosmic lifeforms, meaning its defense was ten times that of an ordinary human at Planet-Level Rank 8.

But Shen Mu's Azure Dragon Avatar was also protected by the Black God Suit. Though the Black God Suit was merely a first-rank Origin Force Battle Suit and could not perfectly withstand Star-Level attacks, it would not be directly shattered by a first-rank Star-Level attack.

At the moment of the explosion, Shen Mu felt its power firsthand. The Black God Suit melted away instantly, and the Azure Dragon Avatar was utterly annihilated in the blast.

Within Shen Mu's Primal Nucleus, vast water energy intertwined and surged, forming a ball of light. A brand-new Azure Dragon Avatar was being nurtured, on the verge of revival.

"Scan for the Devouring Beast's life Energy Fluctuation!"

Hong's voice rang out, and the Primordial-Class Fighter's scanner activated.

"Searching... Search complete. No life Energy Fluctuation from the Devouring Beast detected!" A mechanical voice reported.

At that moment, every Councilor-level powerhouse watching the livestream in the War God Palace let out a breath of relief. The ordinary staff even broke into cheers.

"It should be over—"

Before Hong could finish, the fighter AI's feedback announcement sounded again.

"Devouring Beast life Energy Fluctuation detected. Rapidly increasing. Currently Planet-Level Rank 2, Planet-Level Rank 3..."

Within the crater-like pit at the very center of the explosion, amid the rampaging terrifying heat, faint golden light suddenly emerged from a charred-black object.

Then, a palm-sized transparent sphere slowly floated out. Strands of golden secret patterns spread from the sphere, sketching the outline of the Golden Horned Beast out of thin air.

In merely a few seconds, the Golden Horned Beast, which had nearly been completely melted away in the explosion, reappeared. Its Energy Fluctuation, however, was incomparably weak—roughly equivalent to an ordinary Planet-Level Rank 7 human.

"Awoo!"

The Golden Horned Beast let out a cry filled with fury and wrath.

In that instant just now, it had truly felt itself on the brink of death. Its entire body had been completely melted, and even its Primal Nucleus had been damaged, covered in fine cracks.

Inside the King-Class Fighter.

"Brother Hong, hold the line for Luo Feng and me. Let us first test how much strength this Devouring Beast still has, then you can strike when the opportunity arises."

As Shen Mu spoke, the black ring on his right hand instantly melted, turning into a pitch-black suit of battle armor that covered his entire body.

"Alright. Be careful in every respect. This Devouring Beast is not a creature of Earth, after all. It may still have some desperate measures left!"

"Don't worry!"

As Shen Mu's words fell, he exchanged a glance with Luo Feng. The two immediately transformed into streaks of light and flew out of the Primordial-Class Fighter, charging straight toward the Golden Horned Beast.

Over the past half month, Shen Mu's realm had risen to Planet-Level Rank 3, while his Mind Amplitude had reached sixteenfold. Using the Arc Blade Disc's first form, his final attack power was equivalent to forty-eight times the brute force of Planet-Level Rank 3.

Such a terrifying burst of power already rivaled the basic strength of Planet-Level Rank 8. Coupled with the might of his domain, even Thunder God was no longer his match.

Arc Blade Disc, Circular Cut!

Sky Shuttle, Mountain-Drilling Awl!

Under Shen Mu and Luo Feng's control, the two Mental Power Weapons each assumed their attack forms, leaving behind brilliant arcs of light in midair as they shot straight toward the Golden Horned Beast.

"Awoo!"

The Golden Horned Beast roared furiously. These two weak creatures dared challenge it?

Buzz!

Suddenly, the pale golden secret patterns on the Golden Horned Beast's body flared with brilliance. They then spread and extended, becoming even more profound and intricate.

During this process, the Golden Horned Beast's aura surged another twofold. With a sweep of its wings, it knocked Shen Mu and Luo Feng's Mental Power Weapons flying.

"Roar!"

The Golden Horned Beast let out a shrill cry. The two Mental Power Weapons had left a fairly deep wound across its black wings. Had it been at peak condition, attacks of this level would have found it difficult to harm it.

"Domain, activate!"

Shen Mu gave a low shout. An illusory phantom of watery marshlands emerged around him, and the Arc Blade Disc was summoned back before him.

Splash!

A layer of flowing water faintly surfaced over the Arc Blade Disc, as though it had transformed into a violently spinning storm at the eye of the sea. The air rubbed fiercely, forcibly creating a tornado, and an aura that made the Golden Horned Beast feel threatened spread forth!

The next instant, the Golden Horned Beast transformed directly into a golden streak of light and fled toward the sea. It might still be young, but it was not stupid.

Yet directly ahead along its escape route, the faintly distorted air returned to normal, revealing Hong's figure.

This was Hong's Planet-Level awakened light ability. To a certain extent, it could control the refraction of light, creating the effects of invisibility and misdirection.

"You can't escape!"

A lightless, pitch-black domain spread out, instantly enveloping the Golden Horned Beast.

Seeing this, Shen Mu shouted at Luo Feng, "Move! Otherwise, it'll revive again. You have to Body Snatch it. If not, Brother Hong will be worn to death!"

Babata had misled Luo Feng into believing that the Golden Horned Beast could resist all physically fatal injuries. Unless its soul was annihilated, it could revive without limit.

"Alright!" Luo Feng gritted his teeth and transformed into a streak of light, flying into Hong's domain.

Watching this, Shen Mu withdrew the Arc Blade Disc in its attack form. Along the Arc Blade Disc's sharp edge, a thread of pale golden blood slowly flowed; the instant it dripped down, it vanished without a trace.

Second update delivered.