Kuka

The balance of power on the Canghuang Continent had already taken shape.

After the deaths of the three God Chosen, Kunsars, son of the ultimate victor Kubana, succeeded as the third emperor of the Eagle Empire.

In accordance with his father's will, he enfeoffed the great vassals under his command as "kings," signifying that royal authority was bestowed by the emperor.

With the groundwork Kubana had laid for him, and with indirect control over the three major churches, he implemented this policy smoothly. From then on, whenever a new king succeeded to one of the subordinate kingdoms, he had to come to the imperial capital and receive coronation from both the church and the emperor before he could rightfully inherit the throne.

The influence of the three major churches also remained at its peak, and no one dared openly defy the will of the gods.

Every emperor, king, and powerful oligarch had to choose a church to support and believe in. Only with the legitimacy granted by the church could they easily maintain their rule.

Seeing this, Tang Chuan slightly slowed the Time Force Field he had placed over Cangmang Star. The faith system had now been fully established.

All he needed to do was sit back and collect the endless stream of Power of Faith being transmitted to him.

Heka Star 18.

Over the past few days, booming sounds could occasionally be heard coming from all directions.

Yet they could not stop the casualties from mounting. The death toll had now approached two thousand.

And that had reached the threshold for this Star Hunter assessment.

That day, a beam descended from beyond the atmosphere, drawing the victor—who had been lurking in the shadows with the head of his final prey in hand—back to the Star Hunters' spacecraft.

Only then did the Heckarians on the ground see the monster's true form, and they opened fire in hatred.

Yet their artillery could not penetrate the outer protection of the retrieval beam at all. They could only watch helplessly as the demon who had slaughtered their planet returned to the spacecraft.

After that.

The spacecraft hanging across the heavens descended with tremendous speed. It roared down and toured several places across Heka Star, seemingly searching for something.

But in the end, it found nothing. Before long, the spacecraft rose in altitude and departed Heka Star.

Finally, it left behind an obscure sentence in the language of the Star Hunters: "The head of a failed hunter may be exchanged for a bounty."

Over the next day, Heka Star's entire military no longer carried out protection or lockdown duties. Instead, armed with all sorts of high-tech instruments, they began searching for that failure!

A day later, after still finding nothing, Heka Star finally chose to lift the lockdown amid surging public sentiment.

The bustling, prosperous Heka Star seemed to have returned overnight. Having been trapped for so long, some Heckarians indulged in retaliatory spending, while entertainment venues began organizing one carnival after another.

Amid that solemn yet lively atmosphere, Tang Chuan stood behind the hotel's transparent protective barrier, looking down at the dazzling, colorful civilized metropolis.

Quintessa stood at his side and asked, "Master, the lockdown has been lifted. Are we leaving now?"

Tang Chuan silently nodded. "Kuka."

Quintessa: "???"

That night.

Tang Chuan went to find Teregal and exchanged every remaining credit in his chip for refined Hyena Gold bars.

Teregal was somewhat disappointed, but she also knew that after such an incident—and with a failed Star Hunter still hiding somewhere on the planet—it was only natural for tourist traffic to decline.

After inviting Mr. Tang Chuan to visit again, Teregal completed his departure procedures.

Watching Mr. Tang Chuan shout in an obscure language she could not understand, "Chiliu, get the hell out here!" before piloting his spacecraft out of Heka Star's atmosphere.

Teregal could only curse inwardly. Damn Star Hunter!

Once they catch you, I'll personally watch them cut off your head!

Aboard the spacecraft.

Having entered the boundless starry sea once more, Tang Chuan was not particularly sentimental. Instead, he began considering how to deal with that Star Hunter.

Quintessa offered her suggestion. "Master, I suggest subduing that Star Hunter."

Tang Chuan frowned. "I can overlook his sneak attack, since I already gave him a beating. But what use is there in subduing him?"

Quintessa explained, "Star Hunters excel at assassination and are also skilled at gathering intelligence. If you subdue him, then during future planetary explorations, you will no longer need to personally handle everything. All trivial matters can be left to him.

"Furthermore, Star Hunters value honor. Once they choose to submit, they will not betray their master unless their strength surpasses that of the one they follow."

Tang Chuan thought that made sense, but he still said, "Though I couldn't tell that he cared much about honor, I ruined his assessment. Will he really submit so easily? I have no interest in wasting time and energy on him."

Quintessa smiled. "Rest assured, Master. When facing prey only somewhat stronger than themselves, Star Hunters will still hunt them madly and relish the thrill of bloodlust.

"But the state you displayed through divine power was far more than merely being stronger than him by one level. Your near-divine abilities are enough to make a Star Hunter submit willingly.

"They respect the strong, and the strongest can often determine the fates of lower-ranking warriors with a single word.

"Not only can you provide him with stronger, useful genes, you can also cleanse him of his disgrace and let the Star Hunters know that his failure was not due to inferior strength, but because he encountered one of the strongest.

"Then, on their home planet, the stigma of being a failure can also be erased."

Tang Chuan understood. After thinking for a moment, he directly manipulated the Fantasy Attribute and released the Star Hunter warrior who had been imprisoned on the barren planet.

Even now, that guy was still bewildered.

His pair of fleshy wings had been reattached, but the damage inflicted by cosmic radiation was undoubtedly immense.

His entire body had shrunk by a size, and gray wrinkles covered him, giving him an aged appearance.

When his vision blurred and Tang Chuan's face appeared before him again, the Star Hunter warrior did not attack immediately. After recovering his senses, he performed a salute by curling his arms and fleshy wings inward.

"Strong one, forgive my ignorance. I deeply apologize for having looked down upon you. Kuka."

But when he caught sight of the fact that he was already in the depths of space and had left Heka Star, the light in what could be called the Star Hunter warrior's eyes still dimmed.

Not only had he failed, but he had also been forced to leave the punishment ground for failures?

That filled him with despair.

Tang Chuan did not care about such details. "What is your name?"

The Star Hunter warrior answered, "My name is Nokton."

Tang Chuan asked again, "Will you submit? If not, I'll throw you out."

Nokton's gaze sharpened, but in the end, he lowered his head. "I am willing to submit to you, but I have one request."

"Speak."

"I hope that one day, my lord will cleanse me of this failure."

"Granted."

"I am willing to serve you... until my strength surpasses yours."

"You want to be my underling for life? I'll grant that wish."

"..."