You Came, I Went

Facing the sudden attack, the burly, bearded Old Patriarch of the Yanhe Lingtong Race, a Domain Lord, was the first to react.

The ship had been accelerating almost to the speed of light. There was a ninety percent chance that whatever had interrupted its acceleration was a laser cannon capable of attacking at light speed. Other kinetic weapons might not have been able to hit the ship.

The ship itself carried tremendous momentum, so the attack sent it into a violent shake and spin at an unimaginable speed. The seven Stellar-level fighters, Jiang Yao among them, were left momentarily dizzy, their bodies pressed hard against the alloy walls of the D9-class Spaceship by the immense centrifugal force.

The burly man instantly spread out his powerful telekinetic force, enveloping the entire ship and bringing its rapid spin to a halt.

As soon as Jiang Yao climbed to his feet, he expanded his Domain, ready to risk his life at any moment!

Inside the Taihuan Token, the Messenger—whose relationship with Jiang Yao had grown closer after they had laid everything bare, and whom Jiang Yao had named Bajie—looked grave. "Careful. I can sense that the attacker's power is no weaker than your Old Patriarch's."

Prose and Kuman were equally tense, like springs ready to snap.

The other four had no Domain, and were in a worse state.

The three exchanged looks, unable to believe the assassination attempt the Patriarch and Elder Luo had kept warning them about had actually happened. How dare the other side? Or was this not Longshan Company's doing, and had they simply run into Star Pirates by sheer bad luck?

Fortunately, the Sacred Land had sent the Old Patriarch to escort them.

Before the three could catch their breath, the Old Patriarch's expression changed. "Careful!"

Then a piercing sizzling sound came from around the ship, and a thin silver line drifted down from above.

From above...

Jiang Yao swept the area with his telekinetic force and saw a thin crack in the top of the ship, through which starlight shone.

"Star Sand Zircon Silk?"

The Messenger, who spent every day in the Virtual Universe and knew a great deal, recognized it.

Star Sand Zircon Silk was a liquid alloy that could rapidly corrode most D-grade metals and alloys. It had to be kept in a special storage item. Once exposed to the vacuum of space, it quickly stretched out and solidified into threads. In sufficient quantities, it could even be woven into a net instantly with the aid of telekinetic force, which was why it was also called Star Sand Zircon Net.

It was extraordinarily expensive, though. A single drop of Star Sand Zircon Silk could buy a hundred Universe-level slaves.

The attacker had clearly come prepared.

The Old Patriarch realized it too. His expression turned solemn as he spread his Domain, enveloped the seven Stellar-level youngsters, Jiang Yao among them, and prepared to rush out.

At that very moment, another powerful attack struck. The ship, already cut apart by the Star Sand Zircon Silk, split in two and spun wildly away.

The Old Patriarch used his Domain to shield Prose and the others as they took advantage of the moment to rush out. Black Battle Armor instantly covered their bodies.

A silver attack, too fast to react to, immediately followed.

Like a round moon, it hurtled toward them at a speed Jiang Yao and the others could not react to!

The towering Old Patriarch's expression changed. Light blazed in his eyes, and a strange beast with two enormous horns seemed poised to charge out from his pupils. An indescribable, suffocating pressure descended.

The ochre Domain around him instantly condensed and gathered, forming a shield emblazoned with the image of the great-horned beast.

A thunderous boom!

The towering Old Patriarch was sent flying backward by a single slash.

"Hahaha, Meng Yi! That shell of yours really is hard!"

The mysterious black-clad Domain Lord shot after him like lightning without the slightest pause.

The silver blade-light followed close behind. In the blink of an eye, the two had traveled thousands of kilometers!

Prose and the others, suspended in the vacuum of space, were left stunned.

The mysterious Domain Lord's attacks and movements were both blindingly fast. But the Old Patriarch, whom the mysterious Domain Lord had called Meng Yi, met every change with calm. His Bloodline Divine Ability, wielded through his eyes, combined flawlessly with his Domain and the Origin Law of Earth, making him as steady as a mountain.

A cold glint flashed in Meng Yi's eyes. "Yinhu Island!"

As a Lingtong Race elder who had contended with Yinhu Island countless times, Meng Yi quickly recognized that the black-clad Domain Lord's movement technique and blade technique were undoubtedly two of Yinhu Island's foundational arts, both rooted in the Origin Law of Wind.

Fengpo Liuguang and Xingyin Blade!

The blade in his hand was also undoubtedly Yinhu Island's own Fifth-Order Force Weapon, the Thousand Prism Blade!

What shocked Meng Yi even more was that this mysterious Domain Lord, clearly a core disciple of Yinhu Island, had cultivated these two arts to an extraordinarily high level. He could absolutely be called the pinnacle of the Domain Lord level. Achieving this required profound comprehension of the Origin Law of Wind.

The two arts, Fengpo Liuguang and Xingyin Blade, had both been created by a legendary Realm Lord from Yinhu Island. That Realm Lord later became Yinhu Island's fourth Immortal God, bringing the Sacred Land's power to its peak.

But these two arts were so renowned among the Lingtong Race not because their creator had become an Immortal God. Rather, those who mastered them were the most troublesome opponents for Mental Master Controllers.

Generally speaking, Controllers could keep their distance from martial artists and directly manipulate Telepathic Weapons to torment them. Martial artists could only struggle to accelerate again and again, hoping to get close to their opponents.

So when facing martial artists at the same level and rank, with Domains and Law Comprehension of the same caliber, Controllers often had the advantage.

But once martial artists who comprehended the Origin Law of Wind mastered these two arts, their speed, unpredictable footwork, and fierce attacks could even overwhelm Controllers. They could prevent Controllers from keeping their distance, bombarding them with relentless attacks until they could no longer defend themselves, then exploit an opening to kill them with a single slash.

That was why the Lingtong Race, renowned for its Spirit Readers, had such a deep impression of these two great arts.

***

However, there were not many Domain Lords on Yinhu Island who comprehended the Origin Law of Wind. And these arts were not ordinary secret techniques, but peerless arts: difficult to learn and even harder to master. They were usually easier for Realm Lords to cultivate. It was exceedingly rare for a Domain Lord to even learn them, let alone reach this level.

The mysterious Domain Lord from Yinhu Island moved like the wind, swift and shapeless, leaving no trace. His Fifth-Order Force Weapon, the Thousand Prism Blade, slashed again and again, each strike fierce yet elusive, often coming at Meng Yi from an incredibly tricky angle.

Under the relentless attacks, Meng Yi had no time to spare for anything else. He could neither create distance nor find a moment to catch his breath.

"No wonder you were once a famed genius of the Lingtong Race! No wonder yours is the strongest defensive ability among the eight top-grade Divine Abilities. It's a pity you haven't cultivated for long. Give you a few thousand more years, and even a Realm Lord would have to work hard to crack your turtle shell.

What a pity, what a pity. A promising rising star like you will fall here today!"

Meng Yi's Bloodline Divine Ability was powerful defensively, but against such strange, unpredictable, and unrelenting attacks, he would inevitably make a mistake if the fight dragged on. The mysterious Domain Lord was clearly trying to force Meng Yi to reveal an opening by denying him any chance to catch his breath.

From the mysterious Domain Lord's first slash until now, the two had fought their way more than ten thousand kilometers and exchanged blows over a thousand times. Yet less than ten seconds had passed.

Although Meng Yi, the Old Patriarch of the Yanhe Branch, seemed hard-pressed to fend off the attacks, he showed no sign of panic. Once he had recovered from being caught off guard at the start, a fierce glint had flashed in his eyes.

Then a streak of black light silently shot out, as if from the depths of the dark, silent universe, from a distant shadow beyond the reach of the faint starlight.

The Yinhu Island Domain Lord had looked cold and utterly confident of victory, but his expression changed drastically. At the very last moment, he twisted his body to an extent that defied the rules of exertion and dodged the incoming black light.

"Wushen Thorn?!"

As if the black light were some terrifying fiendish beast, the mysterious Domain Lord dared not let it touch him. His body moved like a weightless feather, swift as light passing through a vacuum, as he continually dodged the black light's attacks.

Knowing his opponent did not dare let the black light get close, Meng Yi finally created some distance and broke free of the relentless assault, seizing the initiative.

The balance between offense and defense turned in an instant.