Misty Island

The Mysterious Elder's long howl echoed across the desert. Brilliant light swirled around him, as if the stars had descended to the mortal world, displaying the immense power of a Planetary Stage 3 Peak warrior. Faced with the combined assault of the Tyrant Dragon King and the Tiger King, he showed not the slightest fear. Instead, his eyes blazed with even fiercer battle lust.

"Merely beasts, and you dare run wild in front of me!" the Mysterious Elder roared. His figure instantly became a blur as he darted between the Tyrant Dragon King and the Tiger King. Every strike was accompanied by a deafening boom, and the air seemed to tear apart.

The Tyrant Dragon King roared, its enormous body twisting through the air as it unleashed the Dragon Emperor Dimension once more. Blast after blast of dragon breath, each packed with terrifying energy, rained down on the Mysterious Elder like meteors. But the elder moved nimbly, a ghost gliding through a storm. He dodged every attack with ease and seized every opening to counter.

"Liu Yun, all you have to do is hand over every herbal formula that can improve one's strength, and I'll pretend I never saw a thing!"

Even as he faced them, the old man never forgot his mission: he wanted to steal Liu Yun's herbal formulas. He'd discovered that those remedies were useful to him, too, so he was determined to obtain the genuine recipes, no matter what.

"Formulas? No medicine can cure your rotten heart. Just lie back and die!"

Liu Yun ordered the Tiger King to turn up the pressure. It flashed behind the Mysterious Elder, its razor-sharp claws cutting through the air and aiming straight for his vital points. But the elder seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He anticipated the Tiger King's move and struck back with a palm, its fierce force driving the beast several steps away.

The first rays of morning sunlight pierced the clouds and fell upon the fierce battlefield, lending the heart-stopping fight a touch of tragic grandeur. Liu Yun stood to one side, watching with mixed feelings. He was awed by the three Beast Kings' strength, yet admired the Mysterious Elder's dogged resistance.

"Looks like it's time for me to step in!"

As sunlight reached the Crystal on Liu Yun's chest, his Machine Race Clone had recovered its energy and resumed assisting him.

Liu Yun had no martial arts foundation capable of controlling Planetary Stage power. From the moment he regained his strength to the moment he broke through to the Planetary Stage, barely a year had passed. It was already a miracle that he hadn't gone berserk without computer assistance.

But with computational power backing him, things were different. Liu Yun could even spar with Hong and the Thunder God. With assistance, he had trained the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade all the way to its eighth level, making him virtually unmatched throughout Huaxia.

He looked at the old man and straightened, as if reborn. An indescribable dignity and power radiated from him. He took a deep breath, his gaze burning as he fixed it on the Mysterious Elder, ready to deliver a fatal blow to this Planetary Stage 3 Peak powerhouse.

"Tyrant Dragon King, Tiger King, lend me your strength!" Liu Yun called, his voice carrying an undeniable authority. He couldn't beat the old man without ganging up on him.

The two Beast Kings seemed to understand Liu Yun's command. They roared in unison, their bodies surging forward as they launched another fierce assault on the Mysterious Elder. The Tyrant Dragon King opened its jaws and unleashed an even more devastating Dragon Emperor Dimension, while the Tiger King turned into a streak of lightning and attacked from the flank, its claws glinting as they targeted the elder's weak spot.

The Mysterious Elder's expression changed. He hadn't expected Liu Yun to be able to command the Beast Kings, much less to have grown so astonishingly powerful at this critical moment. He hurriedly shifted his attacks, trying to fend off Liu Yun and all three Beast Kings at once.

But it was already too late. With his Machine Race Clone's help, Liu Yun darted across the battlefield like a phantom. The Straight Blade in his hand traced a brilliant arc through the morning light, driving straight toward the Mysterious Elder's chest. This strike held all of Liu Yun's strength and resolve—a testament to his commitment to justice and his convictions.

"Nine-Fold Thunder Blade, Thunder Moves Through the Nine Heavens!"

Liu Yun gave a low shout. His Straight Blade surged like a dragon bursting from the sea and pierced the Mysterious Elder's chest, unstoppable. A flicker of disbelief crossed the old man's eyes. Then his body stiffened, and he slowly fell. A generation-defining powerhouse had met his end.

"My brothers won't let you get away with this..."

The old man cursed as he died. It seemed he had a family of his own, and they might become a formidable enemy for Liu Yun in the future.

Just then, Yang Xiaolong, Ruby, Xueni, Blacka, and the others all drew their weapons and struck the mysterious, sinister old man once.

"All right, we've all drawn blood. We're in this together now, so let's figure out what to do next!"

Yang Xiaolong had proposed the operation. He'd gone to considerable trouble to build trust among the team.

Ruby glanced at Liu Yun with her silver eyes, unable to hide her curiosity.

"Liu Yun, War God—or should I say... Councilor? Just tell us: what stage are you really at, and what secrets are you hiding?"

That was the question all four of them shared. They'd never imagined Liu Yun could not only command the Beast Kings but also kill an immensely powerful Councilor with a single sword strike. His fighting strength was beyond their understanding. Surely even the Council Chair couldn't be much stronger?

"That's exactly what I wanted to tell you. You've passed my test. Now you'll learn the greatest 'truth' in the world!"

As Liu Yun spoke, a dazzling light burst from the Crystal on his chest. The sky above the desert seemed to light up, and then a warship descended over the rolling sands.

At the edge of the horizon, a glimmer of silver gradually came into focus, as pure as the first light of dawn. It cut through the sky and headed straight for the center of the battlefield. This was no ordinary aircraft, but a magnificent warship—the Excalibur Brave. Its arrival transformed the boundless desert into a scene from a science-fiction painting, leaving everyone in awe.

The Excalibur Brave stretched five kilometers from bow to stern, its hull like a silver dragon lying across the sky. Its enormous frame, three kilometers wide and tall, was covered with intricate mechanical structures and dazzling circuits of energy. Its pointed bow resembled a sword that could cleave through any obstacle, aimed at the depths of the universe. At the stern, a pair of enormous energy wings slowly unfolded, gently beating the air to keep the ship balanced and steady. Sunlight gleamed off its surface, shining alongside the rising sun in a beauty that took one's breath away.

Advanced weapons were arranged across the deck in orderly rows. From high-energy laser cannons to particle-beam emitters, every system spoke to the ship's tremendous firepower and technological sophistication.

As the Excalibur Brave fully materialized, a powerful presence enveloped the entire battlefield. Even formidable creatures like the Tyrant Dragon King and the Tiger King couldn't help feeling shaken and awed by this unfamiliar technology. Liu Yun looked tiny beneath the warship's shadow. He rose into the air and took the four women with him into the ship.

Inside, the four women's astonishment seemed endless. The enormous ship hovered in the air without so much as a tremor, steady as a continent. Its interior was so fascinating that they couldn't take their eyes off it. To them, it was the greatest miracle in the world.

"Oh my god! I get it now, Liu Yun. You must have been abducted by aliens—that's how you got so powerful!"

Xueni suddenly understood—or thought she did. She couldn't have been more wrong. Ruby, who had barely spoken, had the kind of intuition unique to girls, and she was much closer to the truth.

"Captain, I want to touch the Crystal Ball on your chest..."

She was simply curious about how powerful the Crystal Ball was, but Liu Yun certainly wasn't going to let this clever girl get her hands on his secret.

"Don't worry. I'll give each of you a Crystal Ball myself, I promise!"

Liu Yun sat in the cockpit and first directed the robots inside the warship to retrieve Liu Yao and the others' strength. Then he piloted the ship down toward an island shrouded in mist. That island was his true destination.