Clearing Operation

In the vast, boundless expanse of space, a star ceaselessly underwent nuclear fusion, bringing the light and heat necessary for life to the entire star system.

As several spaceships successively flew into the Frost Leaf Star System, the Training Camp Intelligent System sent a message: all mission targets had returned. From that moment on, the virtual universe permissions of these twelve individuals were frozen, and they no longer had the authority to enter the virtual universe.

The mission could begin.

Yin Congyang ordered the spaceship to halt above the outermost planet of this band of star pirates' lair. He mobilized his formidable soul power to wrap himself in Spiritual Force, ensuring he wouldn't be detected by the Star System Defense System. He activated the virtual universe livestream function, then slowly flew alone toward the residences of the three Star Level individuals on this planet.

The Star System Defense System primarily guarded against large objects like spaceships and warships. For smaller individuals, it could only detect them through energy reactions, fluctuations caused by flight, and the like. Spiritual Force could effectively block this kind of ordinary detection.

Yin Congyang slowly flew to the airspace above the residence of the lowest-ranked member of this pirate group, a woman named Aspasia. He activated the [Shake God] secret technique, and his soul power swept over her. Aspasia, completely unaware, was drinking alone from a bottle, muttering to herself as she drank, "If I pull off one more job, I'll get the Seven-Colored Fire promised by the higher-ups. It should let me comprehend the Fire Domain, and then I can rise a few ranks in the organization..."

Suddenly, her eyes widened. The bottle in her hand fell to the ground with a "smash," shattering. Transparent liquor spilled across the floor. Deep in her pupils, it was as if glass had shattered into countless pieces. The flame of her soul was extinguished with a "whoosh," like a candle blown out by the wind...

Yin Congyang slowly flew down and carefully inspected the residence. There was nothing of value. He collected the Storage Ring that had materialized after Aspasia's death, along with her corpse, and slowly flew toward the next mission target.

On this planet lived three members of the group who ranked lower: two Star Level third-stage and one Star Level fourth-stage.

With Yin Congyang's Spiritual Force, which was now close to the Planetary Level limit, it was already no less than that of a Star Level fifth or sixth stage. His soul power was even comparable to a Star Level ninth stage. With such powerful soul power and Spiritual Force, the might of the [Shake God] secret technique was definitely not something these few ordinary Star Level third or fourth-stage members could resist.

He quickly found the other two and applied the same method, using the [Shake God] secret technique to extinguish their souls. He directly collected their corpses and Storage Rings, planning to inventory them after the mission was complete.

Then he rushed to the next planet. The three members ranked seventh, eighth, and ninth—two Star Level fourth-stage and one Star Level fifth-stage. Same process, wiped out in one go.

On the third planet were the members ranked fourth, fifth, and sixth, all Star Level sixth-stage. Fearing that a single [Shake God] strike might not kill them, Yin Congyang also used the Xinling Disk. While launching the soul attack secret technique, the flying knives of the Xinling Disk simultaneously pierced their heads, ensuring a clean kill. The three were dealt with one by one without incident.

On the second planet, there were only two, both Star Level seventh-stage. Before leaving the spaceship, Yin Congyang ordered the ship's AI to head to Red Leaf Planet, where Aulis was located, and monitor the skies above it. If any spaceship launched, he authorized it to be shot down.

He was worried that if a large battle erupted on this planet and was detected by the Star System Defense System, Aulis on Red Leaf Planet would notice. Whether he came to investigate or, out of caution, tried to flee, he would inevitably use a spaceship—only a spaceship could perform Dark Universe travel.

Yin Congyang first sought out Fali. This was a Fox-kin woman with a single fox tail, her figure extremely alluring. When Yin Congyang found her, she was cultivating, with defensive measures activated around her. But Yin Congyang still approached easily. First, a soul attack, then a close-range axe strike to behead her. The ease of it slightly surprised Yin Congyang; a Star Level seventh-stage was nothing special.

After quickly cleaning up, he flew toward Glacha's location. Before he even got close, he saw Glacha already flying in the air above his residence. This wasn't because Glacha had sensed the commotion from before; rather, he had tried to enter the virtual universe but couldn't connect to the system. Feeling uneasy, he had flown into the air to check for any anomalies.

Glacha, hovering in midair, saw Yin Congyang flying slowly toward him. His expression turned extremely gloomy. In his heart, he had a very ominous guess about why he couldn't access the virtual universe system.

"So it's finally come, after all?" he sighed inwardly. Ever since he started carrying out the first information-gathering mission, he had been prepared to face this situation. He knew, of course, that what he was doing was unforgivable to humanity, but for the sake of various treasures and secret techniques, he had still chosen this path of no return.

"Did the Virtual Universe Company send you?" Glacha's mind churned with various thoughts, but his face showed nothing. He asked Yin Congyang calmly, "I suppose Fali and the others have already been dealt with? How many of you came this time?"

"How did you detect me?" Yin Congyang countered instead of answering. He was confident that the commotion just now had been minimal and shouldn't have been picked up by the defense system, let alone detected by this man.

Glacha swept his gaze back and forth across the sky. Seeing no one else appear, he couldn't help but show an expression that was half relieved, half aggrieved. "Are you saying that just you, a Planetary Level ninth-stage, plan to wipe out all twelve members of our organization?"

Yin Congyang didn't reply. The Heaven-Opening Axe in his hand cleaved toward Glacha along a mysterious trajectory. He unfolded his eightfold domain, enveloping Glacha within it.

Feeling as if he were trapped in a quagmire within the domain, Glacha's expression finally changed. He snarled, "A Planetary Level with such a powerful domain—you must be a genius trainee from the Elite Training Camp! I've cultivated painstakingly for over two thousand years to reach Star Level seventh-stage, but I can't comprehend a domain. Compared to you, I'm far inferior. But now that you're only at the Planetary Level, I'll make you understand the vast gap between the Star Level and the Planetary Level—a gap that no domain can bridge..."

Yin Congyang watched Glacha, who was as mired in mud under the domain's suppression, and shook his head almost imperceptibly. If he were a normal Planetary Level ninth-stage with only one or two domains, or even three or four, he probably wouldn't be able to suppress Glacha.

After all, the gap from Planetary Level to Star Level was already significant, and adding the sixty-four-fold difference between Star Level first-stage and seventh-stage, that was a fundamental gap of at least several hundred times.

But Yin Congyang not only had an eightfold domain, but it was also the immensely powerful Five Elements Domain—a domain formed by fusing the Law of Five Elements, where a single layer was more powerful than an ordinary fivefold domain.

Heaven-Opening Axe in hand, Yin Congyang closed in on Glacha. With a single move, Splitting Mount Hua, he raised the axe above his head and cleaved downward from top to bottom. Among his axe techniques, this was the most ferocious. Glacha, suppressed by the domain, had his movement severely hampered. He could only gather strength in both arms to resist, trying to use his raw physical power to throw Yin Congyang off. But he didn't expect that, despite appearing to be only Planetary Level ninth-stage, Yin Congyang's physical constitution was not inferior to an ordinary Star Level fifth or sixth-stage. When his arms met the Heaven-Opening Axe, he felt a tremendous force cleaving down. The Battle Armor on his arms shattered instantly, and his body plummeted downward.

Yin Congyang pressed his advantage mercilessly. He delivered another Splitting Mount Hua, aiming for Glacha's head. Glacha looked up in fury, his eyes nearly splitting. Yin Congyang's domain completely bound him, and after taking the previous axe strike, the unabsorbed force had blasted into his body. Before he could recover, Yin Congyang struck again with the same move. He could only raise his arms to block once more, but this time both arms were shattered, and he was blasted into the planet's surface. In battle, he never used weapons, always priding himself that his arms were comparable to a third-tier Force Weapon. But they couldn't withstand Yin Congyang's Heaven-Opening Axe, sealing his fate of defeat and death.

Yin Congyang pursued him straight down. For the third time, he used Splitting Mount Hua, cleaving Glacha, who had no time to react, from head to toe into two halves.

He collected Glacha's corpse and ring into his Storage Space, then turned his gaze toward Red Leaf Planet. A chilling killing intent gleamed in his cold eyes.

The spaceship AI reported that no spaceship had launched from Red Leaf Planet. Yin Congyang immediately ordered the ship to return and pick him up.

A few minutes later, the spaceship arrived above the planet. Yin Congyang was already waiting in the air. He flashed into the ship, which then sped toward Red Leaf Planet.

On Red Leaf Planet, Aulis listened to the alarm from the Star System Defense System. He looked wistfully at the Tree House he had lived in for a thousand years. "Ah, I really hate to leave. Finding another place with such beautiful scenery won't be easy... But before I go, I need to crush this little mouse. It'll be a way to give those dozen or so brothers and sisters some closure... If I could capture him and hand him over to the organization..."

He stood silently in the air, waiting for Yin Congyang's arrival.

After exiting the spaceship, Yin Congyang immediately spotted Aulis standing in the sky above Red Leaf Planet.

A dangerous sensation came from the opposite side, but what struck Yin Congyang as strange was that this feeling of danger didn't seem to come entirely from Aulis. Or rather, it wasn't just Aulis who made him feel threatened—there was someone or something else.

"You're Student A1 from the Green Pouch Secret Realm's Elite Training Camp, aren't you?" Aulis spoke slowly. "A pity. I only got the files on you trainees less than a month ago and was just about to organize my people to strike at you. I never expected you to find me first. The Virtual Universe Company truly lives up to its reputation of ruling humanity for billions of epochs and intimidating all races..."

Yin Congyang slowly spread his domain, trying to trap Aulis. Aulis also expanded his own domain outward—it was a triple domain, firmly blocking Yin Congyang's domain at the periphery.

"So the virtual universe system isn't omnipotent after all," Yin Congyang thought to himself. "The intelligence said Aulis had a single domain, but he actually has a triple domain!"

Feeling Yin Congyang's eightfold Five Elements Domain, Aulis couldn't help but show a look of shock. "You truly live up to your reputation as the number one Planetary Level genius of the Qingnang Training Camp. Given your talent, I can offer you a chance..."