Monster Race Hell Star

He took a specially designed small spacecraft down to a satellite where the Monster Race was kept in captivity, then headed straight for the satellite's base command center.

The person in charge of the command center was a Domain Lord. He monitored the entire satellite and everything inside it. If anyone displayed combat power beyond Star Level, he would send someone to eliminate them—or take action himself.

The command center had a dedicated stealth system, and the Virtual Universe Company had also set up a holographic simulation around the entire satellite. The various races living there had no idea they were in Human Race territory. They only knew that, every so often, human geniuses appeared on the satellite's surface or underground to steal their races' treasures.

Ten years had passed since he completed the Apprentice Mercenary Assessment. Yin Congyang and his Wood-element clone had both reached the ninth rank of Star Level.

Likewise, the mysterious fluctuations from his Dantian had not stopped transforming his body, mental power, and soul. Instead, they continued pushing them beyond their limits. Especially after the fluctuations from that seed joined in, his body seemed to have reached an even higher ceiling.

Based on his rate of evolution, he vaguely estimated that it would take at least another fifteen to twenty years to reach the Star Level limit and break through to Universe Level.

Over the next decade or so, he completed several missions and earned quite a few points. He also attended many classes taught by World Lord Level instructors in the Training Camp's virtual system, making considerable progress in his Law Domain.

His progress with the Law of Wood was even faster. With a clone, comprehending the Law of Wood came as naturally as swimming to a fish, and he grasped it ten times faster than the other laws.

He had also wanted to condense a clone for another law. But he had a vague feeling that his soul power was not yet strong enough. It would be best to wait until his soul power reached Domain Lord Level before condensing a second clone; otherwise, he might cause irreversible damage to his soul.

He chose to trust his intuition. When it came to matters of the soul, no amount of caution was excessive.

At this point, his soul power had reached the absolute peak of Universe Level and could break through to Domain Lord Level at any moment. So a second clone was not far off.

His plan was to spend his third decade at the Training Camp taking on missions he thought he could complete, earning as many points as possible. Then, once his soul power met the requirements, he would condense a second clone and use his points to see if he could exchange for treasures of the laws from the Training Camp to help the clone grow.

After reporting to the Domain Lord Level supervisor, Yin Congyang left the base, concealed his aura, found a passage leading underground, and slipped inside.

As soon as he entered the underground passage, he frowned slightly. As expected, the range of his mental detection had shrunk considerably. But his soul and willpower were extremely strong, so the effect on him was not as severe.

He cautiously probed ahead and moved forward at a steady pace.

Although there were no combatants above Star Level anywhere on the satellite, including beneath its surface, the passages leading deep underground were not very wide. The entire satellite was also extremely hard—Star Level power was basically incapable of damaging it. If he ran into a large group of Star Level opponents and they blocked both ends of a passage, his only chance of survival would be to fight his way out.

Fortunately, there were many passages, and they branched in every direction. Almost every few hundred meters, he came across a connecting passage, some wide and some narrow. They gave Yin Congyang a strange sense of familiarity, as if he were looking at blood vessels inside a human body.

He remembered the Chief Instructor saying long ago that the eight satellites were not only testing grounds, but also served as a means of protecting the planet in the middle. It was possible that this guess was not far off.

He summoned the map of the Monster Race Satellite in his mind. He had memorized its three-dimensional layout before coming, but now he needed to find a landmark to determine his location.

The Purple Hotaru Fruits grew in the central region of the satellite. There were only nine trees, and they took about thirty years to mature, bearing fruit three times every hundred years. They were extremely precious to Star Level members of the Monster Race and could promote their evolution, so Star Level ninth-rank monsters were always on guard.

The passages were not completely dark. Each one had some glowing minerals. They were too soft to be used to make weapons or the like, but they emitted light, so the Monster Race used them as lamps.

He carefully passed through more than ten passages. Suddenly, a faint hubbub came from up ahead. He moved forward slowly, mental power enveloping him. At the end of the passage was an exit, and beyond it shone a light far brighter than anything inside the passage.

He peered out through the entrance. Beyond it lay a vast cavern with a hollow center. A raised platform stood in the middle, topped by a statue of a giant wolf howling at the sky. It stood over ten meters tall and appeared to be carved entirely from Black Ice Rock, radiating a cool, sacred light. The light was not harsh; it felt as if one were basking in the sun.

Circling the statue on the central platform, ranks of monsters bowed in worship. They were one branch of the Monster Race's wolf clan—the Silver Moon Wolf Clan.

The Silver Moon Wolves formed ring after ring, with the larger ones in the innermost ranks. Their strength decreased from the inside out, and all of them basked in the light radiating from the statue.

One wolf in the innermost ring was clearly taller than the others. It was probably the leader of the group. It let out a series of low growls, and each time it did, the wolves behind it gave a soft howl, as if they were performing some kind of ritual.

Yin Congyang compared the scene with the three-dimensional map in his mind. This had to be the Moon Wolf Altar. After checking the other landmarks along his route and getting a general sense of his direction, he quietly turned and headed down another passage.

He followed the passages deeper and deeper toward the satellite's core. Along the way, he often encountered Star Level second- and third-rank monsters on patrol. Relying on his powerful soul talent, he used some of the Illusion Technique methods recorded in Shake God to make the patrols overlook him. He neared the core without incident.

He had not killed a single monster on the way, for fear of alerting the others. The patrols in particular changed frequently. Even if he could instantly kill an entire patrol squad, someone would inevitably discover it afterward.

Now that he was near the core, he was even more cautious. Clinging to the ceiling of a passage, he peered down. The core was a circular space about ten kilometers in diameter. The Monster Race had evenly piled it with countless glowing minerals, making the whole space brilliantly lit. Nine purple trees grew sparsely across the vast area.

Their trunks twisted and curved, and one or two of the trees had even shed all their leaves. Only one was lush, covered in purple leaves and fruit that glimmered with purple light.

Apparently, the monsters on this satellite had deliberately staggered the nine trees' ripening periods, ensuring they could harvest Purple Hotaru Fruits every two or three years. These fruits were important to low-level monsters, accelerating the development of their intelligence and comprehension. They were of little use to humans, however.

The nine trees stood in different locations, but almost every one was guarded by a Star Level ninth-rank monster. The tree whose fruit was about to ripen was especially well guarded, with three monsters keeping watch: a Gale Tiger, a Green-Eyed Fox, and a Diamond Ape. Though they were all monsters, they belonged to different races, which prevented them from colluding to steal the fruit.

Looking at the situation, Yin Congyang scratched his head. It seemed impossible to take the Purple Hotaru Fruit without anyone noticing. His Shake God secret technique was powerful, but he had only cultivated it to the Star Level peak. He had enough soul power to practice the later Universe Level techniques, but unfortunately, not enough points.

The first level of Shake God cost only 100 points, the first two levels cost 1,000, and the first three cost 10,000. He still had not saved enough to buy the first three levels.

He could use Student Points to buy the first two levels of the secret technique. But the 10,000 points for the third level were Core Member points; if he used Student Points, he would need 100,000. He had been extremely frustrated when he first saw that, but there was nothing he could do. Good secret techniques were expensive, and soul techniques cost far more than those for warriors and Controllers. Soul techniques were the rarest of all, and in his view, Shake God was the best of them.

Soul secret techniques were extremely powerful at close range, but their power dropped sharply with distance. At Star Level, Shake God could maintain its full power only within 1,000 meters. Beyond a kilometer, it might not even kill someone at Planetary Level.

Now, on Hell Star, mental power was being severely suppressed. He estimated that he could maintain its full power only within 500 meters.

There were eleven Star Level ninth-rank peak monsters in the core space. Though they belonged to different races, they had all been at the ninth rank of Star Level for a long time. They simply did not dare to break through to Universe Level—anyone who tried vanished without a trace within a day.

At first, the ordinary monsters had thought that those who broke through to Universe Level had ascended to another plane. It was not until one of the cleanup teams accidentally left evidence behind that the monsters learned the truth: if they broke through to Universe Level, they would disappear without a trace.

After observing for a long time, Yin Congyang still could not find an opening. In the end, he decided to take a risk. At worst, he would kill all the guards, then calmly pick the fruit and leave.

The tree whose fruit was nearly ripe stood somewhat inside the outer perimeter. Just outside it grew another Purple Glow Tree that was still maturing, with a Pine Snow Lion lying lazily beneath it.

Yin Congyang silently approached until he was 500 meters from the Pine Snow Lion. He slowly extended his mental power. As it neared the lion, Shake God activated, and the combined strike of his mental power and soul power shattered its soul and killed it instantly.

The moment the Pine Snow Lion's soul shattered, the Green-Eyed Fox suddenly raised its head. A powerful wave of soul power swept through the area, and it immediately let out an urgent howl. The other nine monsters sprang to their feet and raced toward the Pine Snow Lion's body.

Yin Congyang was stunned. He had not expected the monsters to be so alert despite their lazy appearance. He had killed just one, and they had already noticed. Worse, the Green-Eyed Fox's soul power had carried the pressure of Universe Level. Its body clearly dared not break through to Universe Level, but long years of honing had pushed its Soul Will beyond Star Level.

Watching the seven monsters charge toward him—the Green-Eyed Fox and two others remained guarding the ripening Purple Glow Tree, evidently wary of being drawn away—Yin Congyang simply stood up, gripped the Heaven-Opening Axe, and advanced to meet them.

A few seconds later, the seven monsters closed in on Yin Congyang and pounced from different directions. They attacked from the left, right, front, and back in a carefully coordinated formation, ensuring at least three could strike him at the same instant. They were clearly extremely experienced.

Judging the distance, Yin Congyang's eyes blazed with light as a peak Universe Level wave of soul power swept through the area. The seven charging monsters instantly fell silent and collapsed to the ground. The nearest slid right to his feet.