The star region surrounding the Shadow Guard Bureau headquarters.
The once deathly still vacuum suddenly twisted violently, and an unstable rift was brutally torn open.
Lin Feng stepped out of the raging spatial turbulence.
Behind him lay the realm-suppressing manifestation and absolute defenses he had just established for his homeworld.
Before him lay the deathly silent void and ten thousand war machines.
Ten thousand heavy battleships.
They hovered silently in space, forming a cage of steel.
The bow of every warship bore the emblem of the Interstellar Council, its gun muzzles shimmering with an eerie light that could make even Immortals tremble.
These were the Empire's imperial guards, the sharpest blade the Interstellar Council used to suppress countless worlds.
At this moment, the tip of that blade was aimed at Lin Feng alone.
Shadow Guard Bureau headquarters, temporary command center.
It lay at the very bottom of the warship wreckage, temporarily reinforced with thick alloy armor into an impregnable fortress.
On the enormous holographic display, Lin Feng's solitary figure looked as insignificant as a speck of dust before the steel nebula formed by ten thousand battleships.
"He actually dared to come here to die." A council member holding a wineglass smiled contemptuously.
"A stupid brute. He thinks becoming an Immortal lets him challenge the Empire's order? Ridiculous."
"Lord Pei Yuan's plan to lure the snake out of its hole was truly brilliant."
Everyone chimed in, looking toward the pale-faced man in the seat of honor with eyes full of awe and flattery.
Pei Yuan leaned back in the commander's chair, slowly wiping a trace of black blood from the corner of his mouth, his injuries still unhealed.
He stared at the figure on the screen who had subjected him to such unbearable humiliation, his gaze venomous.
"Activate the holographic