Assassination

Heavenly Fiend Planet had once been the territory of the Heaven Fiend World Lord.

But the Heaven Fiend World Lord had long since departed, and all affairs on the planet were now fully managed by his disciple, Xuanming Domain Lord.

Xuanming Domain Lord was not only the lord of Heavenly Fiend Planet but also a Cosmic Two-Star Mercenary, a figure of extraordinary standing whose strength surpassed that of an ordinary Domain Lord.

When the C9-Class Spaceship touched down in the docking area, the sharp-eyed administrator immediately went to greet it.

"Welcome to Heavenly Fiend Planet, sir. Your ship is a Black Dragon Mountain X95 model. The docking fee is 600 Black Dragon Coins per year; any period shorter than a year will be charged as a full year. Here is your docking permit."

Bai Yuan said nothing and paid the fee.

That was the advantage of owning territory: everyone on the entire planet worked for you.

In a bustling place, the docking fees alone could pile up into an astronomical fortune.

As for why he did not simply put the ship into his storage ring, the reason was simple: storage devices with interior spaces more than a hundred meters long and wide were incredibly precious.

Even among Domain Lord-level powerhouses, very few possessed such a treasure.

Bai Yuan thought of his second uncle.

He governed more than a thousand life-bearing planets, each of which brought him an annual income of 600 million to 1 billion Black Dragon Coins.

That came to at least 700 billion Black Dragon Coins a year, or five to six hundred million Ganwu Coins after conversion.

Besides that, his second uncle commanded an army of ten thousand, and his military merits had also accumulated considerably.

Even so, his second uncle owned only one storage device of that size, and he had acquired it through the Blade Clan's internal channels, with a discount earned through military merit.

That very treasure was now on Bai Yuan's finger.

Heavenly Fiend City was the busiest city on Heavenly Fiend Planet.

Humans of every kind streamed through its streets. Planet Realm cultivators were everywhere, Star Realm cultivators could be seen at every turn, and even one or two Universe Realm cultivators occasionally appeared.

Someone at Bai Yuan's level, Star First Rank, was like a stone sinking into the sea here—not even a ripple.

"That kid? Same deal as always. Five hundred billion Black Dragon Coins once the job's done."

A one-eyed old man spoke coldly. The two people beside him hurriedly nodded.

Five hundred billion Black Dragon Coins was no small sum, but the Cloud Sea Association had no choice but to agree.

The reason was that the old man excelled at Soul Attack and could eliminate a target without anyone noticing.

Would they be found out? Of course.

But as long as the matter did not blow up and they greased the right palms, there would always be people willing to look the other way.

So after all was said and done, although the One-Eyed Old Man was nominally paid five hundred billion, he would probably take home less than a hundred billion.

Even so, it was still an enormous windfall for him.

Though he was only a Star Ninth Rank Psychic Master, his accumulated wealth rivaled that of a Universe Realm powerhouse.

Meanwhile, Bai Yuan did not head straight to the Universe Mercenary Alliance's branch.

He rented a villa in the city and settled in for the time being.

It can't be a coincidence. Ever since Qiu Long Planet, I've felt like someone was watching me. I thought it was just my imagination, but now that I'm on Heavenly Fiend Planet, the feeling's back.

It's probably that C9-Class Spaceship that drew attention. If so, whoever's lurking in the shadows is probably only Star Ninth Rank. A Universe Realm powerhouse wouldn't care about something like this.

A short while later, the One-Eyed Old Man appeared outside the villa district.

Private villa districts in Heavenly Fiend City naturally had tight security, and every guard was a Star Realm cultivator.

One guard stepped forward to stop him, but before he could ask a question, a glimmer flashed in the One-Eyed Old Man's eyes.

The guard stiffened. His gaze quickly went vacant as his consciousness silently sank beneath the old man's control.

"Take me to the residence of the person who just arrived."

"Yes."

The two walked one behind the other toward the depths of the villa district.

But only two seconds later, a click, and the wondrous journey of Swallowed Star: Starting by Binding the Epiphany System began. The captain monitoring the area noticed something was wrong.

The guard's route deviated completely from his patrol path.

He did not act immediately. Instead, he contacted his direct superior over an encrypted channel and reported what he had seen.

"Sir, a suspicious one-eyed old man has infiltrated the area. He appears to be a Psychic Master, skilled in Soul Control."

There was a brief silence on the other end before an order came through.

"Leave him alone. Delete all surveillance footage and identification records from the moment he entered."

"Yes... But, sir, are we really not going to do anything? If a resident gets hurt, we could..."

"Don't worry. Nothing will happen. Keep everything you saw to yourself, and don't mention it to anyone. If word gets out, even I won't be able to protect you."

"Understood."

The call ended. The captain stood where he was, his expression grave.

He himself was Star Ninth Rank, and his superior was a Universe Realm powerhouse.

What kind of background did this "one-eyed old man" have to make someone like that so wary that he chose to turn a blind eye?

The captain looked at the two figures on the screen as they disappeared deeper into the villa district. In the end, he silently carried out the order.

At the villa door, the One-Eyed Old Man sent the guard under his control to knock.

He himself slipped into the shadows nearby. His Spiritual Force gathered silently, like a venomous snake ready to strike, waiting to deliver a fatal blow the instant the door opened.

Boom!

But just as he was gathering power, the thick metal door suddenly exploded outward from within!

A massive black vine shot out like a python, instantly coiling around both men in layer upon layer.

The One-Eyed Old Man shouted and sent a blue, crescent-shaped Telekinetic Weapon flying from his sleeve, trying to cut through the vine.

But Bai Yuan gave him no chance. More vines surged from inside, like a prison of living tentacles, trapping him and the guard together.

The violent impact and pain allowed the guard to break free of some of the mental control.

He struggled and shouted, "This has nothing to do with me! The old man controlled me and brought me here! I'm just a guard..."

"Hmph! You dared disturb my meditation. All of you will pay for it!"

A woman's voice rang out from inside, cold with fury.

The guard's face turned ashen, and a hint of panic appeared in the One-Eyed Old Man's eyes.

"Wait! My master is Lord of Tiansha City. He's a direct descendant of the Heaven Fiend World Lord. If you kill me, you'll bring disaster down on yourself!"

As soon as the words fell, the vines' grip indeed loosened slightly.

That was all the opening he needed!

The One-Eyed Old Man's eyes blazed with ghostly light. An intangible Soul Attack shot straight toward the source of the voice!

The vines around them suddenly froze, then drooped limply.

"So what if a plant life-form is powerful? It still can't resist Soul Annihilation!"

A savage grin spread across the old man's face, the confidence of victory written all over it.

Everyone knew that plant life-forms were connected to their master's soul. If the master died, they would die too.

Shhk!

A cold blade suddenly pierced him from behind, slicing cleanly through his armor and into his heart.

A fierce surge of blade energy flooded into him, tearing through his body and destroying every trace of life.

"Just as I thought... People like you never change. You can only die!"

The old man's eyes widened. A gurgling sound rose from his throat as he struggled for one last time. But the vines that had been hanging limp suddenly surged to life and twisted together around him.

Crack.

The dull snap of breaking bones was swallowed by the vines.

The cold female voice from earlier had naturally come from Xingwu, speaking through one of the villa's smart-home devices.

Bai Yuan himself had remained hidden in the shadows woven by the Cloud-Touching Vine.

If anything had gone wrong, he would have had the Cloud-Touching Vine whisk him away without hesitation.