Rescue the Xuanming Domain Lord

Fortunately, the one-eyed elder wasn't all that strong.

He was even easier to deal with than expected.

"One last chance. Why did you attack me?"

"It was... the Cloud Sea Association... They hired me to kill you..." the old man answered haltingly.

"The Cloud Sea Association? Fine. I understand."

Bai Yuan nodded, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"You can die in peace now."

Before the words had even left his mouth, the Cloud-Touching Vine wrapped around the old man tightened violently!

The force of its Strangulation surged, instantly crushing the old man's already battered body to pieces.

After dealing with the one-eyed elder, Bai Yuan turned his gaze to the guard lying nearby.

The guard trembled from head to toe, clearly convinced he wouldn't escape death.

But Bai Yuan's next words filled him with relief.

"You can go. Tell your supervisor I'm filing a complaint against him with the Consumer Association!"

Bai Yuan withdrew the vines, his tone flat.

At this point, killing another insignificant guard served no purpose.

Besides, the man was only at Star Second Rank, nowhere near as strong as the one-eyed elder. He really might have been a puppet controlled by Spiritual Force.

The guard was overjoyed to be spared and scrambled away without daring to look back.

"Master, the complaint has been submitted through the public intake channel of the Heavenly Fiend Planet Consumer Association."

Xingwu's voice suddenly sounded beside Bai Yuan's ear.

"Huh? There really is a Consumer Association? I was just saying that offhand."

Xingwu added, "According to public information on the local network, the Heavenly Fiend Planet Consumer Association was founded thirty thousand years ago, jointly established by the Xuanming Domain Lord and six other Domain Lord-level experts. Its main purpose is to mediate commercial disputes and service complaints."

"Although it has limited authority over Domain Lords, at least on the surface, it operates with a degree of fairness."

Bai Yuan understood. The Xuanming Domain Lord wasn't the only Domain Lord on the Heavenly Fiend Planet.

There was no doubt, however, that he was the strongest.

Bai Yuan took the one-eyed elder's storage ring and had the Cloud-Touching Vine reform into armor, covering his body.

As soon as he stepped outside, he felt a powerful Spiritual Force lock onto him.

"Universe Realm!" Bai Yuan frowned.

But he wasn't too afraid. As an official citizen of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire and a member of the Blade Clan, he was well protected. Unless the other party was completely insane, even a Universe Realm expert wouldn't dare attack him openly.

At the same time, the supervisor elsewhere paled.

"Du Yan is dead? Could his opponent be at the Universe Realm?"

Du Yan was only at Star Ninth Rank, but he was proficient in Soul Attack. On top of that, he'd made a fortune through all those under-the-table deals over the years.

He was equipped with a Tier 3 Force Battle Suit and had several treasured items hidden away for emergencies.

Under normal circumstances, he shouldn't have died so quickly, even against an elite carefully cultivated by a major power.

In fact, if Bai Yuan's War Blade hadn't been a Tier 3, mid-grade Force weapon, if he hadn't had a Star Ninth Rank Cloud-Touching Vine, and if he hadn't caught Du Yan off guard, dealing with an established expert like him would have taken considerable effort.

After all, he was a monster who'd lived for thousands of years. Who knew what hidden killing moves he still had?

"Master, the Consumer Association has responded. Would you like to see it now?"

Xingwu's voice suddenly rang out.

Bai Yuan casually opened the message. It was brief and to the point:

"Your complaint has been accepted. An investigator has been dispatched to the scene."

"That was fast." Bai Yuan was a little surprised.

By now, the commotion in the villa district had already caught the attention of nearby residents, and word was spreading quickly.

Whoosh!

A heavy pressure descended. A man in a pale purple robe, his skin shimmering with a purple sheen, hovered in midair atop a gigantic beast.

The beast stood over three hundred meters tall. Eight transparent wings, thin as cicada wings, grew from its back, and its body was covered in dark green, leathery skin. An oppressive Universe Realm aura emanated from it.

"My apologies for disturbing you all. We'll handle this properly, so please rest assured."

The purple-robed man—the supervisor of this district—spoke evenly, his voice carrying across the area. Then he drifted down from the beast and landed in front of Bai Yuan.

He bowed slightly, his voice apologetic. "May I speak with you in private?"

Bai Yuan nodded, then looked at the beast with interest and asked, "Did you tame this beast? It's quite powerful. It's already reached the Universe Realm."

In the vast universe, beast taming was a popular profession.

Ordinary members of the Monster Race could be tamed, and even Starry Sky Behemoths could be domesticated.

The latter were extremely difficult to tame and usually had to be raised from infancy.

The Golden Horn Clan, for instance, had once captured a Huisuo Giant Beast, but had never managed to make it submit.

The supervisor smiled faintly. "Just luck. It took a lot of effort to raise it to the Universe Realm."

As they spoke, the two lightly leaped onto the beast's broad back, which was as level as a platform.

The beast's cicada-like wings vibrated at a low frequency, yet stirred up no turbulence. It had clearly been tamed to be exceptionally docile.

Boom!

The beast carried them straight into the sky, rising until they neared the edge of the planet, almost breaking into the void of space, before coming to a gradual stop.

"This is far enough."

At the supervisor's words, the beast hovered quietly, like a floating platform.

The supervisor turned to Bai Yuan, hesitation showing on his face. It seemed there was something he found difficult to say.

"Sigh. You've gotten yourself into trouble. Take my advice: leave now, and never come back."

"Why?" Bai Yuan's gaze sharpened.

"As far as I know, although the Lord of Tiansha City is a direct descendant of the Heavenly Fiend World Lord, the real ruler of the Heavenly Fiend Planet has always been the Xuanming Domain Lord. And the Xuanming Domain Lord doesn't seem like a tyrant."

Before coming here, he had already learned the basics of the situation.

The Xuanming Domain Lord had established many rules to maintain order and protect the weak, and had always enjoyed a good reputation.

Could he really have been so unlucky as to run into another True Blood Lord?

"That was before." The supervisor shook his head, his voice heavy.

"The Xuanming Domain Lord is no longer the same. Sometimes I even wonder whether he's still the same person."

He paused, as if lost in some memory, then lowered his voice in warning:

"Did you send a message to the Consumer Association? Remember, don't trust anything they send you. Better yet, block their communications entirely."

Bai Yuan was bewildered. He had only come to take the Apprentice Mercenary Assessment. How had things suddenly become so complicated?

As his thoughts churned, a system notification suddenly sounded:

[Quest issued: The Xuanming Domain Lord is currently trapped in the Red Mountain World, which is surrounded by three barriers. Host, rescue the Xuanming Domain Lord. Quest reward: 1 Enlightenment Point]

"Rescue the Xuanming Domain Lord? Then who is the 'Xuanming Domain Lord' currently ruling the Heavenly Fiend Planet?"

The system's quest made Bai Yuan's heart tighten.

The real Xuanming Domain Lord was trapped in the Red Mountain World—the very World Lord World supposed to be used for the Apprentice Assessment!

Normally, no matter how dangerous a world created by a World Lord was, it shouldn't be able to trap a Domain Lord.

It seemed the Xuanming Domain Lord had likely been ambushed.

But if someone could trap him, why hadn't they simply killed him?

Clearly, there were far too many hidden circumstances at play.