Leave it to me

Lu Ming's figure came to an abrupt halt: "Connect."

The next moment, the slightly hurried voice of Carlos rang directly in his mind: "Old Lu! Get to the coordinates I marked immediately! I've made a major discovery! The situation is a bit complex, and we might need to join forces to take it down! Man Ji and Shadow Shuttle are already on their way!"

Along with his voice, precise spatial coordinate data was transmitted to Lu Ming's optical computer. The location was deep within the sector Carlos was responsible for exploring, a considerable distance from where he currently was.

Lu Ming's eyes narrowed.

Carlos was a shrewd and cautious man. For him to use words like "major discovery," "complex situation," and "join forces," it was definitely not as simple as some ordinary treasure!

"Understood! I'm coming at full speed!"

Lu Ming replied without the slightest hesitation.

Ending the communication, Lu Ming did not delay for a second. With a thought, the D2-class spaceship bearing the Azure Kite emblem instantly appeared beside him.

The hatch opened, and Lu Ming flashed inside.

"Azure Kite, lock onto the coordinates provided by Carlos! Start the ship, maximum speed, head there!"

"Understood, Master! Route locked!"

Vroom—!

The rear of the ship erupted with dazzling blue light, instantly breaking free from the gravitational pull of the secret realm continent. It surged into the high altitude, then made a near-right-angle turn, accelerating wildly toward the direction indicated by the coordinates!

The speed was so great that it left a long trail of air waves in the sky.

In a desolate stone forest region extremely far from Lu Ming's location, atop a steep, knife-cut peak.

Carlos was suppressing his entire aura, crouching as he blended into the shadow of the rocks, his gaze sharp as he overlooked a massive valley below.

His expression carried a hint of gravity.

The valley below was no peaceful place; it was a vast nest filled with violent, beastly energy!

What was even more alarming was that the leader of this beast herd was not one, but three!

One of them resembled a giant lion, yet its entire body was covered in dark golden scales. With a single horn on its forehead and a body as massive as a mountain, it lay there, the energy fluctuations radiating from its body like a dormant volcano, reaching the peak of the ninth rank of the Domain Lord level!

The other two were a fierce avian with a wingspan exceeding a thousand meters, its feathers appearing as if forged from metal. It circled in the low altitude with eyes sharp as blades, its aura at the sixth rank of the Domain Lord level.

The other was a giant scorpion lurking in the shadows of the valley, the venomous hook on its tail flickering with a ghostly blue light, its aura also reaching the fifth rank of the Domain Lord level.

Beyond these three Domain Lord-level beast leaders, thousands of other beasts were gathered in the valley. Star-level and Universe-level beasts were everywhere, distributed in an orderly fashion throughout the valley as if guarding something.

"Three Domain Lords... and one of them is at the peak..."

A stormy sea surged in Carlos's heart.

"What on earth is hidden in this valley? To require such powerful forces to guard it?"

He had originally followed an exceptionally faint yet pure energy fluctuation to find this place. He had expected at most a treasure guarded by a single Domain Lord-level beast, never imagining it would be such a dragon's den!

With his strength at the fourth rank of the Domain Lord level, facing any one of them alone would be difficult, let alone three working in tandem, not to mention the massive herd.

Once discovered, he feared he wouldn't even be able to escape.

"No wonder I felt that the energy fluctuation, while faint, had an indescribable sense of superiority... I've truly discovered something incredible this time."

Carlos licked his somewhat dry lips, his eyes filled with both wariness and irrepressible excitement.

Anything that could attract three Domain Lord-level beasts, including a peak-level existence, to guard it together was absolutely a priceless treasure!

He dared not act rashly, so he could only wait patiently while urgently contacting Lu Ming, Man Ji, and Shadow Shuttle through the Virtual Universe Network.

For now, he could only wait for his teammates to arrive before planning the next move.

His gaze remained tightly locked on the deepest part of the valley, which was shrouded in thick mist that even his spiritual power could not easily penetrate. The treasure was undoubtedly within.

About half an hour later, three extremely suppressed auras appeared as silently as ghosts behind the peak where Carlos was hiding.

It was Lu Ming, Man Ji, and Shadow Shuttle, who had arrived at full speed.

Following Carlos's warning, they had put away their spaceships a hundred miles away from the valley, relying on their own strength to conceal their tracks and sneak in, so as not to alert the sensitive beast herd below with the movement of their ships.

"What's the situation?"

Lu Ming was the first to speak, his voice kept extremely low as his gaze crossed the ridge and cast toward the valley below.

Feeling those three unmasked Domain Lord-level beast auras, especially the one with the abyss-like pressure of a ninth-rank peak Domain Lord, he also raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Good grief, three Domain Lords, and one big guy at that!"

Man Ji smacked his lips. Although his tone remained rough, his expression was much more serious, clearly realizing the difficulty of the problem.

Shadow Shuttle's figure was almost one with the shadows; he merely nodded slightly to indicate he understood.

Carlos quickly whispered the situation he had observed: "That's the situation. The mist is strange; my spiritual power can't penetrate it, but I'm certain there is a great treasure inside. A frontal assault definitely won't work. These three guys have excellent coordination, and with the herd, we won't have the advantage."

Lu Ming carefully observed the layout of the valley and the positions of the three beasts, musing: "Indeed, that peak Domain Lord-level Golden-Scaled Lion Beast is the biggest threat."

"How do we do this? Old Lu, you've got plenty of ideas, tell us what you think."

Man Ji looked toward Lu Ming.

Carlos and Shadow Shuttle also turned their gazes toward Lu Ming.

In situations requiring tactical coordination, Lu Ming was generally the backbone of the team.

Lu Ming actually wanted to say that they could just stand on the sidelines and watch.

He could wipe out the group of monsters below all by himself.

After a moment of thought.

Lu Ming finally made up his mind.

He stood up.

His gaze swept calmly across the valley below, his tone indifferent yet carrying an unquestionable weight.

"Wait here and do not intervene. Leave the things below to me."

As soon as these words were spoken, Carlos, Man Ji, and Shadow Shuttle were all stunned.

"Old Lu, are you joking!"

Carlos hurriedly whispered.

"You just broke through to the Domain Lord realm; even if your strength has greatly increased, there are three Domain Lord-level fierce beasts down there, one of which is at the peak! Plus the rest of the herd..."

Man Ji also frowned: "That's right, Old Lu. I know you're happy about your breakthrough, but this is no time to show off!"

Although Shadow Shuttle did not speak, he was clearly in disagreement.

However, before their voices had even faded—

Swish!

Lu Ming's figure vanished from where he stood like a ghost, without any warning!

"What?!"

"So fast!"

The pupils of the three men contracted sharply, their hearts filled with shock! This speed far exceeded their understanding of the Domain Lord level!

They hurriedly cast their gazes toward the valley below.

They saw that Lu Ming's figure had already appeared, as if a god had descended, standing proudly in the open space at the very center of the beast herd!

Not a shred of powerful aura leaked from his body, yet the ferocious giant beasts surrounding him felt an instinctive fear, emitting uneasy low growls.

The three Domain Lord-level beast leaders were also instantly alarmed!

"Roar!"

The Golden-Scaled Lion Beast was the first to issue a warning roar, the sound waves rolling outward.

Lu Ming acted as if he hadn't heard it; he gripped his right hand in the air, and a battle blade burning with crimson flames instantly appeared in his grasp!

Without the slightest hesitation, facing the beast herd lunging from all directions and the three Domain Lord-level leaders, he directly unleashed his ultimate technique!

"Nine Absolute Blades of Ember Universe—Eighth Blade!"