The dark silver spaceship hung quietly in the boundless starfield. Lu Ming hadn't entered the Virtual Universe; his entire mind was immersed in the insights he had gained from the battle just now, as well as in exploring a deeper fusion of the gray streak of light and the burning flames.
Suddenly, the ship's detection system issued a warning.
"Master, an energy signature has been detected ninety million kilometers to the forward left. The targets are confirmed to be Skull Nightmare King and his squad. There are three King-Levels in total. Skull Nightmare King is a Pinnacle King-Level, and the other two are High Kings."
Azure Kite's cool voice rang out.
Lu Ming's tightly shut eyes snapped open. Deep in his gaze, dark red flames and a gray streak of light seemed to flicker together.
"Lock onto their coordinates. Move in."
"Yes!"
The spaceship vanished in an instant.
In a nebula scattered with colorful aurora fragments, three fearsome-looking King-Level members of the Machine Race flew slowly. Their enormous metallic divine bodies reflected the aurora, radiating a cold pressure.
"According to the intelligence, that human, 'Flame Edge,' was last seen somewhere near this star region. Stay alert."
The Skull Nightmare King, who led the group, resembled a gigantic metal skeleton. Ghostly blue soul flames danced in his eye sockets as he spoke in a hoarse, electronically synthesized voice.
After Lu Ming had killed four King-Levels in one battle, he had already made a name for himself in this star region.
However, most of the attention was still among the Monster Race. Lu Ming had acted so quickly that they hadn't had time to get a good look at him or spread the news.
"Skull Nightmare, you're being way too cautious. No matter how strong Flame Edge is, would he really dare pick a fight with the Machine Race?"
The High King beside him, who resembled a mechanical octopus with eight tentacles, scoffed.
"Exactly. The three of us working together could even handle a King-Level Limit..."
The other High King, who looked like a metal scorpion, chimed in.
It hadn't even finished speaking when—
Buzz—!
Without warning, a huge rift split open in the void ahead. A dark silver spaceship burst out, and the moment its hatch opened, a figure wreathed in dark red flames shot out like a streak of light, moving faster than thought!
"Enemy attack! It's Flame Edge!"
Skull Nightmare King sounded a shrill alarm. His massive mechanical body instantly shifted into battle mode, countless cannons blazing with destructive light.
The other two Machine Race King-Levels reacted just as quickly. The mechanical octopus waved its countless tentacles, forming layer upon layer of diamond-shaped force-field shields;
The metal scorpion raised its tail, and a decomposition beam, condensed to the utmost, was already charging!
"Hmph. You actually came looking for us. You're asking to die!"
However, Lu Ming didn't give them the chance to launch a perfect combined attack.
"Same as always."
His gaze was indifferent, as if he were looking at three dead objects.
He simply swung the Yan Kong Blade forward!
"Burning Universe Space-Splitting Slash!"
There was no flashy technique, only ultimate power and speed!
A condensed dark red blade light, imbued with a trace of gray, effortlessly tore through the layers of force-field shields the mechanical octopus had set up, as easily as slicing through thin paper. It flashed past the creature's horrified mechanical eyes.
Slash!
The mechanical octopus's enormous divine body abruptly froze. A clean cut appeared through its core, and gray spread rapidly. The energy and Life Imprint contained within its body melted away in an instant, like snow beneath a blazing sun.
"What?!"
"The first."
Lu Ming didn't slow down at all. Like a specter, he appeared above the metal scorpion and struck again with a backhand slash!
The blade light swept past. The metal scorpion's hard shell, strong enough to withstand a star's explosion, proved useless. It was cleaved apart along with its core, consumed, and annihilated!
"The second."
"Oh no!!"
Skull Nightmare King was both shocked and furious. The destructive beam, charged with all its energy, finally fired. A thick, blue-white column of light instantly illuminated the nebula as it shot toward Lu Ming, carrying the force of annihilation.
"Die!"
Lu Ming neither dodged nor retreated. He merely held the Yan Kong Blade horizontally in front of him. Dark red flames rose along its blade, and the gray streak of light swam across it like a living thing.
"Break."
With a soft shout—
He swung!
Boom!
"How is this possible?!"
Skull Nightmare King was aghast!
In the next instant, Lu Ming's figure pierced through the lingering energy and appeared right in front of him.
"The third."
The blade flashed again!
The metal barriers Skull Nightmare King had desperately erected shattered like paper. The dark red blade light cut straight through his body.
"My race... won't let you..."
Skull Nightmare King's electronic voice abruptly cut off. The blue soul flames went completely dark. His enormous metal body quickly turned gray and crumbled, eventually becoming a pile of lifeless cosmic dust.
With a wave of his hand, Lu Ming collected the three World Rings and a few valuable mechanical remains. He didn't spare the nebula, now returned to its lifeless silence, another glance. Instead, he turned and stepped into the spaceship that had quietly appeared.
"Azure Kite, the next target."
Time passed, and the Outer-Domain Battlefield was never peaceful.
A hundred years was no more than the blink of an eye on a cosmic scale, but in the Ninth Outer-Domain Battlefield, those hundred years felt especially long and bloody because of one name.
The name "Flame Edge" swept through the battlefield like the most terrifying nightmare.
His movements were mysterious, and his attacks ruthless. He never wasted time fighting Alien Race King-Levels, often killing with a single strike before vanishing thousands of kilometers away.
Those who fell to his blade had initially been from the Monster Race, but his targets gradually expanded to include King-Level Immortals from the Machine Race, the Bug Race, and even powerful alliances of Alien Races.
His achievements repeatedly sent shock waves through the human higher-ups and the Hong Alliance via the military system.
The bounty on his head soared among the enemy factions, reaching a terrifying figure that even King-Level Limits coveted.
A hundred years of slaughter had stained the starfields with blood.
On this day, Lu Ming temporarily ended his hunt and stayed in the cultivation room aboard the Azure Kite Spaceship.
A light screen floated before him, listing his tally from the past hundred years.
"A hundred years..."
Lu Ming's gaze swept over the screen, his voice calm and even.
"Thirty-two Alien Race King-Levels killed in total."
The list on the screen was clear.
High Kings: seventeen.
Pinnacle King-Levels: thirteen.
King-Level Limits: two.
Those brief lines of data represented the complete downfall of thirty-two King-Level Immortals, pillars of their respective races—a devastating loss that was enough to enrage the higher-ups of their races!
Among them were even two King-Level Limits who stood at the very pinnacle of the Immortal level!
Lu Ming had finally made a name for himself as a King-Level powerhouse!
A century of battle had forged his fame in blood and fire.
His fearsome reputation, under the codename "Flame Edge" but built on "Burning Sky," had long swept through the entire Ninth Outer-Domain Battlefield like a storm of destruction, and was spreading to other regions of the universe.
"Have you heard? That 'Flame Edge' killed a full thirty-two Alien Race King-Levels in a hundred years!"
"Thirty-two? My god! Two of them were King-Level Limits! That... that's slaughter!"
"His blade work is terrifying. They say even Pinnacle King-Levels can barely withstand a single strike from those dark red flames!"
"And his plant life, Thunderlight Vine—it kills Pinnacle King-Levels like dogs!"
"The Monster Race, the Machine Race, the Bug Race... So many powerful King-Levels turn pale at the mention of his name. They've tried to surround and kill him together several times, but he cut his way through them every time!"
"With strength like that, he's definitely at the Invincible King-Level! Our Human Race has gained another invincible powerhouse!"