Destruction, Already Rushing In On Tiptoe

Barros had always been cold and decisive when carrying out missions, never blinking as he slew powerful enemies.

But for the sake of a single star core, to personally massacre an entire planet—countless billions of living beings still in swaddling clothes, still farming, still gazing up at the stars, all buried by a single thought of his?

He could not do it.

He had not lost his conscience. He had merely buried it deep.

Fortunately, the universe was vast, and planets with life were scarce after all.

Most celestial bodies were nothing more than silent rocks, parched wastelands, and frozen shells of ice—they had no cries, no history, and no tomorrow worth mourning.

The spherical spacecraft tore through the void, moving far faster than a falling meteor and leaving behind a silver-white afterimage.

The moment Barros left Planet Vegeta's orbit, he sharply altered course. The engines roared to life as the craft shot straight into the depths of space.

North Galaxy.

A forgotten starfield had finally awaited its executioner.

Like a red-hot iron nail, the spacecraft viciously drilled into the surface of a dead planet—the atmosphere was so thin it was nearly nonexistent, the ground was cracked, the dust gray, and even the wind too lazy to blow.

This planet was pitifully small, only one-fifth the size of Earth.

Barros stepped out of the hatch, and his brows instantly furrowed—breathing in this damned place felt like chewing sandpaper.

He held his breath and switched to internal energy circulation. A blazing white aura suddenly flared beneath his feet, carrying him into the air until he hovered above the lead-gray sky.

He thrust both arms forward. Golden light exploded from his palms as an energy wave compressed to the absolute limit spun rapidly, humming and expanding. Faint dragon-scale patterns actually emerged across its surface!

With his current strength, he was still incapable of directly confronting an entire planet—he could only unleash his strongest killing move: Frenzied Dragon Sky-Shattering Wave, and pierce the planet's core in a single strike!

"Ha—!!!"

His sharp roar shook heaven and earth as he pushed his energy to the limit!

In an instant, a divine dragon with golden scales, blazing eyes, and vicious fangs roared out from his palms. Carrying the force of thunder, it violently bored into the earth!

BOOM—!!!

The entire planet let out a dying groan. Its crust split apart inch by inch, mountains collapsed like brittle candy, and sandstorms mixed with magma surged into the sky!

Barros's gaze was sharp as lightning as he stared fixedly at the dragon ball-shaped detector in his hand—the screen was flashing wildly, the needle swinging madly, the signal growing stronger and stronger!

BOOM!!!

The planet suddenly released a shrill scream, like the final choked sob of someone on the brink of death—

It could not hold on any longer.

Destruction was racing toward it with every ticking second.

Barros's back tensed, his pupils contracted, and every nerve in his body stretched to its limit.

Success or failure would be decided within the next hundred seconds or so.

Fireworks were dazzling, but how could they compare to the instant a star took its final bow?

That was not an explosion. It was the universe tearing open its own chest, scattering its hottest, most tragic, most irreversible beauty into a sky full of starlight.

For the first time, he truly understood why Frieza loved watching planets collapse—

Because in that instant of destruction, it was beautiful enough to suffocate, beautiful enough to make one willingly fall into depravity.

Curled up inside the cramped cockpit, Barros spread open his palm.

A fist-sized diamond-shaped crystal rested quietly in his hand, violet light flowing across its sharp edges.

Had he not seen an illustrated guide to star cores before, he would never have believed it—

This violet crystal, so quiet it was almost gentle, was actually the core that had pulsed within the planet for billions of years—the ultimate crystallization of all its mass, all its memories, and all its life.

Dosajero was a renowned holy planet of martial arts in the vast sea of stars.

This planet revered combat and established itself through strength. Its density of powerful warriors was extraordinarily high, rarely rivaled even among advanced civilization planets, and its overall combat strength had remained among the upper ranks of the galaxy for years.

A silver-gray spherical shuttle tore through the atmosphere, trailing a blinding crimson-gold tail of flame before crashing onto a scorched black basalt plain with a thunderous impact that made the entire land hum.

The hatch slid open with a hiss. Barros leaped out and retrieved a pair of concealed combat-power goggles from the ship, personally crafted by Planet Vegeta's foremost cosmic physicists—never once connected to any monitoring protocol, leaving behind not even a speck of data.

He raised a hand and fastened them steadily over his left eye.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The instant the goggles activated, piercing alarms exploded beside his ear. Before the numbers on the display could even begin to change, the warning had already torn through the air.

These were not those outdated antiques on the market that malfunctioned once they reached eight thousand points.

They could accurately detect combat-power peaks as high as one hundred thousand, the only field-grade goggles in the universe currently capable of reliably locking onto experts above the ten-thousand mark.

More importantly—they only sounded an alert for opponents who posed a genuine threat.

Below ten thousand? Not even the cursor would flicker.

"Thirty-seven thousand kilometers away... combat power, eleven thousand two hundred and thirty-seven!" Barros murmured, his voice like a blade. His pupils suddenly shrank as a chill pierced straight to his bones!

That figure had already crushed the upper limit of ordinary advanced planets.

Were those Saiyan warriors dispatched from Planet Vegeta to carry out extermination missions across the various star systems all just for show?

Beep! Beep! Beep!

He suddenly twisted around, his gaze cutting like blades toward the southeastern horizon. "Ten thousand seven hundred!"

Then, the beeping grew as dense as a torrential downpour, each alert coming faster than the last.

Barros's expression gradually sank into icy depths.

Twelve thousand one hundred!

Ten thousand nine hundred ninety-six!

Fourteen thousand three hundred twenty!

This "ordinary high-battle-power planet" he had casually taken on had suddenly produced seven experts with battle powers over ten thousand!

"Frieza... or King Vegeta?" He raised his head and stared at the eight rapidly approaching crimson dots in his scouter lens, his lips tightening into a hard, cold line as killing intent surged like a tide.

One person over ten thousand might have been a coincidence; two could still be attributed to luck.

But eight? A full eight warriors with battle powers over ten thousand gathered on one planet, all racing straight toward him—this was no coincidence. It was an ambush, a hunt!

The universe was vast, its stars countless, while Saiyans were no more than a few specks of dust amid the sands of the galaxy.

Precisely because they were so few, every expedition's intelligence had to undergo three layers of cross-verification, all to avoid a dead end.

But this time... something was so abnormal it sent chills down his spine.

Those with battle powers over ten thousand could all fly through the air like the wind.

Vast stretches of mountains and rivers spanning tens of thousands of miles were but a breath beneath their feet.

Barros stood with his arms folded, still as a boulder, allowing one figure after another, carried by fierce winds, to descend from the sky and land around him.

He did not even raise an eyelid, much less show any intention of striking first.

Several minutes later, eight auras exceeding ten thousand completely sealed off the area, with dozens of elite fighters whose battle powers exceeded eight thousand clustered behind them.

The burly man at the front looked Barros up and down, then suddenly sneered, his voice dripping with mockery. "Heh—so the one who came to attack my Dosa Jello is some wild monkey who hasn't even grown all his fur yet?"

Before he finished speaking, one of the natives strode forward, pulled out an old-fashioned scouter covered in rust but etched with savage patterns, and snapped it over his right eye. Staring coldly at Barros, he sneered, "Let me see just how much you little beast are worth!"

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Seven thousand!" the man blurted out in shock. The others' expressions changed in unison, their faces filled with disbelief.

But that shock lingered for only half a second—then every pair of eyes turned cold, killing intent growing wildly like poisonous vines.

This planet had been drenched in blood more than once.

No invader had ever left alive.

Even Saiyans had once met their downfall here, leaving neither corpses nor bones behind.

"Kill him!" The leader swept an arm forward, and over a hundred figures shot out like arrows loosed from a bow, launching themselves at him together!

Barros's expression did not change, nor did his body move an inch.

Only his hands rose like lightning as the battle power within him burst forth like a breached flood, surging and climbing rapidly!

Just as those hundred-plus figures were about to crash into him—

He violently thrust both palms forward!

Boom—!!

A roaring, rolling golden energy wave erupted from thin air, sweeping in every direction like a raging tide. Wherever it passed, flesh and blood vanished soundlessly. Before any screams could escape, they were all reduced to scarlet mist filling the sky, then shredded by the violent energy until not even a trace remained!

Before the aftershock faded, Barros slowly turned his head toward the eight strongest warriors, their faces pale and sweat beading at their temples. His lips curled into a smile cold enough to freeze one's marrow.

All eight of them took half a step back. One of them swallowed hard and actually let out a dry retch.

Barros glanced over them, then suddenly grinned as his figure vanished in an instant.

Smack!

A crisp sound rang out, like an overripe berry bursting open.

The remaining seven stiffened and abruptly turned their heads—

The companion who had been standing in the center moments earlier had become a warm rain of blood splashed through the air, without even half a fragment of bone left behind.

Blood droplets pattered onto the ground. Barros quietly looked back at the seven, his gaze as calm as if he were looking at seven corpses awaiting cremation.

That look was colder than a blade, more silent than an abyss, as though death itself had bent down to whisper in their ears.

The seven finally understood completely: the small figure before them was not prey at all, but a hunter.

"Join forces! Kill him!"

Before the words had even fallen, the burly man with the highest battle power charged out fiercely, scarlet energy blazing around his fists as he struck straight for Barros's heart—determined to pierce through him in one blow and shatter his internal organs!

The other six sprang into action as well, their fists and kicks whipping up fierce winds amid repeated explosions of energy.

But when the man's fists smashed viciously into Barros's chest—

Bang!

A dull thud rang out, like a hammer striking ten-thousand-year black steel.

The savage grin on his face froze instantly. His pupils contracted sharply, and he spun around, trying to retreat at top speed!

But Barros merely smiled faintly. With a casual turn of his right hand, palm force crashed down like a falling star, vast and unstoppable.

The giant had only just withdrawn his fist when his entire body exploded as though made of paper. A cloud of blood rose into the air, leaving not even a lingering shadow behind.

The other six had yet to withdraw their attacks, but they all froze midair. Staring at that rising mist of blood, their faces turned as white as paper.

They suddenly understood—

The child before them, who looked so young and immature, was no wild monkey.

He was an ancient beast that had just awakened, measuring the sea of stars with its claws and fangs.

Barros tilted his head, and his neck bones let out a crisp crack. His gaze stabbed toward them like ice picks.

Wherever his eyes swept, their backs went cold and their hearts sank. Instinctively, they wanted to turn and flee—as though they were prey caught in a venomous snake's gaze, so terrified they forgot how to breathe.

But...

Trying to run now? It was already too late.

Just moments ago, Barros had taken several lethal attacks head-on with his bare body and emerged completely unscathed.

Before they had even prepared an escape route, they were already standing at the edge of a cliff.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Not explosions, but crushing—six bodies instantly caved in and came apart beneath Barros's palm, turning into scarlet mist that filled the sky. Not even bone fragments remained.

Six supreme experts with power levels exceeding ten thousand, beings who could collapse mountains with a stomp on Planet Vegeta, failed to even charge a hundred meters in less than three seconds before being wiped out one after another as easily as swatting mosquitoes. Not a corpse remained.

Whoosh—!

A fierce wind suddenly rose, sweeping the blood mist into roiling clouds before tearing it apart in an instant, scattering it into the horizon.

Barros stood with his hands behind his back. His robes did not stir, yet he seemed to bear down upon the entire sky.

He looked down over the vast mountains and rivers, silent as a god descending into the world. His imposing presence was so heavy that it made knees go weak, crushing even the courage to raise one's head and meet his gaze.

Time flew by.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

To perfect Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression and thoroughly open the acupoints throughout his body, Barros swept the field with his blade—every person on the planet with a power level above one thousand was put to death.

One silent slaughter after another finally made the natives of Dosajieluo Star understand: a demon wearing the face of a child had come to this planet. From then on, there would be no more dawn, only eternal night.

Forest of Despair!

This vast mountain range stretching across the continent had always permitted only the supreme figures with power levels above three thousand to set foot within it.

Now, it had become the deepest forbidden ground on the entire planet—because that youth who had nearly dragged the whole planet into hell was entrenched in the forest's darkest heart.

The bright moon hung high, and starlight spilled across the heavens.

Barros stood atop the Forest of Despair, with the boundless starry sky above him and the heavy earth beneath his feet.

The world should have been bathed in clear moonlight, yet it was suddenly split apart by a beam of starlight descending from the depths of the universe—the moonlight dimmed, the stars lost their brilliance, and only that single beam remained. Like a divine sword piercing the heavens, it was firmly pinned upon him.

All was silent. Between heaven and earth, only that beam of light remained.

Above the starry dome, within the Dosajieluo Star Domain, countless stars trembled at once. Streams of silver-white light surged out from the celestial bodies and converged into that towering pillar of starlight, pouring endlessly into Barros's body—his skin glowed like molten gold, his veins coursed like galaxies, and his blood energy boiled like magma!

The power of the stars surged like a raging tide. Using the secret art of Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression as a guide, Barros tempered his body with stellar energy, using the star core as a furnace to refine himself.

But how violent was the power of the stars? Even with his terrifying physical body, he could not endure such an onslaught for long.

One moment of carelessness would mean shattered meridians and incinerated organs.

Yet he gritted his teeth and endured.

Starlight was like blades, scraping and tempering his sinews and bones again and again; star radiance was like fire, forging his skin and flesh day and night.

That already indestructible body was transforming at a visible rate under the infusion of stellar power—his flesh grew denser, his bloodline hotter, and his bones shone with the cold luster of jade.

Meanwhile, the fist-sized star core before him continued to shrink. Its outline gradually blurred, while its light became increasingly restrained.

In the vast sea of stars, who would have imagined that someone could truly use stars as fuel and forge their own body into a vessel?

If not for the method recorded in Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression—"Use the star core to draw the stars, gather all radiance into one, and condense acupoints into a cosmos"—then even if Barros exhausted his entire lifespan, he could never draw so much as a wisp of stellar power into his body.

Tempering flesh, refining membranes, forging bones, transforming sinews, cleansing marrow, tempering blood, condensing acupoints—the seven foundational stages were reinforced layer by layer beneath the blessing of starlight.

From this day onward, the blood energy within him no longer surged like rivers. It rose like tides within a sea of stars—bottomless and inexhaustible!

When the star core had completely melted away and the Baihui acupoint had fully formed—

Severed limbs could be restored, mangled flesh could be regenerated, blood and bone could proliferate on their own, and his vitality would never be extinguished.

Only then did the first divine wonder of Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression truly fall into his grasp.

In the mountains, one knew neither the calendar nor the passing years.

In the blink of an eye, two years had passed.

Barros had finally crossed the most difficult threshold of Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression—condensing the acupoints of the Heavenly Circuit.

That diamond-shaped star core silently dissolved into specks of stardust and scattered with the wind.

Its final mission had been to help Barros illuminate the Baihui point atop his head—the convergence of all yang, the origin of a hundred meridians, the supreme acupoint of the human body!

Once Baihui was opened, he could roam the boundless universe in the future. Even if only a wisp of starlight brushed against his skin, Barros's body would instinctively absorb it, silently tempering itself.

That faint glimmer might not greatly increase his combat strength, but its advantage lay in its steady, endless flow.

If he ever faced a life-and-death battle, with his strength exhausted and his vitality waning, that inconspicuous thread of starlight might become the sole spark capable of turning the tide.

Barros slowly rose to his feet and lifted his head toward the profound starry vault. It was as though a river of stars flowed within his eyes, their brilliance blazing and soul-stirring.

A moment later, he lowered his head and clenched his fist. His knuckles cracked sharply as a faint smile touched his lips, subtle yet keen as a blade.

He had succeeded.

With this step, the foundation of the path to supreme strength had been laid—so long as he did not die, even if he could not reach the absolute pinnacle, he would surely become an overlord in some starfield, one none would dare challenge.

And if, one day, the acupoints he condensed could truly form a miniature universe of their own...

That would be the moment he transcended all paths and stood above everything.

The goal seemed distant and illusory, but Barros knew that he had already grasped the first key.