Dark Scheme

The Universe Level Second Stage woman's curvaceous body was wrapped in tight Battle Armor, and every gesture she made seemed to flow with endless seductive charm.

A faint pink glow flickered within her eyes.

"Little brother, how about the three of us join forces later and take care of that Imperial Sea Pavilion guy? Then we can eliminate a powerful competitor and split the treasures on him..."

Her incomparably alluring voice softly echoed through Qi Yuan's sea of consciousness.

At the same time, an inexplicable force quietly invaded his sea of consciousness.

Under the effect of that force, Qi Yuan's mind suddenly became somewhat muddled, and he nearly nodded along with the woman's suggestion.

Yet in an instant, his consciousness trembled lightly, and he completely awoke from that dazed state.

"Illusion Attack?"

Qi Yuan's expression turned cold as he swept an icy gaze toward the Universe Level Second Stage woman.

"Get lost!"

A threadlike streak of purple lightning erupted from his body alongside his furious roar, striking the Universe Level Second Stage woman directly.

"Crackle~~"

The powerful lightning contained within the purple bolt burst forth instantly, making the woman's body tremble continuously as her aura visibly weakened.

"Ah, h-how? How could a Universe Level First Stage warrior resist my illusionary inducement so easily? And what kind of attack was that? S-so powerful!"

The Universe Level Second Stage woman, who had intended to employ a few tricks, was instantly counterattacked by Qi Yuan. Her face turned pale, and her gaze toward him was immediately filled with deep wariness.

"Stay away from me. Don't provoke me!"

Qi Yuan coldly warned her before rushing toward the next densely packed area of ruins without looking back.

Who knew how many treasures lay buried beneath the vast ruins around them, waiting to be excavated? He had no time to waste here.

"Damn it. That Universe Level Third Stage guy from Imperial Sea Pavilion is already hard enough to deal with, and now another troublesome one has appeared."

As she watched his departing back, a venomous look surfaced on the Universe Level Second Stage woman's face.

Not far away, the lean man from Imperial Sea Pavilion heard the commotion and glanced over from afar, a mocking, unconcerned smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Serves you right!"

After that minor episode, the several Universe Level experts seemed to return to their previous delicate understanding.

Including Qi Yuan, they all became Universe Level "cleaners," each advancing rapidly in a different direction as they cleared the ruins.

"Rumble~~~"

"Crash~~"

Vast stretches of ruined debris were constantly swept aside by powerful origin energy, and delightful discoveries were unearthed from time to time.

When it had still been intact, this area of ruins had likely been an enormous Cultivator city.

After countless years had passed, any traces of life that might once have existed there had long been eroded by time into dust.

However, lifeless objects such as weapons, armor, metals, and alloys had been preserved for a long time.

Qi Yuan swept through the ruins at a frantic pace. In less than a day, he had harvested at least forty or fifty Second Stage and Third Stage Psionic Weapons, Force Weapons, armor, and other items.

Naturally, Second Stage weapons made up the majority, while Third Stage ones accounted for only around a third.

Even so, it was enough to astonish anyone.

After all, unless they were particularly wealthy, Star Travellers would not waste money buying Third Stage weapons.

Second Stage weapons were already enough for Star Travellers to unleash their full strength.

Thus, generally speaking, every Third Stage weapon could belong to a Universe Level owner!

And Qi Yuan had already acquired more than ten Third Stage weapons in succession!

Could it be that more than ten Universe Level experts had once lived in this small area he was exploring?

That proportion of powerful experts was simply too terrifying!

Or perhaps... every life-form that had once existed within this Secret Realm ruin had been incredibly wealthy, to the point that even Star Travellers could casually afford Third Stage weapons?

Qi Yuan guessed wildly, but his movements did not slow in the slightest as he kept advancing toward the larger ruins.

And while searching on his own, he also kept a thread of consciousness focused on the Metal Life, Bumblebee.

For a Metal Life that could transform and disperse itself at will, weaving through the gaps among countless pieces of ruined debris was as easy as child's play.

Qi Yuan still needed to overturn large sections of rubble to inspect them, but Bumblebee seemed to possess some special kind of perception, effortlessly discovering all sorts of extremely rare metals and ores.

Having divided itself into clumps of Golden Liquid, it moved through the ruins at an astonishing speed.

By the end of the day, Bumblebee's gains had actually exceeded Qi Yuan's own!

Moreover, Bumblebee's range of activity was not limited to Qi Yuan's surroundings. It also frequently visited the routes taken by the other three Universe Level experts.

Shielded by the thick ruins, which could greatly weaken detection signals, Bumblebee moved through the rubble as freely as a fish in water.

Without the three Universe Level experts noticing in the slightest, Bumblebee intercepted many of the gains that should have belonged to them...

Although Qi Yuan had arrived last, his gains accumulated at an exaggerated rate that Far Exceeded the other three.

However, their peaceful life of quietly making a fortune did not last long.

Soon, the arrival of a group of uninvited guests completely shattered that peace...

When barely half of the entire ruin field had been explored, a powerful team consisting of one Universe Level Sixth Stage expert, two Universe Level fourth stage experts, and one Universe Level First Stage expert suddenly appeared above Qi Yuan and the others.

"Everyone, stop!"

A thunderous roar suddenly exploded above the entire field of ruins!

Qi Yuan and the others, each busy with their own work, stiffened upon hearing it and looked upward in unison.

"Hmm? Those are..."

"They're people from the Eternal Empire's imperial family. The leader is the young master of Governor Lieyang's household!"

The lean man from Imperial Sea Pavilion, the seductive woman, and the other two quickly recognized the newcomers.

Qi Yuan, on the other hand, had always been immersed in cultivation and was rather slow to catch on to such matters.

After a brief silence, the lean man from Imperial Sea Pavilion spoke first.

"Friends from the Lieyang Star System, I am Xing Ming of Imperial Sea Pavilion. We have explored less than half of this area. If you wish to participate, how about we divide the area among ourselves and refrain from interfering with one another?"

"Half? Participate together?"

The people in the air exchanged glances, then all burst into laughter.

"We want everything here! And hand over everything you took from this place earlier as well..."