After killing Elijah, Chu Yuan ordered his four bodyguards to sweep through the Radiance Empire's Imperial Capital Star and kill every Universe Level expert on the planet.
All the Star Level fighters were captured and brought back to serve as tools for Chu Yuan's combat practice.
However realistic the Killing Field and the Decisive Battle Space were, they were still fake. Chu Yuan needed real combat to hone his fighting techniques and instincts.
"Master, these are the treasures we found on Imperial Capital Star!"
The four bodyguards came before Chu Yuan and bowed respectfully. Star Pupil No. 1 presented a storage ring.
Chu Yuan accepted the ring and scanned its contents. There was nothing particularly valuable. He waved a hand and said, "Withdraw for now and seal off the surrounding space."
"Yes!"
The four bowed before flying high into the sky, each guarding one of the four directions: east, south, west, and north.
"Let me go! Do you know who I am?"
"I'm a member of the Radiance Empire's imperial family! My father is a Universe Level expert! How dare you capture me? Are you tired of living?"
"You're finished! You're all dead! The sovereign of our Radiance Empire is a Domain Lord! For daring to offend me, not only will you die, but your entire families will be wiped out!"
"Release us at once, then kill yourselves to atone!"
They were all restrained by electromagnetic locks, unable to move, yet their attitudes remained arrogant as they kept shouting at Chu Yuan.
"Death is staring you in the face, and you still can't see reality."
Chu Yuan shook his head and waved. "Teach them how to behave."
"As you command!"
Star Pupil No. 3 gave a savage grin. A shield on his back split open, launching nine flying knives as thin as cicada wings.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The flying knives tore through the air, piercing the skulls of more than twenty Star Level warriors who had shouted the loudest.
Blood sprayed and flesh flew, drenching several nearby Star Level fighters in blood.
Deathly silence fell in an instant. No one dared shout anymore.
There were a full six Universe Level experts around them, while they were merely a group of Star Level fighters. Even if they rushed them all at once, they could not possibly win.
Besides, escape was impossible. Their storage rings had all been confiscated, and they had no spacecraft on them.
Even if they escaped the planet, they could not evade pursuit.
"Who exactly are you? What do you want?"
A Star Level 9 fighter stepped out of the crowd and demanded in a low voice.
The other Star Level fighters seemed to regard him as their leader.
Star Pupil No. 1 transmitted through Spiritual Force, "Master, his name is Feiluo. He is the Radiance Empire's eighteenth prince and Elijah's most highly valued son. He is over eight hundred years old and possesses a fourth-stage Wind Domain."
"Understood."
Chu Yuan nodded and looked at Feiluo. "The rules are simple. All of you can attack together. As long as you can injure me, I'll let you leave."
"Otherwise, your only path is death!"
"You'll let us leave if we injure you? Will you keep your word?"
Feiluo stared at Chu Yuan suspiciously. The others also wore expressions of disbelief.
"Of course."
Chu Yuan nodded and pointed at the bodyguards around them. "They won't interfere. I alone will fight all of you."
"Release them!"
At Chu Yuan's command, Star Pupil No. 1 tapped his wrist-mounted Optical Computer.
Click. Click.
Everyone's electromagnetic locks opened. Many flexed their wrists and stretched their bodies.
Then numerous sabers, swords, shields, spears, and Spiritual Force weapons dropped down, all first- or second-tier weapons.
Chu Yuan reached out, and the divine weapon Flame Void Saber appeared in his hand. "Come on!"
Whoosh!
Before his words had faded, Chu Yuan became a man of fire, leaping a thousand meters into the crowd.
"Ash Annihilation Saber: Blazing Sun!"
The Flame Void Saber swept horizontally, unleashing flaming saber qi in a surging torrent. It swept hundreds of meters through the air, cutting more than a hundred people within a fan-shaped area in half at the waist and burning them to ashes.
"Kill him!"
"Everyone, attack together!"
"If we don't kill him, we'll be the ones who die!"
"There's only one of him, and over two thousand of us! We can wear him down to death!"
Everyone flew into a rage, roaring as they charged at Chu Yuan.
Warriors fought at close quarters, while spirit readers controlled Spiritual Force weapons to attack from a distance.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Hundreds upon thousands of flying knives shot in from every direction, even from the sky, forming an airtight net of blades that enveloped Chu Yuan.
Chu Yuan's gaze sharpened. He swung the Flame Void Saber left and right, his arms leaving afterimages in an instant. Afterimages of saber light appeared as well, as though dozens of arms were swinging at once.
Amid a flurry of sharp clangs, Chu Yuan knocked away every incoming flying knife.
Rumble!
The ground beneath his feet collapsed. Chu Yuan shot into the sky and swept his saber horizontally, cutting off the heads of two spirit readers.
Kicking a corpse away, Chu Yuan shifted sideways in midair and charged up to three more spirit readers.
Saber light flashed past. The three spirit readers' bodies shattered, their flesh and organs falling from the sky.
"Die!"
A furious roar exploded. Chu Yuan glanced back out of the corner of his eye. A burly man about five meters tall was swinging an axe at the back of his head.
Chu Yuan turned his wrist and thrust the Flame Void Saber backward, piercing the burly man's chest. Following through with an upward stroke, he split the man's head in two.
Blazing flames raged as Chu Yuan darted back and forth through the crowd. Streaks of flaming saber qi tore through the air, sweeping horizontally, cleaving vertically, or forming fiery tornadoes.
Wherever the saber qi passed, warriors' bodies were hacked apart, heads flew, and severed limbs littered the ground.
In the blink of an eye, Chu Yuan had slaughtered five or six hundred people!
"These people are too weak. They're no match for Master at all."
Black Blade One watched the one-sided slaughter below impassively and offered his cold assessment.
"No matter how many ants there are, they can't bite a giant beast to death. They never had the slightest chance of winning!"
Star Pupil No. 1 agreed.
"If they can give Master some actual combat experience, their deaths will have had some value."
Black Blade Two folded his arms across his chest, his face expressionless.
"With Master's talent, as long as he doesn't die prematurely, he'll at least become a Peak World Lord expert in the future. Becoming an Immortal is also very possible. When that happens, we'll all be able to regain our freedom."
Hope shone in Xingtong Two's eyes.
Freedom was the dream every slave yearned for beyond measure and wanted most to fulfill.
The ability Chu Yuan had displayed was enough to fulfill their dream.
"Ah!"
"Damn it!"
"This man is too strong!"
"We're all Star Level 9, so why is he so powerful?"
Screams rose one after another. Chu Yuan's slaughter had chilled the remaining fighters to the bone, and many of those at lower levels shrank back, not daring to advance.
Even Star Level 9 spirit readers could not withstand a single slash, killed like pigs and dogs. What could second- or third-stage Star Level fighters like them accomplish by going up?
"Don't be afraid, everyone! Combine your strength! No matter how strong he is, he won't be able to block it!"
Feiluo roared and stepped forward to direct the battle.
"Listen to the eighteenth prince! Everyone, join forces!"
"Kill him!"
"You damned bastard! Even if I die today, I'm taking you with me!"
Hundreds of Star Level fighters unleashed Origin Force attacks, combining them into a beam of energy that shot toward Chu Yuan.
"Just what I wanted!"
Chu Yuan swept his saber, pointing its edge straight ahead as he unleashed his fourth-stage Fire Domain.
The surrounding flames converged, swirling around the Flame Void Saber in a vortex before finally condensing into a beam of fire that blasted forward.
The two beams, one red and one blue, collided, erupting into an enormous ball of energy that unleashed a terrifying energy shock wave.