The surface of the planet where the Black Star Cup 13th competition is held.
This is a vast, circular valley, resembling a naturally formed arena, with jagged rocks and complex terrain.
Rows of floating spectator seats were suspended in mid-air, with countless spectators looking down at the battlefield, and various media outlets broadcasting the situation in real time.
Whoosh—Bang!
Suddenly, two fiery meteors fell from the sky and crashed onto the sides of the valley. They were two orbital drop capsules, and the high temperature generated by friction with the atmosphere caused the air to distort slightly.
With a click and a hissing sound of gas flowing out, the doors of the two single-person drop pods popped open, and two players stepped out: one was Frenzied Saber, and the other was Hao Tian.
"Come on!!"
As soon as the two appeared, excited cheers and shouts of encouragement erupted from the audience in the sky.
Ignoring the commotion from the audience, Frenzied Saber brandished a silver-white mechanical trident, staring intently at Hao Tian, and said, "I didn't expect we'd run into each other so soon."
"With randomly selected opponents, anything can happen."
Hao Tian, wearing the Legion's interstellar combat suit for martial artists, stretched his arms and legs.
After more than a month of fierce competition, the Black Star Cup preliminary rounds, which resembled a chaotic free-for-all, finally came to an end. Like raising poisonous insects, more than 90% of the participants were eliminated, leaving only the elite to enter the main competition. Frenzied Saber and Hao Tian met in the individual combat event of the Immortals Group and became opponents.
Hao Tian is the mainstay of the long-established powerhouse Long Sky Club, while Frenzied Saber is the representative of the rising star Jiangcheng Team. As professional players, they have a large following among players, making their one-on-one match today highly anticipated.
Not only do players pay attention to player-versus-player matches, but regular viewers also enjoy watching them. The players' aggressive, flamboyant, and imaginative playstyles are highly entertaining and have attracted a large number of NPC fans.
High-level players like Hao Tian and Frenzied Saber stood out among the tens of millions of players in the legion, gaining a large number of NPC supporters and even being given nicknames by ordinary viewers. Hao Tian gained the title of "Steady Boxer," Frenzied Saber gained the name of "Mechanical Dancer"... It has to be said that these two names are quite fitting for their fighting styles.
The two were old acquaintances, so they skipped the verbal sparring and went straight to the physical intimacy.
Ding ding ding!
One was a martial artist, the other a mechanized warrior; their figures flashed past each other rapidly, sparks flying repeatedly.
As the aftershocks of their battle dissipated, the shockwaves carved deep trenches into the ground, sending stone dust and ash flying everywhere.
Having played four versions, the two players' micro-management skills became increasingly refined, and combined with their Grade B combat power, they were already humanoid monsters with extremely strong destructive power in the eyes of ordinary people.
Bang!
The mech warrior possessed a wide array of close-combat skills. His Frenzied Saber attacks were relentless, and his mechanical trident unleashed a myriad of phantom images, accompanied by dazzling arcs of electricity that enveloped Hao Tian's vital points.
Hao Tian retreated and dodged, then suddenly seized an opportunity, stopped abruptly, and raised his hands to precisely grasp the two side blades of the trident.
The myriad shadows of the halberds dissipated, and the sharp edge of the trident was only about twenty centimeters away from his large basin, yet it could not advance an inch.
Click, click, click!
The two men's arm muscles bulged as they entered a wrestling mode, and the ground beneath their feet suddenly cracked, with spiderweb-like fissures spreading outwards.
"Serpent Core Cannon!" Frenzied Saber twisted the spear shaft with both hands.
The central blade of the trident suddenly shone with a blinding energy light, firing a plasma arc cannon, which Hao Tian dodged by turning his head.
The beam of light shot diagonally upwards, flashing by in an instant, piercing through a stone mountain and leaving a blazing red hole where the intense heat had created a layer of viscous magma.
Taking advantage of Frenzied Saber's missed sneak attack, Hao Tian raised his elbow to block, striking the spear shaft horizontally and deflecting the trident to the side. Immediately afterwards, he used a skill, a flash of light on his leg, and with lightning speed, slammed into Frenzied Saber's chest, stepping on him and landing on the ground.
"War Stomp!"
BOOM!!
As the back of the Frenzied Saber's blade touched the ground, a ring-shaped shockwave suddenly erupted, causing the ground to crack again and sink several tens of centimeters, forming a semi-circular crater around it. The immense pressure crushed all the rubble into dust.
The lingering shockwave swept across the ground, causing nearby rocky hills to collapse with a deafening roar. Dust was swept up and blown all the way to the edge of the battlefield's crater, instantly creating a sandstorm around the perimeter of the battlefield.
With his health and armor plummeting, Frenzied Saber straightened his back, and his mecha transformed into a drill, burrowing directly into the ground to escape Hao Tian's stinky feet.
Then, his figure burst out of the ground in the distance, his weapon now a huge cleaving axe. With a diagonal slash from a distance, the force field generator on the axe's surface produced an arc-shaped shockwave, which slashed out rapidly.
Puff!
With martial arts aura covering his arms, Hao Tian raised his hand to block the arc-shaped shockwave head-on.
The deflected shockwave flew into the air and struck the bottom of a floating spectator stand with a deafening roar. Amidst the excited clamor of the audience, a honeycomb-shaped ion shield appeared, blocking the attack.
In the trembling stands, two special envoys from the Federation of Light sat in the front VIP seats, recording the battle between Hao Tian and Frenzied Saber, whispering amongst themselves.
"The power of the Immortals has increased again. Compared to the last period of their disappearance, their strength has improved significantly. Excluding the Immortals in their infancy, the earliest batch has already achieved stable Grade B combat power."
"The Immortals have experienced three disappearance periods, each longer than the last. Their methods of increasing power differ from conventional training, exhibiting an independent cycle. It is estimated that if there is another disappearance period, the Immortals may step into the realm of Calamity Grade."
"What a terrifying bunch of creatures..."
The thought of tens of millions of immortal, Calamity Grade possibly emerging in the future universe sent a chill down the spines of the two special envoys.
Just thinking about it makes me feel like it would be a disaster.
As players increase their strength, they receive more and more attention from advanced civilizations, and more civilizations gradually begin to focus on studying the patterns of players, just like Sorokin did.
The Three Universal Civilizations also considered recruiting Immortals to serve as suicide squads, but the former players were relatively weak and did not meet their standards. Moreover, their tendency to disappear from time to time and their uncertain growth potential made the advanced civilizations hesitate.
Now that the player's growth cycle has been proven, advanced civilizations have to consider the possibility of the Immortals reaching the Calamity Grade and are willing to extend olive branches to offer better treatment.
The Black Star Army, possessing tens of millions of Immortals, naturally amplified the apprehension of major high-level forces.
Previously, they were mainly wary of Black Star himself, but now they have another group of people to be wary of.
For them, the legion is like holding a large number of high-quality stocks. If the Immortals can truly rise to the daily limit and reach the Calamity Grade, then the high-level combat power of the Black Star Army will instantly overwhelm a cosmic-level civilization.
On the other hand, the Black Star Army's unique appeal to the Immortals also surprised advanced civilizations.
If it weren't for the fact that the Black Star doesn't disappear periodically, they would have thought Han Xiao was also a member of the Immortals Race.
Meanwhile, Han Xiao, far away at the Black Star Palace, was not paying attention to the competition, but instead watching the Empire's public trial, which was to be held today.
The scene depicts the surface of a desolate planet, where the Traveler and another captured Beyond Grade A criminal are bound and kneeling on an execution platform, barely alive and unable to move.
The two were in extremely poor condition. Clottey's energy was inside them, constantly destroying and regenerating their cells, keeping them in a state of severe injury. They had basically lost their fighting ability and were unable to break free from their restraints.
Beside the two, a remote projection of an imperial official stood in front of the camera, loudly reading a prepared speech.
The speech consisted of reading out the crimes of the two Traveler: crimes against public order, war crimes, massacres, and all sorts of fabricated charges were piled on their heads, making them seem utterly wicked and that their existence was a waste of air.
Han Xiao was concerned about the Empire's verdict on the Traveler, and as expected, the Empire mentioned what he wanted to hear.
"... The Traveler has been operating under the guise of a neutral mercenary. However, investigations have revealed his true identity to be a Beyond Grade A cultivator secretly trained by the Modo Civilization. He is attempting to incite conflict between the Crimson Dynasty, the Federation of Light, and the Arcane Church, thereby undermining the order of the Explored Universe —a crime deserving of unforgivable punishment. It is currently unknown whether this action was orchestrated by the Modo Civilization; the Empire reserves the right to pursue legal action."
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao's lips curled into a smile.
"Hmph, maintaining a stance of pursuing accountability, that's typical of the Three Universal Hooligans. It seems the Empire has already spoken with Sorokin..."
He estimated that the Modo Civilization, which was originally just watching the show, is now completely dumbfounded, having been hit by a scapegoat out of the blue.
The Star Arc Civilization, the true owners of the Traveler, were likely both surprised and relieved.
However, Han Xiao had no intention of leaving Star Arc uninvolved and immediately summoned Phillip.
"You concealed your route and anonymously sent a document to the higher-ups of the Modo Civilization."
What are you buzzing about?
"It reveals that Star Arc is the true backer of the Traveler."
Han Xiao chuckled mischievously.
In this way, the bewildered Modo Civilization might think that the Star Arc was framing them, or that the Traveler were just biting people in a desperate situation.
Whether the Modo Civilization believes it or not is none of his concern. In any case, once they have a clue, the Modo Civilization will definitely find a way to verify it on their own. As for Star Arc, they are guilty and will create resentment between the two sides regardless of whether they can find out the truth or not.
Not only could it sow discord among the Super Star Cluster Alliance, but it also gave Modo a chance to create a new enemy, and all he had to do was send a message.
The cost of causing trouble is so low, why not?
"Tsk tsk, I'm such a naughty little thing..."
Han Xiao was in a great mood and continued watching the screen.
The sentencing was nearing its end, and the imperial official, with an air of righteous indignation, said in a deep voice:
"... In light of the aforementioned crimes, the Crimson Dynasty has decided to execute them by cannon fire, to be carried out immediately!"
After saying that, the remote projection disappeared, and a gap suddenly appeared on the execution platform beneath their feet, from which a fist-sized device rose up, which looked like some kind of beacon locator.
Han Xiao recognized it immediately. His eyes flashed, and he exclaimed in a low voice, "The Empire's mass-produced Universal Treasure, the Key of Destruction..."
At this moment, a matrix-like energy circuit lit up on the surface of the Key of Destruction, and a spatial passage suddenly unfolded in front of the two of them.
The other end of the passageway was filled with the long-range artillery fire of the Imperial Army Group, and was filled with blinding light.
Rumble--
The next moment, a devastating surge of energy erupted, filling every inch of vision!
The camera zooms out rapidly, shifting to a wide-angle view, looking down at the planet from the distant stars.
A burst of intense light erupted on the planet's surface, quickly forming a dazzling energy cluster, as bright as a star, which expanded rapidly and then enveloped the planet.
When the energy ball expanded to its limit, the enormous ball of light instantly contracted into a single point, like the image on an old-fashioned television set when it was turned off.
In the footage, the area after the explosion is empty; the planet has vanished without a trace, completely annihilated.
The already dying Traveler and another Beyond Grade A were killed by the concentrated fire of the Imperial army brought about by the Key of Destruction, leaving no trace of their bodies.
"What a waste..."
Han Xiao's lips twitched.
To create a big commotion, the empire deliberately chose to execute them by cannon fire, taking a planet with them as a sacrifice. It's a pity that their bodies were extremely rare research materials.
As expected of a large and powerful cosmic civilization, after so many years, it's probably not uncommon for them to have accumulated dozens of Beyond Grade A corpses in their cryogenics... Han Xiao felt a pang of envy.
Although the Traveler were enemies, Han Xiao still felt a sense of shared sorrow upon seeing Beyond Grade A being executed by a cosmic-level civilization. He guessed that other Beyond Grade A beings felt the same way.
"Alas, no matter how vast the universe is, it cannot surpass ambition; there is rarely space for harmonious coexistence... In the face of advanced civilizations, Beyond Grade A beings are at a disadvantage; there are simply too few humans..."
Thinking about the predicament of Beyond Grade A student, Han Xiao sighed inwardly.
Just as he was about to turn off the broadcast, a strange mental fluctuation suddenly came to his attention.
Who goes there?!
Han Xiao's eyes narrowed suddenly, and he abruptly turned to look at the center of the room, his eyes blazing with electricity as he instantly entered battle mode.
Before his eyes, clusters of black flames appeared out of thin air, converging to form the image of the Oathkeeper, the leader of the Sanctum, exuding an air of superiority.
The Oathkeeper landed gently on the ground, walked slowly towards Han Xiao, and spoke in a low voice:
"Black Star, don't be nervous. This is just a mind projection without any combat capabilities. I came here specifically to find you. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'd like to do some business with you."
"You..."
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao frowned, scrutinizing the face of the Oathkeeper, his tone somewhat uncertain:
"Is he the leader of the Sanctum Organization?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Oathkeeper the oath slipped and almost fell.
His expression, hidden under the hood, was one of utter bewilderment.
Holy crap, how did you know?!