A dozen minutes later, in a certain space in a deeper Secondary Dimension World.
On the vast, boundless white sea of sand, a flash of light suddenly appeared, and a figure fell out of thin air, landing with a thud on the sand. As if it had lost its footing, it staggered.
Han Xiao barely managed to stand, took a breath, and put away his black and gold Sovereign Mecha, revealing his battered body. Blood gushed from his gruesome wounds, seeping into the sand and quickly turning the ground a golden-red color. His body also had large scorch marks and necrotic cells, making it a truly shocking sight.
"Phew... I almost Fan Shuishui a hundred people by myself was definitely too much of a stretch. Ouch, that hurts."
A searing pain spread throughout his body, as if every cell was groaning. Han Xiao's face twitched slightly as he pulled out a syringe and injected a vial of high-concentration Aurora Life Essence into his body. A wave of numbness and comfort instantly swept over him, suppressing the pain and leaving his body feeling warm and comfortable.
A surge of platinum-gold light appeared, and Han Xiao's wounds quickly closed up, restoring him to a perfectly healthy body, leaving only congealed bloodstains.
It was quite dangerous just now. The combined strength of over a hundred Beyond Grade A exceeded his limit, including about twenty Peak Beyond Grade A and a powerhouse like the Tranquil Tree King. He was fighting alone.
Everyone here is Beyond Grade A. Even though his combat power is off the charts now, as long as he doesn't break through to a new rank, he still can't completely ignore the difference in numbers. Just the Tranquil Tree King alone is difficult to deal with. He is the strongest martial artist he has ever fought, not to mention that there are a bunch of powerful people helping him.
The process needs no further explanation. Gaining the upper hand was impossible, and even a draw was a pipe dream. The combined destructive power of so many powerful individuals exceeded his recovery rate. His health fluctuated wildly like a rollercoaster, and at the most dangerous moment, his life value even dropped below 16%. If it were any other Beyond Grade A beings Explored Universe, they would probably be completely dead by now. Even Urnos, who possessed the Arcane National Treasure, probably couldn't withstand it.
However, Han Xiao did not intend to fight to the death. He concealed many of his abilities, mainly to achieve his goal of obtaining information about the battle of the Tranquil Tree King.
Although the opponent is of a higher level, resulting in some of their attributes being questionable, many of their abilities have also been revealed, providing valuable information. If we encounter the Tranquil Tree King again in the future, we will be better prepared.
After receiving information from the Tranquil Tree King, Han Xiao dared not linger in battle. He immediately changed into Sovereign and retreated to a temporary Secondary Dimension where Throne had been buried, instantly escaping the encirclement.
"Having Secondary Dimension as a buffer makes it safer."
Han Xiao patted his chest, shaking off the bloodstains on his body, and changed into a new set of clothes.
Although the probability of the Sovereign's teleportation being tracked by the World Tree is very small, to be on the safe side, he still used the Secondary Dimension as a transit point instead of directly teleporting back to the Explored Universe.
Immediately afterwards, Han Xiao reclaimed the local Throne, leaving behind Secondary Dimension destruction device to shatter this Secondary Dimension, allowing it to be swallowed up by spatial turbulence and erasing all traces.
After doing all this, Han Xiao opened the panel and glanced at it; the [World Tree's Wrath] quest was complete.
As expected, the bigger the trouble he caused, the higher the mission evaluation became. He had already reached the highest rating, and the reward was quite generous. He received 7400e experience points, which was more than the experience he had gained from defeating the Three Universal Civilizations. This replenished his experience reserves and brought him one step closer to advancing to level 360.
Other reward notifications also appeared at the same time:
[You have received 5 random rewards and the milestone feat - [World Tree's Bane]]
[World Tree's Bane]: When you fight against an enemy of the World Tree faction, the actual damage you deal to them is increased by 12%, and there is a certain chance to inflict the [Fear] status.
[You have gained 5 Divine Transformation Points]
[You have gained 1 Universe Legend Points]
[Universe Legend Points: [Mysterious Outsider] -- You have left a fearsome reputation in the World Tree Civilization. Countless people know of you as a powerful and mysterious outsider, and are terrified. Your deeds are sung here, shaking the World Tree, and can almost stop children from crying.]
"This is impressive." Han Xiao's eyes lit up.
[World Tree's Bane] goes without saying; it's a faction-specific specialty, similar to [Elderly Killer]. The effect is simple, but quite practical.
The 5 points of Divine Transformation were exactly what I needed, equivalent to creating five Universal Treasure. Currently, my Void Divine Transformation is at level thirteen, just 2 points away from leveling up. This windfall is enough to raise my Void Divine Transformation to level fourteen, with some to spare. I'm not far from reaching the perfect level fifteen, which reduces my workload.
This final Universe Legend Points clearly left a deep impression on the World Tree Civilization, filling them with apprehension. He became a celebrity, and the World Tree's forces should be able to recognize him at a glance the next time they meet.
There was one last reward notification on the panel. Han Xiao glanced at it and saw that it was a reward of a fragment from one of the various Sanctuary. This meant that his level and authority in each Sanctuary had increased by one level, which was an extra reward for the highest mission rating.
"Wow, this is good stuff!"
Han Xiao was stunned for a moment, then burst into surprise.
The Sanctuary Authority is exactly what I urgently need right now. The higher the Authority, the closer the Sanctuary's time flow will be to the main universe. Being able to upgrade it extra from the mission is an unexpected bonus.
Suppressing his excitement, Han Xiao left the place with a bountiful harvest.
To be on the safe side, he plans to wander through deeper Secondary Dimension for a while before returning to the Explored Universe.
Meanwhile, the World Tree Civilization's territory, the battlefield of the recent siege.
The scene was a mess, with the wreckage of the World Tree fleet everywhere. Roots were sweeping up the battlefield, carrying away and devouring all the fragments and debris.
Meanwhile, in the command room of a main ship not far away, many powerful World Tree warriors who had participated in the siege surrounded the Tranquil Tree King, their expressions serious and solemn, with lingering horror. Some of them bore injuries.
Tedrian pressed his hand on the table, his tone one of surprise and disbelief.
"This outsider's combat strength is beyond doubt. He is one of the strongest individuals we have seen in our many years of conquering the universe. It's unbelievable that we couldn't kill him even with so many of us attacking together... It can be basically concluded that among us, probably none of us can match him in a one-on-one fight, and even Tree King would have a hard time gaining the upper hand."
Many powerful beings of the World Tree were still shaken, and many Peak Beyond Grade A beings remained silent.
Even the expressionless Tranquil Tree King didn't utter a rebuttal, but simply shook his head.
They were already surprised that this outsider dared to stay and fight back against an attack by hundreds of people. They didn't expect him to have the ability to fight back and even injure several of them.
Although they had the upper hand in the previous siege, this outsider was incredibly tough. He withstood the concentrated fire of hundreds of people and stood firm for more than ten minutes before finally managing to escape unscathed using a strange teleportation method.
Although the enemy was driven out, the outsider's overbearing behavior had left a deep imprint on everyone's minds, almost becoming a psychological shadow. Every time they recalled it, many people present couldn't help but feel shocked to the core.
"Although we've driven this outsider away this time, there's no guarantee they won't come back in the future, which is a very tricky situation."
Roxilian said in a deep voice.
Tedrian nodded, his tone grave.
"If we can't restrict their special teleportation methods, our territory has practically become their backyard. They can come and go as they please, putting us at a disadvantage... We can't possibly clear out the entire star system and mobilize so many troops to pursue them every time."
As he spoke, his expression grew increasingly astonished, and he said in a deep voice:
"Moreover, only civilizations with extremely advanced individual superhuman abilities can produce individuals of this level. Who knows how many high-level combatants of the same caliber exist within this alien civilization? We've revealed too many secrets this time. If they send more superhumans of the same level next time, we'll be in trouble."
Upon hearing this, everyone felt a chill run down their spines, filled with worry.
Han Xiao's astonishing combat power led them to make a mistaken judgment, believing that there were many more powerful individuals of the same level in the Explored Universe, which made them tremble with fear.
They have always been Conqueror, primarily the ones who initiate invasions, but now they feel a rare sense of fear, and even have thoughts of fleeing.
"So what are your opinions?" another executive asked.
Tedrian gritted his teeth and said:
"This unknown civilization has already obtained our coordinates. My suggestion is to clear all star systems and immediately relocate our base. This will prevent us from being harassed further, and then we can try to find out more about them."
"That's certainly one approach, but it doesn't leverage our strengths..." someone objected. "Staying here and letting the enemy continue to harass us will only deepen the information entanglement, allowing us to pinpoint the location of this unknown civilization more quickly."
Before Tedrian could speak, someone else interrupted, saying:
"I don't think that will work. This outsider has used tricks to bewitch Babani, and they now know all these secret abilities. They'll definitely avoid getting entangled with more information and won't fall for it."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked helpless. The biggest problem now was not that the outsiders were powerful, but that the intelligence gap was too large. Their side had been leaked too much, while they knew almost nothing about the outsiders.
The group split into two factions, one advocating for relocation and the other for staying, and they began to argue.
"Your Excellency, Tree King, what are your thoughts?"
Tedrian turned his head.
Everyone stopped discussing, and ultimately the Tree King had to make the final decision.
The Tranquil Tree King closed his eyes and pondered for a while before opening them again.
"No need for relocation. Territorial losses are unimportant; information entanglement is more crucial. We've already established some overlap. I'll accelerate the World Tree's sensing speed, and simultaneously, notify the Future Information Perceiver team to increase the prediction frequency. Also, I'll have the expeditionary exploration teams sent out over the years speed up their journeys..."
After a pause, the Tranquil Tree King slowly said:
"Furthermore, strengthen internal surveillance and deploy more detection devices. Outsiders have already obtained some of our classified information, and we can no longer rely solely on the Information State Warning Network... If outsiders are detected again, notify me immediately."
Beneath the calm exterior of the Tranquil Tree King, his heart was in turmoil. Han Xiao's combat strength had also surprised him, though he remained outwardly composed.
Although he didn't say anything, the Tranquil Tree King had already deeply remembered Han Xiao and was looking forward to fighting him again.
On one hand, there was the fighting spirit essential to martial artists; on the other hand, the World Tree expressed its desire for Han Xiao...
The Mother Tree has an extremely strong appetite for everything new, demanding that the Tranquil Tree King put this outsider into its mouth as a tribute.
As one of the implementers of the World Tree's will, the Tree King's mission is to meet the World Tree's needs, which he cannot refuse.