Du Bei

After the man appeared, his gaze swept the area and came to rest on the spot where the Wings of Light fire had burned moments before. He raised an eyebrow slightly, then vanished from the spot — reappearing in that exact location.

The gray-haired man reached out a hand. Wisps of light-type power materialized from the void.

He narrowed his eyes, murmuring inwardly: *Light-type power... Is this the Battle Saint mentioned in the intelligence? A battle took place here not long ago — there's a familiar Aberration aura. It seems another Aberration appeared in this place. Interesting... Which would mean that Battle Saint is still somewhere on this planet.*

He glanced at the distant blue globe hanging in space.

In the next instant, he transformed into a streak of light and vanished, hurtling toward that planet.

Upon arriving on Great Qi Star, the gray-haired man melted into the shadows and made directly for a city.

He stood on the street. Not a single passerby noticed him.

He raised a slight eyebrow and laughed softly. "What a mundane little planet. The intelligence says Great Qi Star's strongest individuals are Battle Emperors — no Battle Saints on record. By my reckoning, that Battle Saint could be a native who has been hiding on this planet all along, never revealing themselves, which is why no one knows they exist. Alternatively, they might be an outsider who has some connection to this planet and has chosen to stay."

His gaze drifted across the busy streets as he strolled at a leisurely pace. As he walked, his appearance shifted, settling into that of a perfectly ordinary-looking human man.

He murmured to himself:

"First, investigate that Battle Saint. If their power is mediocre, I'll handle them personally. If their power is formidable... I'll read the situation and notify the Cult."

Shortly afterward, the gray-haired man arrived at a lavish hotel and walked inside.

Lu Yuan returned to his room and lay back on the bed, exhaling a quiet breath of relief.

He hadn't been entirely certain he could purge the Tianming Sage's Corruption, but now that it was done, the weight finally lifted from his chest.

He could cultivate in peace.

At his current level, even without dying out of the Land of Origin, waiting for the Light Gate to repair itself would still take over two weeks. During that time, he had cultivation to do.

Of course, if he were killed by an Aberration Feral Beast in the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin, the question of Light Gate recovery wouldn't come up at all.

He put those two weeks to good use — nights absorbing Spirit Power to temper Life's Gift, days sparring with Li Qinghe and Si Tingyu. Every so often he crossed blades with Si Tingxue and Rebecca as well.

After the Tianming Sage's Corruption was purged, he looked no different on the surface — but Lu Yuan could tell his mood had lifted noticeably from what it had been.

The Sage spent two days wandering the Red Maple Empire before taking his leave. Before departing, he extended an invitation for Lu Yuan to come visit Tianming Star someday.

Lu Yuan received the coordinates of Tianming Star from him. With his current Spatial Power, the journey wouldn't take long at all.

Spatial Type Transcendent Genes didn't excel at everything, but for sheer travel speed, nothing came close. Lu Yuan could cross the entire White Cloud Star Domain in less than half a day.

That, of course, was predicated on his limitless reserve of Spirit Power. Other Spatial Type Gene Warriors still needed time to recover.

Two weeks later. Upper Layer of the Land of Origin. Sky-Mending City.

A flash of white light — and Lu Yuan, Li Qinghe, and Si Tingyu emerged one after another from the Exit Hall.

The three exchanged glances and smiled.

"We're finally out." Li Qinghe's smile was bright. "I'm going straight to cultivate — burn through those Jade Sovereign Flowers as fast as I can. After that, I should be able to make a push for Battle Emperor."

Si Tingyu nodded. "Same."

"Then let's head to the Training Hall," Lu Yuan said.

He brought the two women along and Spatial-walked away from the Exit Hall, arriving at the Training Hall entrance.

Li Qinghe and Si Tingyu went to their respective Gravity Rooms. Lu Yuan had been about to do the same when he suddenly remembered items he'd put up for consignment a while back — he wondered if they'd sold.

A flicker of anticipation crossed his eyes. Instead of heading to the Gravity Room, he vanished and reappeared at the Auction House.

He claimed a private room and quickly pulled up the records on his consigned items. Over half had already sold.

Among them: Emperor Grade Transcendent Genes, high-quality Sixth and Seventh-tier Gene Armaments, gene medicines, and single-use Talismans.

The total came to over forty million Eighth-tier Spirit Crystals.

A substantial sum by any measure.

What gave him some regret was that only three of the Emperor Grade Transcendent Genes had moved — the rest were still sitting.

He could understand why. Although the channels for obtaining Emperor Grade Transcendent Genes had narrowed considerably, they could still be exchanged through Merits. The advantage of his consigned Emperor Grade genes was their fair pricing and Spirit Crystal payment — far more accessible than Merits. Even so, the ones that had sold were only those with genuinely notable abilities.

The more generic Emperor Grade Transcendent Genes would likely go unsold in the end. Battle Emperor-level powerhouses had ample time to accumulate Merits and Spirit Crystals; naturally they wanted the single best Emperor Grade gene suited to their needs.

This was a matter of their own strength. No one settled for mediocre.

Lu Yuan had long foreseen this and felt no particular surprise.

The one thing that genuinely stung was that this was Sky-Mending City — the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin — not White Cloud City. There was no rankings board here, which meant he couldn't leverage his standing on the Emperor Rankings to waive the Auction House commission. He had to pay out of pocket.

Sky-Mending City's commission rate was considerably lower than the Lower Layer's — only five percent.

Even so, that came to over two million Eighth-tier Spirit Crystals walking out the door.

A painful amount. It hurt just to think about.

But there was nothing to be done.

Lu Yuan withdrew the full proceeds.

If he converted all of it into evolved Jade Sovereign Flowers, he'd get roughly two hundred or so Saint Grade plants — equivalent to more than twenty million Eighth-tier Spirit Crystals' worth of spiritual energy, which should be enough to temper the majority of his Transcendent Genes to perfection.

After a moment's thought, he bought a selection of lower-quality items from the Auction House, evolved them up a tier, and put them back on consignment to keep the Spirit Crystals accumulating.

Then he returned to the Training Hall and got to work.

Tempering the Life's Gift Transcendent Gene to full perfection required approximately five million Eighth-tier Spirit Crystals in total. He still needed around four million worth. At his absorption rate of five thousand per hour, roughly two months of Land of Origin time would be enough.

In other words, this stay would last until Life's Gift hit perfection before he left.

He settled in and cultivated without distraction.

The real world.

Red Maple Empire border region. Le'nan City.

In the presidential suite at the top of Le'nan Grand Hotel — the most upscale establishment in the city — Du Bei, Sixth Apostle of the Heavenly Calamity Cult, stood at the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing down at the ordinary people flowing through the streets below. The human face he had assumed was utterly impassive.

A knock came at the door.

"Come in," Du Bei said flatly.

The door opened. A beautiful young woman entered and dropped to one knee, fervent devotion blazing in her eyes.

"My Lord, we have completed our investigation. The Aberration Feral Beast you inquired about appears to possess tremendous devouring ability. At the time, it consumed several large cities before being gravely wounded by a group of Battle Emperors. It has not been seen since."

"Gravely wounded by a group of Battle Emperors?"

Du Bei stared at the pedestrians below. Then he let out a quiet, contemptuous laugh.

"The Gaston Demon Dog — gravely wounded by a pack of Battle Emperors. Was it freshly hatched?"

The young woman stayed silent, head bowed.

Silence stretched through the room. Then Du Bei narrowed his eyes, his tone unhurried.

"By the way — why was the Tianming Sage here earlier?"

On his second day on Great Qi Star, Du Bei had sensed the Tianming Sage's formidable aura. He hadn't made a move. His mission was only to locate the Battle Saint who had killed the Gaston Demon Dog. As for the Tianming Sage — the Heavenly Calamity Cult had a full file on the man. He was formidably powerful, and even Du Bei couldn't be certain of a clean victory. If he could avoid unnecessary complications, he would.

Still, a Saint-level figure appearing on a planet as unremarkable as Great Qi Star was naturally worth wondering about.

"The Tianming Sage was invited by the Red Maple Empire's Battle Emperors to deal with the Aberration Feral Beast," the young woman replied, head still bowed. "Since the creature had already disappeared by the time he arrived, the Tianming Sage departed shortly afterward."

"I see..." Something clicked in Du Bei's eyes. "So the Tianming Sage was originally brought in to deal with the Gaston Demon Dog — only for an unknown Battle Saint to kill it first. He made the trip for nothing. But then, who was that Aberration Feral Beast from a few days ago?"

That detail puzzled him. The very day he'd arrived, he had detected the aura of a Saint-grade Aberration Feral Beast — but the thing was pitifully weak. It probably couldn't have posed a threat to the Tianming Sage.

*Should've just eaten it myself. Could've squeezed a bit of strength out of it.*

"And has there been any word on the hidden Saint somewhere on Great Qi Star?"

Du Bei dropped the thought and redirected his question.

The young woman gave a slight shake of her head. "Nothing."

"Hmm... A Saint who has never revealed themselves, tracked down in short order — that was always going to be unrealistic."

He wasn't surprised. He narrowed his eyes and thought.

Then he glanced toward the border — toward the Endless Mountain Range, which the people of the Red Maple Empire called the Forbidden Zone.

Zones like that were common enough on Great Qi Star. For a Battle Saint, they were unremarkable. Still, Du Bei thought he might be able to stir something up in there — flush that Battle Saint into the open.

He'd need to plan carefully. Getting exposed and cornered would be inconvenient.

A thin smile settled on Du Bei's lips.

Then he turned to look at the fanatical young woman and walked slowly toward her.

He smiled faintly, pressed one hand to the crown of her head, and spoke in a mild tone.

"You've done well. Allow me to give you a small reward."

Green light streamed from his palm, flowing slowly into the top of her head.

Green traceries spread across her delicate face. Her expression flickered between pain and pleasure; the devotion burning in her eyes grew several degrees more intense.

A moment later, the green light faded. Her aura was noticeably stronger than before — and stranger, more uncanny.

Excitement flared in her eyes.

"Thank you, My Lord."

"Go." Du Bei's smile was faint. "Serve me well, and someday there is no reason you couldn't be brought into the Cult — given the chance to follow at my side."

"Yes, My Lord!"

She rose, bowed, and backed out of the room, drawing the door carefully shut behind her.

Watching the closed door, Du Bei turned back to the floor-to-ceiling window and gazed out toward the sky.

He turned something over in his mind, then casually tore a rift in space and stepped through.

An instant later, in a forest deep within the Endless Mountain Range, space split apart and Du Bei stepped out.

Nearby, a Ground-Stalking Demon Dragon had been resting — more than twenty meters tall, its entire body sheathed in black Scale Armor. It sensed the spatial disturbance and lurched to its feet, coiling into a wary crouch and staring at Du Bei with wide-eyed alarm as he emerged from the Spatial Rift. Then it spun and bolted. Its instincts screamed that the creature who had just stepped out of that tear was not something it could afford to challenge.

Du Bei watched it flee. A smile touched the corner of his mouth.

He didn't give chase. He didn't move at all. He simply watched in silence as the Demon Dragon disappeared.

Then he closed his eyes slightly, extending his senses outward. A moment later, he opened them, a quiet smile on his lips.

"Emperor Grade Feral Beasts at the peak? A bit on the weak side — but passable, I suppose."

Du Bei's form vanished from the spot.

Upper Layer of the Land of Origin. Training Hall.

Lu Yuan sat cross-legged inside the Gravity Room.

Gray-iron light flowed and pulsed around him. Vast phantom gears rotated in an endless interlocking dance, and a fierce pressure radiated outward, rolling through the Gravity Room in waves.

After a while, Lu Yuan opened his eyes. Faint gear-shapes shimmered within his irises.

He exhaled slowly, feeling the power coursing through him. A smile touched his lips.

Life's Gift had been tempered to perfection. He'd also pushed the Mechanical Emperor well past the halfway mark.

All told, it had consumed close to four months of Land of Origin time.

His strength had risen by a significant margin.

At this pace, even if he couldn't finish tempering the Mechanical Emperor before leaving the Land of Origin this time, a few days next trip should close the gap. After that, there might even be a chance to bring Spatial Walker to perfection as well.

The progress was more than satisfying.

*Hmm... I should probably prepare to return to White Cloud City and claim the Emperor Rankings rewards before time runs short.*

Just then, Lu Yuan paused and reached for his Communication Crystal.

White light pulsed from it. He answered, and Li Qinghe's face appeared inside.

He was about to speak — but she was already talking, her expression taut with urgency.

"Yuan, something's happened again. Get out here, quick."

Lu Yuan: ???

*Why is there always something going on lately?*