Chapter 1228: Intensification

In the dark universe, a scene of utter devastation unfolded: severed limbs floated aimlessly, a spacecraft lay shattered into four pieces, alongside blood-stained heads and broken weapons, creating a landscape of utter chaos.

This marked the end of a fierce battle where supreme powerhouses from both sides clashed, resulting in mutual heavy casualties. Both forces retreated, bleeding, and several Saints lost their lives.

Saint Luanfeng, known as the Heavenly King, a formidable master who had risen in the past millennium, engaged in a fierce battle with the Nine Phoenix King. Neither gained the upper hand, and Luanfeng temporarily retreated to the Eternal Main Star.

The Ancient Race fell silent, realizing they had underestimated this starfield. They had not brought a Great Saint or an ultimate ancient imperial weapon, making the outcome of further battles highly uncertain.

"To retreat like this, I am truly unwilling," an Ancestor King from the Hun Tian Tribe stated coldly. "Although we acquired some evolutionary fluid, we also lost several Ancestor Kings. The cost has been too great; it's not worth it."

While the Nine Phoenix King was in seclusion healing, other Ancient Kings gathered to deliberate. They concluded that this ancient star likely harbored a Great Saint, and possibly even divine battle armor left behind by ancient gods, posing a significant threat.

"Let's abandon the idea of sweeping across the entire starfield for now," a cautious elder Ancestor King advised. "We should first thoroughly understand the situation before making any further decisions."

From that day on, both sides entered a stalemate. The Ancient Race no longer ventured easily into the massive life-bearing ancient star, instead lingering in the outer reaches of the domain. Occasionally, they would disguise themselves and enter, traveling to various locations in search of opportunities. However, the Eternal civilization's advanced technology was extraordinary, utilizing identification techniques like genetic imprinting. Ordinary disguises were utterly incapable of eluding their omnipresent detection systems.

The Sacred Beasts were incredibly powerful; monitoring systems were deployed in every corner of the vast starfield. Sometimes, an Ancestor King would be locked onto and trigger a conflict immediately upon their arrival.

This long-lasting confrontation gradually made the Ancient Race uneasy. They had learned that, besides Luanfeng's imminent ascension to a Great Saint, this world might harbor a truly peerless Great Saint. What disturbed them most was the existence of ancient divine armor, comparable to their own ultimate ancient imperial weapons. This revelation was a severe blow.

"Recently, while traveling in outer space to survey divine mines deep within the universe, we've constantly encountered individual Sacred Beasts, posing an extreme threat to our safety."

"We request the Great Saint to intervene, and for Luanfeng and other supreme experts to continue their deployment, to completely drive these fierce beasts out of the Eternal Starfield. Our peaceful lives have been disrupted."

The Ancient Race was naturally not benevolent. Although they had maintained a low profile recently, they were still active, causing numerous bloody incidents. People across the Eternal Starfield petitioned for their supreme experts to take action.

"I truly wish to annihilate their entire region, utterly shatter their sense of superiority, and condemn them to eternal slavery!" An Ancestor King's face turned ashen. His words were chilling, and his gaze was icy. A dignified Ancestor King, he felt incredibly stifled in this place, having been reduced to what others called "fierce beasts." He recalled their glorious days in Beidou, where the human race trembled in fear and awe before them. Now, however, they were constantly targeted, yet dared not make a move.

"Evil must be met with evil," Ye Fan sneered. "Neither side is benevolent; it's best if they keep fighting." Lately, he had been quite content. Having thoroughly assessed the strength of both sides, he believed that if no Great Saint reinforcements arrived from Beidou, these Ancient Kings would be unable to conquer the Eternal Starfield, and might even face total annihilation.

After half a month of confrontation, covert warfare, and killings, the Ancient Race grew increasingly wary, while the morale of the Eternal Main Star's inhabitants soared.

"Slaughter these Sacred Beasts and utterly eradicate them! Letting them cause trouble in the outer domain day after day has caused us too much distress!"

"These are massive and valuable prey! The flesh, blood, skin, and bones of these Sacred Beasts are all divine materials. Mighty warriors, take up your weapons, eliminate them, and bring them back for research!"

The people of the Eternal Starfield were a proud race, with a brilliant history, a glorious civilization, and a formidable foundation that allowed them to always look down upon this part of the universe. Now, their fighting spirit was high; they would not allow what they considered fierce beasts and exotic creatures to dominate space. Driven by this sense of superiority, they sought to expel all of them, leading to the deployment of various mercenary groups.

Many powerful organizations began issuing bounty missions, encouraging all supreme experts to venture into the outer domain and hunt Sacred Beasts.

"The Lanto family has issued a bounty, offering a rare ancient purple cloud crystal mine—which can be used to forge Saint-level mother ships—in exchange for a bottle of Sacred Beast blood. What a grand gesture!"

"I've heard that the Heavenly King Luanfeng's eldest disciple accepted the task. He secretly ventured into the outer domain, severely wounded an Ancestor King, and retrieved a bottle of blue blood, thereby acquiring that ancient mine."

"My goodness, it's truly enviable! That ancient purple cloud crystal mine, once thoroughly refined, can even be used to forge Saint King armor. It's one of the rarest and most precious materials."

People discussed it eagerly, all filled with envy and temptation. However, most could only watch, as they lacked the capability to hunt Sacred Beasts like the supreme figures.

"Oh, the Skyfire Mercenary Group has deployed a large fleet of cosmic battleships. They are a super-powerful organization, known for their fondness of colonizing native populations." However, the Skyfire Mercenary Group returned defeated, with many battleships destroyed. They only managed to retrieve a few drops of Saint blood, which were incidentally collected when they accidentally pierced an Ancient Race Ancestor King's arm. Many failed, but their numbers were overwhelming. As long as they possessed a cosmic mothership, anyone could attempt an attack.

"Major news! The Cao family has issued a sky-high bounty: whoever can successfully hunt a complete Sacred Beast will be awarded ten catties of Qianhuan Star River Divine Sand. It's truly astonishing!" This news caused a sensation. Qianhuan Star River Divine Sand was extremely rare, extracted from the cosmic galaxy, and could be used to forge Great Saint-level war tools. The Eternal Main Star naturally erupted in excitement; many desired this material, and those like Luanfeng, who were about to enter the Great Saint realm, paid even closer attention.

Finally, Heavenly King Miluo made his move. He had been in seclusion for centuries, a supreme powerhouse just half a step away from becoming a Great Saint. This time, he launched a formidable attack. A fierce battle erupted in the outer domain. Miluo was incredibly formidable, slaying an Ancestor King. The Ancestor King's massive body was preserved intact and delivered to the Cao family, allowing Miluo to obtain what he desired.

This was an extraordinary period, with battles constantly erupting. The Ancient Race also launched sharp counterattacks, and nine out of ten people who ventured into the outer domain to hunt were massacred. Notably, a powerful expert from the Primordial Royal Family, which ranked first among the Ten Ancient Royal Families, launched a surprise attack that sank an immortal sacred land. The conflict between the two sides escalated to a fever pitch.

Despite the widespread killings, the major mercenary groups of the Eternal Main Star and numerous warriors driven by the sky-high bounties continued their hunt for Sacred Beasts. They stopped at nothing, even resorting to detonating entire planets!

"I've had enough!" an Ancestor King fumed. "I truly wish to bathe this starfield in blood and exterminate this entire race!" In recent days, throngs of warriors, both powerful and weak, surged into space, all clamoring to hunt Sacred Beasts. This infuriated the arrogant Ancient Kings.

"So many have died, yet they still haven't learned their lesson, continuing to throw themselves forward! When will it end? I can no longer restrain myself! Seeing a swarm of ants boast they'll bite a lion to death makes me want to crush them all into dust!"

"Calm down," another urged. "The Eternal Main Star truly has powerful experts. Didn't you see? Heavenly King Miluo inexplicably appeared again, seeking to hunt us."

The Ancient Race was furious and exasperated, yet more and more warriors from the Eternal Starfield piloted battleships, setting various traps to hunt Sacred Beasts. During this period, a Dao Slasher spent a fortune at an auction house to acquire a forbidden artifact. He buried it on a small planet, where an unsuspecting Ancestor King later landed, accidentally triggering it. The entire small planet exploded, causing the Ancestor King to bleed profusely and retreat, severely wounded. This individual collected sufficient blood, inadvertently becoming a prime example that ignited a storm. It wasn't quite a mass hunt for Sacred Beasts, but it was close.

Many young people made grand vows to achieve "great deeds," each devising their own plans. Although most of them never returned, this fervor remained unstoppable. The beleaguered Ancient Race was repeatedly enraged, some trembling with anger, veins bulging. They carried out bloody reprisals, which in turn provoked powerhouses like Luanfeng and Miluo, leading to another fierce clash between the two sides.

Ye Fan sneered when he heard this. Throughout the process, he had deliberately fanned the flames, escalating the conflict between both sides. The lucky young man who had detonated a small planet and nearly killed an Ancient King was, in fact, him; he had acted that way to set an example for others.

His period of leisure did not last long, however. The Ancient Race exposed him, widely proclaiming that they had come for the Indestructible Golden Body and intended to capture this public enemy! The Eternal Starfield immediately erupted. The Cao and Fan families, among others who deeply resented him, were naturally incensed. Additionally, the twelve immortal legacies that had previously crusaded against Beidou—including the Sun-Never-Sets Royal Family, the Canghai Tribe, the Lanto Tribe, and the Zhao Family—were also gnashing their teeth. It was the Demon God and Ye Fan who had tricked them, leading them to misjudge the strength of the natives there. As a result, their vanguard forces were massacred by the Sacred Beasts, suffering heavy losses.

"What?! The Indestructible Golden Body has returned?! We'll dig three feet deep to find him and flay him alive!"

"Activate the gene imprint sensors! We'll search heaven and earth to capture him! It would be an affront to natural justice if he is not killed!"

The Eternal Main Star fell into disarray as forces from all sides mobilized, searching together for Ye Fan, desperate to find his trace. Ye Fan inwardly rejoiced, recognizing the immense utility of Great Emperor Wushi's Heaven-Deceiving Array Patterns. They concealed all life imprint characteristics, rendering the sensors, which even Ancient Kings couldn't evade, utterly useless against him. He suspected that Great Emperor Wushi had likely encountered similar troubles when traversing this area in the past, which was why he had incorporated special considerations when devising this array.

The Ancient Race sneered repeatedly, their murderous intent fully exposed. Even they were frequently detected and found it difficult to completely evade the sensors, so they believed Ye Fan would soon reveal himself.

"Just wait for him to emerge; we'll hack him to pieces!"

"The Green Copper Cauldron is ours! And his corpse must be brought back to Beidou. He has offended myriad races; even if he flees to the ends of the universe, he will be slain!"

Ye Fan's true form remained concealed. Calmly, he initiated another operation. "Warriors, what are you waiting for? Go to the outer domain, hunt Sacred Beasts, conquer them, and make them your mounts! We shall be Sacred Knights!" Ye Fan no longer pretended to be the "lucky" young man from last time. This time, he intended to display his true strength and incited a large group of people.

Piloting an ancient Saint-level war machine, he led the group in setting up one spatial trap after another in the outer domain. Then, he alone went to lure Sacred Beasts. Others certainly couldn't manage it, but when he was unobserved, he didn't need to conceal his power, capable of slaying Ancient Saints! He attacked relentlessly, beating an Ancestor King to the brink of death before teleporting it into a spatial trap, triggering a violent explosion.

"We've slaughte... we actually slaughtered a Saint!" A group of passionate warriors cheered, discovering that the Ancestor King's forehead had been shattered by the forbidden artifact. Blood splattered as it perished in the cold expanse of the universe.

"Ah, if only its Immortal Platform hadn't been shattered, we could have truly captured it alive and become Sacred Beast Knights!" The group sighed, but remained immensely pleased. In the outer domain, they meticulously divided the Sacred Beast among themselves before returning separately to the Eternal Main Star. This was undoubtedly sensational. A group of warriors, though not immensely powerful, had defied all odds by slaying a Sacred Beast and truly returned laden with success. Undoubtedly, this set another precedent, inspiring a large number of passionate, albeit relatively weaker, experts. Driven by powerful ambition, they rushed into the outer domain one after another, igniting a storm.

The Ancient Race was truly enraged; some Ancestor Kings trembled with fury, their veins bulging, wanting to kick this ancient star into pieces.