Lurking

After reaching consensus, one of the Battle Emperors — a middle-aged man with short cyan hair — wore a solemn expression as he produced a white Talisman. He channeled Spirit Power into it, and the Talisman flashed. High above, the green dog froze in place as the space around it distorted and solidified.

The creature let out a shriek. Green radiance surged across its body, and the air crackled and groaned, fractures splitting through space like shattering glass.

"Move now!"

Seeing this, the cyan-haired Battle Emperor's expression shifted. He barked the order in a low, urgent voice.

Six of the other Battle Emperors simultaneously reached for Talismans and single-use special treasures — Li Xinghai and Si Qi among them. Spirit Power flooded in, and the items released auras of terrifying, overwhelming power.

These were all Saint Grade items.

The remaining Battle Emperors drew their most powerful trump cards or unleashed their strongest attacks. Saint Grade offensive treasures weren't something every Battle Emperor could obtain — some held only escape-type Saint Grade items, while others may have had offensive ones but already spent them.

Spirit Power surged as every attack converged on the immobilized green dog.

The creature's green pupils contracted slightly. It snarled, unleashing a torrent of green mist that coiled around it and formed a glowing barrier. Layers of green flame burned along the barrier's surface, pushing back the incoming strikes.

Then the full barrage landed.

**BOOM.** Every attack crashed into the green barrier at once. The shockwaves that erupted were catastrophic — the sky itself fractured under the combined force, Spatial Rifts tearing open as spatial storms raged in all directions.

Even Battle Emperor-rank powerhouses struggled to hold their ground in the backlash. They fell back, watching the blaze of light with guarded eyes.

The hammering continued. Crack after crack spread across the barrier's surface. Faced with simultaneous Saint-level Combat Technique strikes from over a dozen Battle Emperors, it finally shattered — and the remaining force crashed directly into the green dog.

Its body was extraordinarily resilient, but even it couldn't fully withstand Saint-level blows. Savage wounds split open across its frame, and corrosive green blood sprayed outward in a torrent.

The agony was immense. The green dog let out a roar of pure fury — and in the same instant, Li Xinghai's Spirit Sword Talisman landed.

The creature's entire body convulsed violently, a piercing, ear-splitting shriek tearing from its throat.

The force of that shriek sent a momentary blank washing through every Battle Emperor's mind.

Far away in distant cities, ordinary people who heard the creature's cry simply collapsed — widespread panic breaking out across the region.

The mental attack was clearly devastating to the green dog. Its aura dropped sharply, the will sustaining its remaining defenses fractured, and its wounds multiplied — its body actually splitting in two, green blood drifting free in the air.

Seeing the creature cleaved apart and its aura plummeting toward nothing, Li Xinghai and the others felt a surge of relief. Smiles broke out.

"It's working — it's nearly dead!"

Ge Hong's eyes lit up, her voice ringing with excitement.

Then the green dog's glowing eyes swept the assembled Battle Emperors with a gaze of pure, seething hatred. It let out a low growl. The space around it warped — its body dissolved into green mist and vanished.

Everyone's expression changed at once.

"The spatial binding is broken! The creature has spatial abilities — it's fleeing!"

Wells had fought the green dog before and was the first to grasp what had happened. Battle Saint-level attacks were devastating in their own right, but such overwhelming force had also torn the surrounding space apart — shattering the spatial binding along with it and handing the green dog its opening to escape.

Adams spoke up. "It still has life force. If it gets away, we'll have a serious problem. Can anyone determine the direction of its spatial movement?"

The others' expressions darkened. A handsome young Battle Emperor with a head of stark white hair reached into his robes and produced a Talisman bearing the image of an eye. He channeled Spirit Power into it, closed his eyes, and concentrated — then shook his head, his expression grim.

"No. The spatial ability of an Aberration Feral Beast is... unusual. Without powerful spatial force of your own, it's impossible to detect. Even a Sovereign Grade spatial gene probably couldn't track it."

That settled over the group like a stone.

"What?! Then what do we do?! We finally had a real chance to kill this thing — if it escapes and recovers, it'll be a catastrophe for Great Qi Star!"

Wells's expression was ice-cold. "After suffering like this, it won't show itself in front of a large group of Battle Emperors again. This creature is cunning. It may start hunting us down one by one in the shadows. Can any of you defend against assassination attempts from a Battle Saint who specializes in spatial abilities?"

Brows furrowed all around. No one had a good answer.

Adams drew a slow breath, his voice dropping low. "And that's not even the worst of it. The worst is that this creature can devour others to grow stronger. After it swallowed Bie Yuan, its aura increased considerably. If it spends time in hiding, quietly devouring life to build its strength — it could become far more powerful than it is now. And by then, even if we still had Saint Grade trump cards left to use, there's no guarantee we could threaten it anymore. Besides..." His gaze moved across the group. "Does anyone actually have another Saint Grade offensive Talisman?"

The silence that followed answered for them.

After a long pause, Si Qi exhaled slowly. "If what Adams says is true — that it needs to devour enormous amounts of life to recover — then we post people across Great Qi Star to watch for signs. Any region reporting a sudden mass disappearance of life is almost certainly its work."

Wells glanced at Si Qi. "Even if we locate it, it has powerful spatial abilities. Can we actually catch it?"

Silence again.

After a moment, Li Xinghai let out a quiet sigh. "We need to call for help. A Saint-grade Aberration Feral Beast is beyond what Great Qi Star can handle alone. We go to Sky-Mending City and request aid from other Saint-level powerhouses. This has stopped being just Great Qi's problem — if that creature devours this entire planet, the whole White Cloud Star Domain will be in danger. Let's hope a Battle Saint can reach us quickly."

One by one, the others slowly nodded.

They discussed logistics for a while longer, then went their separate ways.

Somewhere deep in a vast forest on Great Qi Star, the space shimmered. Green mist bled into the air, coiling and condensing — until the green dog's form solidified.

What remained of it was barely more than a head and a short stub of body. Even that fragment was riddled with wounds, corrosive green blood dripping steadily from the gashes, eating tiny craters into the earth wherever it fell.

The green dog panted shallowly. Its green eyes brimmed with hatred. Despite being an Aberration Feral Beast, it possessed no small measure of intelligence — it understood that it had been careless. Those life-auras had registered as far inferior to its own, incapable of truly threatening it. It had not expected them to push it to the brink of death. For a creature with retribution burned into its nature, this would not go unanswered — but first, it needed to recover.

While the green dog was still drowning in that hatred, a pair of low growls cut through its thoughts. Two surges of aura approached rapidly, and the surrounding forest began to tremble.

The green dog raised its head.

Two Iron Armor Tyrant Dragons emerged from the trees — each standing over five meters at the shoulder, their hides layered with grey-white Scale Armor. Their savage eyes fixed on the green dog with a flicker of confusion, as if uncertain what they were looking at.

Iron Armor Tyrant Dragons were Fourth-rank Feral Beasts, and formidable ones at that. They regarded the green dog with wary curiosity, sensing something dangerous, but neither advanced.

The green dog's lips peeled back in a grin. Green slime dripped from the corners of its mouth. It opened its jaws.

An immense suction force erupted — and both massive Iron Armor Tyrant Dragons were hauled toward it with irresistible force.

The dragons roared in fury, pouring every ounce of strength into resistance, but no matter what they did, they couldn't break free.

As they drew close to the green dog's open maw, their bodies began to dissolve. The two enormous Iron Armor Tyrant Dragons melted into pools of green slime — and were swallowed.

The moment they were consumed, patches of green mist rose from the green dog's wounds. The bleeding slowed, then stopped. The flesh began to knit itself back together.

The creature rose into the air. Its green eyes held a cold, predatory gleam. It suppressed its aura and drifted silently in the direction where it sensed other Feral Beast presences.

In the Land of Origin's Auction House.

Lu Yuan watched his consigned treasures sell off one by one, each converting into Spirit Crystals. A quiet smile crossed his face — this was the satisfaction of a harvest well-earned.

Sales had been steady over this period. Every item was a rare treasure with no fixed market price, and as long as Spirit Crystals were the currency, every type of Gene Warrior needed them.

A little over two weeks had passed, and Lu Yuan was still two million Seventh-tier Spirit Crystals short of one hundred million.

Resources at that scale rivaled or surpassed most Battle Emperor-rank powerhouses. Even a newly advanced Battle Saint might not have Spirit Crystal reserves to match his.

The remaining items in the Auction House could still yield around ten million more in Seventh-tier Spirit Crystals.

For his purposes, more than enough to cover his cultivation expenses in the near term.

Just then, his Communication Crystal lit up. He blinked and opened it — Amy.

There was a trace of worry in her expression. He raised an eyebrow.

"Amy, what happened? You don't look very happy."

Amy gave a small nod. "Right — Great-grandfather said that not long ago, a Saint-grade Aberration Feral Beast suddenly appeared on Great Qi Star. All the Battle Emperors on Great Qi Star went to deal with it, but they couldn't kill it, and it escaped. The creature is very cunning. When it recovers, Great Qi Star will probably be in serious danger. Great-grandfather wanted me to give you a heads-up."

As she spoke, the memory of the terrifying aura she'd sensed surfaced in her mind. A flicker of fear stirred in her large violet eyes.

Lu Yuan's eyes went wide. "A Saint-grade Aberration Feral Beast? On Great Qi Star?"

Aberration Events weren't uncommon across the universe, but Great Qi Star had never once seen an Emperor-grade Aberration Event or an Emperor-grade Aberration Feral Beast. A Saint-grade one was the last thing he'd expected.

His first instinct was to wonder whether it had something to do with the Elf from before. The Elf man had died only recently — and now a Saint-grade Aberration Feral Beast had appeared. The timing felt too convenient to be coincidence.

But Lu Yuan had no evidence. It was only suspicion.

Then again — could Adams and the rest really be that capable? Only Battle Emperors, and they actually held their own against a Saint-grade Aberration Feral Beast?

While he was still turning this over, Amy gave another small nod, her voice carrying a lingering edge of fear. "Yes, Saint-grade. Great-grandfather said it was incredibly dangerous — the Aberration Feral Beast appeared inside Lion Empire territory. Two Battle Emperors even died... Great-grandfather said if reinforcements hadn't arrived in time, he would have been at risk too."

Lu Yuan frowned. "If the creature escaped, can't they track it down? If Adams and the other Battle Emperors managed to wound it, why not press the advantage?"

Amy shook her head. "Great-grandfather said it has powerful spatial abilities. It used them to flee, and they have no way to find it."

Lu Yuan went still.

Spatial abilities?

*Hmm... in that case — he might actually be able to find it.*

It was a shame he hadn't been there at the time. If he had, there might have been a real chance to finish the creature off.

*I was in the Land of Origin the whole time and didn't even know this was happening.*

Now that the window had passed, Great Qi Star was vast — finding the creature would be nearly impossible even if he tried.

Saint-grade...

A thread of unease wound through him. *If I break through to Battle Sovereign rank and inscribe another Transcendent Gene, then evolve everything — I'd have seven Saint Grade Transcendent Genes. Most Battle Emperors probably couldn't touch me at that point. And Battle Saints... if I can temper several of those genes to perfection, there might actually be a chance.*

*After all, an ordinary Battle Saint would have Saint Grade genes at most. Battle Saints with Divine Grade genes must be vanishingly rare. With several Saint Grade genes behind me, even two full major realms below Battle Saint rank, I wouldn't necessarily be outmatched.*

*The question is — when will the Aberration Feral Beast surface again? It took serious damage. Recovering from wounds that severe has to take time.*

At that thought, Lu Yuan furrowed his brow and made his decision. He wasn't going to wait any longer for the remaining Auction House items to sell. He'd lose some commission fees by pulling out early — but building strength quickly mattered more. If something truly went wrong, he needed to be in a position to fight back.

At that moment, Amy's voice reached him again. "Oh — Great-grandfather also left for White Cloud City. He's apparently going to request help from a Battle Saint in the White Cloud Star Domain. Hopefully one arrives soon."

That triggered a memory.

The Elf elder he'd encountered on Ice Vein Star — the one who'd mentioned that Lu Yuan could contact him through Sky-Mending City in the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin.

A Battle Saint with a spatial gene would have no trouble dealing with a Saint-grade Aberration Feral Beast, would he?

If things truly got desperate, seeking out that Elf elder remained an option — a backup plan worth keeping in mind.

Of course, Lu Yuan was not the type to leave his fate in another's hands. And that Elf elder was a Restorer — almost certainly occupied with mending Spatial Rifts. If he happened to be absent from the Land of Origin at a critical moment, the entire plan would collapse.

*Better to break through and power up first.* Adams and the others had already gone to find a Battle Saint. Perhaps the situation would resolve on its own — and then he wouldn't need to worry at all.