Apostles

A portion of the Aberration Feral Beasts that should have charged through the zone ahead of Lu Yuan had been redirected to either flank. The Battle Emperors and Battle Sovereigns on both sides instantly felt their pressure skyrocket — they were struggling desperately, barely holding the line.

They were speechless. This monstrous human had slaughtered enormous numbers of Aberration beasts. So why weren't those beasts charging *him* for revenge? Why were they coming after *everyone else*?

For a time, the Battle Emperors and Battle Sovereigns along the flanks were steadily pushed back by the surging horde.

Lu Yuan noticed and frowned slightly. A ring of silver-white light bloomed in his eyes — light that seemed to ripple with hidden spatial distortions, impossibly profound.

He raised both hands and extended them to either side.

In an instant, across the entire breadth of the city wall — from dozens of kilometers out to hundreds — Spatial Vortexes materialized one after another, drawing in Aberration Feral Beasts and consuming them. King Grade and Sovereign Grade Aberrations died on the spot. Even Emperor Grade Aberrations could only wrench free with tremendous effort, and emerged heavily wounded even then.

What remained of the horde squeezed through the gaps between vortexes and pressed on toward the city wall.

In truth, if Lu Yuan had gone all out, he could have blanketed the entire space within a hundred kilometers of the wall in Spatial Vortexes. The expenditure would have been significant, but expenditure was the last thing he needed to worry about.

The problem was, other Gene Warriors were holding the line here as well. He couldn't hoard all of it for himself — the others deserved a taste of the action.

At that moment, a chorus of roars split the air. Three overwhelmingly powerful Saint-grade auras surged in from the distance, and Lu Yuan felt every single one of them lock onto him.

*More of them coming out because I've been too conspicuous?*

He had expected this. He had seen the Aberration Source himself — one Saint-grade Aberration would never have accounted for all the pressure that had been lurking. There had to be more in reserve.

Sure enough, the moment he moved, out they came.

"Hmph. Seeking death."

Gladys sensed the Saint-grade auras and dissolved — her body scattering like a curtain of dark-red flame. Silas's star-flecked eyes turned cold as ice; his form broke into starlight and vanished.

Moments later the sky thundered, shockwaves rolling outward from the direction of those auras. Two Battle Saints were clashing with three Saint-grade Aberrations simultaneously, five presences hammering together, drifting further and further away — drawing steadily toward the zone where the Twin-headed Demon Race Battle Saint had already engaged the first Saint-grade Aberration.

Lu Yuan spared them a single glance before pulling his attention back to the Spatial Vortexes.

With the vortexes in effect, the Beast Tide had been gutted in a remarkably short span. The Battle Emperors and Battle Sovereigns who had been on the verge of collapse shot grateful looks at Lu Yuan, then threw themselves back into cutting down Aberrations. The threat to their lives had all but evaporated — and there were still Aberrations to kill, still Merits to earn.

It amounted to Lu Yuan feeding Merits directly into their hands. Every fighter in earshot felt the warmth of it.

"This human is genuinely a good person."

"Seriously — power like that and he still looked out for the rest of us."

"..."

Low murmurs rippled through the ranks.

Lu Yuan paid them no mind. He swept his gaze toward the beast horde.

From the Dark Night Forest, pulsing with sickly green light, Aberrations poured out without pause. Though Lu Yuan had effectively constructed a wall of Spatial Vortexes between the forest and Dark Night City, smothering the tide entirely in a short window was not feasible.

For Lu Yuan, this was not a problem — it was an opportunity.

He could feel it with every passing second: each Aberration Feral Beast that died in the tide released a thread of unknown energy that drifted free and was drawn into the Evolution Cube within him. The Cube pulsed with deep blue radiance, steadily drinking in that power, building toward its next metamorphosis.

This was a *Beast Tide*. An entire horde of Aberration Feral Beasts, all King Grade or higher. By the time it ended, even if the Evolution Cube had not yet completed its transformation, it would have taken an enormous stride closer.

And beyond that, the will of the Land of Origin was inscribing Merits into his Gene Battle Mark without pause.

In just this brief span, the Merits accumulating had already exceeded five thousand — several times more than the total he and Li Qinghe's group had gathered across their entire trek through the Dark Night Forest.

*After this Beast Tide, it might actually be worth making a trip to the Merit Hall.*

Even if the truly precious items were out of reach, exchanging Merits for cultivation spirit fruits at the Battle Sovereign tier would be more than worthwhile. Once he evolved those fruits to Emperor Grade, all seven Saint-grade Transcendent Genes he was currently engraving would reach peak refinement at maximum speed — and a breakthrough would follow.

Hmm... evolving spirit fruits would require a fair number of Spirit Crystals. He'd need to prepare for that too.

His plan: after returning to Sky-Mending City, he'd auction off the surplus Emperor Grade Transcendent Genes he had no use for.

In the Lower Layer, Emperor Grade Transcendent Genes were difficult to sell — Battle Emperor-level fighters were scarce even across all of White Cloud City. Sky-Mending City was different. As the Human Race's largest and only city native to the Land of Origin, it had Battle Emperors in abundance. Buyers would never be an issue.

Even the more ordinary Emperor Grade Transcendent Genes should sell for tens of millions to over a hundred million Sixth-tier Spirit Crystals. The rarer ones could easily fetch several hundred million — potentially over a billion.

Sell them all, and he'd have the Spirit Crystals to evolve his cultivation fruits, enough to push through his breakthrough, with perhaps some left over to evolve additional Transcendent Genes.

Lu Yuan was drifting pleasantly through these thoughts when something tugged at the edge of his senses. He looked toward the Dark Night Forest in the distance.

On a large branch at the forest's edge, two figures in green robes stood upright, surveying the battlefield. Every Aberration Feral Beast that burst from the trees flowed around them as though they were invisible — not one gave them so much as a glance.

One was tall, with dark chitinous skin, a single horn jutting from his forehead, and two pairs of eyes. The other appeared human.

*A human and... a race I don't recognize?*

*What are those two?*

*Strong auras — probably Saint-level, though suppressed.*

*Why aren't the Aberration beasts attacking them? That doesn't add up. Aberrated beasts are driven by an all-consuming urge to destroy — to annihilate every living thing. They shouldn't be ignoring anyone.*

And furthermore...

Lu Yuan glanced at the green robes the pair wore, and a faint frown crossed his face. His thoughts drifted back to the Twin-headed Demon Race corpses they'd found in the forest, and the shattered Binxi corpse beside them.

That Binxi had also been wearing a green robe, hadn't it? Tattered — and he hadn't been certain the style matched. But instinct told him there was a connection.

He couldn't say for sure. But something in his gut whispered that the dead Binxi and these two strange Saint-level figures were linked.

His frown deepened. Just then, a boom cracked overhead — a piercing shriek cut across the sky — and a powerful aura faded rapidly and went dark.

He looked up toward the source. A Saint-grade Aberration had apparently been killed.

When he glanced back at the branch, the two figures were gone.

His eyes narrowed.

A heartbeat later, he turned and looked back at Li Qinghe, Si Tingyu, and Shuangyue. The three were locked in combat with several Aberration beasts behind him. Having caught Li Qinghe's earlier words, he'd deliberately let a few through for them to practice on. The beasts had been less than enthusiastic about the arrangement — he'd had to catch them himself.

Lu Yuan looked away. The shadows beneath him stirred faintly. Space rippled for just a moment. A shadow-figure detached from where he stood and vanished.

Deep in the Dark Night Forest.

Two green-robed figures cut swiftly through the air. Every Aberration beast in the forest gave them wide berth, streaming around them in the direction of Dark Night City.

The tall figure with chitinous skin, two pairs of eyes, and a single horn glanced upward, his voice carrying a faint shrill edge:

"We underestimated the Nightshade Race. Didn't expect them to bring in Dengba from the Twin-headed Demon Race and Silas from the Star Dwarfs. With those two here, five Saint-grade Aberrations won't be enough to accomplish anything."

Beside him, the human had short, ash-gray curls. His pale gray eyes held flat, detached calm as he replied:

"It doesn't matter. This attack was a probe from the start — a field test of the Aberration Crystal's capabilities. Whether it succeeded or failed is irrelevant."

The tall figure nodded in agreement.

Then something seemed to occur to him. His eyes narrowed with a trace of unease:

"That human Battle Sovereign — interesting. Battle Sovereign rank, yet power approaching Saint level. He looked toward us at the end. Do you think he spotted us?"

The human with ash-gray hair was quiet for a moment before replying evenly:

"Unlikely. The distance alone makes it improbable. And yes, there's the green flame — but it's still night. Without Saint-level vision, how could he possibly see us?"

"True enough."

The tall figure nodded.

The human paused, then continued: "That said — a Battle Sovereign with that kind of power is likely one of the strongest young fighters in the entire universe. Given time, he could become a liability. We should find an opportunity to eliminate him."

The tall figure nodded. "We'll report it when we return. We have followers spread across dozens of star systems — finding one person is simple."

He grinned, both pairs of eyes glinting with a hint of savagery:

"Heheh... The Heavenly Calamity spreads, and we only grow stronger. Our god's corruption of the universe deepens by the day. To think the Grand Archbishop actually managed to open a rift..."

He cast a lingering look at the Dark Night Forest. Something almost dreamy crossed his face as he half-closed his eyes and smiled.

"The Land of Origin... heh. Thought it could keep us out forever, did it? And yet, here we are. A pity we can't linger and cut down a few more Gene Warriors."

The human beside him glanced over, expression flat:

"Belok, that is exactly the thinking that got Kaili killed."

Belok's eyes narrowed. His tone was unhurried:

"That waste was only a Battle Emperor. How could I possibly be compared to him?"

"Oh? Then by all means — stay and deal with Dengba and Silas yourself."

Belok went still. He fixed his gaze on the human and said coldly:

"Mu Jing. Don't think that being one of the First Grand Archbishop's people gives you the right to talk to me like that. In the Apostle rankings, my standing is higher than yours."

A faint curve crept across Mu Jing's otherwise expressionless face.

"After we return, my ranking will be above yours."

Both pairs of Belok's eyes flashed cold. He stared at Mu Jing, studying him through narrowed eyes.

Mu Jing smiled thinly. "This is the Land of Origin. Are you really going to try something here? If you aren't afraid to die, I'm perfectly happy to oblige."

Belok stiffened. His gaze drifted away.

"Gather the others. Time to leave. The experiment's purpose has been fulfilled."

Mu Jing gave a small nod, still smiling. The two continued through the forest, moving toward the immense Spatial Rift gaping open in the distance.

Behind them, in the shadow beneath the trees, darkness rippled and twisted. A silhouette took shape.

The figure watched Belok and Mu Jing's forms shrink against the sky and finally disappear.

Outside Dark Night City, Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes, something sharp and cold flickering behind them.

He had trailed them the entire way, listening to every word. It wasn't a long conversation — but there was enough.

For one thing, these two were almost certainly not Gene Warriors. Otherwise, there would have been no reason to speak of being "isolated" from the Land of Origin — only Aberration-tainted Gene Warriors were refused entry.

And from what they'd said, this entire Beast Tide had been a deliberate experiment. A field test of something called an Aberration Crystal. Whether it succeeded or failed had apparently been beside the point.

He didn't know precisely what an Aberration Crystal was. But anything capable of triggering an Aberration Source couldn't be good.

Then there was what they'd said about their god's "corruption of the universe." About standing beside Aberration, worshipping it as a deity.

*Helping the Aberration devour the universe?*

A cold edge settled in Lu Yuan's eyes.

*That's pure treason against every living thing that exists.*

It was exactly the sort of thing he detested most.

Then there were the other terms — Grand Archbishop. Apostles. Rankings within their hierarchy.

Those were religious titles, weren't they? The kind you found in cults.

As for which cult — he only knew of one connected to Aberration. The one the Elf man had mentioned, back when he'd first witnessed an Aberration event.

A strange expression crossed Lu Yuan's face.

*Those two... they couldn't actually be from the Heavenly Calamity Cult, could they?*