# Chapter 316: The Saints' Shock

"War God-level?"

Xia Zhi and the others let out low gasps, a trace of reverence creeping into their eyes as they stared up at the golden sun.

Violette felt her own strength surging dramatically under the radiance, and she couldn't help furrowing her brows in puzzlement.

"There are only eight War Gods in total across our Human Race territories, and I've never heard of one possessing such overwhelmingly powerful light energy. Who could this War God be?"

Sherry, standing beside her, looked equally baffled. "Could it be someone who's newly ascended to War God?"

"Mm, it's possible." Violette nodded.

While the group was discussing, Gene Warriors throughout the forest who had been besieged by monsters were also bathed in the golden radiance. Aside from those wielding darkness-type powers, every warrior received a substantial boost in strength, and even their wounds were mending at a visible pace. The Aberration Feral Beasts surrounding them, meanwhile, shrieked in agony as they crumbled to ash — even Sovereign Grade Aberration Feral Beasts couldn't escape that fate.

As a result, countless Gene Warriors stood in stunned disbelief, speculating about the sun hanging in the sky above them. Some of the more knowledgeable among them were already debating which War God-level powerhouse could possibly be responsible.

High above, Lu Yuan was pouring Heart of Light's full power into erasing the Aberration flames, assisting the Land of Origin's innate will in sealing the Spatial Rift while simultaneously monitoring the forest below.

Heart of Light naturally suppressed enemies, and Aberration Feral Beasts exposed to its radiance burned away as though cast into a furnace. None of this surprised him.

At full power, his light energy could blanket half the entire Skywaste Forest. The Spatial Rift had only just appeared, and the Aberration Corruption hadn't had time to spread far. A single sweep of his Mental Power confirmed it — virtually all traces of Corruption had been wiped clean.

When he noticed Anastasia and her group not far below, a peculiar expression crossed his face.

*They're here too?*

After a moment's thought, it made sense. This area wasn't too far from the Dark Night Forest, and the Skywaste Forest was far richer in resources — more Aberration Feral Beasts, too. With Anastasia's pride, she'd probably come specifically for the Aberration beast nesting grounds. He understood immediately why they were here.

Under normal circumstances, Anastasia's group had more than enough strength, especially with Miss Violette and another Battle Emperor he didn't recognize serving as escorts. They should never have been in any real danger. They'd simply been dealt a bad hand this time.

Good thing he happened to be here.

Lu Yuan grumbled inwardly. *Why is it always Anastasia's group at ground zero whenever something goes wrong? Last time it was the Dark Night Forest — and that's the Nightshade Race's own stronghold, for heaven's sake.*

*She doesn't have some bizarre constitution that attracts Aberration Sources, does she?*

Of course, he was only joking with himself. He had nothing else to do at the moment except maintain Heart of Light until the Spatial Rift subsided.

Just then, Lu Yuan's eyes narrowed. He raised his gaze toward a patch of sky nearby.

Space rippled, and a figure stepped through.

Lu Yuan froze, then blinked in genuine surprise.

This was a powerhouse he'd encountered once before — the Elf Battle Saint who wielded spatial energy, Solomon Silver Moon. The very Restorer Lu Yuan had met while repairing a Spatial Rift on Ice Vein Star.

Back then, Solomon had invited him to seek him out at Sky-Mending City once his cultivation improved. And when Lu Yuan first arrived in Sky-Mending City, he'd actually considered looking Solomon up about becoming a Restorer — but ultimately decided to focus on cultivation instead.

He hadn't expected to run into the Restorer Battle Saint here.

Solomon's normally genial face was taut with gravity. Upon hearing that a bizarre Aberration Source had appeared in the Skywaste Forest, he'd rushed over without hesitation to quell it.

But the moment he stepped out of his spatial passage, he detected no trace of Aberration energy. Instead, he was struck by an overwhelmingly powerful aura of light.

That blazing sun hung right before him, nearly searing his eyes.

Solomon's mind went blank.

*Where did the Aberration go?*

*Who dealt with this?*

His gaze snapped to the sun nearby. With his strength — formidable even among Battle Saints — he could peer through the veil of light and see what lay within.

When he caught sight of Lu Yuan inside, Solomon paused. Then he frowned, a nagging sense of recognition tugging at him. Something about this human seemed familiar, as if he'd seen him somewhere before.

It hit him all at once. His eyes widened, and he stared at Lu Yuan in open disbelief.

"...It's *you*?! That reckless kid who attracted Pursuers while trying to calm a Spatial Rift?!"

Solomon's brain nearly short-circuited.

If his memory served — and it did, because a Battle Saint's Mental Power was far too sharp for errors — that reckless kid had been around Battle King Rank, or maybe hadn't even reached it yet. He clearly couldn't even handle a Battle Emperor-level Pursuer back then. And that was barely over a year ago. *Now he's a War God??*

Solomon wondered if he was dreaming.

If not for his extraordinarily powerful Mental Power, which guaranteed his memories were flawless, he'd have sworn he was looking at the wrong person.

Lu Yuan saw the recognition dawn on Solomon's face and broke into a smile. "Senior, long time no see. How many Spatial Rifts have you calmed lately?"

He delivered the greeting as casually as if asking about the weather.

After all, Solomon was a Restorer — Lu Yuan naturally gravitated toward a topic the old Battle Saint cared about. He was genuinely curious himself, too.

Lu Yuan's words confirmed for Solomon that the young human before him was indeed that reckless kid. The corner of his mouth twitched.

For a Battle Saint, barely a year was nothing — not even enough time for a single closed-door cultivation session. Hardly a blip. But thinking about how this person had leapt from Battle King to this terrifying level of power... it felt as though eons had passed.

"...I never imagined you'd already attained War God in such a short time. How did you manage it?"

Lu Yuan blinked, then understood. His displayed power was so overwhelming that even this veteran Battle Saint couldn't discern his actual cultivation level.

He offered a slightly sheepish smile. "You flatter me, Senior. I'm only a Battle Emperor right now — War God is still a long way off."

Solomon: "???"

He stared at Lu Yuan, utterly blank — no less shocked than before.

"Battle Emperor?! How can a Battle Emperor possess such power?!"

Lu Yuan considered it for a moment, then smiled. "Maybe because I've inscribed Divine Grade genes?"

Solomon gaped at him.

"...You inscribed Divine Grade genes as a Battle Emperor?! How is that possible?!"

As Solomon understood it, even the children of War Gods could only inscribe Saint Grade genes at the Battle Emperor stage. Divine Grade genes were simply too powerful — even natural-born prodigies of the highest caliber would struggle to inscribe them. And Lu Yuan had done it while still a Battle Emperor?

How?

Solomon's head was swimming with questions.

Lu Yuan thought about it, then replied with a perfectly straight face: "Perhaps it's because I'm extraordinarily gifted?"

Solomon: "..."

Seeing that Lu Yuan had no intention of elaborating, Solomon let the matter drop. But excitement quickly overtook him, and his eyes practically glowed as he looked at the young man.

"Wonderful! This is wonderful!"

Lu Yuan: "???"

*This old man doesn't have some weird fixation, does he?*

He was already bracing himself to bolt.

Then Solomon spoke, his voice thick with emotion: "Perhaps with your talent and power, there's hope for saving the universe. To be this strong as a mere Battle Emperor... perhaps there truly is hope of resisting the Corruption from beyond."

That reminded Lu Yuan — both Tianming Sage and Solomon had mentioned the problem of time running out.

"What exactly is out there?" he asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

He'd heard long ago that Aberration Entities didn't originate from this universe, which was why they were so difficult to destroy. He'd already speculated that something beyond the universe was responsible for the Aberrations, steadily corroding everything within.

Solomon gave a faint smile. "Let's exchange contact information first. Once this Aberration Source situation is fully resolved, I'll take you to the War God Hall. You'll understand everything then."

Lu Yuan was taken aback. He glanced at the Spatial Rift, which had nearly healed during their conversation. "Hasn't this one been mostly dealt with already?"

Solomon shook his head, his expression turning grave. "The Spatial Rifts this time aren't limited to this area. Other regions have been hit too."

Lu Yuan's brow creased. "Other regions?"

His precognitive vision had shown this area — it hadn't been wrong, but it had been incomplete?

Once again, he was reminded that even with the Wheel of Fate and its ability to glimpse the future, fate remained the most inscrutable force of all.

He nodded. "All right then."

The two exchanged contact information, and Solomon hurried off to deal with the Aberration Feral Beasts in other regions.

Lu Yuan glanced at the Spatial Rift, now nearly fully healed. Once it closed, he'd head to the other areas as well.

After all, quelling Aberration Sources was incredibly lucrative.

From this single wave alone, he'd earned roughly 4.3 million Merits. That wasn't just from calming the Spatial Rift — the horde of Heavenly Calamity Cult Saints counted too. On top of that, under Heart of Light's far-reaching radiance, every last Aberration Feral Beast in range had been annihilated by him, contributing yet another massive haul of Merits.

The result was that this single engagement had netted roughly four times what he'd earned in the Dark Night Forest. Absurd.

In truth, if he'd waited a bit longer and let the Aberration Corruption spread further, the Merits would have been even greater. But that would have meant people dying, and Lu Yuan wasn't that kind of person. He'd never do such a thing.

Merits could be earned anytime — at most, it cost a little extra time. But lives mattered more than anything.

His total Merits now approached six million. Three more hauls like this and he'd have enough to purchase the Time Stasis Transcendent Gene.

Beyond that, killing so many Aberration Feral Beasts had significantly advanced the Evolution Cube's long-dormant metamorphosis progress by a full notch. A few more rounds like this and the metamorphosis would be complete. At that point, he could evolve the Jade Sovereign Flower directly to Divine Grade quality, dramatically boosting his cultivation speed once again.

While Lu Yuan was mulling this over, several streaks of light came racing toward him.

He glanced up and raised an eyebrow — surprised to spot another familiar face among the newcomers.

The Nightshade Race's Battle Saint, Gladys.

Upon receiving Violette's distress call, Gladys had rushed here without a second thought. Anastasia was the strongest prodigy of the Nightshade Race's younger generation, with a real chance of reaching Battle Saint someday, and quite a few other Nightshade talents were present too. If anything happened to them, it would be a devastating loss for the entire Nightshade Race.

Yet as she neared the Skywaste Forest, something felt very wrong.

*Where's the Aberration they reported?*

*And what on earth is this terrifying light energy?*

She wasn't the only one confused. The Battle Saints from several other races she'd encountered along the way were equally stunned, gaping at the enormous sun in the distance and the terrifyingly pure radiance it emanated.

A towering Bear-kin Battle Saint who resembled a massive bear walking upright rumbled in a deep, resonant voice: "Which War God is that?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Looks like the Aberration Source here has already been dealt with by this War God," another Battle Saint said with visible relief.

The others nodded. The Skywaste Forest was a premier training ground — prodigies from many powerful races came here to hunt Aberration Feral Beasts, and the juniors of every Battle Saint present were among them. Losing them would have been a blow no race could easily bear.

Now, at least, they could breathe easier.

Gladys swept the area with her Mental Power, quickly locating Anastasia's group. Seeing they were unharmed, the tension drained from her shoulders. She turned her attention to the terrifying sun.

At that moment, the last of the Spatial Rift sealed shut. The light energy slowly dissipated, and the sun faded away — revealing the figure within.

When Gladys saw that familiar silhouette, she froze in place, her lips parting, disbelief etched across every feature.

That was... Lu Yuan?!

Her mind went numb. She utterly refused to believe that the being who had unleashed such pure, overwhelming light energy was the same Lu Yuan who'd helped guard Dark Night City for the Nightshade Race not long ago.

Then a flash of insight struck.

Her eyes flew wide. *The mysterious figure from last time... was that him too?!*

It was the only explanation. She still couldn't account for why a Battle Saint had appeared out of nowhere to help Dark Night City fend off the Heavenly Calamity Cult's Apostles.

*Wait... that mysterious figure wielded powerful darkness, spatial, AND stellar energies — all seemingly at Saint Grade...*

*And now this godlike power of light on top of all that.*

*This...*

Gladys was shaken to her very core, staring at Lu Yuan as though she'd never truly seen him before.

*What kind of human IS he?!*

The other Battle Saints noticed that Gladys had stopped mid-flight, staring blankly in Lu Yuan's direction, and exchanged curious glances.

"Gladys, what's wrong?" an Ink-Wing Race Battle Saint asked.

Under different circumstances, he might have joked that this was the Nightshade Race's latest marriage prospect. But the figure before them was a War God-level powerhouse — he didn't dare.

Gladys shot him a strange look. The Ink-Wing was also from the White Cloud Star Domain, after all.

"...He's someone I know," she said.

The Ink-Wing Battle Saint: "???"

*Good lord — he really IS the Nightshade Race's marriage prospect, isn't he?!*

He was utterly dumbstruck.