C1042 The Moon Chasing Staff!

Golden chains had just released their hold from the two landmasses behind when the Gloomy Paradise, like a wild horse freed from its reins, surged forward at a speed more than tenfold!

Whoosh!

A shadowy streak of lightning darted beneath the Mondnacht Realm.

Yu Yuan was initially taken aback by the sudden acceleration. "How can it be this fast?"

Peach Madam shared his astonishment.

The Gloomy Paradise, commandeered by the king of roving bandits, made her previous vessel, the dilapidated Ancient Black Iron Ship, seem sluggish by comparison. It was only now that she understood the vast difference between the two.

Pattinson wore a look of pride. "Without the drag of those two landmasses, the Gloomy Paradise rivals the Galaxy Ancient Starship, renowned for its velocity."

He and Rony had personally constructed the core energy crystals of the Gloomy Paradise.

Pattinson had painstakingly assembled many secret mechanisms himself. Seeing Yu Yuan and Peach Madam's shocked expressions gave him a sense of vindication.

Elena pointed at Pattinson and revealed, "He told me those two landmasses behind us can self-destruct when it's crucial. This guy's cunning! If we ever face a formidable regular army, those landmasses can be detonated, turning an approaching Galaxy Warship into a fiery downpour in an instant!"

"Be quiet!" Pattinson shot her a stern glance.

She had spilled all the Gloomy Paradise's secrets to Yu Yuan, a stranger. Now, if they were to rely on the Gloomy Paradise for future galactic endeavors, wouldn't its capabilities be common knowledge?

"With such incredible speed, your father and his companions won't be able to keep up, will they?" Yu Yuan was particularly interested in this detail.

"They definitely won't catch up!" Elena affirmed. However, her certainty wavered as she gazed at the radiant crescent moon surrounded by dazzling meteors. "Bertha of the Mondnacht Clan wields the Moon Chasing Staff, a renowned artifact known for its pursuit and velocity."

"Could that staff possibly catch us?" Yu Yuan was mildly alarmed.

"The Moon Chasing Staff!" Benin's expression shifted subtly.

"You're familiar with it?" Yu Yuan inquired.

"Do you remember the Mondnacht Clan girl who joined us in the Nirvana Realm?" Benin's face darkened. "Her name is Grace. She once mentioned the Moon Chasing Staff's wonders. It appears Grace has visited that crescent moon and briefly trained with its powerful inhabitants."

"The Moon Chasing Staff is indeed extraordinary," Peach Madam remarked.

She had just sifted through the remnants of soul memories from two Eighth Level members of the Mondnacht Clan and had gleaned some insights about the Moon Chasing Staff.

"However, that Bertha from the Mondnacht Clan won't be able to detect us," she added.

Pattinson concurred, "Logically speaking, even with the Moon Chasing Staff in her possession, Bertha shouldn't be able to pinpoint our location across such a vast expanse of the galaxy."

After abandoning the last two continents, the Gloomy Paradise's energy shield dimmed, now stealthily traversing beneath the Mondnacht Realm, its presence even more concealed.

No matter how formidable Bertha was, it would be impossible for her influence to permeate the entire galaxy.

...

Beneath the oval-shaped Mondnacht Realm.

"Damn it!"

Calves was seething with frustration as he stood before the Gloom Star River, helplessly watching a streak of alien light flash across the icy galaxy below.

He knew the Gloomy Paradise all too well and instantly recognized that the peculiar glow was the fully unleashed Gloomy Paradise.

The Gloomy Paradise had shed its burdens and vanished from sight, speeding past the Mondnacht Realm with incredible velocity.

"I'm worried about Elena's safety!"

Asura General Fernand's expression darkened, a stark contrast to his earlier ease. "She's in the Gloomy Paradise and hasn't sent any messages. I can't even reach out to her. Just moments ago, she was so close—if she weren't restrained, she could have called out to me for help!"

"Pattinson is also there. Only he can unlock those golden chains and allow the Gloomy Paradise to navigate at full throttle!" Rony from the Shadow Clan clenched his teeth in anger. "Someone has coerced him into this!"

The three Ninth Level kings of roving bandits had hastily escaped the Mondnacht Realm without boarding any other warships.

They were well aware that the fully unsealed Gloomy Paradise, at its top speed, was unreachable even by the fleet of the regular army.

It was impossible for them to pursue the Gloomy Paradise with their mere mortal forms.

Whoosh!

As they were consumed by their urgent concerns, the Silvermoon Queen casually appeared behind them, her graceful figure bathed in a radiant silver glow.

A fragment of the moon energy that bathed the Mondnacht Realm was drawn into her being.

"Mondnacht Clan bloodline?" Rony from the Shadow Clan was visibly taken aback, staring at Lee Yupan in astonishment. "You have traces of the Mondnacht Clan's bloodline in you?"

"If she weren't a hybrid, how could she dare to expose herself to the corrupt starry sky energies like us?" Calves scoffed. "What brings you here? As long as the man who killed my son is still breathing, our deal is off!"

Bathed in the resplendent moonlight, the Silvermoon Queen wore an expression of cool detachment, a sneer hidden in her heart.

The technique she employed to harness the moon energy was not the Bloodline Secret Technique of the Mondnacht Clan, but rather a mystical method known only to the ancient Moon Demon.

She was confident that Yuefei, who emerged from the moon, would have detected it. After all, the pure moon energy she had summoned with the ancient Moon Demon's methods originated from that very moon.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before a brilliant silver light streaked towards her like a shooting star.

"Bertha has discovered us!"

Calves' face paled slightly. "It's always what you fear that comes to pass! Bertha, the mistress of the waning moon, shares my Ninth Level bloodline. But she wields the Moon Chasing Staff and commands twelve Moon Lakes that form a lunar altar. In the neighboring galaxies, she can continuously draw power from the waning moon."

In saying this, he conceded his inferiority to Bertha.

"Are we afraid of her when the three of us join forces?" Fernand sneered menacingly. "I've encountered Ninth Level Blood Priestesses of the Mondnacht Clan before. If Bertha dares to cross me, she'll regret it! Calves, if I ascend to the moon and wreak havoc, don't hold it against me!"

With his daughter Elena in peril, he was prepared to do whatever it took.

"Bertha isn't after us," Rony interjected, urging them to keep their composure. "The changes in Gloomy Paradise began only after Bertha left the moon. Perhaps her target is the Gloomy Paradise that slipped away right under our noses!"

"She's coming for me," the Silvermoon Queen interjected. As the three kings of roving bandits fixed her with a lethal gaze, Lee Yupan continued, "You can sense the coordinates of Gloomy Paradise. Please inform me, and I will relay them to Bertha. Don't worry, Bertha isn't out to eliminate you, nor is she after Gloomy Paradise."

"She's out to kill Yu Yuan!"

The Silvermoon Queen declared, revealing the truth.

"Yu, Yu Yuan?" Rony inquired, puzzled.

"Yes."

"Good!"

...

"Look, didn't I say they wouldn't be able to catch up?" Elena spoke with ease, waving her arm from the platform and giving Yu Yuan a flirtatious glance. After a brief pause, she added, "My bloodline has just advanced to the Eighth Level. I need to sort it out."

With a graceful leap, she headed toward another cubic stone building. Over her shoulder, she waved to Yu Yuan, "Rest assured, once we reach the Oblivion Starfield, I'll persuade my foolish father."

"We're at most a month away from the Oblivion Starfield," Pattinson breathed a sigh of relief. He dreaded confronting Rony in the Mondnacht Realm under unclear circumstances, not to mention dealing with Fernand after the revelation of his daughter's lost purity to a human. And then there was Calves, mourning his son's death. Avoiding conflict here was paramount; everything could be renegotiated once they were safely within the jurisdiction of the Babel Chamber of Commerce in the Oblivion Starfield.

"Okay, we'll revisit this later," Yu Yuan agreed with a nod.

Freed from the drag of the other two landmasses, the Gloomy Paradise sped on its way. Yu Yuan sat quietly on the platform, occasionally glancing skyward where he could faintly make out the meteoric light trails released by Bertha. The waning moon still hung prominently in the dark firmament, a clear and constant presence.

He understood that as the moon waned further, he would finally elude Bertha and no longer need to worry about her pursuit.

Thus, the day wore on.

Meteors, their paths haphazard and uncharted, began to shift direction from the distant Gloom Star River, converging toward the Gloomy Paradise's trajectory. More astonishing still was the sudden disappearance of Bertha, who had been so distinctly visible before.

Yu Yuan's sense of unease grew; something was off. He reached out to the sword soul once more.

"She's here."

The sword soul's conveyed thoughts abruptly altered Yu Yuan's demeanor, bracing him for an imminent threat.

Half a day later, the Gloomy Paradise encountered a strong magnetic pull as it passed by a land similar to the Mondnacht Realm, bringing it to an abrupt halt.

Boom! The ground beneath them erupted with the roar of an earthquake, and the energy crystals within seemed to be restrained by invisible ropes.

Pattinson emerged from the tower where he had long resided, gave Yu Yuan a quick look, and announced, "We've been marked!"

In the wake of the Gloomy Paradise's tremors, everyone, except for Elena who was in the crucial phase of stabilizing her bloodline, was roused from their rest. Benin, Hart, and Peach Madam all converged with the others.

It was then that Bertha, with her silver hair, stood within a cushion of Moon Lakes, clutching the elegant Moon Chasing scepter. She effortlessly stepped through the firefly photomask and materialized before the group.

"Gloomy Paradise!" Bertha's voice was icy as she scorned, "Calves! To think a member of the Mondnacht Clan would conspire with humans! You've shamed our kind and aren't even fit to be a king of roving bandits!"

"Show yourself! I'm here to discipline you on behalf of our ancestors!"

Bertha lifted the Moon Chasing Staff above her head, and the crescent-shaped array burst forth with an infinite glow of moonlight, shrouding the entire Gloomy Paradise. In an instant, she discerned the number of hidden powerhouses, their races, and the levels of their bloodlines.

"He's not here?"

Momentarily taken aback, Bertha then turned her attention to Yu Yuan, inhaled deeply, and demanded coldly, "Are you the Yu Yuan that Grec is searching for?"

"Oh, you're aware of that too?" Yu Yuan replied, unfazed.

He was quietly assessing the situation. If Elena and Pattinson had been truthful, Calves and the other two kings of roving bandits wouldn't have been able to catch up to the Gloomy Paradise, nor match the speed of the Moon Chasing Staff. It was highly unlikely that they had followed.

This meant that the only adversary he currently faced was Bertha, a formidable Ninth Rank bloodline holder.

At most, he would have to contend with the ancient Moon Demon residing within Bertha.

"You carry the residual sword intent of the Optimus Sword!" Bertha snarled, "Are you aware that Nie Qingtian is considered a mortal enemy by numerous tribes?"

"Indeed, I am." Yu Yuan replied with a smile, summoning the sword sheath from his Universe Ring. He deliberately stirred the sword soul's aura within his arm bone. "I've also mastered the intricate sword spell of the Optimus Nine Slashes. How about it? Care to test it out?"

Yu Yuan pointed the sword sheath towards Bertha, his fighting spirit surging.

"Just you?" Hu Caiyun laughed mockingly, "Do you even grasp the situation? What gives you the audacity to cause trouble here?"

"It's all thanks to this!"

Bertha lifted her staff high, her bloodline abilities erupting forth.

Brilliant beams of light burst from the waning moon, targeting the location of the Gloomy Paradise. The stars ahead and the icy expanse behind were struck with a barrage of indiscriminate fire.

The entire star river fell within their firing range!

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