C1215 Enemies Always Cross Paths
Yu Yuan set aside the soulstone in his hand, narrowing his eyes as he observed her in silence.
Chen Qinghuang remained in slumber. The fiend that had taken over the Starbeast no longer had flames raging in its eyes; it languished in the corner, listless and subdued. Even the vast starry expanse beyond the crystal failed to spark any interest in it.
It had been punished severely, its energy severely drained, leaving it incapable of causing further chaos.
Elena's cry of alarm left it utterly unmoved.
"It's the Heartthumper Drum!"
The Shura maiden moved to the rear of the crystal, diligently wiping away the visible dust. With a grave expression, she gazed out at a particular section of the starry sky and said, "The Heartthumper Drum is our tribe's Quasi-sacred Weapon! It is said to have been crafted from a formidable alien beast in the Dark Realm. When our high-ranking Blood Warriors beat the Heartthumper Drum, it can amplify the bloodline power of our nearby kin."
"Any Shura clansman in close proximity to the drum will feel a resonance."
It was then that Yu Yuan truly noticed something unusual about her blood flow.
It was quicker and more fluid than before.
"To wield the Heartthumper Drum, one must be a ninth-level platinum Shura!" Elena's eyes shifted toward a shadowy area. "Odd, why would a platinum Shura bearing the Heartthumper Drum suddenly appear in the Kuvrepros?"
Yu Yuan spoke softly, "What else could it be? Clearly, it's the Titanblade."
Elena's form shook subtly.
She immediately understood that Yu Yuan's assessment was accurate. A platinum Shura wielding the Heartthumper Drum wouldn't just show up in the Kuvrepros without reason.
The Titanblade's departure from the Dark Realm represented both shame and pride for the Shura. This blade had grievously wounded the Blood King and slain countless formidable beings from various tribes.
That was the shame.
Yet, to leave the Titanblade in the Dark Realm, eternally confined and suppressed, was also a display of the Shura's might, a message to all the powerful extraterrestrial tribes of the Shura's formidable strength.
That was their pride.
Now that the Titanblade had escaped, drifting through the Star River, the Shura were naturally eager to subdue the blade once more and return it to the Dark Realm.
"Can you sense the general direction of the Heartthumper Drum? And do you think the platinum Shura wielding the drum can detect your location?" Yu Yuan inquired.
After a moment of contemplation, Elena responded, "Only if that platinum Shura taps into his bloodline and soul to play the Heartthumper Drum, could he sense the presence of all nearby clan members through it. Judging by the activity of my bloodline, he's not beating the drum with full force, so he likely doesn't know I exist."
"That's a relief," Yu Yuan exhaled, nodding in agreement. He gestured, "Let's avoid unnecessary complications. Adjust your course to steer clear of him."
The platinum Shura in pursuit of the Titanblade, armed with the Quasi-sacred Weapon, the Heartthumper Drum, was clearly not acting alone. He was part of an entire Shura legion! The Shura are renowned for their elite combat capabilities, a fact Yu Yuan had personally witnessed during his time in Ionodios. He had no desire to encounter a Shura legion in Kuvrepros, nor to engage in needless conflict.
"I understand what needs to be done," Elena assured, silently shedding the weight of her worries. She feared Yu Yuan's boldness and despised the conflict that had unfolded in Ionodios, wary of using her connection with the Heartthumper Drum to ambush their kin.
Yu Yuan was another matter altogether...
Elena's gaze drifted to the still-slumbering Songbird Queen, and considering her formidable identity and power, she felt increasingly grateful.
...
At the fringes of Kuvrepros lay a shattered expanse of land. A weary party from the Everlands had chosen this spot for a brief respite, using pills and soulstones to replenish their strength in preparation for the next leg of their journey. Leading them was none other than Cao Jiaze of Ebon Star.
With modest talent, he had ascended the ranks of cultivation one step at a time. Now in the middle period of the Solar Spirit realm, he sat upon an outcropping of green stone, his bare arms exposed to the corrupting cosmic energy of the extraterrestrial realm.
His arm was soon torn open, and blood began to flow freely.
The blood, initially a bright crimson, gradually mixed with psionic power, turning some of it dark green and others ink-black, all while emitting a foul stench.
He silently observed the blood for a moment before shaking his hands, flinging the blood away.
A pale green robe enveloped his body in a hazy glow, shielding him from harm.
Unlike the typical Solar Spirit Body, his real body had descended, merging the refined Solar Spirit with his corporeal form.
It was reminiscent of the days when he roamed the Land of Terror, wielding the Mark of the Celestials in his true form.
"Brother Chu, how have you been faring?"
Cao Jiaze greeted with a radiant smile, looking over at Chu Yao, known as the "Divine Healer," not far away. "Have you found any spiritual herbs in the Otherkin's world that can be refined into high-grade pills?"
The man with the stoic expression was Chu Yao, who had recently succeeded in condensing his Solar Spirit and was setting foot in the extraterrestrial realm for the first time.
His Solar Spirit Body exuded a rich medicinal scent, and the cultivators nearby in the Everlands felt a sense of ease and clarity just by breathing in the aroma.
Herbalists from the Order of Healing were not known for their combat prowess, so after his departure from the extraterrestrial world, Chu Yao was carefully protected and did not venture into the Dark Star.
Instead, he accompanied the ever-steady Cao Jiaze to explore the extraterrestrial realms.
This also indirectly indicated Zhong Chichen's greater trust in Cao Jiaze and, by extension, the Ebon Star Sect.
"There are indeed quite a few; my haul this time is not bad at all."
Chu Yao was careful not to display any arrogance in front of Cao Jiaze.
Further away, there were Jiang Xingwen from the Abyssal Dawn, Weixian from Winter's Bite, and several Ebon Star cultivators under Cao Jiaze's command, including Solar Spirit cultivators.
They had received a message from the Sunlit Order and had secretly hastened here from the nearest Starway.
Their primary objective, of course, was to meet with Leo and Beru from the Starborn.
As for the emergence of the secular bird, they were still unaware. They intended to follow the earlier message, make some adjustments, and then proceed to Zekrica.
"We'll be setting off in another two hours, everyone. Let's get moving," Cao Jiaze announced with a laugh.
The group nodded in agreement, each person quietly preparing themselves. Their thoughts were on the Kuvrepros Astral Domain, wondering if it held any rare treasures that could enhance their combat prowess.
An hour passed.
A decrepit Voidfarer emerged out of nowhere in the distant, dark void.
The warship was not only in shambles but also moved at a sluggish pace. To the experienced eyes of the group, it was clearly not a top-tier vessel, and the otherkin aboard were likely not of high rank.
Cao Jiaze gave it a cursory glance before looking away, clearly uninterested.
A female cultivator from the Cloudwater Sect hesitated before speaking up, "Since none of you seem interested, I'll go take a look."
With a whoosh, she gripped a banner etched with the patterns of rivers and surrounded by a swirling mist. She soared from the broken earth and in the blink of an eye, neared the warship.
"Lee Xin! Stop right there!"
Cao Jiaze, previously indifferent, suddenly sensed an odd presence and stood up, yelling out.
A grand palace materialized above his head as if it were the dwelling of a deity.
The palace was adorned with numerous activated arcane circles and glyphs, which, once filled with psionic power, shone brilliantly. The divine light bathed both the Cloudwater Sect woman and the surrounding frigid cosmos.
Lee Xin, a mid-stage Solar Spirit, heard Cao Jiaze's shout and her face paled.
The rivers in her banner came to life, transforming into crystalline waterways that now separated her from the damaged warship.
The warship came to a shaky halt.
On the fragmented earth, cultivators from across the Everlands ceased their practices at Cao Jiaze's command, all wearing looks of concern.
Invisible remnant souls, spiritual energy, and faint vitality surged forth from the broken ground, all converging towards the battered warship.
