Chapter 838 The Three-Second Kill Plan
A streak of pitch-black energy shot from Yuwen’s vertical eye and struck the barrier of the Solar Apex Firmament Array.
A hairline crack instantly appeared across the barrier.
Inside the formation, Malcolm had already taken out the array compass. He tapped one of the patterns on its surface, sending a vast quantity of Prime Essence Stones pouring into the formation core.
Brilliant light surged throughout the Solar Apex Firmament Array.
Most of that energy flowed toward the crack and began repairing it, while the remainder reinforced the entire formation.
“Let’s see how long it can withstand this.”
Yuwen drew upon every trace of Origin Power within his body. The black beam pouring from his vertical eye expanded to ten times its original size.
The Solar Apex Firmament Array flashed wildly beneath the impact. Inside the barrier, the sky churned as violent winds tore through the clouds.
A faint smile touched Malcolm’s lips.
He had already seen through the nature of Yuwen’s attack.
Malcolm tapped the array compass again.
Rotating Eight Trigrams sigils appeared across the barrier, each surrounding a yin-yang core.
As the sigils spun, they distributed Yuwen’s attack across the entire surface of the formation.
The black beam might have been powerful enough to pierce a single point in the Solar Apex Firmament Array, but once its force was spread across the entire barrier, it became little more than an itch.
“As expected of one of Northguard City’s greatest treasures,” Yuwen said. “The three of us do not possess the strength to breach the Solar Apex Firmament Array.”
“We should test it ourselves before giving up.”
The Machine cultivator and the horse-faced man unleashed their strongest divine abilities.
Explosions erupted continuously across the barrier.
Fifteen minutes later, both men had exhausted most of their Origin Power. Even after using every method at their disposal, they had failed to damage the Solar Apex Firmament Array.
“We should leave,” Yuwen said. “We can explain the situation to the Eternal Realm experts and see whether any of them are willing to intervene.”
“Most Eternal Realm cultivators are already struggling with petrification,” the Machine cultivator replied. “Why would they come to a place where the spiritual energy is this thin?”
“The Eternal experts of our races may be unwilling, but Hadrian could come,” the horse-faced Formation Master said. “I heard that after his resurrection, everything except his brain was transferred into a mechanical body. Petrification should no longer pose any threat to him.”
“Our Patriarch has countless matters demanding his attention. He is currently presiding over the assembly in Machine territory and organizing the campaign against Kael. Why would he come to a place like this?”
The Machine cultivator made no attempt to hide his displeasure.
“It doesn’t matter. Our responsibility is only to report what happened. Which senior expert chooses to come here is none of our concern.”
The three cultivators returned to their vessel.
The craft flickered once and vanished.
...
“They appear to be leaving,” Harper said.
“They ran! They actually ran!”
“Hahaha! Excellent! For once, we drove away powerful enemies without Patriarch Lin here to protect us.”
“Should we celebrate tonight?”
“Celebrate what? If our enemies have already located our homeworld, that means Patriarch Lin must be in a difficult position as well. We don’t even know whether he’s safe.”
...
Within Machine territory, Kael had rendered his body completely transparent. He moved toward the Machine homeworld at an extremely slow pace.
He had not used his Machine Race vessel, nor had he traveled through any of the teleportation arrays under their control.
Either method would immediately expose him to the Machine Race’s surveillance.
Kael could not take that risk.
His objective was to infiltrate the Machine homeworld while the experts of the myriad races were gathered there, then catch them off guard and kill eighty—or even a hundred—Eternal Realm cultivators in a single attack.
If his position were exposed in advance, the Eternal experts would undoubtedly prepare an inescapable trap. Even if they could not kill him, the weaker Eternals would hide far away, denying him any opportunity to eliminate them all at once.
Only by killing that many Eternal Realm cultivators could Kael be confident of upgrading his Inner Cosmos to the Advanced level.
Once that happened, he could take all of humanity out of the Blood Jade Galaxy and leave the myriad races behind to devour one another.
There was only one path to the Real Deity Realm within this galaxy—and only one way to escape its eventual destruction within a black hole.
A cultivator had to devour every source of energy in the galaxy, including every other living cultivator.
Kael believed the final victor would be either the Machine Race or the Broodmother.
Those two races possessed the greatest overall potential.
The other powerful races could not compare. The Heavenlight Race, for example, had a Patriarch at the Great Circle of the Eternal Realm, but its combined strength still fell far short of either the Machine Race or the Insect Race.
Time passed.
Kael abruptly sensed something approaching.
A Machine Race vessel flashed past roughly sixty miles to his left.
He immediately swept it with his Spiritual Sense.
A Planetary Realm Machine cultivator was piloting the vessel, but the craft had been sent to collect guests. Three Eternal Realm experts from other races were also aboard.
The instant Kael’s Spiritual Sense passed over them, all three opened their eyes.
A moment later, they calmly closed them again.
They had assumed the Spiritual Sense belonged to an Eternal Realm member of the Machine Race. It never occurred to them that Kael might be responsible.
Every cultivator in the Blood Jade Galaxy knew that the Assembly of the Myriad Races had been called specifically to deal with him. They believed that not even Kael would dare enter Machine territory at a time like this.
Only after the vessel disappeared did Kael begin following it at an unhurried pace.
Perhaps by the time he reached the Machine homeworld, every Eternal Realm representative of the myriad races would have arrived.
Kael took out the Primordial Time Mirror.
If he struck while they were assembled, he could use the Time Mirror to freeze a hundred Eternal Realm cultivators in place. He would then envelop them with his Spacetime Domain and finish them with a single strike from Astral Mountain.
But every step would have to be completed quickly.
The entire attack could not take more than three seconds.
With Hadrian and the other great experts reacting at full speed, three seconds would be more than enough time for them to surround Kael instead.
After killing the Eternal cultivators, Kael would immediately enter Astral Mountain and flee toward the nearest black hole.
Why head for a black hole?
Because only there would the normally fearless Eternal Realm cultivators hesitate to pursue him.
They would be wary of fighting near its edge. A single careless movement could allow the black hole’s gravity to seize them, dragging them inside and annihilating both body and soul.
Kael closed his eyes and rehearsed the entire sequence more than a dozen times within his sea of consciousness.
Only then did he open them again.
No. This is an assembly of the myriad races. I need another contingency.
Kael hovered in the cold void, reassessing every part of his plan.
“What if I target Hadrian and the Heavenlight Patriarch the instant I attack? If I can kill those two first, then only the Broodmother will remain a serious threat to me in the entire Blood Jade Galaxy.
“Once they’re dead, the other Eternal Realm cultivators won’t pose any real danger, no matter how many of them there are. Even if I can’t defeat them all, I can still withdraw aboard Astral Mountain.”
Kael paused.
“Let me think.”
He muttered to himself like a madman in the darkness of space.
The journey ahead would be extraordinarily dangerous. Even with his current strength, he had no choice but to prepare with the utmost care.
Another vessel streaked past nearby.
Kael swept it with his Spiritual Sense and discovered three more Eternal Realm cultivators from other races aboard.
This time, he no longer hesitated.
He accelerated to his maximum speed and flew toward the Machine homeworld.
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[End of Book Fourteen]
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