High-Level Martial Era

This Flying Axe was kicked into action by Li Yuan, having belonged to Mo Long who left it behind.

"Boom~"

Logan, after all, was a master at his craft, with an astonishing combat awareness. He swung his saber in a backhand stroke, managing to block the Flying Axe. The terrifying force of the impact instead helped him to escape even faster, using the momentum to his advantage.

"These Tianliang Clan warriors, they really are decisive," Li Yuan remarked with a slight frown, opting not to pursue.

The opponent fled too quickly.

Logan had started to flee even before Mo Long was completely dead.

As a Level 19.9 powerhouse, bolstered by the strength contained within the Demon Blood Spirit Crystal that hadn't yet run out, if he truly wished to flee, Li Yuan would not be able to catch up.

This was due to the difference in physical quality; after all, Li Yuan's Life Level was only at 16.8.

Furthermore.

If Li Yuan were to chase after Logan, the other human martial artists inside the great hall would be in trouble, given that there were still nearly 40 Tianliang Clan warriors present.

"Run quickly."

"Mo Long is dead, even Captain Logan has fled."

"That damn Logan, he fled for his life without even warning us first," other enraged and shocked Tianliang Clan powerhouses said, each seeking to save themselves.

Even though these Tianliang Clan warriors were still suppressing the other human martial artists.

But with the near-Prime Warrior strength that Li Yuan had displayed, he could probably sweep through all of them on his own.

"Thinking of escaping now? Too late!" Li Yuan's eyes were cold as ice, and with a swift movement, he pounced toward the Tianliang Clan powerhouses attempting to flee towards the hall's passageway.

Not having killed Logan, he had already lost a substantial amount of Spiritual Nature nourishment—how could he let the other Tianliang Clan warriors get away?

"Hold them back."

"Don't let these bastards escape."

"Kill!" Wu Qiong, Shi Xiao, and other human martial artists were heartened upon seeing this. They fought ferociously against the numerous Tianliang Clan warriors, preventing them from escaping.

"Pfft!" "Pfft!" "Pfftch!"

Having already revealed his Origin Power Battle Suit, Li Yuan no longer held back and erupted with full strength.

A Level 18 Tianliang Clan warrior? One spear thrust!

A Level 19 needed two or three thrusts.

These Tianliang Clan warriors were exceptionally strong, each capable of matching a High Level Warrior.

But before a fully unleashed Li Yuan, they were no match at all.

Like a terrifying whirlwind, Li Yuan killed over thirty Tianliang Clan warriors in an extremely short time, and one after another, the Tianliang Clan warriors fell.

Blood was everywhere, the scene was a complete mess.

Li Yuan was killing frenetically.

At the same time.

"[You have continuously killed Entry Rank creatures; Spiritual Nature nourishment obtained, Spiritual Awakening Level reached 29.2%]"

"[You… Spiritual Awakening Level reached 29.3%]" The Divine Palace panel kept flashing notifications.

…

A few minutes later.

The great hall gradually quieted down, save for two Tianliang Clan warriors whom Li Yuan had deliberately crippled, the rest had been wiped out.

The hall was now completely shrouded in the stench of blood.

However, the human martial artists who had survived didn't care about that at this moment.

All were sitting on the ground, strewn with rubble and blood, panting for breath.

Such intense life-and-death battles severely drain both the spirit and physical strength.

In their rest.

These human martial artists couldn't help but look towards the black-clothed figure standing in the center of the great hall, their eyes filled with unusual respect and reverence.

"Xu An?"

"Too powerful."

"If we're able to survive this time, we have to thank this warrior Xu An."

"With such formidable skills, he's probably going to become a Prime Warrior before long." Many human martial artists whispered among themselves.

In this battle, Li Yuan had showcased incredibly formidable strength.

He practically swept through the entire Tianliang Clan's squad by himself, including two great experts.

His combat power was almost on par with some newly advanced Prime Warriors.

Such a terrifyingly powerful First Rank martial artist was something most of the human martial artists present had never seen before.

Time passed.

Most martial artists felt gratitude towards Li Yuan and, after a brief rest, they got up to clean the battlefield, taking care of the bodies of the fallen human martial artists.

They also piled up a large number of Tianliang Clan warrior corpses, meanwhile disassembling their belongings.

The atmosphere was still quite oppressive.

Since Li Yuan had arrived only in the last stage, and the most devastating casualties at the Observation Point No. 19 occurred when it was ambushed by the Tianliang Clan.

The casualties were extremely heavy.

Hu! Hu!

Wu Qiong, Shi Xiao, and the person in charge of the observation point all approached Li Yuan.

Li Yuan had put away his Origin Power Battle Suit and revealed his face again.

"Warrior Xu An, thank you for your lifesaving grace. If it weren't for you rushing over, we would have probably all perished," said Wu Qiong with a very humble attitude and extreme politeness.

In the past, she was very proud when facing other First Rank martial artists.

But facing Li Yuan, she couldn't muster that pride.

"No need, coming to the rescue was my responsibility, it's a pity I arrived late, otherwise the loss wouldn't be this big," Li Yuan shook his head, feeling somewhat guilty.

If he'd arrived ten minutes earlier, at least dozens of lives could have been saved.

"Coming so swiftly is already very commendable," Wu Qiong shook her head, "Our squad was able to arrive immediately because we happened to be preparing to rest at Observation Point No. 19."

"Besides our squad and you, the other squads and reinforcements from the base have yet to arrive," Wu Qiong said.

Li Yuan nodded slightly.

In this almost wild Star Realm, these observation points situated on the edge of the frontiers of outpost territories were extremely dangerous to begin with.

Moreover, the precise attack of the Tianliang Clan on this place showed that the Tianliang Clan had probably scouted the area long ago.

"Shi Xiao, are you alright?" Li Yuan looked at Shi Xiao, who had disheveled hair and sweat on her forehead, completely lacking the elegance and calm she had at the school.

"I'm fine, just some minor injuries," Shi Xiao shook her head, "A bit of rest should be enough."

"You know each other?" Wu Qiong said in surprise.

"Yes, Captain, I didn't tell you before," Shi Xiao smiled, "Xu An and I are good friends."

"Oh? Good friends?" Wu Qiong showed a knowing smile, "No wonder Xu An first rescued you as soon as he arrived."

"We really are just friends," Shi Xiao explained.

"Okay, you two chat," Wu Qiong smiled, "Warrior Xu An, I and the person in charge will go interrogate those two Tianliang Clan members first. In a short while, the reinforcements from the base should arrive."

"Hmm," Li Yuan nodded, his gaze sweeping over the situation inside the hall, "I'll first go to the observation point on alert. One managed to escape, so we still need to be cautious about whether the Tianliang Clan has any follow-up reinforcements."

"Alright, then we'll leave that to you," Wu Qiong naturally agreed.

Sigh!

Li Yuan held the long spear in his hand and walked toward the outside of the hall, followed by Shi Xiao, who took the initiative to stay close behind him.

Shi Xiao stared at Li Yuan walking in front of her.

For no apparent reason, Shi Xiao felt a surge of excitement in her heart. Although she was actually more than two years older than Li Yuan, at this moment, she experienced an inexplicable sense of security.

"Li Yuan," Shi Xiao silently recited in her mind.

Not long ago, in the midst of that frenzied battle, she had nearly been killed by the Tianliang Clan warrior 'Mo Long' wielding dual axes.

At that time, she had felt complete despair in her heart.

At the critical moment,

it was Li Yuan who arrived in time to save her, and it was he who, with his own strength, turned the tide of the battle, sweeping through the entire Tianliang Clan team and bringing an impact to her heart beyond imagination.

Moreover, she had had a favorable impression of Li Yuan even before.

Sigh! Sigh!

The two of them turned through several corridors and halls, walked out of the tunnel through the mountain, and arrived at the outskirts of the observation point.

The area was very quiet; if not for the corpses left behind from the previous fights, one would never have known that a fierce battle had just unfolded.

"Xu An, thank you," Shi Xiao said sincerely.

"Senior Sister, there's no one else around here, no need to be so polite," Li Yuan said. "How are you feeling? You're sure you're not injured, right?"

"No," Shi Xiao shook her head, sighing, "It's just that in our martial artist squad, the group of older brothers and sisters I just got to know… in the blink of an eye, more than half of them are dead."

Li Yuan remained silent.

At school, Senior Sister Shi Xiao seemed brash and acted somewhat domineering.

But after all, she was only 21 years old. A fierce battle like today, with its drastic ups and downs, was probably a rare experience for her.

"Venturing through the Star Realm, there are always casualties," Li Yuan spoke in a low voice, his gaze drifting towards the distant forests. "What we can do is to strive to make ourselves stronger."

"Strive to survive," Li Yuan said, looking at Senior Sister Shi Xiao.

"Yes, survive," Shi Xiao replied, looking at Li Yuan and revealing a hint of a smile.

...

In the woods.

Whoosh! Logan, with the combat saber slung on his back, dared not pause for a second.

He fled at an astonishing speed.

Occasionally, he would follow along rivers, trying his best to wash away any scent that might linger on him or intentionally cross some cliffs.

"The Seven Stars human race will definitely send flying vehicles for support, and they might come to track me down," he thought.

"I can't stop."

"Once I'm caught up with, just that Seven Stars human genius alone would be enough to kill me," Logan thought anxiously, his mind racing: "I need to avoid the main routes and take a detour."

At the same time,

he was filled with anxiety and vexation: "Not only did I fail to complete the mission, but my whole squad has been wiped out, even Mo Long is dead... now it's just me left to go back alive."

Only himself left after the entire subordinate force was wiped out?

He couldn't even imagine how Lord Xue Shu would punish him upon his return.

But he dared not flee.

This was the Mingxu Star Realm. Escaping alone and evading the Tianliang Clan's high level punishment might be easy, but then what?

"As long as I survive, as long as I don't die,"

"there's still hope," Logan gritted his teeth, a tinge of resentment flashing in his eyes: "And it's all your fault, you Seven Stars human genius. Wouldn't it be nice if you hadn't come?"

"I hope you get the information and come here in time,"

"at which point Lord Xue Shu is sure to slay him," Logan thought secretly. |em|p,yr

At this point, it was highly probable that the information was leaked, and he could only pray for the best outcome.

Whoosh!

Logan continued onwards.

...

Time passed.

Another martial artist squad arrived for support at observation post number 19.

Then, the 'base rescue team' consisting of three flying vehicles finally reached the area.

After initially understanding the situation, they began to help clean up the battlefield, clear the corpses, sweep up the rubbish at the observation post, and rebuild the heavy firepower defense system, among other things...

However, these newly arrived human martial artists, drivers, technicians, and others all looked at Li Yuan with a completely different gaze.

They had all heard from the surviving warriors about just how appalling the strength of 'Xu An the Warrior' in front of them was.

When the time reached the evening of January 13th on Blue Star,

observation post number 19 had started to resume operation.

The sky still held the sun hanging above, for the Mingxu Star Realm did not distinguish between day and night, it was always daytime.

"Warrior Xu An."

"Senior Liu Jing is requesting to speak with you, regarding clues about Heavenly Materials Treasures," the person in charge of the observation point ran up to Li Yuan with great respect.

"Clues about Heavenly Materials Treasures? Great, let's go meet Senior Liu Jing," Li Yuan's eyes sparkled.

Martial artists roaming the Star Realm, if they wanted to seize a huge fortune, usually had two ways to do so.

The first was to explore and discover spirit lands or large veins with available resources.

The second was to acquire some Heavenly Materials Treasures, many of which were highly valuable.

During more than ten days in the Mingxu Star Realm previously, Li Yuan had been constantly dueling with strong warriors from alien races, honing himself.

Treasure? He hadn't found a single one.

Heavenly Materials Treasures were not so easy to come by, but now, there was a clue.

"If it's enough to provoke the Tianliang Clan to send a large squad to kill, and even to lay siege to an observation point," Li Yuan thought, "then the value of this treasure must be extremely high."

Heavenly Materials Treasures, though generally referred to as Third Rank treasures, also have their distinctions.

High-value ones like the Stellar Earth Marrow Crystal,

and low-value ones like the Hundred Marrow Spirit Desiccation.

Sigh!

Li Yuan followed the person in charge of the observation point and walked through the interior, which had been initially cleared up and was no longer a mess, reaching a conference room inside.

In the projected hologram, the image of the old man in blue, Liu Jing, was displayed.

"Senior Liu," Li Yuan bowed slightly.

"Xu An, thank you for this time. We will record your contribution, report it," Liu Jing said with a smile: "Once the Combat Assessment is over, there will be a series of corresponding rewards."

"Hmm, okay," Li Yuan nodded slightly. The whole human civilization had a very well-established system of merit.

"Another matter."

"That is, through the interrogation of the Tianliang Clan captives and questioning of our martial artist who fled back here," Liu Jing said seriously: "We can almost confirm that about 300 kilometers from observation point number 19,"

"in the area we've marked as Flying Serpent Valley, Heavenly Materials Treasures have likely emerged."

"The specific type, number, value, and whether it's mature enough to be utilized are all unclear right now."

"Whether you're willing to take the risk is for you to decide," Liu Jing said.