Chapter 39: The Guardian’s Unforeseen Activation

‘To think I actually took a simpleton seriously just now,’ Xi Yue thought, pressing a hand to her forehead. ‘It’s truly humiliating to even recall.’

No matter. Extracting the Earth-attribute Star Origin remained her top priority.

Thus, a sharp claw, formed from purple spiritual energy, materialized on Xi Yue’s shoulder. Under her command, it pierced through Qingfeng Immortal’s waist, aiming directly for the Earth-attribute Star Origin within his stomach, intending to strip it away.

With Qingfeng Immortal completely incapacitated, the process appeared remarkably smooth.

Yet, just as the energy claw was about to make contact with the Earth-attribute Star Origin, something entirely unforeseen by Xi Yue occurred.

A powerful burst of silver-white light erupted without warning from within the Earth-attribute Star Origin, instantly tearing Xi Yue’s energy claw to shreds. It then surged along the remnants of the purple energy, hurtling towards Xi Yue herself!

‘Hm?!!’

Silver-white spiritual energy!

‘This… this is the power of that new Primal?!’

The sudden turn of events left Xi Yue momentarily stunned. She immediately severed the connection between her shoulder and the energy claw, then leaped backward, widening the distance from Qingfeng Immortal. She had hoped this would halt the silver-white energy’s advance.

However, matters were not so simple. After obliterating the energy claw, the silver-white light showed no intention of stopping. It surged directly from the wound in Qingfeng Immortal’s waist, and then, the vast spiritual energy swirling through the air reshaped itself into numerous longswords, each gleaming with silver light, their points aimed squarely at Xi Yue.

Seeing this, Xi Yue once more summoned four purple energy dragon heads and raised her longsword, adopting a defensive stance.

The next moment, a torrential downpour of swords descended upon her without mercy.

Xi Yue commanded the four dragon heads to rise and meet the assault. She clearly sensed that this silver spiritual energy had locked onto her; it would not relent until every last bit was shattered.

‘This is proving to be quite troublesome,’

Xi Yue mused with a wry smile.

As she relentlessly deflected the incoming silver light, Xi Yue felt her pressure mount. The constant drain of spiritual energy from her body caused her consciousness to thin, making it increasingly difficult to control her current clone.

Under these circumstances, Xi Yue’s control over her powers grew increasingly unsatisfactory.

One by one, the four purple dragon heads were struck down by the light swords.

Her amethyst longsword, too, finally succumbed to the overwhelming force, shattering into pieces.

After a dazzling flash of silver light, Xi Yue ultimately collapsed from exhaustion, pinned to the ground by four silver light swords. Fortunately, she had managed to destroy the other light swords; otherwise, her current body would likely have ceased to exist.

Subsequently, the light swords dispersed into silver spiritual energy, which seeped into Xi Yue’s body through her wounds.

‘Hm? What is this?’

‘Is it meant to temporarily seal my powers? Ah, it seems this is the end for now…’

Watching the silver-white longswords, which had pierced her and thwarted her plans, gradually merge into her body, Xi Yue felt no resentment or anger. After all, victory belonged to the strong, and she had simply been too careless.

‘This seems to be a guardian barrier set by that Primal,’

‘And one of quite a high caliber.’

‘Honestly, this Sanctuary-level magic barrier still caught Xi Yue off guard. She even felt a little perplexed. Aren’t newly reborn Battle Sovereigns supposed to have their memories of reincarnation sealed? The three-year period hasn’t passed yet, has it? Logically, no other entities should be able to enter this planet. And there couldn’t possibly be any records of such advanced magic on Blue Star.’

‘So where did she learn it?’

****

The true culprit behind all this was Bisika.

When Lin Ling had finished extracting the pure Star Origin, Bisika had suggested placing a protective barrier over it. This was to prevent it from being coveted by other enemies. Although these Blue Star-produced Star Origins could only be used by Blue Star natives, it was possible that ill-intentioned individuals might try to seize them to weaken humanity’s overall strength.

Moreover, many beings in the Origin Star Universe were highly interested in collecting various types of Star Origins.

Sensing the wisdom in Bisika’s words, Lin Ling accepted the proposal.

Thus, with Bisika’s help and guidance, Lin Ling established Sanctuary-level guardian barriers on every Star Origin to prevent them from being stolen by outsiders.

The trigger condition was simple: any outsider attempting to seize a Star Origin from its rightful wielder.

Once activated, the guardian barrier would release a torrent of silver light swords, aiming to nullify the enemy’s combat prowess or restrict their movements, thereby buying the wielder time to counterattack or escape.

However,

Lin Ling probably never dreamed that her and Bisika’s ‘brilliant’ maneuver would end up so thoroughly entrapping Xi Yue.

****

After being freed from Xi Yue’s power and its corrosive effects, Qingfeng Immortal, who should have died, miraculously clung to life. Under the healing influence of the black-and-white chaotic energy, he gradually regained control of his body, and his consciousness slowly returned.

“Huh??”

‘I’m actually alive?’

He had believed death was inevitable, yet now he found himself not only alive but also with his powers intact. Qingfeng Immortal was overcome with an unprecedented joy, the elation of one who had narrowly escaped death.

Amidst his jubilation, Qingfeng Immortal’s gaze fell upon Xi Yue, who lay prone on the ground beside him—the girl who had subjected him to such profound humiliation. However, having been thoroughly traumatized, he did not act rashly. Instead, he cautiously used his newly recovered spiritual energy to probe Xi Yue’s body.

Only after confirming that her spiritual energy was nearly depleted and she posed no threat did he finally let out a sigh of relief.

Qingfeng Immortal, of course, had no idea what had transpired. He had already fainted from the unbearable pain the moment Xi Yue began her attempt to seize the Star Origin.

“What happened to her??” A bewildered Qingfeng Immortal could only appeal to the black-and-white orb within him.

However, this time, for some reason, the black-and-white orb completely ignored him.

Instead, it emitted a series of strange fluctuations.

‘It seemed to be… excited???’

‘What the hell??!!’

‘Never mind.’

‘Although I don’t know what happened, why did this short-haired girl suddenly collapse from exhaustion? And why am I perfectly fine? But now I’m the only one standing here, continuously recovering. So, I still won, didn’t I?’ He couldn’t be bothered with how humiliating the process had been; after all, no one else had witnessed it.

Qingfeng Immortal’s idiotic display was, naturally, observed by Xi Yue.

There was no mockery in Xi Yue’s eyes.

Only solemnity.

And anger.

Clearly, Xi Yue had detected the wisp of black-and-white chaotic energy, originating from the same source as her own, hidden within Qingfeng Immortal. The girl’s eyes narrowed slightly.

‘Luo, you haunting fiend…’

—

Just then, the sudden roar of helicopter blades echoed through the sky. Several helicopters slowly descended into the ruins, followed by a large convoy of vehicles arriving on the scene.

As the helicopter doors opened, several individuals dressed as officials stepped out.

In fact, at the onset of the battle, upon hearing reports of giant beasts, the Cangyang Military Region had dispatched troops for support. However, the conflict proved too fierce for them to intervene. Several helicopters that approached the scene were directly affected by the battle’s aftermath and crashed, and the dispatched forces suffered heavy losses due to various energy storms before even reaching the site.

It was only moments ago, after military observations via satellite and high-altitude reconnaissance confirmed the battle’s conclusion, that they dared to send helicopters to make contact with these “superhumans.”

Gazing at the imposing green-haired man and the short-haired girl lying on the ground, Quan Dezhi and Zhang Xiuxin felt a tremor of nervousness. This time, they were representing the nation to make contact with these “superhumans,” and there was no room for error!

While this wasn’t the silver-haired girl they had been yearning for, previous satellite photos indicated that the green-haired individual’s combat power was not to be underestimated. They had managed to defeat two ferocious giant beasts single-handedly.

As for the girl lying on the ground, they were unsure of her origins, but her presence here suggested she was certainly no ordinary person.

“Hello. First, on behalf of the Huaguo government and its people, we wish to express our gratitude for your assistance in resolving the threat of these two giant beasts.”

After saluting, Zhang Xiuxin addressed the green-haired man before him with utmost respect.

“There’s no need for such formality, Major Zhang,” Qingfeng Immortal replied, feigning profound wisdom.

‘Hm?’

‘How does he know me?’

Zhang Xiuxin was momentarily taken aback. He carefully racked his memory, certain he had never crossed paths with this green-haired man before.

“You know me?”

“It is I, Qingfeng.”

“Then your appearance?”

Qingfeng Immortal’s words sent a ripple of shock through Zhang Xiuxin. He had clearly been a hunched old man before, so how had he transformed into a handsome young man now?

The contrast was too stark, almost unbelievable.

“No need to be surprised. This is my true form.”

Qingfeng Immortal chuckled lightly, utterly devoid of shame.

“Uh,”

Although it felt incredible, he reasoned that for an immortal, some inexplicable aspects were normal. With this thought, Zhang Xiuxin stopped pressing the issue, though he still had one crucial question.

“Um, if you don’t mind me asking, how is my son, Zhang Wu?”

Upon hearing this question, Qingfeng Immortal’s brow furrowed slightly before he fell into a brief silence. After a moment of contemplation, he theatrically beat his chest and feigned remorse.

“Alas, I am deeply sorry, Major Zhang. I failed to protect him, and he was killed by that silver-haired girl.”

“You… you… what did you say?!”

—

Meanwhile,

In the Star Core region.

*Swoosh~*

After wave upon wave of spiritual energy rippled through the air,

The thousands of black shadow monsters, roughly sixth-tier, that had fearlessly attacked Lin Ling, had been utterly obliterated by the girl’s silver energy cannon! In the lingering heat of the energy, they vanished into ash.

However, to avoid accidentally harming the Star Soul, and because each monster attempted to use the Star Soul as cover, Lin Ling wasted a considerable amount of time before finally eradicating them all.

This only further convinced Lin Ling that the monsters’ true purpose was to delay her.

As the girl pondered this and extracted the Dark Star Origin from the Star Soul, a unique signal abruptly entered Lin Ling’s mind, causing her brow to furrow.

Her beautiful golden eyes were filled with astonishment.

‘Hm??’

‘How did the guardian barrier get triggered??’