Chapter 266: Old Guys, Time to Drop the Gold Coins
【Saint’s Conspiracy】’s quest objective was to destroy the Ten Saints Council’s new foothold, and besides this main objective, there was also a hidden objective that required killing the Saint.
The main objective’s quest reward was XP + 【Sacrificial Scepter】 blueprint, while the hidden objective’s reward was unknown.
Unknown was fine — Bai Fu was not arrogant enough to think she could kill the Saint with her current strength.
She didn’t know the Saint’s real level, but for someone who could carry out attacks within the Empire and then escape without issue, that person definitely wasn’t just “skilled” — they had more than two thousand tricks up their sleeve.
“Sacrificial Scepter, an evolvable rainbow-quality psionic construct — as long as resources are invested, it might be possible to pile it up into a cosmic treasure.”
After reading the blueprint description for the Sacrificial Scepter, Bai Fu’s eyes lit up.
She had never handled a cosmic treasure before, but judging from the Three Major Interstellar Civilizations’ attitude towards them, it was clear how powerful this type of equipment was.
The loot these old guys dropped really was extraordinary.
Charge, charge, charge!
After setting a time with the Rebirth Empire, Bai Fu brought Yulia and Ying Fu and set out.
Hei Fu was left behind in Ulysses Star to avoid any sudden accidents.
Since the mobile palace had not yet been built, this time she was traveling aboard an ordinary spaceship.
However, she wasn’t worried about encountering accidents — if the Ten Saints Council had an Ultra-class mechanic, the Empire had one too.
Chongxiao, an Ultra II-class mechanic as famous as Annihilation, was another pillar of the Empire.
Although he was better at commanding massive mechanical armies, preventing Corona from infiltrating Bai Fu’s ship or the Tide of the Dark Moon’s bases via the virtual network was an easy task for him.
……
A few days later.
At the Lyra Relay Station.
Bai Fu saw the expeditionary force the Empire had sent.
This force was not large in scale, with only ten thousand warships in total, but it could definitely be called the elite of the elite.
Of the four Ultra-class powerhouses, two were Ultra II-class, and all eight Domination-level experts were excellent fighters who had repeatedly distinguished themselves in Dark Zone exploration and in fighting the Empire’s enemies.
“If it weren’t for the sudden incident, the Empire would have definitely sent more than this,” Julian couldn’t help but sigh as he gazed at Annihilation and Chongxiao talking.
After all, the Empire directly controlled around thirty Ultra-class and Domination-level powerhouses.
Although the number sent this time was not large, the Empire had made other supplements.
“See that?” Julian pointed. “That light-blue cube floating in Annihilation’s palm is called the
Dimensional Cube. It’s a cosmic treasure crafted by a divine artificer, capable of separating a section of space and randomly tossing it into another dimension. Those trapped inside — if they wander aimlessly — might get lost forever in the dimensional void.
It’s the ultimate tool for capturing people.”
Bai Fu nodded.
If they were even bringing out a cosmic treasure, the Empire clearly meant to win this time.
It was understandable.
If this operation failed, the Ten Saints Council would surely become even more cautious, and the Supernova Legion and Titan Industries would not sit idle — they’d join the competition.
For the Empire, this might be the best chance to reclaim the Crystal Orb of Insight.
No wonder they agreed to more than half of her outrageous demands in the end.
A universal-level civilization — truly bold!
If she could successfully complete this mission, her strength would rise again, and she could completely secure her position at the Domination level.
While Bai Fu and Julian were talking, the Domination- and Ultra-class experts from the Empire came over one by one — all wanting to meet Bai Fu.
As the Empire’s top combat force, they didn’t particularly esteem Bai Fu’s strength.
As for her looks and figure, in the vast universe, with their status, it would be easy to find a few partners of either gender they considered no less attractive.
The main reason they wanted to meet her was curiosity — how had she managed to repeatedly uncover the Ten Saints Council’s hideouts?
“How about a trade?”
The massive man built like Optimus Prime — Annihilation — proposed a further deal as soon as they met.
“The Empire is very interested in your method for avoiding the Ten Saints Council’s detection and tracking of Kaid. If you’re willing to hand it over, the Empire can negotiate with the Holy Light Clan to allow you into the Holy Light Corridor.”
The Holy Light Clan was the race with the highest psionic affinity in the explored universe.
The Holy Light Corridor recorded special true-spirit training methods and contained a full set of transformation laboratories.
The first time she had cooperated with the Empire, Bai Fu had wanted to obtain the Holy Light Clan’s psionic talent implantation genome, but was directly refused.
Now that the opportunity was in front of her again, she was tempted.
However…
She really couldn’t help it — her method of tracking Kaid came from the positioning card she’d gotten as a quest reward.
She had no idea how it worked, and once bound, only she could use it.
So she could only refuse with a conflicted expression.
What Bai Fu didn’t expect was that her refusal actually raised her standing in Annihilation’s eyes.
“As I thought — her method either has a huge cost or contains a massive secret. Even with great profit in front of her, though she’s tempted, she still refuses.”
Annihilation secretly messaged Chongxiao.
Expression unchanged, Chongxiao replied:
“This ability would be valuable whether against the Ten Saints Council or others. Since we can’t get the method, then we find a way to secure her herself. Right now, the Supernova Legion and Titan Industries don’t know she has this ability, so we still have time to win her over. She has many secrets — not just this method, but also those Undying Ones.”
“Didn’t the medical department say they found nothing useful from studying the Undying Ones?”
“It’s precisely because they found nothing that it’s strange. Their immortality is far too unusual. 【Radiance】’s analysis suggests it’s likely the effect of some unknown cosmic treasure. From Bai Fu’s connection with those Undying Ones, even if she doesn’t possess the treasure herself, she probably knows what it is.”
Annihilation agreed.
But winning Bai Fu over would take more than profit — Bai Fu carried herself with righteousness, and didn’t look like someone who could be swayed by mere money.
Still, they would try.
When universal-level civilizations dealt with people, they always preferred courtesy before force.
After all, they were first and foremost a civilization, not a large criminal syndicate.
If they just robbed anything they wanted, all the forces and individuals allied with them would panic and defect to the other two universal-level civilizations.
Bai Fu met the Empire’s people one by one, memorizing faces and names, then joined the pre-battle meeting.
This time, the Empire had invited her to act as a radar, so in the meeting she was purely a listener.
After discussion, they unanimously decided she should stand beside Chongxiao — one of them pointing out enemy positions, the other commanding the mechanical army to suppress them.
“Haha, I’ve hated that dog Saint for a long time. Last time he got away, but this time I’ll peel his skin!”
“Stop bragging. Someone like you — the Saint could beat five of you. Don’t forget how badly you were beaten in the Radiance incident!”
“That doesn’t count — I had no idea that dog had so many tricks then. These past years, I’ve improved specifically against him. Next time we meet, I’ll smash him flat.”
‘Heh…’
Amid the noise, the Empire’s expeditionary force charged straight toward the foothold Bai Fu had pointed out.
With Chongxiao’s support, the fleet moved at an unbelievable speed, reaching the outskirts of the foothold from the rally point in just one day.
Standing aboard the Empire’s planet-class mothership and looking at the artificial planet outside — which was only slightly smaller than the mothership — Bai Fu sank into deep thought.
She had thought she was already quite wealthy, but compared with these major powers…
Fortunately, she was still young.
Fortunately, there were still countless Players out there waiting for her to harvest.
“Legion Commander Demetri, all units are ready for the assault, awaiting your command!”
Demetri was Annihilation’s real name, and “Legion Commander” was his position.
Not only was he a senator of the Senate, he also commanded a legion, overseeing an entire star sector and holding great prestige.
Demetri said calmly, “Let’s begin.”
Against a terrorist organization like the Ten Saints Council, targeted by the Three Major Interstellar Civilizations, there was no need for hesitation — only to attack.
At Demetri’s order, in an instant, ten thousand warships and millions of the Empire’s elite warriors charged toward the artificial planet ahead in unison.
Long beams of light tore through the starry sea, and the heavy planet-destroyer cannons lit up the depths of space.
The massive commotion immediately drew the attention of the Ten Saints Council.
“What’s going on?”
The Saint, wearing a large white hood, stood up.
The distinctive tendrils extending from under the hood trembled slightly, betraying his inner unease.
News quickly arrived — it was the Empire launching an attack.
“?”
The Saint was completely stunned.
What was this, a joke?
He had returned from the Dark Zone full of ambition, but before he could begin realizing his grand plans, he had been struck by two heavy blows in quick succession.
Who was he supposed to complain to about this?
After his previous foothold had been unexpectedly exposed and struck by the Empire, the
Saint had specifically sent an application to the Holy City of the Apostles, requesting that the mechanic Corona be sent to assist.
Corona’s technical skills were absolutely trustworthy — he had meticulously inspected the entire planet and found no abnormalities.
At the same time, the Saint himself had conducted multiple rounds of inspections on every subordinate, ensuring there were no problems with anyone.
If the equipment was fine and the people were fine, then why had the Empire come knocking again?
Oh — no, actually, there were two people who had not undergone strict checks.
One was the newcomer Kaid.
The other was himself.
From this, it seemed most likely that Kaid was the problem.
It couldn’t possibly be that the spy was himself, right?
That made no sense!
In truth, the Saint vaguely suspected it really could be his own issue — otherwise, how had his movements been leaked the first time?
But this was something he could never admit.
And now was not the time to admit it anyway.
This was the Empire’s second strike, and they were sure to be far more prepared than the first time.
Although he now had both Corona and Rufas on his side, the outcome of the battle was still uncertain.
“Gather everyone!”
At the Saint’s summons, everyone on the artificial planet sprang into action.
Three Ultra-class powerhouses unleashed their strength at once — the momentum they created was like the coming of the apocalypse.
Demetri’s eyes snapped open.
“The Saint is indeed here. Corona and Rufas are here too. Today, we’ll wipe them out in one stroke!”
Killing an Ultra-class powerhouse was extremely difficult — each one was incredibly tough and had countless ways to save themselves.
But with Chongxiao and the Dimensional Cube anchoring their side, he was full of confidence.
“Activate the Dimensional Cube!”
Chongxiao extended his right hand.
The Dimensional Cube spun out from the spatial box in his palm, emitting a gentle pale-blue glow.
The Dimensional Cube had only one flaw — its activation took a long time.
However, since this operation had been planned more than half a month ago, that flaw was irrelevant for this surprise assault.
Chongxiao had already put the Dimensional Cube into preheating mode long beforehand, ready to act the moment the Saint and the others’ positions were confirmed.
Pale-blue light shot out from the Dimensional Cube, leaping through space, and in the blink of an eye, it enveloped the Saint and Corona overhead.
“Damn it!”
The Saint’s heart rang with alarm bells.
But it was too late to flee now.
The Empire’s two Ultra-class powerhouses, along with six Domination-level experts, had surrounded him and Corona.
No matter which direction he tried to break through, he wouldn’t be able to escape quickly.
The sphere of light rapidly expanded, finally swallowing the Saint and Corona.
Rufas, standing in the distance, saw the situation turn dire and quickly fled, narrowly escaping disaster.
But there was no way the Empire would let him leave so easily.
“Chongxiao, block Rufas — I’ll go help Sword Emperor and the others.”
Calling out, Demetri charged straight into the expanding sphere of the Dimensional Cube’s light.
Chongxiao said nothing, directly commanding a massive mechanical army to strike at Rufas.
An Ultra-class mechanic’s army was not only vast in scale, but carried a kind of “divine” quality.
Standing there, Chongxiao was like the god of all machines, injecting machine-souls into billions of constructs, allowing them to erupt with power just like ordinary psionicists — erupt, and erupt again.
Under the siege of a mechanical army of this caliber, Rufas found it extremely frustrating to fight, no matter how many tricks he had.
Unless he could reduce Chongxiao’s army to ash, Chongxiao would always be able to reassemble a new force from the wreckage.
The starry sky had become a vast underworld where Chongxiao summoned his mechanical legions!
“This level of battle is not something I can get involved in right now.”
Bai Fu’s expression darkened — she knew she must never become complacent just because she had advanced to Domination level.
She quietly observed, searching for an opportunity, planning to attach a positioning card to Rufas or perhaps the Saint or Corona, should they manage to escape.
Time passed slowly like this.
Under the Empire’s assault, the artificial planet was on the verge of being crushed.
At the same time, facing attacks from many opponents, the Saint was barely holding on.
At a critical moment, Rufas finally received a reply from the Holy City of the Apostles.
【Use the True Spirit Pillar】
Rufas was furious.
He had originally hoped that the Holy City of the Apostles would send someone to support him, but it seemed they wouldn’t be able to make it in time.
In this situation, if they wanted to save themselves, they could indeed only use the power of the True Spirit Pillar.
However, to use the True Spirit Pillar, they needed “fuel,” and this fuel was meant to be used for the Descent Ritual.
If they used it now, who knew how much effort it would take to gather enough again next time?
What a sin!
Rufas was filled with rage but had nowhere to vent it, so he could only immediately instruct his trusted aides, along with Elron and Sui Xi, to use the True Spirit Pillar.
“Use the True Spirit Pillar? So suddenly? But we don’t have enough fuel collected to initiate the Descent Ritual right now.”
Sui Xi, upon receiving the message, was stunned.
Rufas’s trusted aide said urgently, “The situation is critical, I don’t have time to explain slowly.
Just do as I say — otherwise, if Lord Rufas gets into trouble, you won’t escape punishment either.”
Sui Xi hesitated, but in the end, obediently followed along.
The Holy Blessing Cult had originally been just a small rural faction without even a single Calamity-class powerhouse.
From the moment they had connected with Rufas, she no longer had any say in decisions.
All she could do was follow Rufas’s orders and believe that the Apostle descending would truly change this world.
Clack, clack, clack…
The sound of heels striking the ground was as urgent and sharp as Rufas’s aide’s heartbeat.
“Hurry up, stop dawdling.”
Under repeated urging, Sui Xi and Elron, as the True Spirit Pillar’s chief and assistant officiants, finally completed the activation ritual.
The “fuel” stored in the fuel pool was quickly drawn into the True Spirit Pillar, and gradually, a small vortex appeared above it.
……
“Bai Fu, I suddenly sensed a strange summoning.”
At that moment, Yulia’s voice rang in Bai Fu’s mind.
Right after that, the game’s notification sound also chimed.
【You have triggered the hidden quest [Repair the True Spirit Remnant]】
“?”
Bai Fu quickly opened the quest description.
It said that the Ethereal Realm had once suffered a great calamity, with the Third Apostle taking the brunt of it.
After the calamity, the Third Apostle vanished, leaving behind only a remnant body.
The True Spirit Pillar was a part of that remnant — and the largest part.
The quest objective was to complete the True Spirit Remnant, which consisted of three fragments in total.
Aside from the True Spirit Pillar, there were two more.
Each collected fragment would grant a reward, and gathering all of them would award a special title + plot exploration progress.
Why were all the quests I triggered these repair jobs?
Completing the Psionic Evolution Tree atlas, helping Cypriss recover her strength — and now repairing the True Spirit Remnant?
Am I some kind of pot-mender?
Bai Fu curled her lips and checked the reward for the current stage of this completion quest.
The quest reward was nothing special — just 10 million XP.
It seemed collecting this fragment wouldn’t require much effort at all — much easier than killing a Calamity-class enemy.
Since that was the case, she might as well go for it — who knew if the chance would come again?
The True Spirit Pillar was already powerful, so the complete True Spirit Remnant would surely be even stronger.
“Yulia, let’s go take a look.”
Yulia agreed.
Bai Fu quietly returned to her room aboard the planet-class mothership.
Then, Yulia accepted the summoning — and brought her along as well.
“Looking at the map, this is the artificial planet occupied by the Ten Saints Council.
Did the fragment end up in their hands?”
Bai Fu looked around, and the first thing she saw was a familiar face full of shock.
“Bai Fu?!”
Sui Xi’s eyes nearly popped out.
Why had using the True Spirit Pillar summoned Bai Fu?