The desert at night held a faint, uncertain silence.
That uncertainty came mostly from the unseen depths beneath the ground—dangerous creatures always preferred to rest during the day and come out at night.
Ji Tianjin released his spiritual power, and after a moment said, “Aside from Zone E, the fighting in the other zones hasn’t shown any signs of stopping.”
From the fragmented, noisy transmissions he picked up, the battles were still intense.
The fiercer the competition among the senior students, the more of them would be forced to retreat and settle for Zone E. The first couple of days might be manageable, but in the final days, when nutrient fluid becomes increasingly scarce, someone would inevitably set their sights on the freshmen.
Di Yuansi finally finished howling and came back, his voice hoarse. As soon as he entered, he said, “All freshmen face the same dilemma. The best strategy is to rack up as many points as possible in the early days.”
Fortunately, they didn’t have to worry about food, giving them a significant advantage over others.
Su Cha raised his hand: “What if I get captured and forced to farm for someone?”
Everyone fell silent. By now, quite a few people knew this supply point had vegetables and fruit trees. Of them, the only one who had anything to do with plants was Su Cha—it wasn’t hard to imagine people jumping to conclusions.
Rong Shao offered a reasonable suggestion: “Threaten them with death, I guess.”
“……”
There weren’t many freshmen active in Zone E at night. As long as they took a small risk, now was a good time to gain points.
Su Cha took the initiative: “How about we take shifts? You guard the supply point at night, and we’ll go hunt beasts.”
He actually quite liked nighttime activity—daytime temperatures were too high and affected his performance.
Di Yuansi was the first to support the idea. The night was an assassin’s paradise—but he suggested Su Cha stay behind.
Su Cha replied, “I can take care of myself.”
Under normal circumstances, he never forced himself to push past his limits. He had already entered the second stage of awakening and could control the Overlord Flower for longer periods.
“Even if I run into Fasite again, I can hold out for a little while.”
Rong Shao spat to the side: “Don’t jinx it by bringing him up in the dead of night. I heard Fasite fell into a wormhole—let’s hope his whole warship got destroyed along with him.”
….
In the endless desert, the sand suddenly rippled in irregular waves. A hand reached out from beneath. The man who crawled out had an injury on his temple and bruising under one eye. Once he emerged completely, he sprawled on the yellow sand, arms and legs outstretched, eyes closed, as if basking in moonlight to cleanse himself.
Strangely, even though a living person lay right there in the open, a nearby black viper acted like it didn’t see him. The aerial cameras and the warships above the clouds didn’t register his presence either.
On Fasite’s wrist, besides a compact smart device, was a new sensor. It indicated the limit of power he could use without triggering surveillance alerts. If he exceeded that threshold, the monitoring system would detect the anomaly.
He stood up and used his spiritual power to shake off the sand from his body.
“Su Cha…” Fasite’s face was grim, but a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
There had been a tracker on Fasite’s warship—but it was a friendly one. After falling into the wormhole, he had been rescued by Lieutenant Mike, who had defected from the Legion.
Calling it a defection wasn’t quite accurate—they were both genetically modified soldiers bred by the Xilin Group, operating under different identities throughout the galaxy. Thanks to the company’s serums, they had gained powerful spiritual abilities—but had to take suppressants regularly, or their bodies would be torn apart by the strain.
The human body held many strange latent potentials waiting to be unlocked. Though the Empire had banned genetic engineering projects, Xilin Group had continued its secret research over many years and had achieved remarkable results.
For example, the serum Fasite was using now made him, like a spirit form, semi-real and semi-illusory, reducing his presence. But the drug had a backlash—after the mission, he would need extended rest, and his spiritual level would drop by a whole S rank.
He had no right to refuse orders from the corporation. Lately, his spiritual power had become increasingly unstable—dropping a rank might not be a bad thing… Thinking this, the murderous intent in Fasite’s eyes nearly became tangible. He was going to kill Su Cha with his own hands.
He released his spirit form. The python transformed into a thin, inconspicuous little snake. Its tail was half-missing, still injured from the last simulation battle.
Fasite’s expression twisted as he gave the order: “Go. You should still remember his scent.”
The snake flicked its tongue, the malice in its eyes mirroring that of its master.
….
Elsewhere, Su Cha had already left the supply point and was walking into the vast night.
Di Yuansi and the Wu siblings were all present. Their team was perfectly complementary in strength—so long as they didn’t face particularly powerful upperclassmen, they had nothing to worry about. Before they left, to avoid being robbed, they left half of their nutrient solution at the supply point.
Not daring to be careless, Su Cha gripped the space pendant tightly. At the first sign of trouble, he could immediately release the Overlord Flower.
Wu Shui checked her wristwatch. At their current pace, they were expected to reach an area frequently active with strange beasts in about twenty minutes.
Just then, Su Cha suddenly pressed the button on his space pendant without warning. The others instinctively became alert, but even using their spiritual senses, they didn’t detect anything.
“Is something wrong?” Wu Zhi asked.
“Something’s off,” Su Cha said, scanning the surroundings. “It’s too quiet.”
Since they passed the last sand dune, not to mention the terrifying creatures that usually inhabit the desert, there hadn’t even been a single insect.
The group stood back-to-back. Di Yuansi fully extended his spiritual power, then said in a low voice, “I don’t sense anything.”
This brought no comfort. If nothing was detected, then either they were being paranoid—or the opponent’s spiritual strength vastly surpassed their own.
Su Cha’s demonic power gave him stronger perception. He was certain something terrifying was nearby.
Finally, Di Yuansi sensed it: “There’s a presence approaching us.”
The steadily approaching aura felt oddly familiar to Su Cha. Just like in the simulation battles, he didn’t harbor any illusions and prepared to send an emergency distress signal.
He tried several times, but the signal was blocked. His smart brain gave no response.
“To go this far just to kill you… I used to think it wasn’t worth the price,” came a voice from the shadows—Fasite appeared out of nowhere, the scar on his face twisting his once-handsome features. “Now it seems there’s a reason they want you dead so badly.”
A unique talent, strong perception, and sharp judgment—if allowed to grow, Su Cha would become a significant threat.
The moment Fasite spoke, Su Cha immediately released the Overlord Flower’s scent to the maximum, using his spiritual power to send it in the direction of the sound.
Unfortunately, Fasite had come prepared. Wearing special equipment and pre-injected with the company’s anti-toxin serum—which countered about 80% of the poison—he still felt the effects, but they were limited. His smile vanished as he regarded Su Cha with unprecedented seriousness.
Su Cha gave Wu Shui a look, intending to lure Fasite away and let the others escape to seek help.
Wu Shui shook her head. If they left now, Su Cha wouldn’t survive long enough for rescue to arrive.
Fasite didn’t waste time. In the blink of an eye, he rushed forward, his muscular arm bursting with explosive strength. A figure intercepted him—Di Yuansi blocked the blow, and the Wu siblings quickly retreated with Su Cha.
“Go!”
Even a brief exchange left Di Yuansi with a gruesome wound on his arm. This wasn’t a fight they could win with teamwork—at best, one person might escape.
Su Cha: “I’ll cover the rear.”
Di Yuansi barked, “You think you can buy even a few seconds?”
He was decisive. A team valued cooperation, and sacrifices were sometimes necessary—but only when they were worth it. Sending someone too weak to die as cannon fodder wouldn’t delay the enemy at all.
No one wanted to abandon a teammate unless absolutely necessary. Wu Zhi glanced at his wristwatch; the rescue system was still down. He ate an orange Su Cha had planted earlier and murmured, “Fasite’s strength seems limited.”
Compared to his usual brutality, Fasite’s attack today was almost… “gentle.”
That meant they still had a chance.
Wu Zhi and Wu Shui stepped forward to help Di Yuansi while Su Cha continued using his spiritual power to push the Overlord Flower’s effects. Suddenly, a giant python burst from the ground. The next moment, Su Cha was violently flung aside. His back slammed into the ground, then the python’s body struck his abdomen. A metallic taste filled his throat, but Su Cha forced it down.
“Su Cha!” The Wu siblings were locked in combat with Fasite and couldn’t help him.
Now, the python seemed ready to kill Su Cha with ease. It bared its fangs and lunged for his vulnerable neck.
A pouch of poison burst mid-air. The python’s movements paused briefly. Su Cha seized the chance to get up.
“Useless.” Fasite cursed his own spiritual beast.
He shattered Di Yuansi’s wrist, then teleported next to Su Cha.
At the critical moment, a white tiger leapt out—it was Ji Tianjin’s spiritual beast. Worried about their safety after Su Cha left, Ji Tianjin had sent his spirit form to follow them just in case.
A master can sense what their spiritual beast experiences. Though the white tiger’s master wasn’t here, he’d likely already informed the military.
“D*mn it,” Fasite muttered darkly, quickly deciding to kill Su Cha before using a serum to lower his presence and escape.
He no longer cared about backlash. Surviving was priority. Desolate Star 37 was vast—far from the capital. The powerful Galan Monarch’s spiritual form couldn’t possibly arrive in time.
As Fasite’s power erupted, only Ji Tianjin’s spiritual form could withstand the pressure. The rest struggled to breathe.
Though Ji Tianjin hadn’t fully awakened, even his S-rank spirit form was pushed to its limits.
No one retreated.
Fasite’s vicious personality made Su Cha, now the protected one, his favorite target. He relished destroying what others treasured.
The white tiger flashed forward like a beam of light—but it still couldn’t outrun Fasite’s punch. His modified mechanical gloves packed tremendous power. The tiger’s skull was crushed, its fur dulled.
At the same time, the giant python coiled tighter around Su Cha.
“If the spirit form is destroyed, its master will suffer irreversible damage,” Fasite said cruelly, tearing off the tiger’s tail and raising another fist.
Di Yuansi, enduring the crushing pressure of spiritual force, leapt to block the blow.
Even then, the white tiger’s body radiated majesty, lowering itself for another charge.
A dagger plunged into flesh—Di Yuansi’s arm was nearly crippled. In close combat, a dagger was far more effective than a gun.
“They’re going to die today—all because of you,” Fasite said, swinging another blade at Wu Shui’s face. She dodged, but a line of blood traced her forehead.
“A ruined face is a big deal for a girl,” Fasite sneered. “I’ll give you a deal—kill one of your teammates, and I’ll spare you.”
Blood dripped down Wu Shui’s temple, past her lips. She stared at him. “Fasite, you’re pathetic.”
A lonely psycho with no companions, killing as many as he liked would never fill his emptiness.
Angered by her light words, Fasite ordered the python to finish Su Cha and slashed at Wu Shui’s eye.
Her spirit form blocked it. The white tiger charged Fasite again.
Meanwhile, Su Cha’s delicate fingers twitched. His demonic power pulled the desert sand toward the ring on his hand. Powder fell from the air. The sand, under his power, formed a small knife and shot toward the bandit’s eye.
Just as Fasite prepared to revel in the kill, he was caught off guard by the double attack. Su Cha detonated the sand-blade—grit flying into Fasite’s eyes.
“Kill him!” Fasite roared in pain, furious at his spirit form. “What are you waiting for?!”
Su Cha’s spiritual power tried to pacify the python. It resisted the “forced love” while still trying to strangle him.
At the moment his consciousness began to sink, Su Cha merely narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t afraid of death, but he loathed the feeling of dying. He recalled the memory of being forced back into his original form and subjected to brutal punishment by his clan—his gaze turned terrifyingly cold.
Why?
Did the wise elders truly believe an exceptional human demon slayer would love him? Perhaps they only believed what they wanted to believe—refusing to admit the one responsible for the flower demon tribe’s tragic loss was their so-called next leader.
Su Cha remembered his voice burned hoarse. A golden child of the tribe once visited, eyes blank and distracted.
“You, always such a troublemaker.”
Seeing Su Cha, beaten to a pulp, lying like mud, the other man still thought of his lover, scolding Su Cha softly.
After countless missions with the system, Su Cha had made revenge his goal but had rarely felt hatred consume him. Only in this dying moment did he realize that hatred had always followed him like a shadow.
With every breath, every passing moment, it haunted him.
His pale skin made every vein painfully visible, bulging as though they might burst—either from his tense body or the suffocating pain.
The hate was suddenly pushed aside. Through hazy vision, Su Cha saw his fallen comrades on the sand. A deeper rage exploded in his mind.
An unprecedented fury dyed his pale irises. Blood boiled. A flash passed through the depth of his left eye—an ancient rune, perhaps.
At that moment, on a distant mysterious planet—
Beast limbs littered the ground, the stench of blood forming a sea. Not long ago, Fog Star had been surrounded by over ten thousand ambushing strange beasts. The weakest among them stood 20 meters tall—like steel skyscrapers.
These beasts were highly intelligent, able to understand human speech. Compared to them, the ones Su Cha faced in simulations were nothing.
A thousand of these king-beasts could flatten a small nation.
This attack was revenge.
Fog Star had once slaughtered an entire planet of strange beasts—an unforgivable provocation. The beasts had prepared for years.
Yet their invincible army was nothing to the Fog Star people.
Within half a day, fewer than a hundred survived.
These battle-hardened species felt fear for the first time. It wasn’t humans who had slaughtered them, but something far more savage.
Their killers had no emotion on their beautiful faces. Their long hair shimmered with cold light. This wasn’t even Fog Star’s king—just one legion.
The marshal walked forward amidst the beasts’ screams, silk-like threads winding around his fingers, piercing their skulls.
Blood and brain matter bloomed. The marshal spoke one word: “Fools.”
This wasn’t the first time the beasts had retaliated in decades. Every time, it became a one-sided massacre.
This time, the beasts would have been tortured long-term—but the ruthless general suddenly changed. Not just him—everyone in the legion felt it.
A bloodline awakening.
Only Fog Star bloodlines could cause such a shift. Excitement. Heat…. Even their slow-beating hearts felt alive.
It had been so long. Not since the Fog Star King had anyone awakened.
Through their unique racial bond, they sensed pain, hatred… and saw a massive python: reflected in its vertical pupils—a fragile figure.
They couldn’t see the face, only that it was a child.
A child!
Without doubt, this was a child of Fog Star.
