"At a time like this..."
"Why would powerhouses come to our Thunderstrike Star Domain?" Having detected their approach, the Celestial clansman frowned slightly. A solemn look crossed his face, tinged with concern.
Of course, this worry was not for himself, but out of fear that the plan might be discovered and ruined. Under the black-robed figure's order, he remained where he was, waiting for those presences to draw near.
He had already made up his mind. No matter who came, if given the chance, he would slaughter them all.
Before long, several figures appeared, standing high in the void. The newcomers were none other than Lu Yuan and his companions.
They surveyed the surrounding volcanic magma, then turned their full attention toward the collapsed altar.
"I can sense that the altar seems to have borne a great many lives—countless, densely packed," Jiang Ningxian said, astonishment in her eyes, unable to stop herself from continuing. "Could it be that every living being on this planet perished here?"
She could hardly be blamed for thinking so. They had traveled across many regions only to find not a single living creature. More importantly, the residual aura of life lingered on the altar, yet they were all dead.
Having cultivated to the Grotto-Heaven Immortal realm, Jiang Ningxian easily deduced much of the truth.
"Your guess is likely correct. It seems all living beings on this planet were sacrificed."
"Furthermore, I sense the presence of Extraterrestrial Demons here, and it is exceedingly dense," Lu Yuan spoke up, his expression grave. His destiny power was extraordinarily sensitive to the power of Extraterrestrial Demons.
Even though some time had passed since their departure, he could still detect it. Piecing it together with the current circumstances, it was clear those entities had struck at this world's inhabitants.
As Lu Yuan pondered further—
Rumble!
In an instant, peals of thunder rolled across the void.
Then, a figure walked out from within the altar. Wings sprouted from his back, crackling lightning coiled around him, and the aura he exuded was immensely vast.
He had actually reached the Grotto-Heaven Immortal realm!
This caught Jiang Ningxian and her brother by surprise. The two siblings naturally recognized him as a member of the Celestial Clan.
Yet while the Celestial Clan ranked among the top hundred star sectors, Grotto-Heaven Immortals were extremely rare among them and were practically all high-ranking figures. This place was still very far from the Celestial Star.
Furthermore, they had some idea of what had taken place on the Celestial Star. By all rights, such an existence should not have appeared here.
Jiang Ningxian opened her mouth to say something, but Lu Yuan held her back, saying softly, "This man's body is tainted with the power of Extraterrestrial Demons."
"And it is even denser than what was on the members of the Eternal Clan and the Ji clan."
"If I am not mistaken, he has already submitted to the Extraterrestrial Demons."
His words sent a sudden jolt through everyone present.
Sure enough, in the next moment, the Celestial clansman stepped forward, and the lightning coiling around him turned pitch-black.
Standing there, radiating an intensely overwhelming killing intent, he spoke slowly, "No matter who you are or where you come from, since you have come here, do not even think of leaving alive."
As he finished speaking, the void trembled, and colossal claps of thunder roared across the heavens.
Even the neighboring stars were affected, shuddering continuously. What was even more striking was that the lightning bolts had also turned black.
At this moment, the planet seemed to plunge into an apocalyptic hellscape, utterly terrifying.
It could be said that the aura and might displayed by this Celestial clansman were staggeringly powerful.
Even Jiang Ningxian and Jiang Haokong could not help but pale. One had to remember that the siblings were genuine prodigies; while they might not claim invincibility among their peers, within the same realm—even in the Immortal Realm—they were bound to be stronger than ordinary cultivators. Yet now, even the two of them felt shaken.
They felt that this did not seem like the power an ordinary Grotto-Heaven Immortal could unleash. Behind them, the faces of the Jiang clan disciples paled slightly as well.
"He has accepted the power of the Extraterrestrial Demons. He is no longer someone you can handle. Let me take him," Lu Yuan said, stepping forward. He had no intention of wasting words on the Celestial clansman before him.
An entire planet's inhabitants were suspected to have been sacrificed; whether it concerned him or not, such an atrocity would incite fury in anyone.
Naturally, Lu Yuan did not want to waste any more time either. He needed to find out exactly what was going on.
Thus, as soon as his words fell, he took a step forward, and a mighty aura surged from within him.
This was no longer Earth, nor were there any living beings left. Therefore, Lu Yuan had no intention of holding back in the slightest, unleashing torrential might from within.
Rumble!
Beneath that immense power, the volcanoes below erupted immediately.
Opposite him, the Celestial clansman merely sneered.
With a flap of his wings, wind and clouds surged. Streaks of lightning materialized across the sky, stretching for countless li, cleaving straight down with crushing force.
Yet Lu Yuan did not even spare them a glance. With a single punch, he shattered the innumerable bolts of lightning to pieces, appearing right in front of the Celestial clansman.
Neither said another word. Bringing their respective techniques to bear, they traded hundreds of punches in the blink of an eye.
Every punch carried terrifying, destructive force, shaking the mountains and rivers below. The earth cracked, splitting into countless crisscrossing chasms.
The planetary crust itself seemed to convulse. Mountains collapsed, and endless subterranean magma surged forth, sending the planet's temperature soaring into the thousands of degrees.
Even the clouds were stained blood-red. If the scene earlier had resembled an apocalypse, the entire world had now turned into a literal hell, an authentic cataclysm of shattered skies and cracked earth.
Viewed from beyond the atmosphere, one would see fractures spreading across the planet, threatening to tear it apart at any moment.
"Let us wait outside the planet first. With no living beings left, it is no longer protected by cosmic laws," Jiang Ningxian said, urging the group to retreat into outer space. "If they keep fighting, it won't be long before the entire world is destroyed."
Indeed, in a clash of such magnitude, the outcome would be virtually the same even on a lifeless Earth.
The Jiang siblings led their companions straight into outer space, well aware that it was best not to interfere in the ensuing battle.
Rumble!
Down below, the fierce battle raged on.
It had to be said that after absorbing the power of the Extraterrestrial Demons, the Celestial clansman's strength had surged by a tremendous margin, to the point where he was practically invincible within the same realm. In this universe, few could suppress him.
Yet the problem was that he had run into Lu Yuan.
Chapter 469