War of Extermination

The Aska set sail once more. Their journey after that was one of fits and starts. When they encountered a new world, if they found it interesting, they went in for a tour; if not, they stayed aboard to watch the ship. Yu Xian even specially crafted an avatar to enter those weaker worlds, complete with dedicated outfits and a little flag. Yes, printed on his clothes was their group title: "Tour Leader, Middle-Aged and Elderly Mighty Ones Tour Group." Little Nora served as "Deputy Tour Leader, Middle-Aged and Elderly Mighty Ones Tour Group." The others were ordinary members. However, this organization of his hadn't won the endorsement of all the group members. At present, only Little Nora and Little Huangquan recognized it; in fact, whenever someone asked, they would proactively tell them the group's name. Normally, as soon as the two little ones gave the name, they received immediate feedback: "What kind of middle-aged and elderly are you two little brats supposed to be?" A few years slipped by amid playful squabbling, feasting, and dozing. Everyone gradually grew accustomed to life aboard the ship, to embarking on adventures that were never particularly dangerous, and to taking the local customs of various worlds in stride—adapting with remarkable speed. The Tree Universe. Strictly speaking, the universe itself was neither black nor white. The reason it looked pitch-black was that light remained stationary within the Tree Universe. Yet in the eyes of Mighty Ones, the Tree Universe actually had many facets. Once they grew tired of the pitch-black side, they could look at another facet— For instance, the kaleidoscopic, multicolored side. The energies frozen in the air took on different colors depending on their elemental properties. Sitting by the edge of the ship, Yu Xian could even reach out with a spoon and scoop up a mouthful of those frozen energies from the Tree Universe just to sample the flavor. In certain regions, for example, there were massive tangles of multicolored light rays resembling jumbled balls of yarn. Because time did not exist in the Tree Universe, all these rays remained completely stationary. Nora had a sudden inspiration and drew out quite a few rays of light, intending to knit a scarf for Yu Xian. Although this scarf would instantly unravel in any area where time flowed, as long as the rays were fixed in place, it would surely make a fine scarf. After traveling through so many worlds, Zhang Shou also had a sudden inspiration: he wanted to establish a sect, founding a school centered on the saber. He had already settled on a name: the Ever Blade Sect. Originally, it was called the Eternal Blade Sect, but after Yu Xian roasted it as way too chuunibyou, he dropped the "Eternal" part and shortened it. In any case, he would never tell anyone that the "Ever" in Ever Blade Sect stood for "Eternal." As for how others guessed, he didn't care. Still, founding a sect was no simple matter. Zhang Shou's power stemmed entirely from the Zhen Realm; he had never systematically trained in saber techniques himself. Therefore, he needed to find a suitable cultivation method, combine it with his own realm and insights into the saber, and create saber techniques that could be passed down to future generations. This was anything but simple. Consequently, whenever Zhang Shou had free time, he pondered and practiced; one could often spot him drilling saber forms on the deck—Form One, Form Two, Form Three... One day, while everyone was busy with their own pursuits, ripples of combat reached them from the far reaches of the Tree Universe. In fact, the group had run into fights in the Tree Universe before. Two Cosmos Ranks had fought their way right out of their world and happened upon Yu Xian's crew. In the end, judging the noble hearts of gentlemen by their own petty standards, the combatants had decisively bolted in opposite directions, giving Yu Xian and company no chance whatsoever to mediate the dispute. "These ripples aren't weak. Mighty Ones?" Sheathing his saber, Zhang Shou was the first to guess as he sensed the disturbances pulsing through the Tree Universe. If such ripples lost the power of time, they would likewise freeze in the Tree Universe. They looked rather like ripples of varying colors—Yu Xian had even tasted them, finding they left a numbing sensation. Ripples capable of propagating through the Tree Universe meant both combatants had infused sufficient time into their attacks, perhaps even accelerating time. It was worth mentioning that, strictly speaking, any object possessing the power of time within the Tree Universe moved at standard lightspeed. Even traveling one meter per second was considered standard lightspeed—though whose universe set that standard was anyone's guess. In any case, within the Tree Universe, everything moved at lightspeed; one could also say there were only two states here: lightspeed, and total stillness. "They really are Mighty Ones. Both of them." Niman stood up at this moment and offered her assessment, simultaneously growing alert. If the opponents were below the Mighty One level, she wouldn't care much, but fellow Mighty Ones were a different matter. After all, the gulf between one Mighty One and another could sometimes be so absurdly vast that it was hard to believe they were in the same realm. As the saying went: sometimes the gap between a human and a dog wasn't as great as the gap between two Mighty Ones. Because no order had been given to steer clear, the Aska sailed on. After roughly four or five days, the battlefield came distinctly into view. Countless fragmented remnants of worlds floated at various spots in the Tree Universe. Shattered planets resembled broken eggs, lying dead and motionless in the void, accompanied by countless bizarre, mangled corpses missing limbs and parts. "Neither side is human!" Yu Xian glanced over the bodies and noticed that one side appeared to be Western dragons, while the other was a ratman clan. To be honest, it was hard to imagine a conflict breaking out between these two races, yet judging by the aftermath, their casualties were roughly equal. On some of the giant dragons' corpses, the eyeballs had been gouged out—the ratmen had evidently used their eyes as a breakthrough point, boring straight into their brains. Yet just as many ratmen had perished under the dragons' attacks, mostly severed at the waist. In places where the fighting had been exceptionally ferocious, the jaws of dead dragons still clenched several ratmen, having bitten them to death alive. Countless. It was truly impossible to count how many corpses there were. In this battle, both sides had lost at least tens of billions of soldiers. As far as the eye could see, corpses lay everywhere—strewn across broken planets, floating amid fractured worlds. If a necromancer were to stumble upon this place, they would probably grin themselves silly. "This is way too exaggerated." "A war of extermination? Looks like neither side will stop until the other is completely wiped out." Taking in the battlefield, Zhang Shou couldn't help drawing a sharp breath and speaking soberly to the others. "Should we steer around it?" Gong Qian suggested. After all, getting dragged into a clash between Mighty Ones for no reason offered them no benefit and might bring needless danger. "We're already here. It's too late to beat a retreat now," Yu Xian chuckled. The next instant, an emerald-green dragon and a ratman clad in robes and a pointed hat appeared at the same time. Instead of continuing their fight, both turned to regard Yu Xian and his uninvited party with wary eyes. "Go on, keep fighting," Yu Xian said cheerfully to the two. "We're members of the Middle-Aged and Elderly Mighty Ones Tour Group, just here for sightseeing." The emerald dragon's aura was formidable; Yu Xian judged that it was roughly seven or eight times stronger than himself. The ratman was no slouch either, possessing at least five times Yu Xian's power, and it was highly likely a wizard-type Mighty One. Such Mighty Ones were usually exceptionally skilled at manipulating rules; once they unleashed their full might, they could be even more dangerous than the emerald dragon. Though if Yu Xian were willing to draw upon the Zhen Realm, he could effortlessly swat both of them dead in one blow.