Chapter 193 - A Single Roar, Heroes Fall
"Finally, a mission."
In the study, Luo Feng rubbed his hands together, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Jiang Zhe sat nearby, reading over the mission details Luo Feng had shared. As expected, Luo Feng was about to carry out the same mission as in the original timeline. With the Gold Horn Tribe's immortal team at his disposal, he'd no doubt be invited to the world of Lasa'o.
"Perfect timing. I've received a mission too—wiping out the main headquarters of the Zerg spy operation in the Qianwu Universe Nation."
"Luo Feng, get in touch with the Ninth Legion Commander and the intelligence department. Start from your end so I don't spook the enemy and ruin your mission."
After a quick discussion, Luo Feng took action, boarding the Yun Mo Starship and departing Earth.
Jiang Zhe spoke a few words to Lei Lei and Qiao Lin before preparing to leave alone to complete his extermination mission.
No sooner had his Jade Tiger Ship left Earth's atmosphere than space rippled in the control room. The Holy Spirit Queen appeared out of nowhere, settling onto a sofa as if it was her own home.
"Off to earn points again?" she asked with a faint smile. "Seems like you aren't planning to call in the cosmic army?"
Jiang Zhe curled his lips, scoffing. "Who designed this mission? They didn't even assign me a proper Marquis-level commander. Just a couple barely-qualified Marquises and a bunch of Counts from the Qianwu Universe Army? I'd end up protecting them instead."
The Holy Spirit Queen laughed lightly. "I heard from our teacher that you've killed near-invincible quasi-Kings—more than once."
"That's true, but it's not worth much," Jiang Zhe said, shaking his head with a wry grin. "Those pureblood demons in the Purgatory Abyss only barely crossed the Count threshold in their law comprehension. Easy prey."
"They're nothing like true Kings in the Original Universe."
He then turned to her. "So, Teacher, why follow me here?"
The Holy Spirit Queen's eyes twinkled. "I raised you myself. Naturally, I want to see how well my teachings took root."
Jiang Zhe laughed. "When the mission starts, I promise not to disappoint. But I'll still need you to anchor the field for me."
"I won't lift a hand—unless you plan to ruin your own mission."
Her tone was teasing, eyes bright. Jiang Zhe only chuckled, unaware of the problems ahead as he ordered Orianna to engage dark-universe travel.
A divine nation teleport followed by another dark-universe traversal.
The Jade Tiger Ship landed on a barren planet. Before attempting another dark-universe jump within the solar system, Orianna warned him of something Jiang Zhe had overlooked.
The planet Valo lay tens of thousands of light-years from Qiong Yu Star. Even at the ship's maximum speed, it would take over half a month to reach.
His teacher clearly intended to give him a lift. Jiang Zhe gladly accepted.
Now landed on a desolate planet a mere thousand light-years from Valo, they only needed to wait for the right time. Once ready, they could reach the target in under an hour.
Jiang Zhe began adjusting his state, patiently waiting.
He'd already notified Black Abyss Marquis by mail, so the intelligence department hadn't dared cut corners on Luo Feng's side. They were giving their all to create the perfect conditions for extermination.
On the fifth day, after Luo Feng linked up with the Ninth Legion Commander and the Tavin Squad, the purge began.
Massive starships, each over ten thousand meters long, formed a fleet and slipped into the dark universe, rapidly heading toward the imperial capital star of the Mengyou Empire.
Jiang Zhe timed it precisely, piloting the Jade Tiger Ship into the dark universe as well.
After the brief traversal, he emerged almost simultaneously at the mission site.
Valo, a natural life planet nearly a hundred thousand kilometers in diameter, was the private domain of a Realm Lord.
In the outer space above this lush world, ripples suddenly spread. A dark-purple triangular ship abruptly materialized.
As soon as it halted, the hatch opened, and a three-meter figure flew out—handsome features, a pair of blood-red horns on his forehead, clad in armor like sculpted violet gemstone.
It was Jiang Zhe's demon avatar.
Merged deeply with Orianna, he possessed the power of 3,010 Realm Lords, a world within spanning 300 billion kilometers, a 74-fold soul amplitude (64 base + 10 from the Ancient God Blood Crystal), armed with the Blood-Dissolving Divine Blade, Pan Spirit Armor, and the treasured bead bracelet.
This was the state in which he would carry out the extermination mission.
Inside the ship, the Holy Spirit Queen used intangible divine power to scrutinize her disciple. His blatant, near-high-Marquis-level fundamental power made her eyes light up, confirming the tales of his terrifying feats.
Moments earlier, she'd been testing him, only for her pupil to reveal a monstrous soul amplitude that even made her inwardly envious.
She finally understood why their grandmasters treated Jiang Zhe so casually, letting him roam free without worry.
Unless he was catastrophically unlucky and ran into a true Sovereign, hardly any immortals in the entire Original Universe could reliably kill him.
And this was merely his Domain Lord level.
When he reached the pinnacle of Realm Lord, venturing out for life-and-death tempering with King-level fundamental power and that monstrous soul amplitude—even newly minted Sovereigns might fail to catch him.
Eyes shining with anticipation, the Holy Spirit Queen thought silently, His foundation is solid. Now let me see just how much he can leverage it. Have I wasted this perfect vessel's talent?
Inside Valo's spy headquarters, the stationed immortals were extremely cautious, constantly spreading their intangible divine power to probe for threats.
The instant the Jade Tiger Ship emerged from the dark universe, four immortals on the kill list detected it.
"Who is that?"
"No helmet… face looks like NO.1, but just a Realm Lord? And alone?"
"A human genius, no doubt. Let's treat him as NO.1—better to kill wrongly than let him slip. Notify the reinforcements our master hired."
Jiang Zhe sensed the divine power saturating the starry sky. Realizing he'd been discovered, he decided to strike first.
He pulled off the bracelet on his wrist and flung it out.
The beads swelled, instantly expanding to a diameter of ninety thousand kilometers. Six shot off to encircle Valo from above, below, and every side, locking the planet in an inescapable cage.
Dark-purple lightning danced across their surfaces, then deepened, seeming to collapse inward. They became black holes, swallowing everything nearby.
Meanwhile, another bead hurled itself at Valo, only slightly smaller than the planet itself.
3,010-fold peak Realm Lord soul power.
Held back just a bit… still a 30-fold soul amplitude.
Then—he unleashed it.
Nearly 100,000 times Realm Lord strength slammed down.
The native inhabitants felt no pain—only darkness overhead, then their world shattered. Their consciousness froze at that instant.
There was no helping it. The Zerg had cultivated this planet for over five million years. There were no innocent bystanders left; total annihilation was the cleanest solution.
BOOM—CRACK!
The giant planet crumpled like tofu under the emerald bead's collision.
The four immortals had tried to resist, unleashing light, flame, gale, and frost fields to stop the impact. But it was useless—the bead plowed through them mercilessly.
—Shattered the planet.
—Smashed their divine bodies to pieces.
The weakest, Komos, died instantly.
Two Marquis-level beings clung desperately to life, like candles in the wind, trying to reconstitute their bodies.
A barely King-level Aikun, a three-eyed bald man in black uniform, fared a bit better—left with less than half his power, also struggling to recover.
Jiang Zhe swept his senses over them and decided not to give them any breathing room.
A thought.
The emerald bead, crackling with violet lightning, suddenly deepened in color, shrinking as if collapsing, turning into a black hole nearly ten thousand kilometers across.
A terrifying pull spread across a million-kilometer radius, sucking in planet debris and divine body fragments alike—sweeping the battlefield clean.
Komos and Jakor perished moments later. Aikun lasted a couple more seconds before the black hole dragged him in and crushed him.
For Counts and barely-Kings, a peak King—or an attack at 100,000 times Realm Lord power—was death incarnate.
This mission was laughably easy for Jiang Zhe.
Once everything within a million kilometers was obliterated, he clapped his hands. "All done. Cleanup complete!"
The beads shrank and flew back to coil around his wrist.
In front of him was nothing but emptiness, no trace left of the once-thriving life world.
Inside the Jade Tiger Ship, the Holy Spirit Queen watched calmly, nodding in quiet approval.
Then—she abruptly stood, frowning, gazing off into the distance.
With a wave, she cloaked the ship in intangible divine power, hiding it completely.
Jiang Zhe: ???
He turned, confused by the disappearing ship and the vanished aura of his teacher.
Then he sensed the spatial distortion, looked over—and understood everything.
Jiang Zhe: !!!
Teacher… you're leaving your beloved disciple behind?!
Shimmering light erupted tens of thousands of kilometers away. Space rippled like water, then tore like paper.
From the tear surged massive golden Zerg warriors, countless in number, forming ranks around a towering spherical hive the size of several city blocks.
It was pockmarked with holes spewing toxic mists and fluids, etched with fiery runes.
Beside the warriors hovered a dozen or so alien immortals, all Marquis or King-level.
"A Zerg Queen!"
"Near-invincible King? Or an actual one? Probably the former."
Jiang Zhe licked his dry lips, a thrill running through him.
I've been sharpening my sword for so long… today's the day I draw it. Against one of the Original Universe's famed soul masters, no less!
His grin turned twisted, ruthlessness awakening fully.
Soul master versus soul master—how fair.
"Are you… Jiang Zhe?"
A soft voice, sweet enough to pierce the heart, asked his name. Her intangible divine power writhed greedily around him, testing.
It annoyed him.
"I am. Here to kill me?" Jiang Zhe answered lightly, utterly confident in his strength, meeting the figure rising from the hive with a cool gaze.
She was nearly a hundred meters tall, her crystal-like body half-transparent and enticing, clad only in a thin veil. Her wings were delicate, like cicada membranes, exuding a nearly irresistible allure.
Jiang Zhe's calm indifference clearly infuriated the Zerg Queen.
"I hate that smug look on your face! I'll turn you into a dog groveling at my feet. Jiang Zhe—submit to me!"
Her enchanting eyes flashed coldly. She poured all her power into a single sharp cry, flooding Jiang Zhe's body with soul-assaulting force.
The heavy treasure armor weakened it by ninety percent, but Orianna still estimated it at over 50,000 times Realm Lord soul strength.
"Master, she has a base of around 500,000 times Realm Lord soul power—close to invincible King."
"Not that big a gap. Let's crush her!"
Jiang Zhe fully unleashed himself.
3,010 times Realm Lord soul × 74-fold soul amplitude = over 220,000 times Realm Lord power.
He erected a black hole in his sea of consciousness using the soul defense secret art Black Hole Devour, swallowing her invasion whole.
The Zerg Queen recoiled, shocked that her attack hadn't even ruffled his sea of consciousness.
"How is this possible? You monster!"
Then Jiang Zhe's savage aura exploded outward. The Queen instinctively met his gaze.
Their eyes locked—
"Kneel. Submit!"
—A will shock erupted.
Fueled by his overlord-tier will, even this "incomplete" attack was devastating.
The Queen blanked out, her mind stalling for long moments.
Her immortal henchmen, all Marquis or weaker, simply collapsed unconscious.
The countless immortal Zerg soldiers at the fringes fared even worse, drooling and rendered half-idiotic, dropping through space like dumplings.
The might of his single roar was monstrous beyond words.