Xianzhou Cangcheng, Seat of Arbiter-General.
At this moment, several people in power had gathered inside the building that served as both the office and residence of the Xianzhou Cangcheng's Arbiter-General.
Chief Counselor of the Cloud Knights.
Helm Master of the Sky-Faring Commission.
Cauldron Master of the Alchemy Commission.
Furnace Master of the Artisanship Commission.
Commissioner of the Realm-Keeping Commission.
Because the Xianzhou Cangcheng's Arbiter-General had recently died in battle and a new one had not yet been chosen, four of the Cangcheng's Six Charioteers, along with the Chief Counselor who had temporarily taken charge of the Cloud Knights, were now co-governing the Cangcheng.
Chief Counselor: "We detected abominations along the route ahead. We should detour around them."
Helm Master: "Although the Master Diviner is out on business, the diviner in charge of his place said it's safe to pass. I think we should just go straight through—it'll save us energy and time."
Cauldron Master: "Yes, let's just go ahead. If we speed up, there shouldn't be any problems."
Furnace Master: "You called me here just for this? Since the diviner has already checked, let's just speed up and get through."
Commissioner: "Yes, we'll waste a lot of energy if we detour. I also agree with speeding through this section of the route."
Five people, four votes in favor of going straight—there was naturally no objection, as the minority obeyed the majority.
As a result, the Xianzhou Cangcheng began to accelerate, hoping to pass through the area where the Abominations of Abundance had appeared as quickly as possible.
However, not long after, a sudden warning came from the staff monitoring the surveillance system.
"N-Not good! A living planet up ahead! It's charging straight toward us!"
As soon as those words fell, it struck like a bolt from the blue, leaving everyone present cold to the core.
Chief Counselor: "A living planet, you say?! Are you saying there's a living planet?!"
Cauldron Master: "How did the Divination Commission not foresee this?!"
Furnace Master: "Without the Master Diviner, you diviners are all useless!"
Upon hearing this, several diviners standing nearby couldn't help but lower their heads in shame.
Honestly, no one could blame them for their outburst.
Already accelerating, the Xianzhou Cangcheng could no longer stop in time—and with a living planet rushing straight toward them, a collision would mean the entire ship's instant destruction.
In an instant, the atmosphere froze as the breath of death enveloped the entire room.
Everyone's heart was in their throat—it felt as if the very character of 'death' was hanging over their heads.
As they were still struggling to think of countermeasures, a red shadow had already appeared in the sky above the Xianzhou Cangcheng—visible to the naked eye.
Second by second, that red shadow grew larger at a terrifying pace.
Chief Counselor: "It's over... We don't have enough time..."
Commissioner: "Damn it! We're going to get billions of people killed!"
Helm Master: "I'll take a starskiff squadron to self-destruct and blast open an escape route..."
Furnace Master: "It's too late, everything's too late, we're moving too fast..."
Aside from those in this room, most of Xianzhou Cangcheng's citizens had witnessed this strange sight.
Many were still gazing upward, admiring the massive, round red planet that hung above—and among them was Jingliu, lifting her eyes to the sky as well.
However, the moment Jingliu saw the red planet, her entire body froze—because that red planet marked the beginning of her nightmare.
'No, this can't be right! Y-Yes, this must be another nightmare, right? I need to wake up!'
Jingliu pinched her arm, her face, and her thigh, but unfortunately, all she felt was pain—nothing else worked.
In other words, this was not a nightmare but reality.
In just a few breaths, the red planet, already about to blot out the sky above Xianzhou Cangcheng, grew larger with every blink.
"Run! Hurry!"
Jingliu grabbed the female classmate beside her and ran toward the rear sanctum of Xianzhou Cangcheng—the farther they were from the red planet, the better their chances of surviving!
"Jingliu, where are we running to?!"
Even though the other classmates didn't know why Jingliu was running, they followed instinctively as soon as she ran.
*Thud!*
Just as Jingliu was about to answer the question and warn everyone, she suddenly crashed into someone.
"Ouch!"
Jingliu bounced back and landed on her bottom, while the person she had crashed into stood firm as a rock.
"You're Jingliu?"
As Jingliu closed her eyes in pain and rubbed her aching bottom, a warm voice resounded.
Jingliu slowly lifted her gaze and saw a handsome young man with silky black hair, his appearance surpassing every word in her vocabulary.
Who else could it be but Lucian?
Unfortunately, Jingliu had no time to admire a handsome man right now—she just wanted to escape as far as possible with her classmates.
"Mister, run! Look above us—that red planet is about to fall on us! It's going to eat everyone!"
As soon as she finished shouting this warning, Jingliu dashed off again, but as she passed by Lucian, he reached out and grabbed her arm.
"Do you want me to cut down that planet for you?" Lucian asked calmly, a faint, gentle smile on his face.
Jingliu glanced at him in panic, but his gentle smile instantly soothed her restless heart.
"Cut down that planet...? Can you...?" Jingliu asked softly in a daze.
"I can." Lucian nodded lightly. "As long as you tell me you want that planet to fall, I'll make your wish come true."
Jingliu did not know whether to trust him, for this event was not happening in her nightmare.
Maybe... this man could really do it?
"Please... if you can, please help me cut down that red planet! I want it to fall and never appear again!"
Jingliu's red eyes shone with unwavering determination as she poured her whole heart into the wish.
"Alright, lend me your wooden sword, kid." Lucian nodded, then snatched a wooden sword from one of Jingliu's classmates, almost making the kid burst into tears. "Just stay here and watch me cut that planet for you."
He smiled at Jingliu once more before lifting his gaze to the red planet above.
By now, Rahu had already covered most of the sky above the Xianzhou Cangcheng—in at most ten seconds, it would definitely crash into the Cangcheng.
In the next second, Lucian flicked a leaf from his finger and vanished instantly.
Ten...
Lucian reappeared at the bow of the Xianzhou Cangcheng.
Nine...
A massive red planet, Rahu, loomed several hundred meters ahead, crashing forward with overwhelming pressure.
Eight...
Lucian slowly raised the wooden sword in his hand before unleashing Immortal Kneel.
Seven...
"If you want to blame someone, blame your lack of hands."
Lucian remarked calmly and gave the wooden sword a gentle swing, as if he had used no strength at all.
Six...
*Buzz—*
Following the buzzing vibration, a silver-white line appeared across Rahu's body—it was a sword slash mark.
Five...
"Look!"
Everyone inside the Seat of Arbiter-General witnessed an unbelievable scene on the screen.
An unknown young man stood alone at the bow of the Xianzhou Cangcheng, and the moment he swung the sword in his hand, the living planet was actually split apart in an instant!
Four...
*Splurt—!!!*
As the Devourer of Worlds, Rahu, was cleaved in two, torrents of blood immediately burst from within, and in that instant, black and red blood splattered across the barrier enveloping the Xianzhou Cangcheng.
Three...
*ROOOOOAAAR—!!!*
Rahu let out a deafening roar so powerful that, with its planet-sized body, a single bellow could easily deafen any mortal.
Two...
Lucian drew upon the Imaginary energy to shield himself, keeping both the blood and the roar from reaching him.
As for the Xianzhou Cangcheng's citizens, if not for its advanced barrier that slightly dampened the sound, half of its billions of citizens would have been deafened on the spot.
Nevertheless, the sudden roar still left them trembling in fear.
Of course, since the Xianzhou natives carried the blessing of Abundance since birth, even if their hearing was damaged, their bodies would soon heal themselves, so it was not truly a problem.
One...
Rahu's roar finally stopped, and its split body lay motionless.
"What's going on? What's making that sound?"
"I-It's that red planet! It's been cut in half!"
"What do you mean? Wasn't it about to crash into us?"
"Who cut it?"
Naturally, ordinary people could not see clearly what was happening outside the Xianzhou Cangcheng—only those within the Seat of Arbiter-General could view the details through the surveillance cameras.
Chief Counselor: "Who... is he?"
Helm Master: "He saved us!"
Diviner: "I'm still divining, still divining!"
All of them stared at Lucian's figure on the screen, their expressions breaking out of control.
Everyone here knew exactly what kind of disaster had just been averted—it was an extinction-level disaster!
And it was that young man standing on the bow—the one who had destroyed the living planet in just a few seconds all by himself—who had turned the tide and saved billions of people!
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