star calendar Year 6328, Yaoqing, Alchemy Commission.
Ten years had passed since Jingliu fell into a coma.
Three armored figures walked into the ward. The man in the lead habitually replaced the flowers in the vase, then sat on the edge of the bed, his slender fingers gently brushing over the sleeping woman's ice-colored long hair.
"I don't know how many years this will take, but Master will come back alive to cure you."
"Master promises you, I will never break my word."
Qi Zhimu's voice was exceptionally gentle, his eyes flowing with a softness that Jingliu had never seen before.
After an unknown amount of time, Sleeping Snow reminded him in a low voice.
"Lord Zhimu, ninety million Cloud Knights have finished assembling and are about to set out."
Qi Zhimu took a deep breath, took his helmet and put it on, then slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, all the softness in his eyes had completely turned into coldness.
"Set out."
"Understood!"
...A short while later, at the largest military port.
Countless Cloud Knights gathered here. In front of everyone, a tall figure was suspended in mid-air, standing silently with closed eyes.
Dozens of other figures swept in from various directions, converging in front of the dark, dense array, kneeling on one knee behind the suspended one, heads bowed as they awaited orders.
They were all Yaoqing's Cloud Knight Vanguards.
A solemn and majestic aura enveloped the entire port.
Qi Zhimu arrived riding a sword; Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold joined the army halfway.
When he landed at the front of the Vanguard line, the suspended Wind of Evil suddenly opened his eyes and swept his gaze across the array below.
A murderous aura swept through the port with the wind, making the millions of banners flutter loudly.
Wind of Evil's voice needed no amplification; it rang directly in the ears of the ninety million Cloud Knights, piercing straight into the depths of their souls.
"The target of this expedition is the Yatedelan Ring Star Belt, a super-giant galaxy cluster approximately 2574 light-years in diameter."
"There, Abominations of Abundance are breeding and gathering frantically like ulcers, attempting to form an allied army to launch the third Abundance Plague War!"
"In this battle, I will follow the Marshal's decree and personally lead the army on the path of The Hunt, practicing the will of The Hunt!"
As his voice fell, the entire army's battle intent soared to the sky, and their roars shook the firmament.
"We Cloud Knights are like clouds obscuring the sky, guarding and shielding the Xianzhou!"
This was one of the grandest expeditions since the Yaoqing Xianzhou embarked on the journey to hunt Abominations.
The General leaving the main ship meant that Yaoqing would be at high risk.
To this end, Yaoqing would temporarily dock in an important star sector under the Interstellar Peace Corporation's jurisdiction until the expeditionary force returned.
Facing such a vast war zone and endless Abominations, the ninety million Cloud Knights had to be divided into multiple routes, each detachment led by two Vanguards.
"Depart!!!"
At Wind of Evil's command, giant marching warships roared to life, engines lifting them into the air as they passed through the Yaoqing gate and vanished into the vast sea of stars.
Qi Zhimu's gaze swept over countless stars, a flicker of unprecedented madness, and even a nearly delirious obsession, flashing in the depths of his eyes.
I must hunt enough Abominations... I must!
...Initially, the war proceeded with irresistible force.
The Cloud Knights, relying on superior equipment and strict discipline, captured dozens of Abomination dens in succession.
However, as they delved deeper into the star sector heavily polluted by the blessing of abundance, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, turning into a long and brutal war of attrition.
One year, two years, five years... In the starry sky, warships turned into wreckage every day, and Cloud Knights sacrificed themselves every moment.
Sometimes the Cloud Knights could wipe out the Abomination nests of three planets in a single day, only to be counterattacked the next day by an army of Abominations emerging from nowhere.
Victory and defeat intertwined, as blood and severed limbs paved the road leading to the depths of the galaxy.
Time flew by, and ten years passed in an instant.
The war entered its most brutal stalemate phase.
The Cloud Knights not only had to face enemies within the Yatedelan Ring Star Belt but also had to intercept Abominations rushing in from all corners of the universe.
The situation was so critical that even the Interstellar Peace Corporation became uneasy.
The Armed Archaeology school, a branch under the Intelligentsia Guild, rushed across the sea of stars to provide support, attempting to analyze and contain the frantically multiplying tide of Abominations.
On the front line, Planet Yatedelan-13571, amidst steep mountains.
"Report! The Vanguard led by Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold has lost contact! The last enemy intelligence sent back mentioned the Rhinocerhound hunting pack!"
Qi Zhimu had just slain the last Abomination, and his pupils constricted slightly.
The current Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold were not weak, and they were leading Yaoqing's elites.
Being outnumbered shouldn't lead to losing contact; they must have encountered an enemy beyond their capacity to handle.
Rhinocerhound hunting pack... Could a Great Nest Father be among them?
"These are the last coordinates they sent before losing contact!" The intelligence officer projected the battlefield onto the light screen.
"The nearest detachment is pinned down by the Serpent Descendants army; it will take at least three-quarters of an hour to eliminate them and go to support..."
Three-quarters of an hour?
Qi Zhimu spoke without the slightest hesitation:
"Pass the order, command is temporarily transferred to Vanguard Mo Tingquan on the sub-ship."
"My Lord! You plan to go al—"
Before the intelligence officer could finish, Qi Zhimu's figure had already disappeared... When Qi Zhimu arrived at the coordinates of the lost contact, the tragic scene before him almost made his heart sink.
The once full-strength elite Cloud Knight detachment no longer existed.
Everywhere he looked were the shattered wrecks of combat ships, mixed with the mangled bodies of Abominations and the Cloud Knights.
Not far away, a Borisin as massive as a mountain was emitting a sickeningly familiar aura, chewing on something with lingering relish.
And in the pool of blood at its feet lay Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold, with only their last breaths remaining.
Everything below their abdomens had completely disappeared, leaving only half a torso, with internal organs scattered across the ground.
Blood soaked the soil, and the life-fires of the two were like candles in the wind, liable to be extinguished at any moment.
Hearing the movement, the Rhinoceros-Dog Great Hive-Father slowly turned its head, a puff of hot air escaping from the gaps in its fangs stained with meat, its eyes full of brutality and mockery.
It could feel that the newly arrived human vermin seemed even more delicious.
"Roar—"
A spirit-shaking roar exploded, and a giant claw enveloped in a foul wind arrived above Qi Zhimu's head in an instant, slamming down.
Qi Zhimu had no intention of dodging.
He looked up, his eyes bursting with a terrifying, bloodthirsty light.
The moment it met those eyes, this newly ascended Rhinoceros-Dog Great Hive-Father felt as if it were seeing an ancient behemoth even more terrifying than a Borisin war leader.
Boom!
An unprecedentedly terrifying pressure erupted from within Qi Zhimu.
That was by no means a power a Cloud Knight Vanguard could possess.
No techniques, no flourishes, only a beam of light faster than thought.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
A palm was lightly pressed against the Rhinoceros-Dog Great Hive-Father's head.
Before the terror in its wolf-like eyes could even surface, its massive body quickly turned into black ash, scattering across the ground with the wind.
If Wind of Evil were to witness such a scene, he would probably hesitate whether to deal with Qi Zhimu according to Xianzhou law.
Qi Zhimu didn't even glance at the thing that had turned to ash; he teleported in front of the two sisters who had only faint breaths left.
His hands trembled slightly as he gently lifted their necks to examine their specific injuries... They couldn't be worse.
The elixir organ was severely damaged and could not provide any regenerative energy; the blood in their bodies was almost completely drained.
If not for a sliver of obsession keeping them hanging on to their last breath, they would have died long ago.
"..."
The almost irreversible reality made Qi Zhimu's eyes turn even redder as he frantically searched his mind for an emergency method to reverse life and death.
But the biological knowledge he possessed could not take effect on the Xianzhou Long-lived Species.
Wait—
"This is..."
Sensing a mysterious power familiar to his very core, a shadow quickly crept over Qi Zhimu's face.