Undercurrents surge, alliance crisis

In the days following his heart-to-heart with Zi Li, Ye Qiu cherished their relationship even more, while not relaxing his efforts to improve his own strength.

Every morning, when the simulated sunlight inside the spaceship shone down, Ye Qiu would go to the spaceship's exclusive cultivation chamber.

The cultivation chamber was simply furnished, with special energy crystals embedded in the surroundings; these crystals could absorb and store free energy from the Universe, providing a relatively stable and energy-rich environment for the cultivator.

Ye Qiu sat cross-legged on the floating cushion in the center of the cultivation chamber, his eyes closed, his breathing gradually becoming long and steady.

His consciousness sank into his body, guiding the Star Power and the mysterious energy generated by the Emperors Heart Sutra to circulate slowly.

As his cultivation deepened, his control over this Cultivation Technique became increasingly proficient, and a mysterious aura would often unconsciously radiate from around his body.

This aura was like a soft light, gently rippling within the cultivation chamber, echoing with the surrounding energy crystals and flickering with strange brilliance.

Although Alicia harbored special feelings for Ye Qiu in her heart, seeing the deep affection between Ye Qiu and Zi Li, she could only silently hide these feelings deep within.

She trained diligently in the spaceship's training room every day; the walls of the training room were covered with charts of various combat techniques and weapons she had used in the past.

Her training methods were extremely rigorous, from physical training to combat simulations, striving for perfection in every aspect.

She would constantly attack virtual enemies, her clothes soaked with sweat, yet she never slacked off in the slightest.

Relying on her outstanding combat skills and rich interstellar knowledge, she provided a lot of help to the team, and her relationship with everyone grew increasingly harmonious.

However, beneath the surface calm, undercurrents were quietly surging.

Under the urging of their leader, the assassination squad of the Dark Alliance accelerated their pace of action.

Their base was located on a planet shrouded in dense nebulae, the surface of which was covered with huge black crystals; these crystals emitted eerie energy fluctuations, providing mysterious power support for the base.

The members of the assassination squad gathered in a gloomy hall, the walls of which were carved with all kinds of evil runes, flickering with dark red light.

Leading them was a tall, ferocious-looking alien named Gruul.

Gruul's skin was as rough as black rock, covered with hideous scars.

He held a long blade that emitted an eerie light, and black liquid flowed along its edge, as if it were a curse from Hell.

He said viciously, "Ye Qiu, today is your death day!"

His voice was low and hoarse, echoing in the hall, making the surrounding members shiver involuntarily.

With an order, the assassination squad boarded small, oddly shaped spaceships.

The hulls of these spaceships were made of a special alloy and covered with a stealth coating, allowing them to perfectly hide their tracks in the Universe.

They shuttled through the Universe like ghosts, using advanced stealth technology to quietly approach the spaceship of Ye Qiu and the others.

On this day, the spaceship was flying along its established route when suddenly, an alarm sounded urgently.

Eve stared nervously at the monitoring screen, her fingers tapping rapidly on the console, fine beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.

"Unknown energy fluctuations detected, multiple unknown objects are approaching!" she shouted, her voice tinged with panic.

Ye Qiu quickly rushed to the command room, his gaze becoming cold and firm.

He walked quickly to Eve's side, his eyes falling on the monitoring screen, carefully observing the trajectories of those unknown objects.

"It seems trouble has come knocking. Everyone, prepare for battle!" His voice was steady and powerful, injecting a surge of strength into everyone present.

Outside the spaceship, the members of the assassination squad revealed ferocious smiles.

Their spaceships gradually approached Ye Qiu's spaceship, like a pack of hungry wolves quietly approaching their prey.

Gruul gripped the long blade in his hand tightly, bloodthirsty light flickering in his eyes: "This time, I must make Ye Qiu pay the price."

As the distance closed, the assassination squad launched an attack.

Various strange energy beams shot out from their spaceships; these beams were of different colors, some appearing in an eerie purple, others in a sinister green.

Energy beams shot towards the spaceship like raindrops, causing the spaceship to shake violently, with alarms sounding one after another.

Ye Qiu activated the Star Shield, which expanded instantly like a transparent blue barrier, temporarily blocking the attacks.

The energy beams struck the shield, emitting dazzling light and piercing sounds, causing ripples to spread across the surface of the shield.

Ye Qiu looked at the enemy's formation, but felt no fear in his heart: "Just based on you lot, it's not enough."

His eyes were filled with disdain, as if the enemies before him were just a group of insignificant ants.

He unleashed the "Insight into All Phenomena" skill from the Emperors Heart Sutra, and instantly, a detailed battlefield image appeared before his eyes; the movement trajectory, energy fluctuations, and cooperation methods of every assassination squad member were clearly presented in his mind.

"So that's how it is; your cooperation looks tight, but in reality, it is full of holes." Ye Qiu's mouth curled up, revealing a confident smile.

He maneuvered the spaceship to dodge flexibly; under his control, the spaceship was like an agile bird, cleverly weaving through the dense energy beams.

At the same time, he launched a counterattack. Under Ye Qiu's control, the spaceship's weapon System emitted powerful energy pulses.

These pulses shot precisely at the weak points of the assassination squad, each attack blooming with gorgeous light in the Universe.

"Want to dodge? It's not that easy!" Gruul roared, unleashing his ultimate technique, and a torrent of black energy rushed towards the spaceship.

This torrent of energy contained powerful corrosive force, and wherever it passed, space rippled, as if twisted by an invisible giant hand.

Ye Qiu snorted coldly: "Mere parlor tricks!"

He quickly formed seals with both hands, and the Star Power and the power of the Emperors Heart Sutra within his body surged madly.

Light flared around his hands, golden light intertwining with the blue Star Power to form a mysterious rune.

A huge golden barrier appeared in front of the spaceship, blocking the black energy torrent.

The golden barrier and the black energy torrent collided, erupting with dazzling light, and powerful energy fluctuations spread throughout the Universe.

This energy fluctuation was like a powerful shockwave, shattering the surrounding asteroids and sending fragments flying in all directions in the Universe.

"host successfully acted cool, prestige value + 20000." The System's prompt sounded in Ye Qiu's mind.

In the intense battle, Alicia demonstrated astonishing combat power.

She piloted a small fighter jet and charged into the enemy formation. The small fighter jet was shaped like an eagle spreading its wings, its body surface coated with a special reflective layer that shimmered with colorful light under the illumination of cosmic rays.

Her fighter jet wove flexibly, every turn as smooth as flowing water.

"Alicia, be careful!" Serena shouted through the communicator from inside the spaceship, her eyes filled with worry, her hands gripping the edge of the console tightly.

Alicia smiled slightly: "Don't worry, these guys can't hurt me."

Her eyes revealed determination and confidence, and the weapon in her hand flickered with light, repelling the approaching enemies one by one.

Her weapon was an energy sword; the blade was condensed from high-density energy, emitting a blue light, and when the blade swung, a crisp humming sound could be heard.

However, the assassination squad was well-trained after all; they quickly adjusted their tactics and began to besiege Alicia.

Several energy beams shot towards her fighter jet simultaneously; Alicia could not dodge in time, and the fighter jet was hit, billowing thick smoke.

The fighter jet's alarms rang in her ears, and various instruments flickered with red warning lights.

"Alicia!" Ye Qiu's heart tightened, and he immediately unleashed the "Thousand Miles in an Instant" skill, appearing instantly beside Alicia's fighter jet.

A layer of golden light surrounded his body, like a god descending.

He reached out and grabbed the hatch of Alicia's fighter jet, pulling hard to rescue her from the soon-to-explode fighter.

"Are you okay?" Ye Qiu asked with concern, his eyes filled with worry, gripping Alicia's arm tightly.

Alicia looked at Ye Qiu, her eyes full of gratitude: "I'm fine, thank you, Ye Qiu."

Her heart accelerated because of the thrilling scene just now, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

Zi Li saw this scene from inside the spaceship; although she felt a bit uncomfortable, she was more worried about everyone's safety at this moment.

She took a deep breath, tried to adjust her emotions, and devoted herself entirely to assisting with the spaceship's defense.

She sat in front of the console, her fingers tapping rapidly on the keyboard, constantly adjusting the spaceship's energy distribution to ensure the Star Shield could continue to function.

After Ye Qiu sent Alicia back to the spaceship, he returned to the battlefield again.

He decided to finish the battle quickly and no longer tangle with the assassination squad.

"It's time to end this farce." Ye Qiu raised his hands, and the power within his body surged out like a volcanic eruption.

Light flared around his body, and the Star Power and the power of the Emperors Heart Sutra achieved perfect Fusion, forming a huge energy vortex.

The energy vortex constantly absorbed the surrounding energy, becoming increasingly powerful, and the light it emitted illuminated the entire area.

"This... what skill is this?" the members of the assassination squad screamed in terror, feeling unprecedented fear.

Under the influence of the energy vortex, their spaceships began to shake uncontrollably, and various instruments failed one after another.

The energy vortex swept towards the assassination squad, and everything it touched was devoured.

The members of the assassination squad tried to escape, but in the face of this powerful force, their speed seemed so slow.

That huge and sturdy spaceship had originally been sailing smoothly in the vast and boundless Universe, but in an instant, a suddenly appearing energy vortex opened its bloody mouth like a ferocious beast, ruthlessly swallowing the entire spaceship.

The moment the spaceship touched the energy vortex, it was like a fragile paper toy, instantly torn into countless tiny fragments by its immensely violent power.

These fragments scattered everywhere, flickering with faint light in the dark space, as if they were the last wails of this spaceship.

Meanwhile, the members inside the spaceship had no time to react at all before they were crushed into unrecognizable shapes by that immensely powerful energy.

Their bodies twisted and deformed under the terrifying pressure, bones shattered, muscles ruptured, and finally turned into tiny piles of powder, dissipating into the vast Universe.

Immediately following this, accompanied by an earth-shattering loud noise, the entire energy vortex exploded violently.

Intense light and shockwaves spread in all directions at an astonishing speed, destroying everything in their path.

That meticulously planned assassination squad was thus completely wiped out in an instant, without even leaving a single shred of wreckage.

At this moment, this piece of cosmic space where the spaceships and members once existed became empty, leaving only endless darkness and silence.

Only the faint ripples caused by the energy explosion were still slowly undulating, as if trying to prove that a tragic disaster had just occurred here.