429: Star Domain Realm! Chishan, your luck seems to be a bit off.

Chapter 421: Star Domain Realm! Red Mountain, your luck seems a bit off!

Lu Xuan's figure moved like lightning, and in a few leaps, he was far away from Suijing Street. He finally stopped in an abandoned industrial area that had been ravaged by crimson monsters.

This place was once an important manufacturing center of Tebike City, but now only broken walls, ruins, and rusty steel structures remain.

The air was filled with the smell of rust and a faint stench, but under the purification of the Star Radiance around Lu Xuan, these foul odors could not get close to him in the slightest.

He chose a relatively well-preserved factory building, where the view was open, allowing him to overlook the surroundings.

As Lu Xuan sat down cross-legged, the scattered rubble around him was pushed away by an invisible force, forming a perfect circular Domain.

The next second, Lu Xuan slowly closed his eyes, and the Star Radiance circulating around him gradually converged. His entire being seemed to merge with this ruin, and only the faint pressure caused the mutated rat packs that occasionally poked their heads out of the ruins to retreat in terror.

Host: Red Dust Immortal Lu Xuan (Sixth Incarnation)

Realm: Blazing Sun Realm (Perfection)

Cultivation Technique: Zhou Tian Star Eyes (6/9) (Can be deduced)

Points: 1000

Please confirm whether to consume 999 System points to deduce the Zhou Tian Star Eyes!

"Deduce."

With a thought from Lu Xuan, 999 System points were instantly deducted.

The moment the value changed, the illusory golden figure deep within his Sea of Consciousness suddenly burst into brilliant light.

The surrounding reality completely dissolved, and his consciousness was pulled into an endless, boundless Cosmic deep space.

Gigantic nebulae slowly rotated, black holes devoured light in the distant reaches, and comets with brilliant tails streaked across the eternal darkness.

The sun, moon, and stars were not static, but rather revolved in trajectories that contained the highest Dao; each flicker brought with it profound and dazzling light, as if expounding the ultimate truth of the Universe's creation and destruction.

At the core of this Star Sea, a pair of boundless eyes was slowly forming.

They were pure and flawless, transcending the Realm of flesh and blood; the whites of the eyes were diffuse nebulae, and the pupils were rotating Star Rivers.

Within them, starlight twinkled, each star a world being born or dying.

There was no emotion in these eyes, only absolute rationality and insight, like the Creator God, at the dawn of creation, gazing upon his handiwork for the first time.

Sacred, majestic, and not to be looked upon directly.

Its mere existence contained an indescribable Dao pressure.

Lu Xuan's consciousness was immersed in the gaze of these eyes; all his past insights into the “Zhou Tian Star Eyes” were being deconstructed, reassembled, and sublimated.

Time flew by in waiting, and three days had passed in a blink of an eye.

About sixty kilometers outside the Ninth Security Zone, in a desolate, sandy area.

Dry winds occasionally stirred up yellow sand, forming temporary sand curtains.

In this barren land, the temporary camps of the Ninth Guard Regiment and the base army had already taken root, with hundreds of military tents orderly arranged and simple defensive fortifications set up on the periphery.

Inside the central command tent, Gao Zheng had just finished listening to the base commander's supply report.

He looked at the other party's hesitant expression and, without needing to say more, already understood the current predicament.

"It's been three days," Gao Zheng said calmly. "Our military supply reserves won't last much longer.

Ximpolan, send a message to Deputy Regiment Commander Lu, inform him that we are beginning the extermination mission as originally planned."

Everyone in the tent looked solemn.

They understood that the Regiment Commander had made his choice—they could not endanger the entire mission by waiting for one person.

The Empire's mission must continue.

"Extermination operation, begin!"

Gao Zheng's command, an unquestionable voice, echoed clearly within the tent.

Upon hearing this, the base commander's face immediately showed a look of relief.

He had been anxious for these three days—this time, he personally led over two thousand elite soldiers from the base deep into dangerous territory, and every day of delay meant immense risk.

As the highest person in charge of the base, the base commander had to consider not only the consumption of food and supplies but also the life safety of every soldier.

In this wasteland outside the Security Zone, every extra second of stay meant an increased risk of being attacked by crimson monsters or crimson fallen ones.

His creed was simple: when leaving the Security Zone for a mission, they must act quickly, complete the mission with the highest efficiency, and then return alive with everyone.

Now, they finally didn't have to wait any longer.

Five kilometers away, a horrifying area unfolded before their eyes.

The ground was covered with eerie white bones, including the remains of various mutated creatures and unidentifiable ancient fossils.

The sandy ground constantly emitted a grating "sizzling" sound, as if something was continuously wriggling underneath.

This was the target of the current extermination—the crimson worm swarm.

These monsters were entirely an ominous blood-red color, with no distinct limbs, resembling giant worms.

Each was over eight meters long, and the most terrifying part was their heads—they were spiral-toothed, like some kind of terrifying drill, and even more bizarrely, each worm had three such heads.

At this moment, these crimson worm monsters were tirelessly gnawing at the various creature carcasses on the ground with their spiral, tooth-filled heads, emitting a chilling grinding sound.

They gathered together, like a surging wave of blood-red.

Suddenly, one of the worms in the swarm abruptly raised its hideous triple head, its hollow sensory organs staring blankly towards the distant high slope.

And it was at that very moment—

A scorching line of fire streaked across the sky, with supersonic precision, instantly hitting its central head!

"Pfft!"

Accompanied by a muffled sound, the massive head exploded in mid-air, and a 腥臭 (foul-smelling) blood-red liquid splattered down.

The liquid splashed onto the surrounding sand and the bodies of its kin, immediately emitting pungent white smoke, indicating its extremely strong corrosiveness.

However, the worms' skin seemed completely immune to this corrosion; instead, they were thoroughly enraged by it!

The entire swarm instantly erupted, countless worms raised their heads, emitting silent hisses, their blood-red bodies writhing madly.

And on the distant high slope, large numbers of fully armed Imperial soldiers were already in position, their cold gun barrels glinting under the scorching sun, all aimed at the red tide below.

"Fire!"

The moment the order was given, a furious barrage of firepower erupted. Countless tongues of fire spewed forth, and a scorching curtain of bullets rained down, its light even briefly overpowering the blazing sun in the sky.

The strong smell of gunpowder instantly permeated the air, intertwining with the stench of the crimson worms.

Gao Zheng and the other five core team members stood silently behind the army, arms crossed, their gazes like torches, already looking past the chaotic battlefield before them and towards the depths of the dunes further away.

They knew full well that these were merely the vanguards of the crimson worms; the true threat still lay behind them.

Within the worm swarm, there were always some individuals that mutated under the catalysis of the crimson power, their strength far surpassing their peers.

The powerful individuals among them were capable of temporarily withstanding the Empire's bullet storm, unleashing power comparable to a Cultivator in the Star Domain Realm, posing a substantial threat to the defensive line.

What was even more daunting were the crimson worms that had already reached the Bright Moon Realm.

They were not only immensely powerful but had also developed a hint of cunning intelligence, knowing how to hide behind the scenes and direct the massive worm tide in organized attacks.

As if to confirm their judgment—

"Roar—!"

A low, oppressive roar came from afar, distinctly different from the previous unconscious agitation.

At the same time, the ground beneath their feet began to transmit clear, rhythmic vibrations, as if some colossal creature, with heavy steps, was leading the true main force of the worm tide, steadily approaching the defensive line.

"Move out!"

With Gao Zheng's command, the five team members behind him instantly erupted, their bodies enveloped in flowing moonlight, and their Bright Moon Realm pressure, all of them, spread out without reservation.

In the ten Guard Regiments directly under the Sun Moon Imperial Court, the Bright Moon Realm was the standard entry threshold.

Laibili, who had previously sacrificed himself, was able to join exceptionally due to his family's powerful Battle Technique, which allowed him to unleash combat power comparable to the Bright Moon Realm for a short period.

Not far away, the rotors of two heavy armed helicopters suddenly accelerated, kicking up a sky full of sand.

The five team members split into two groups, three per helicopter and two per helicopter, precisely leaping into the cabins.

On both sides of the aircraft, specialized heavy Gatling guns were already extended, their multi-barrel muzzles aimed at the crimson worms below.

Stable shooting from a high-speed, constantly maneuvering helicopter required extreme core strength and balance.

Only Star Warriors of the Bright Moon Realm could operate these heavy weapons with precision in such a violently turbulent environment, delivering devastating blows to ground targets, as if walking on flat ground.

This was one of the core values of Bright Moon Realm powerhouses on a modern battlefield.

Even if they were unfortunately shot down, their powerful individual strength and Star Radiance protection were enough to sustain them for a moment within the worm tide, buying precious time for their teammates' rescue.

Under the saturated firepower, the entire sandy area had been stained a viscous blood-red.

The air was filled with a nauseating stench, mixed with the corrosive red mist rising from the crimson worms' bodily fluids, forming a death zone.

All the soldiers had tacitly donned gas masks, calmly maintaining suppressive fire through their goggles, ensuring no worm could reorganize.

Half an hour later, the battlefield gradually fell silent.

The smoke and red mist slowly dispersed, revealing a hellish scene below.

Countless severed crimson worm trunks were still undergoing their final, unconscious twitches and struggles, as if unwilling to perish just yet.

Just then, from a helicopter in the distance, the tall and mighty Regiment member, a burly man, saw the scene below and a 獰笑 filled with Battle Intent spread across his lips.

He leaped down from dozens of meters in the air without hesitation, a modified heavy shotgun clutched tightly in his hand.

“Bah! You beasts that shouldn’t exist, get out of this world!”

Amidst his roar, a brilliant moon-white light erupted around him, like a War God stepping out of the bright moonlight.

The moonlight isolated the surrounding worm flesh and the foul red smoke.

And directly in front of the big man, a gigantic crimson worm, over fifteen meters long and with four grotesque heads, was raising its massive body.

It was the surviving leader of this worm tide, exuding a fierce aura far surpassing its kin.

However, at this moment, it was alone; even the largest worm tide had been completely cleared by the previous firepower.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The modified shotgun roared deafeningly, its muzzle erupting with scorching fire again and again.

The burly man moved deftly amidst the corrosive blood light, his Bright Moon Realm Star Power allowing him to move like a phantom.

The scarlet corrosive liquid brushed past him repeatedly, eroding the sand behind him into plumes of white smoke, yet it never touched him in the slightest.

Spent casings fell like rain.

As the echo of the last gunshot faded, the massive Bright Moon Realm worm froze in place.

Its proudly tough shell was riddled with countless shocking blood holes, many parts barely connected by remnants of muscle fibers, its huge body seemingly ready to completely fall apart at any moment.

“Damn beast, quite resilient!”

The burly man spat, his gaze suddenly sharp.

The Bright Moon outline within him suddenly erupted with dazzling moon-white brilliance.

Vast Star Power poured out without reservation, a full-force burst of Bright Moon Realm Major Achievement!

“Tiger Roar Starry Sky!”

With a furious shout from the burly man, an enormous earthen-yellow tiger head phantom condensed in the air, its fierce aura instantly enveloping the entire hillside.

The phantom, carrying the might to tear the earth, pounced down on the broken crimson worm.

“Boom—!”

Under the overwhelming pressure of the tiger head phantom, the crimson worm couldn't even make a final struggle; its massive body was forcibly flattened and burst apart!

Viscous blood and pulverized flesh splattered radially, staining dozens of meters of ground around it into a mess.

As the dust settled.

The Battle Intent on the burly man’s face slowly receded, replaced by an unmistakable weariness.

That powerful blow had consumed nearly half of the Star Power within him.

The burly man leaned on his shotgun, breathing slightly, adjusting the somewhat disordered Qi within his body.

This was precisely why, even for powerful Bright Moon Realm Star Warriors like them, clearing large-scale crimson monsters still relied heavily on modern thermal weapons.

If they were to rely solely on their own Star Power to confront this tide of thousands of worms.

Even if every Bright Moon Realm expert's Star Brilliance was completely drained, it would likely be difficult to eliminate even one-tenth of them.

Individual strength, in the face of such a scale of war, ultimately seemed insignificant.

Efficient, persistent thermal weapons that could preserve the strength of Star Realm experts to the greatest extent became the optimal solution for this kind of attrition warfare.

They were responsible for “clearing the ground” and “sweeping the field,” while the Star Realm experts focused on dealing with the truly powerful individual targets that ordinary firepower found difficult to resolve.

Just then, Gao Zheng's figure soared into the air, treading the Void Realm.

His resonant voice, amplified by Star Brilliance, clearly spread to every corner of the battlefield.

“All units, listen up! Immediately, according to the predetermined plan, divide into four combat teams and advance outwards in a fan shape, patrolling all areas within a hundred-kilometer radius!”

This was the standard procedure for the Empire's army after field operations—post-battle cleanup.

Each time a large group of crimson monsters was successfully eliminated, the surrounding areas had to be thoroughly patrolled to ensure no stragglers were lurking, preventing their resurgence and the formation of new pollution sources or monster nests.

Only after confirming that the area had been completely purified without any hidden dangers could the army strike camp and return triumphantly to the city.

Meanwhile, Lu Xuan, who was in seclusion far away in the ruins, was still unaware of everything happening on the battlefield.

He also didn't know that the source of the “System points” he had been longing for had been completely cleared out.

The next second, Lu Xuan slowly opened his eyes, and deep within them, nebulae seemed to form and dissipate, adding a depth and mystery he hadn't possessed before.

Specks of starlight naturally swirled around his pupils, as if a miniature Universe had been brought into his eyes.

Host: Red Dust Immortal Lu Xuan (Sixth Incarnation)

Realm: Star Domain Realm (Initial Entry)

Cultivation Technique: Zhou Tian Star Eyes 7 / 9

Points: 1

He had made a Breakthrough.

Lu Xuan had finally taken this crucial step, officially moving from Blazing Sun Realm Perfection into the mysterious and powerful Star Domain Realm!

Within him, the originally scorching Blazing Sun outline had vanished.

In its place, an boundless miniature Star Domain slowly rotated.

Countless stars rose and fell within it, containing Star Power far vaster and more fundamental than a single Blazing Sun.

At this moment, Lu Xuan could directly mobilize the power of this internal Star Domain during combat.

With every move, he could unleash the mighty power of the stars, its might far surpassing anything before, truly capable of destroying the heavens and earth.

More importantly, his power reserves had undergone a qualitative leap; although not yet reaching the theoretical “inexhaustible,” its vastness was far beyond what could be imagined in the Blazing Sun Realm.

Of course, the so-called “infinite power” was ultimately an exaggeration.

Even for a Star Domain Realm expert, if he were to squander it recklessly, his Star Domain Origin would also have a time of depletion.

It was just that for most beings in this world, they might never witness the moment Lu Xuan's power ran out, perhaps for their entire lives.

“Hehehe… Chen Hu, that brute, is as arrogant as ever, truly… mouth-watering.”

About thirty kilometers from the recent battlefield, in a secluded mountain valley, Chen Hu, the burly man who had just shown off his skills, was personally leading a squad on patrol.

He, however, was completely unaware.

A few kilometers away, a figure completely integrated with the sandy environment was locking onto his vibrant, strong body with greedy and venomous eyes.

It was Red Mountain!

His crimson tongue licked over his sharp teeth, suppressing the urge to immediately pounce and devour.

“Gao Zheng, that Old fellow, is still nearby… Forget it.” Red Mountain suppressed his surging killing intent, sneering inwardly.

“One day, I will devour these Imperial Court lackeys one by one!

And those high and mighty useless beings of the Sun Moon Imperial Court, they will also be my meal eventually!”

Then, another figure he hated to the bone appeared in his mind.

“And that damned Lu Xuan! That bastard who always acts so high and mighty… Where did he go?”

Thinking of Lu Xuan, a trace of almost imperceptible fear actually overshadowed his greed, flashing in his eyes.

The sense of danger this guy gave him was far stronger than that Old fellow Gao Zheng!

“Oh? Are you looking for me?”

A calm voice with a hint of playfulness sounded inappropriately behind Red Mountain.

Red Mountain's massive body stiffened abruptly; he slowly turned around, only to see Lu Xuan standing silently not far away, he didn't know when he got there.

His Sun Moon battle robe was spotless, and he was looking at his ugly, twisted appearance with interest.

“Red Mountain, it’s been a while.” Lu Xuan’s lips curved into a half-smile, “Are you in such a hurry to find me, blaming me… for not bringing a greeting gift when I saw you?”

He rushed to the battlefield as soon as he emerged from seclusion, only to find the crimson monster horde completely cleared out.

As Lu Xuan felt regret, he casually unfolded his newly formed Star Domain perception, and captured a “familiar” aura that surprised him.

Before his Breakthrough, with Red Mountain's deliberate concealment skills, Lu Xuan would never have been able to discover him so easily.

Then, Lu Xuan's gaze swept over Red Mountain's trunk, which was trembling slightly from fear, and he shook his head gently, his tone carrying a hint of pity.

“It seems your luck… is really not good.”