How could this happen... How could this happen...

Deep within the Star Sea, blood-red haze hung like a curtain.

The once-brilliant galaxy had long since vanished, replaced by a viscous crimson mist so dense it seemed impossible to disperse.

This was the very heart of the “Star Sea Spectacle.”

About fifty kilometers from the altar, on a massive black reef-island, dozens of powerful figures sat cross-legged or paced back and forth.

This was the temporary “central command camp” of the surviving experts from the various factions of the Chaotic Star Sea.

A pale-golden formation barrier enveloped the entire reef, keeping the blood mist and the howling monsters outside.

But by now, the barrier was flickering erratically. Clearly, it would not hold for much longer.

The atmosphere within the camp was suffocatingly oppressive.

“Damn it! Damn it! Those mad dogs from the Azure Sea Sect—how dare they?!”

A furious roar shattered the silence.

The speaker was an old man dressed in the robes of Icepeak Valley. His features were dark and sinister, and freezing qi radiated from his body. He was clearly a half-step Void Refinement expert.

At this moment, he paced about restlessly, fury nearly erupting from his eyes.

“Elder Han, save your strength.”

An elderly man with a long beard sat on a nearby bluestone. He slowly opened his eyes and spoke in a tired, hoarse voice. “If cursing could kill them, I would have been cursing alongside you for three days and three nights by now.”

The long-bearded old man was Mo Yun, the grand elder of the Flowing Cloud Sect. He was at the early stage of Void Refinement and currently the strongest person here.

However, his aura was weak and unstable. Clearly, he had paid a terrible price during their earlier attempt to break through.

“Mo Yun! Stop pretending to be so noble!”

Elder Han abruptly halted and pointed at Mo Yun’s nose as he cursed, “If you hadn’t been so indecisive and insisted on getting entangled with them, we would have escaped long ago! And now look at us—we’re trapped in this wretched place, helpless prey caught in that demoness’s trap!”

Mo Yun’s brows knitted slightly, displeasure flashing in his eyes. But when he saw the terrified disciples around them, he ultimately suppressed his anger and sighed.

“With forces arrayed like this, it’s obvious the Azure Sea Sect has been plotting for a long time. Even if we had left earlier, the outcome would have been the same.”

“Bullshit! It was your incompetent command!”

Elder Han was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his voice growing sharper. Clearly, under immense pressure, he desperately needed someone to vent his frustration on.

Just as the two were locked in an argument and the surrounding cultivators sat in fearful silence—

“Um… sorry to interrupt.”

A somewhat abrupt voice suddenly came from outside the formation barrier.

“Could you open a gap in the barrier? We’d like to come in.”

Everyone in the camp froze and turned toward the voice in unison.

Through the churning blood mist outside the barrier, three figures approached.

At the front was a young man who showed little sign of panic. He even carried a battered sword he had picked up from somewhere.

Behind him followed an extraordinarily beautiful girl, who was curiously examining the barrier.

At their side was another cultivator with storage pouches hanging all over his waist. They jingled noisily as he walked.

It was Su Ji and his companions.

Elder Han’s gaze swept over the three of them. When his spiritual sense detected Su Ji’s cultivation at the mid-stage of Core Formation, the anger in his eyes instantly found a new target.

“Where did these ants come from? Can’t you see what kind of place this is?!”

Elder Han flung out his sleeve. “This is where the core figures of the various sects conduct their council. Is this a place for trashy rogue cultivators like you to approach? Get lost!”

His mood was already terrible. When he saw these low-level cultivators who were courting death by trying to take shelter here, he could not help wanting to slap them to death.

Outside the barrier, Su Ji raised an eyebrow and turned to Wang Ping.

“So this is the senior expert of the Chaotic Star Sea you were talking about?”

Wang Ping shrank his neck and gave an awkward laugh. “Um… Elder Han’s temper is a little hot, but he is quite powerful…”

Su Ji smiled. “Powerful enough to hide behind a barrier and cling to life?”

He had not deliberately lowered his voice. Every person inside the barrier heard him clearly.

The camp fell instantly silent.

Everyone looked at Su Ji as if he were already dead.

Was this kid insane?

How dare he speak to Elder Han like that?

“What did you say?!”

Elder Han was stunned for a moment before erupting in fury. His spiritual power surged, and the pressure of a half-step Void Refinement expert crashed toward the area outside the barrier like a landslide and a tsunami.

“You little bastard! Are you looking to die?!”

“Elder Han, calm down!”

Mo Yun’s expression changed, and he hurriedly shouted to stop him.

They needed every available hand right now. Although these three young people were not highly cultivated, the fact that they had made it here proved they had some ability. Why create internal conflict at a time like this?

“Calm down my ass!”

Elder Han could not hear a word of it. He grinned viciously.

“Perfect. I’ve got a bellyful of anger with nowhere to vent it. Since you’ve delivered yourself to my door—”

With that, he prepared to form a hand seal and open a corner of the formation so he could rush out and attack.

However—

Before he could move, the young man outside the barrier suddenly sighed.

“Open the gate.”

Only two words.

His tone was calm, yet carried an unquestionable command.

Elder Han laughed furiously. “Open the gate? Fine! I’ll open it right now and send you straight to reincarnation—”

“I’m telling you to open the gate because I want to come in and collect a debt.”

Su Ji interrupted him. His gaze passed over Elder Han and landed directly on Mo Yun.

“You’re Elder Mo of the Flowing Cloud Sect, right? Your people told me on the way here that once I reached this place, I could settle the remaining balance with you.”

Mo Yun froze. “Remaining balance?”

He suddenly remembered the report from the disciples who had returned earlier. They had said that a mysterious expert had rescued them and demanded a substantial “protection fee” in return.

Could this young man be that mysterious expert?

But with cultivation at this level…

“Brother Wang Ping, read Elder Mo the bill.”

Su Ji tilted his head slightly.

Wang Ping immediately straightened his back and cleared his throat. Then, shouting through the barrier, he announced, “Flowing Cloud Sect: six instances of life-saving assistance, plus the extermination of three monsters at the Deity Transformation stage. The total comes to one hundred and fifteen thousand high-grade spirit stones! Let’s round it off—one hundred and twenty thousand will do!”

Everyone present fell silent.

That was how he rounded it off?!

And of all times, they had come here to crack jokes?

Elder Han was so furious that his entire body trembled. Even the hand pointing at Su Ji shook.

“Mo Yun, you’re still going to protect trash like this?”

“A fraud?”

Su Ji shook his head, a hint of pity appearing in his eyes.

“Old man, your brow is dark and your lips are turning purple. At a glance, I can tell you’re showing all the signs of someone whose life is about to end.”

“You…”

Elder Han was just about to explode.

“Don’t rush to deny it.” Su Ji pointed behind him. “Turn around and see what that is.”

Elder Han instinctively turned around.

He was not the only one. Everyone in the camp followed Su Ji’s finger and looked in the same direction.

The depths of the blood mist, which had been relatively calm moments earlier, suddenly began to ripple violently.

Then—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Heavy footsteps rang out like the pounding of war drums. Each step shook the reef beneath their feet.

A blood-red giant standing ten meters tall slowly emerged from the mist.

Its entire body was pieced together from countless chunks of corpses, giving off a nauseating stench. In its hand, it dragged a massive chain, the end of which was fastened to a blood-dripping bronze coffin.

Mo Yun sprang to his feet, his face as pale as paper. “How could this thing have appeared here?! With its strength, shouldn’t it be guarding the altar?!”

A terrifying existence at the peak of the mid-stage Void Refinement realm!

In the Chaotic Star Sea, this level of cultivation was synonymous with invincibility!

“Roar—!!”

The blood corpse let out a furious bellow. With a savage swing of its arm, the bronze coffin at the end of the chain shot toward the barrier like a cannonball.

“Boom—!!”

A thunderous explosion rang out.

The formation barrier, already on the verge of collapse, instantly filled with cracks under the terrifying impact, like an eggshell about to shatter.

“It’s over…”

Despair spread through the camp in an instant.

The arrogance Elder Han had displayed moments earlier vanished without a trace.

“How could this happen… How could this happen…”

He muttered to himself, stumbling backward involuntarily.