The three Astral Moon Birds carried them into the boundless starry sky.
Anlu Star gradually shrank beneath them as a mighty astral wind swept in from the endless Astral Domain. Liu Wuxie and He Yingwu burrowed into the birds' feathers, shielding themselves from the biting currents.
No wonder the king had sent these three male birds. Once in the Astral Domain, the wind grew so fierce that even the birds' flight slowed.
Each moment in the void drained their stamina, and only the steady supply of astral stones kept them aloft.
They would have no place to rest for the next ten days, and the birds would fly without pause until they reached their destination.
Meanwhile, the rebellion on Anlu Star was crushed, and the chaos subsided. Most slaves were driven back into their barracks and locked behind iron doors.
Guards dragged a small group to the arena for execution—those who had armed themselves during the chaos and charged into the warehouse, only to be captured before they could escape.
A group of mysterious experts appeared in the main hall, reinforcements from the Immortal Slaughter Palace.
Yu Wentai trembled before them, hardly daring to breathe. Though he commanded Anlu Star, he was merely a deacon, far beneath these men in status and cultivation.
"Tell me, what exactly took place here?" A man in his thirties sat at the head of the hall, releasing the crushing aura of a Primal Origin Realm expert. His presence swept through the chamber like a storm, forcing Yu Wentai to his knees.
In the hierarchy of cultivation, the Heaven Profound Realm came before the Transcendent Realm. The Origin Conversion Realm followed next, and then the Primal Origin Realm, where true experts of the Astral Domain reside.
"Elder Duan Li, please calm down. A boy named Liu Wuxie orchestrated this. I was negligent and caught off guard," Yu Wentai said, shifting the blame entirely to Liu Wuxie. If it hadn't been for the latter, Anlu Star wouldn't have suffered such devastating losses.
"As Anlu Star's commander, how dare you shirk responsibility?" Duan Li roared. Regardless of the mastermind, Yu Wentai bore ultimate responsibility.
Yu Wentai collapsed to the ground with cold sweat streaming down his forehead. They had lost half a year's worth of raw stones. However, this would not cripple the Immortal Slaughter Palace, as a force of their size required millions of astral stones every day, far beyond what Anlu Star alone could produce.
The Immortal Slaughter Palace's other holdings and businesses provided additional income, yet the loss remained staggering.
"Elder Duan, please calm down. As long as I can kill Liu Wuxie, I am willing to accept any punishment," Yu Wentai said, his expression twisted with rage.
"Tell me about this Liu Wuxie," Duan Li ordered. He could not undo what had happened, but he wanted to know more about the man bold enough to destroy their mine nearly.
In all four Astral Domains, few dared defy the Immortal Slaughter Palace. If they failed to capture Liu Wuxie, the humiliation would spread across the Laman Astral Domain, and they couldn't afford the humiliation.
Yu Wentai told everything, leaving nothing out.
When Duan Li and the others heard of Liu Wuxie's strength, their faces darkened.
"You're foolish!" Duan Li snapped. He had rushed here to protect Yu Wentai, but now, he regretted it. Had another elder arrived, Yu Wentai would have been dead by now.
"Elder's reprimand is right," Yu Wentai said, bowing his head.
"This individual isn't ordinary. I suspect he's a spy from the Azure Thunder Sect. He must have suppressed his cultivation and disguised himself to sabotage our mine," another Primal Origin Realm expert said. He offered his perspective, though his cultivation did not match Duan Li's.
After all, an ordinary slave could not kill the Silverthunder Ant Beast, and they had all likely been deceived.
"It must be the Azure Thunder Sect!" Yu Wentai agreed immediately.
The astral beasts had collapsed the mining tunnels. Resuming work would require digging new shafts, a task that would take months.
"Do we have a portrait of him?" Duan Li asked. The Palace and the Azure Thunder Sect had long been enemies.
Yu Wentai produced a portrait. Liu Wuxie had only just left, and Yu Wentai had prepared it in advance for the Immortal Slaughter Palace's upper echelons.
Everyone examined it with deep frowns.
"Has anyone seen him before?" Duan Li asked.
No one had. Anyone capable of killing the Silverthunder Ant Beast should be at least at the Transcendent Realm. Yet Yu Wentai swore Liu Wuxie's cultivation was at the Heaven Profound Realm when he saw him in the main hall.
"I suspect he has an artifact concealing his cultivation," another cultivator said.
There were many varieties of artifacts in the Astral Domain, and there were many capable of concealing the cultivation. The Immortal Slaughter Palace also had many similar artifacts.
"That's most likely. I will report to the palace lord. He will die even if he escapes Anlu Star," Duan Li said, tucking the portrait away.
"Could he still be here?" Yu Wentai asked. Without a teleportation array, only Primal Origin experts could travel between planets, and even they rarely risked the ten-day flight without rest.
"To the Northern Foothill Mines!" Duan Li ordered.
By the time they arrived, the Astral Moon Birds were long gone. Liu Wuxie had ordered the king to take them deep into the Astral Domain, where even Primal Origin experts hesitated to go.
If it were someone at the Origin Conversion Realm, they wouldn't be able to threaten the Astral Moon Birds. However, it was a different story for those who reached the Primal Origin Realm, as they could fly relying on their true essence.
"Damn it!" Yu Wentai cursed. He had hoped to use the Immortal Slaughter Palace's experts to kill the birds and reclaim some stones.
However, the Astral Moon Birds had vanished and fled with the other astral beasts. The geography in Anlu Star was treacherous, and even experts at the Primal Origin Realm wouldn't dare to venture too deep into it.
Most importantly, Anlu Star had even more powerful astral beasts that were unafraid of Primal Origin Realm experts. They wouldn't bother with the humans as long as the humans hadn't provoked them.
"That kid is cunning. We'll return to Laman Star and issue an Astral Domain Bounty. I want to see where he can run!" The other experts all expressed their fury at being outsmarted.
The group returned to camp and left Anlu Star for the Laman Astral Domain. They soon posted portraits of Liu Wuxie across their major cities.
Liu Wuxie remained entirely unaware that a manhunt for him had quietly begun. They posted his portraits across the major cities in the Astral Domain.
The Laman Astral Domain spanned vast distances. Laman Star, its largest planet, dwarfed Anlu Star in size and influence. Even peerless experts wouldn't dare claim they could traverse every corner of the planet.
More minor planets orbited it, each with powerful experts residing there. Aside from the massive planets, there were smaller ones where experts reigned as absolute rulers.
Time passed as Liu Wuxie and He Yingwu rotated between the birds, keeping one fresh at all times. They flew without pause, and Liu Wuxie cultivated within the astral wind.
On the seventh day, he broke through to the seventh-level Heaven Profound Realm, aided by astral stones. He also fed stones to the birds, whose cultivation rose in turn.
"Wuxie, look ahead!" He Yingwu shouted as the astral wind eased.
Liu Wuxie opened his eyes to see a massive planet in the distance, no larger than a palm from here. Excitement flared in both men, especially He Yingwu, who had suffered for over a decade on Anlu Star.
On the ninth day, they entered its atmosphere and began their descent.
When they landed, they truly escaped danger.
Liu Wuxie gave the birds five thousand astral stones to sustain their return journey. Placing the astral stones into the pouch beneath their jaws, the three birds circled Liu Wuxie before vanishing and returning to Anlu Star.
"Let's find someone to ask about our location," Liu Wuxie said, scanning the mountainous terrain.