Starting as the young master of a medicine shop, he practiced swordsmanship for twenty years.

Chapter 423 From the desert to the wasteland, I didn't even blink!
Lu Xuan slightly closed his eyes, and his vast star field perception silently surged out, instantly covering everything within a radius of tens of kilometers.

The rolling of sand grains, the traces of the breeze, and even the pulsation of rock strata deep underground were all clearly reflected in his perception within the Star Domain Realm.

After confirming several times that there were no more hidden presences in the area, the last glimmer of light in his eyes quietly faded away.

Chishan is as dead as can be.

Lu Xuan casually found a dilapidated cave, gracefully leaped inside, and sat cross-legged.

As his mind sank into his sea of ​​consciousness, the system panel appeared.

Host: Lu Xuan, the Immortal of the Mortal World (Sixth Incarnation)

Realm: Star Domain Realm (Beginner)
Technique: Zhou Tian Xing Mou (7/9) can be deduced
Score: 100001
Please confirm whether you wish to consume 50000 system points to deduce the Zhou Tian Xing Mou!

"Deduction."

With a slight thought, the 50,000 points evaporated instantly, transforming into a vast torrent of insights that surged into his soul.

A day and a night pass in the blink of an eye.

When Lu Xuan opened his eyes again, it seemed as if there were swirling stars in the depths of his pupils, appearing and disappearing in a flash, and the aura around him began to become increasingly profound and ethereal.

With a blur, Lu Xuan transformed into a dazzling starlight, soaring straight into the sky and hurtling towards the depths of the wasteland.

As the strong wind brushed his face, he leisurely reviewed the new panel data once again.

Realm: Star Domain Realm (Minor Success)
After a long time, Lu Xuan slowly descended from the clouds, his feet landing steadily on the cracked earth.

After dealing with Chishan, he had no intention of returning to the Imperial Court to report back.

In those seven days, he fought his way from the desert to the ruins all by himself, slaying countless crimson monsters without even blinking an eye.

Don't ask me if my eyes are dry, the answer is no!
Host: Lu Xuan, the Immortal of the Mortal World (Sixth Incarnation)

Realm: Star Domain Realm (Minor Success)
Technique: Zhou Tian Xing Mou (8/9)

Score: 80001
Despite the constant fighting, the system points only increased by 30,000, which, combined with what was left, barely brought the total to 80,000.

A hint of disappointment flashed through Lu Xuan's mind—these ordinary crimson monsters were indeed not worth a few system points.

He looked up at the desolate city before him.

The city walls are crumbling and the stone walls are mottled, with only the two characters "Xuguang" still faintly discernible.

This city, abandoned by the Sun and Moon Empire, stands silently under the dim yellow sky.

Lu Xuan's gaze slowly swept over the broken walls and ruins, finally settling on the depths of the city.

There are many "snacks" inside the city.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the city.

A middle-aged woman in a faded green military uniform was giving instructions to people in a dilapidated jeep.

"Xixi, you take the supplies to the shelter first, we'll be there shortly."

The car was crammed with four women and three men, all young people in their early twenties, their faces showing deep fatigue and vigilance.

"Okay, Mom. Be careful and hurry up," the girl in the driver's seat replied.

With her sharp features and nimble movements, she turned the steering wheel without hesitation and drove the jeep in a certain direction.

Two women and three men stood guard in front of the middle-aged woman.

Apart from one gray-haired veteran, the rest were middle-aged men in their early forties.

They wore combat uniforms of different colors, their shoulder epaulets worn but still crisp, and some of the firearms in their hands had their paint chipped off.

On the off-road pickup truck next to them were various heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.

"Chengye, Buwen." The middle-aged woman changed to a new magazine, her voice steady. "We need to stall for another ten minutes so that Xixi can take the star map and star source stone and leave first."

As soon as she finished speaking, the roars of crimson monsters echoed from the distant ruins.

They were a group of twisted and mutated monsters, resembling giant rats but with bodies as robust as wolves.

They opened their huge mouths, which were covered with serrated fangs, and their foul-smelling saliva dripped down, corroding small pits in the cracked earth.

What's most chilling is the three blood-red eyes on their foreheads, which are flashing with a mad light.

These monsters had strong, powerful limbs, and each foot had four sharp claws.

Rather than fingernails, they resembled daggers gleaming with a cold light, capable of easily tearing through hard steel.

"Pah! These bastards are really troublesome!" A man with a face full of gunpowder spat out the sand in his mouth. The barrel of the rifle he held was already slightly red.

"Time is running out, evacuate immediately." As the white-haired old man spoke, his heavy rifle continued to fire precisely.

"We underestimated their numbers, but Xixi and the others are already far away. Let's retreat!"

The two female soldiers, who had remained silent, understood immediately and quickly jumped into the back seat of the off-road pickup truck.

At the same time, the others simultaneously threw several high-explosive grenades—

boom! boom! boom!
A series of violent explosions instantly tore the leading crimson monsters to shreds, with limbs and flesh raining down like a storm.

Taking advantage of this brief break, everyone quickly got into position.

The off-road pickup truck's engine roared deafeningly, its tires kicking up clouds of dust as it sped towards the depths of the city ruins.

At that moment, the three female soldiers in the back seat and the middle-aged man in the passenger seat simultaneously leaned their weapons out of the car windows, preparing to intercept the crimson monster that was hot on their heels.

However, just before they pulled the trigger, the action came to an abrupt halt.

Everyone stood frozen in place, their pupils reflecting a dazzling purple starlight.

The light was so intense that it seemed to have dyed the entire sky a magnificent purple.

The white-haired old man in the driver's seat had just opened his mouth when the eerie purple light in the rearview mirror made him swallow his words.

That purple light was so unusual; it was as if it had dyed the entire sky purple.

"squeak--!"

At that moment, the white-haired old man instinctively slammed on the brakes, and the tires left two deep grooves in the sand.

Chaos erupted inside the car as everyone was thrown about by the sudden braking.

"Holy crap! Grandpa Feng, are you crazy?" The middle-aged man in the passenger seat slammed his face hard against the windshield, and a big bump instantly bulged on his forehead.

He rubbed his sore spot and glared at the old man. "If this hits me and makes me stupid, are you going to support me for the rest of my life?"

But Grandpa Feng had no time to explain; he got out of the car without stopping.

The three female soldiers in the back seat also opened the car door at the same time, stood blankly on the sand, and looked up at the sky.

The middle-aged man then remembered what he had just witnessed.

He endured the pain and scrambled out of the carriage. When he looked up, he froze.

Above the city, a pair of giant eyes formed from the brilliance of stars stretched across the sky, each ray of light flowing with the power of the dazzling starry sky.

Those purple eyes were so huge that they seemed to take in the entire city of Xuguang.

Even more awe-inspiring was the figure standing in the center of those enormous, purple eyes. Lu Xuan was dressed in a shimmering gold and white battle suit adorned with the sun and moon, his robes fluttering gently in the breeze.

He was surrounded by a faint purple halo, like a celestial being descended to earth, which complemented his enormous, starry eyes.

"This...this is..." Old Master Feng finally regained his voice, but could only utter these few broken syllables.

He had lived most of his life and had never seen such a breathtaking sight.

The roar of the crimson monster had vanished without a trace, and the entire world seemed to have frozen in time under the gaze of those starry eyes.

Grandpa Feng's cloudy eyes suddenly widened, "It's the Empire! It's the Empire's Star Realm expert!"

“We are saved!!!”

He practically roared these words, his voice filled with an almost choked, ecstatic joy.

For these exiles who barely survive outside the safe zone, the "empire's star warriors" had long been a distant legend.

Within the Anning District, people enjoy order and peace.

Outside the safe zone, these abandoned survivors could only hide like rats in the deep mountains and forests, struggling to survive between ruins and darkness, and avoiding the hunting of the crimson monsters day and night.

For so many years, they have long been accustomed to being forgotten.

But now——

The sudden arrival of this powerful being from the starry sky, and those indifferent, purple-glowing giant eyes that looked down upon the mortal world, undoubtedly proclaimed a fact.

The Sun and Moon Empire has never truly abandoned this land.

However, reality is always cruel.

Grandpa Feng was wrong; he was being too optimistic.

The Sun and Moon Empire had long ago completely abandoned everything outside the safe zone.

The so-called "territory" and "subjects" are nothing more than a gray area crossed out in red on the map of the Sun and Moon Imperial Court.

Because Lu Xuan descended here not to rescue, much less to save.

He was simply hunting.

Hunt those "prey" that exude a deep red aura, and harvest those "resources" that can be converted into system points.

This encounter is nothing more than a coincidence, a chance passing by.

"That's it?"

Lu Xuan frowned slightly, and his Star Domain Realm perception quickly spread out, instantly covering the entire Xuguang City.

Within a radius of tens of kilometers, apart from the few stunned survivors in front of them and the jeep still speeding desperately in the distance, no other trace of the crimson monster could be sensed.

Desolate, lifeless, and sparsely populated.

Host: Lu Xuan, the Immortal of the Mortal World (Sixth Incarnation)

Realm: Star Domain Realm (Minor Success)
Technique: Zhou Tian Xing Mou (8/9)

Score: 85001
After wiping out that group of crimson monsters, I only gained a mere five thousand points.

A hint of disappointment flashed across Lu Xuan's eyes. Then, his gaze swept over the group of survivors at his feet.

The hunt is over, it's time to leave.

As everyone gazed up at the godlike figure in the sky, an indescribable sense of awe welled up within them.

Just now, those crimson monsters that had made them exhaust their ammunition and fight to the death were as vulnerable as ants under the gaze of those purple starry eyes.

As the purple starlight swirled across the sky, the crimson monsters didn't even have time to scream before turning into dust and dissipating in the wind.

Grandpa Feng's legs went weak, and he almost knelt down.

However, just as Lu Xuan turned to leave, the extremely excited old man suddenly came to his senses—he remembered something more important than his life.

Seeing that Lu Xuan was about to leave, Old Master Feng hurriedly staggered forward and cried out urgently, "My lord! Please wait! We are citizens of the Sun Moon Empire, and we beg you to hear me out!"

He quickened his pace, pointing tremblingly towards the southeast: "Thirty kilometers from our settlement, a giant crimson egg has appeared."

It grows every day, and is now almost as large as a small mountain, with countless crimson monsters gathering around it, making it impossible for us to get close.

"Inside that giant red egg, it's like the heartbeat of a living thing."

"We are certain that something extremely terrible is brewing within it. Once it hatches, not only will we survivors have nowhere to escape, but the Empire's safe zones will also suffer a devastating impact!"

The words "Crimson Monster" seemed to trigger a switch, and Lu Xuan's figure vanished from his spot in an instant. The next second, he flashed like a ghost and suddenly appeared in front of Old Master Feng.

Before Old Master Feng could finish his plea, everything went blurry.

"lead the way."

Without uttering any extra words, before anyone could react, Lu Xuan grabbed Old Master Feng by the collar.

As the purple starlight swirled, two figures transformed into a blur, instantly sweeping across the ruins and disappearing into the horizon.

Only a group of stunned survivors were left standing there.

? ? ? ?
Grandpa Feng was lifted into the air by Lu Xuan, the wind whistling in his ears, the ground beneath his feet receding rapidly, and Xuguang City quickly turned into a small dot on the horizon.

The situation had completely exceeded his expectations, but at this moment, Old Master Feng felt no fear whatsoever—if this powerful being from the Empire was willing to take action, perhaps the settlement could truly be saved!

"In which direction?"

A detached question came from above, and Old Master Feng snapped back to reality, hurriedly pointing southeast: "It's over there! At your speed, sir, you should be able to see it in about 20 minutes!"

Looking down at the desolate plains rushing past, he couldn't help but recall the reason for this adventure.

It was because of that ever-expanding red giant egg that the survivors had no choice but to take the risk and enter the city of Asura, which was full of crimson monsters, in order to find the star map and star source stone left behind by the empire.

These precious supplies will not only help them migrate to a safer area further away, but are also the only hope for the younger generation of survivors to guide the power of the stars and fight against the Crimson Contamination.

Grandpa Feng was carried by Lu Xuan as he flew, feeling the pure starlight power flowing around him, and he was deeply shocked.

As a Star Warrior of the Star Realm, he knew better than anyone else that being able to fly so easily was at least the terrifying existence of the Blazing Sun Realm!
Sure enough, as the distance closed, the distant scenery gradually became clearer.

A giant, deep red egg stands majestically on the wasteland, its surface covered with twisted, vein-like patterns that pulsate slightly with some eerie rhythm.

Hundreds of crimson monsters gathered around the giant red egg, circling it as if on a pilgrimage.

What's most unsettling are the four figures guarding the innermost circle of the giant dome.

A strange bird with a wingspan of over fifteen meters, its bony wings covered with dark red scales.

A giant deer with ten twisted antlers, each tip gleaming with a dangerous black light.

A mutated earthworm with a diameter of over thirty meters continuously oozes corrosive mucus from its body.

There was also a monster that looked like a lynx, with drops of dark green saliva dripping from between its serrated fangs.

The aura emanating from these four crimson monsters was far more terrifying than that of the surrounding minions.

(End of this chapter)