Chapter 734 - 698: The Rift Closes

It was the luster of materials—the precious materials every Martial Artist dreamed of.

Xu Wuyi withdrew his spear and stood tall, his expression as calm as if nothing had happened.

He turned and walked back toward the outpost.

Behind him, the area in front of the Rift was dead silent.

The technicians stood rooted to the spot, their eyes wide as they stared at the battlefield strewn with corpses, completely oblivious to the tools slipping from their hands.

They were not Martial Artists and had no concept of Grandmaster Level power. Yet the scene before them was so shocking that they didn’t even know what expression to wear.

Over two thousand Star Beasts and four Great Commanders. Were they just gone like that? No, not gone—dead. Dead, yet lying there in neat rows, their corpses completely intact. What kind of concept was this?

The Martial Artists fared no better.

They had seen Grandmasters in action. Ren Bai had guarded this place for three years, occasionally stepping in to deal with Beast King Level Star Beasts. But those actions were always accompanied by massive commotions, shaking the heavens and earth. Afterward, the battlefield was usually a mess, and how many corpses could be salvaged was entirely up to luck.

But what was this? With just the raise of a hand and the clench of a fist, over two thousand Star Beasts fell in swathes. Then, with four thrusts of his spear, four Great Commanders dropped. From start to finish, it took less than half a minute. The corpses of those Star Beasts were so pristine they looked asleep. Not a single drop of blood had been shed.

Su Yueling stood at the front of the crowd, her lips slightly parted. She wanted to speak but found herself speechless. The current Xu Wuyi had grown powerful to a level she could no longer comprehend. What was even harder to fathom was the corpses. The bodies of over two thousand Star Beasts and four Great Commanders were all completely intact. What did this mean? It meant that their scales, fangs, bones, and fur could be used directly. They required no mending or processing; they were already top-tier materials. How much were they worth? How much merit could they be exchanged for? How many Martial Artists could they equip? Su Yueling couldn’t even begin to calculate, but she knew it had to be an astronomical figure.

Zhao Kun stood beside her, the bandages on his left arm glaring in the sunlight. He subconsciously touched his injured arm, recalling the bloody battle from half a month ago.

At that time, against five Great Commanders and over a thousand Star Beasts, they fought for a full day and night. It took the lives of seven teammates and severely injured over a dozen just to barely repel the Beast Tide. Afterward, the battlefield was a complete mess, and less than a third of the materials could be salvaged.

And now? Four Great Commanders, over two thousand Star Beasts—all killed by Xu Wuyi alone in half a minute, their corpses perfectly preserved. This disparity... Was this a Grandmaster? Zhao Kun took a deep breath. Looking at the figure walking back, an indescribable feeling welled up in his heart. He was considered strong among Innate Martial Artists. Having guarded this place alongside Ren Bai for two years, he had seen his fair share of Grandmaster Level figures. But this was the first time he had seen someone like Xu Wuyi. That command of Rules, that efficiency, that casual intent to destroy everything with a simple gesture—it made his scalp tingle.

Xu Wuyi returned to the outpost entrance, stopping in front of Shen Jin and Ren Bai.

"It’s handled," he said, his tone as casual as if he were commenting on the nice weather.

Shen Jin looked at him and fell silent for a few seconds before suddenly laughing. His smile carried a hint of helplessness and a touch of awe.

"Good boy," Shen Jin said, his voice hoarse but strong. "Even I can’t compare to this trick of yours."

Ren Bai also shook his head helplessly beside him. He knew exactly who Shen Jin was: the Sword Emperor, a Divine Intent Grandmaster, and one of the Federation’s absolute top experts. However, a Divine Intent Grandmaster wasn’t omnipotent. Instantly eliminating Star Beasts over a large area while perfectly preserving their corpses, as Xu Wuyi had done, was not something that could be achieved through sheer brute force.

Xu Wuyi paused for a moment before shaking his head. "Grandmaster Shen flatters me. If you had made a move, one slash would have solved everything. It would be much faster than me."

Shen Jin waved his hand, his gaze falling upon the battlefield blanketed with corpses.

"Solving it with one slash wouldn’t be a problem, but I couldn’t do what you just did," he said, his voice laced with earnest analysis. "If my blade fell, those Star Beasts’ corpses definitely wouldn’t survive; they’d all be reduced to dust. You, on the other hand, kept them completely intact.

"Look at the corpse of that Rock Armor Commander," he continued, pointing at the beast. "Not a single scale is shattered, not a single bone is broken, and its fur is completely untouched. With this level of preservation, it could fetch an astronomical price on the market."

Ren Bai nodded from the side. He couldn’t be clearer on the value of Star Beast Materials. Every year, the military invested vast amounts of manpower and resources just to hunt for these materials in the Star Realm, using them to strengthen the Federation’s Martial Artists and army. If they could kill Star Beasts while perfectly preserving their corpses like Xu Wuyi did, how many times would their efficiency multiply? It was simply unimaginable.

Control at the level of Rules required extremely precise manipulation. The slightest carelessness could result in the complete disintegration of the entire Star Beast, or only half-killing it and leaving behind a half-dead cripple. For Xu Wuyi to accurately collapse only the Life Rules while retaining the integrity of the physical structures—it was practically performing surgery at the level of Rules.

Shen Jin looked at Xu Wuyi again.

"That’s why I called you a freak. A twenty-three-year-old Grandmaster is absurd enough, but to be able to apply Rules to this extent is the most absurd of the absurd." He paused, suddenly remembering something, and looked toward the Martial Artists standing at the outpost entrance.