Chapter 666 - 372: Forging a Tier 8 Divine Artifact (Part 2)

The process would take several hours, so Su Ze and the Pope waited on the spot.

...

The forging machine emitted a crisp chime, signaling to Su Ze that the process was complete.

Su Ze strode forward and saw that the compartment on the machine’s left side had opened. A set of flying needles lay quietly within.

Su Ze extended his Spiritual Power, and with a gentle sweep, hundreds of flying needles flew out, forming a single stream.

"Return!"

With a single thought, the hundreds of needles landed in his palm.

There were 299 needles in total. Each was about three inches long, as fine as a hair, yet incomparably hard.

The needles were pitch-black, but when they flew through the air, they blended into the light and shadows, becoming completely invisible.

Su Ze tried to track the needles in flight with his Spiritual Power but couldn’t detect them at all.

He didn’t know if the Spiritual Power of a Sun God or an Ancestral God could track the needles, but as a Tier-8 Divine Artifact, it was certain that a Moon God’s Spiritual Power wouldn’t be able to detect them.

The 299 needles formed a complete set, with a distinct connection linking each one.

Su Ze infused a sliver of evolutionary power into the 299 needles. Instantly, each one disgorged a wisp of shadow. These shadows converged into a single, spherical mass.

This Shadow Pearl was, in fact, the "needle matrix." By holding it, he could control all 299 needles at will and recall them at any time.

After a moment’s thought, Su Ze named the set of needles the "Shadowless Needle".

The Shadowless Needle’s attack, of course, wasn’t as simple as just piercing someone. The needles carried shadow power, allowing them to unleash an effect similar to the Tier-8 skill, Shadow Stab. After piercing an enemy, the shadow power would run rampant inside the target’s body, corroding and destroying them from within, causing substantial damage.

A Star God expert struck by this set of needles would be killed instantly. Even a Moon God would have a hard time withstanding it.

After all, it was a top-tier Divine Artifact among all of Tier-8.

Su Ze was very satisfied. Both of his goals for this trip to the Public Planet had been accomplished, and the Shadowless Needle was very much to his liking.

Without lingering, he put away the Shadowless Needle and swiftly departed with the Pope.

There was nothing left for them to do on Thousand Illusion Star, so Su Ze prepared to leave.

’Maybe I should go hunt a Moon God expert and plunder their skills.’

He still hadn’t acquired a skill for his Star God stage.

His previous secluded cultivation had greatly increased his strength. Now that he also had the Tier-8 Divine Artifact, the Shadowless Needle, Su Ze’s confidence soared. ’I think I can test my strength against a Moon God now.’

’As things stand, I’d be hard-pressed to find a match among other Star Gods.’

’Perhaps only a Star God from a Dominator Race could truly challenge me.’

The two of them headed straight for Thousand Illusion Star’s "parking lot" and boarded the Magic Cube.

The ship slowly lifted off, left the surface of Thousand Illusion Star, and broke through the atmosphere...

Just then, the Pope pointed at the ship’s sensor display. "There’s a ship coming up behind us."

"A lot of people come and go from Thousand Illusion Star every day. It might just be a coincidence." Su Ze paused. "Then again, maybe someone has their sights on us. The Bag Race, for example."

Su Ze’s first thought was naturally the Bag Race stall owner.

After all, if he had made an enemy of anyone during his trip to Thousand Illusion Star, it was him.

Besides, the Bag Race had a reputation. Being Star Pirates was their main line of work.

"Speed up. Let’s lose them!"

Su Ze didn’t hesitate. Whether they were looking for trouble or not, losing them was the right move.

The Magic Cube accelerated instantly but didn’t rush into a Faster-than-light Space Jump.

The ship behind them sped up as well, matching their course.

"Looks like they’re after us, nine times out of ten."

Su Ze wasn’t flustered. It was unlikely the other party also had a Sun God-level Spaceship. Once he opened the throttle, the Magic Cube would leave them in the dust.

After all, spaceships were extremely valuable. The master of the Mother Tree was a Moon God, but they could only afford a Star God-level Spaceship.

A spaceship was more valuable than Evolution Crystals or even rare artifacts of the same tier.

Su Ze couldn’t be bothered to tangle with them. The ship accelerated again, entering faster-than-light flight and initiating a Space Jump.

Behind them, the pursuing ship also entered faster-than-light flight in an attempt to catch up.

However, while both ships were capable of faster-than-light flight and Space Jumps, the Magic Cube was faster and its jump distance was longer. It instantly left the pursuing ship far behind.

At that moment, inside the other ship, a male and female of the Bag Race were cursing in fury.

"Damn it! It’s a Sun God-level Spaceship!"

"They got away!"

"Those two really were a big score. To think they had a Sun God-level Spaceship... What a shame."

The female Bag Race member, a Moon God, was seething with rage. She slammed her fist on the armrest, shattering it to pieces.

"What do we do now?" the male, the very same stall owner Su Ze had met earlier, asked the female.

The female snapped, "What else can we do? We lost them, so we have to give up. Since we’re already out here, there’s no need to return to Thousand Illusion Star. Let’s head back to our tribal lands first, then find a new Public Planet."

The longer they ran their scams in one place, the riskier it became, so they regularly moved to a new Public Planet.

They never went too far, though, just rotating through the dozens of Star Realms in the surrounding area. They never strayed too far from their den.

After all, every so often, they had to return to their den to give birth and drop off their young.

The Bag Race was incredibly fertile. A single litter could have dozens of offspring, and they could produce a new litter every six months. A Bag Race whelp reached adulthood in just three years, living in the female’s Nursing Bag until then.

Thus, at her peak, a female of the Bag Race might have three to four hundred whelps living in her Nursing Bag.