Chapter 60: The Warrior of One Hundred and Eight Levels

With that, Lu Chen immediately logged onto the association’s official website and filed a real-name report. He accused the issuer of the Sion Star bounty mission of deliberately sacrificing adventurers and manufacturing a tragedy for the sake of news. At the same time, he uploaded evidence, exposing the nefarious deeds of the Imperial News Weekly to the association’s news office.

In his view, the Adventurers’ Association’s official periodical, the Pangu Voyages Journal, together with the Imperial Entertainment Weekly and the Federation’s Free Stars, were the three most influential media in the galaxy. As rivals, he was confident the association wouldn’t let such an opportunity slip by.

Of course, Lu Chen didn’t upload all the evidence; he withheld a significant portion of key information. Otherwise, how could he expect the association to actively save him?

Thus, piloting the Leonin, he warped from point to point, running circles around the imperial covert ops ship as if walking a dog, all while uploading evidence. It took him a scattered two hours to finish—warp travel time included.

Soon after, an association news operator from the Bai Lu, an interstellar flagship, contacted the Leonin. “We have received your confidential report and request for rescue. May we ask, where is your vessel currently located?”

Lu Chen responded at once. “I’ll send you coordinates. Have the association dispatch a powerful agent there and let me know how long they’ll take to arrive. We’ll warp to that vicinity and be saved.”

After a half-hour’s worth of delayed communications, Lu Chen finally received a positive reply: the Bai Lu had sent a powerful ally to the rescue.

Next, Lu Chen kept the Leonin circling in a relatively safe region, repeatedly evading the imperial covert ops ship, which never managed to close the distance.

Two and a half hours later, the association’s rescue team was in position. The Leonin warped to the designated sector.

As the Leonin emerged from its spatial bubble into the star-strewn void, Lu Chen was greeted by the sight of a blazing blue giant standing firm in a swirling, oil-painting-like cosmic backdrop. Looking closer, it wasn’t a blue giant but a blue, energy-clad avatar—something akin to Susanoo—wreathed in blue spiritual flames that stretched for hundreds of meters, dwarfing the Leonin.

Within sat a blue-furred simian cross-legged, seemingly asleep. He wore a golden crown adorned with phoenix feathers, purple-gold armor, and a golden iron staff rested across his knees. But for the color, it was unmistakably the attire of the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven.

He could have dyed his fur yellow, but the blue spiritual flames were immutable—this was undoubtedly a blue simian!

It seemed that even in this parallel universe, tales of the Great Sage had made their way into the age of the stars.

Lu Chen glanced about—there wasn’t a single other ship in sight.

“How did this guy get here?” he wondered aloud. “To break through the void and become a living warp engine, you’d need to reach at least level one hundred!”

Golia wore the knowing expression of someone who’d seen it all, as if her own prime had far surpassed level one hundred.

Lu Chen was taken aback. “Level one hundred is that powerful?”

He was too far away to use his item-recognition cheat to gauge the other’s true level; the radar only registered spiritual pressure at about level eighty.

After three years in this universe, Lu Chen had heard the legend: because the current galactic spiritual energy was so thin, the cultivation ranking system was set rather loosely to give practitioners a sense of achievement. Level one hundred appeared to be the cap, but was actually just the threshold of true power.

Golia, at level thirty-eight, was little more than a hanger-on, only able to bully backward planets like Ruststar. Adenfema, at level fifty, could count as a local powerhouse in a solar system. But only those above level one hundred were the truly free, unrestrained powerhouses who roamed the galaxy at will.

As for what lay beyond level one hundred, the internet was rife with speculation, but no one knew for sure. After all, true powerhouses could conceal their energy as if they were ordinary mortals; radar couldn’t detect their cultivation, and the wise never revealed their true strength. The abilities of each major faction’s champions were closely guarded secrets.

The unknown, after all, is what instills the greatest awe.

Golia gave Lu Chen a sidelong glance, the look of a city dweller at a country bumpkin. “Level one hundred is hardly impressive. It’s just passable.”

“You’re all talk now,” Lu Chen retorted.

Even as he spoke, space behind the Leonin warped into a convex membrane and a black Imperial Javelin-class covert ops ship emerged into the void, much closer than before, readying its weapons.

Suddenly—a massive blue rod of spiritual flame came crashing down, smashing the ship in two in a single blow!

Spherical escape pods popped out, drifting in the cold interstellar space.

Lu Chen received a warning message from the imperial ship, addressed to the blue simian giant:

“Bai Lu’s Nanyuanzi, cease your reckless assault at once! This is the Imperial News Ship Hidden Truth, pursuing the Leonin for a lawful interview. Do you intend to start a war by firing upon us? Think of all the special privileges the Empire has granted the Adventurers’ Association!”

“Oh, it was an imperial ship? Next time, remember to paint imperial markings on your hull. I was just a little overzealous in protecting adventurers—my hand slipped. You won’t blame me, will you?” Nanyuanzi’s voice somehow resonated in the vacuum, as if deliberately letting the Leonin hear.

The vibration of his voice through the void triggered the ship’s spiritual runes to flicker, making the cockpit lights flash and buzz.

Only now did Lu Chen feel the immense pressure—spiritual energy at level one hundred and eight!

He placed his right hand on the manual control print, channeled his universal resonance energy, and barely managed to cancel out the excess vibrations.

At last, he understood. “If the imperial ship tries to press charges, this guy will likely destroy the evidence and witnesses. That’s a naked threat.”

Golia just snorted. “If it were me, I’d have acted earlier, killed them all in an instant, and left the imperial ship no chance to speak. Afterward, I’d claim my hand slipped. Who told them to run radar silent and not mark their ship? Who’d know it was imperial?”

The imperial ship replied at once: “Since it’s a misunderstanding, you may leave. We’ll call for assistance and clear things up afterward.”

Nanyuanzi shook his head. “No can do. Since this is a political incident, you’ll have to go clarify things to the association.”

With that, the blue avatar teleported over, seized both halves of the ship, and stuffed them into its form. He then gathered all the scattered pods and debris, preparing to take everything back to the Bai Lu.

Lu Chen quickly sent Nanyuanzi a message: “Since you’re here to rescue us, please take us to the Bai Lu as well. I have more evidence.”

The blue avatar turned, pointed at the Leonin, and sent a ball of blue flame toward it.

“Dodge!” Golia shouted.

Lu Chen remained calm. “No need.”

Sure enough, the blue spiritual flame didn’t attack the Leonin. Instead, it phased through the hull and coalesced inside the cockpit.

It took the form of a blue-furred simian, who sat cross-legged right on the control console—a miniature avatar rather than the main body. On closer inspection, he was a handsome, slightly mischievous-looking middle-aged man, with a luxuriant blue mane and beard, but otherwise not much different from a human.

Golia and Aili remained on high alert, but Lu Chen was as composed as ever.

Nanyuanzi’s gaze never left Lu Chen, showing no interest in the two beautiful women aboard.

“I thought the association was punishing me by sending me on such a low-level assignment, but I didn’t expect to encounter something so interesting… What’s your name again?”

Lu Chen answered respectfully, “Adventurer Lu Chen, greets Senior Nanyuanzi.”

Nanyuanzi nodded, eyes closed in feigned profundity, and held up three fingers. “I have three questions for you. You must answer them, no evasion, but you may lie.”

You can lie? Lu Chen grinned and nodded. “All right.”

Nanyuanzi asked, “First: my spiritual flames can instantly reduce your ship and all three of you to ashes. When you saw my flames, why didn’t you dodge?”

Lu Chen smiled. “Senior didn’t kill the imperial villains—why would you harm the good?”

Nanyuanzi looked dissatisfied and continued, “Second: the imperial covert ops ship was level sixty, while your ship is level thirty. With a locator locked on you, how did you hold out this long?”

Lu Chen answered, “I have some special flying techniques.”

Nanyuanzi grew even more impatient. “Third: if I’m not mistaken, you just used a rather marvelous power—one far beyond what your cultivation should allow… What was it?”

Unruffled, Lu Chen replied, “Conqueror’s Haki and Observation Haki.”

Nanyuanzi’s fur bristled in irritation; in an instant, spiritual pressure crashed down upon Lu Chen like thunder. “You’re not afraid of me at all, are you?”

Lu Chen grinned, utterly unperturbed. “You said you’d only ask three questions. This is the fourth. I’m a good listener—I won’t answer this one!”

Golia and Aili both burst out laughing, the tension in the air dissolving completely.

Nanyuanzi sighed, shaking his head in resignation. “Forget it. The association originally wanted to use this opportunity to bring you back for investigation.”

“Investigate me?” Lu Chen was taken aback. I’m a model citizen!

Nanyuanzi leapt up, towering over them, though his gaze carried no condescension. “But I’ve already looked into you. You might be a natural-born stone monkey as well. As for your story, only you can write it in this starry sky… See you aboard the Bai Lu.”

With that, the deep blue figure dissolved into starlight and vanished.