118: Only I, Li! Sword! Immortal!

Airspace outside the agricultural star...

This tranquil airspace, usually only traversed by transport ships and agricultural drones, was now shrouded in an atmosphere of murderous intent and despair.

Tens of thousands of star pirate warships, painted with the hideous Blood Blade Pirate Group emblem and sporting rugged, patchwork-monster appearances, surrounded the small agricultural star like a school of sharks that had caught the scent of blood.

These warships had a wild style, their armor plates covered in scars left by impacts and energy weapons.

Some warships even had wreckage of captured small merchant ships welded directly onto them as additional armor, exuding a raw, violent aesthetic.

Their main cannons flashed with ominous red light as energy gathered, aimed directly at the defensive platforms on the planet's surface and the largest spaceport.

In front of the star pirate fleet, inside the command room of an exceptionally massive flagship—the "Blood Tooth," shaped like a magnified, blood-dripping fang—

The star pirate branch leader, "Bone Splitter" Gor, a Planet-level Peak, was grinning as he looked down through the massive porthole at the azure-green planet below, which was full of life.

Gor was as burly as a star bear standing on its hind legs. His exposed chest and arms were covered in knotted muscles and hideous scars. A deep scar ran from his left forehead to his right jaw, making his already vicious face look even more terrifying.

He wore a slightly tight-fitting officer's uniform stripped from some unlucky Soul, looking completely out of place.

"Hehehe..." Gor licked his dry lips, his eyes flashing with greed and cruelty.

"What a plump planet! Look at this ecosystem! Look at these energy readings! This will be enough for our brothers to have a good time for a while!"

Beside him, a thin, shifty-eyed star pirate wearing a monocle data-lens—his adjutant, "Rat," fawningly chimed in.

"Boss is wise! According to the information we intercepted, this planet is a Federation agricultural zone, and its defensive power is pitifully weak! There's only one Planet-level Peak governor, with a few dozen Planetary Level beginners to higher ones; it's not even enough to fill the gaps in our teeth!"

"Defense?" Gor sneered, patting the armrest of his command chair. "In front of our 'Blood Tooth' fleet, that's just paper! Pass the order down! Same old rules! Give them ten minutes to think!"

He cleared his throat, opened the global broadcast, and roared in a hoarse, oppressive voice:

"Listen up, people on the agricultural star below! I am the Blood Blade Pirate Group, Lord 'Bone Splitter' Gor!"

"This planet, and everything on it, including your lives, belongs to me now!"

"If you're smart, shut down all defenses immediately, open the spaceport, and surrender obediently! Send up everything valuable, and all the pretty women!"

"Otherwise—"

He paused, his voice becoming colder and more cruel, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue:

"In ten minutes, I will personally lead a landing team and implement the 'Three Alls Policy'! Kill all! Loot all! Burn all!"

"Leave nothing behind! I'll plow the planet's surface! Let you know the consequences of offending our Blood Blade Pirate Group!"

The malicious broadcast echoed in every corner of the agricultural star like a death knell.

On the planet's surface, in the center of "Green Source City," inside the Governors Mansion.

Governor Wang Anbang, a Planet-level Peak, was pale, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

On the holographic screen in front of him, the overwhelming disparity in forces between the star pirate fleet and his own orbital cannons and energy shields was displayed.

The gap was too large!

Just from the Planet-level Peak auras alone, he could sense no fewer than twenty! And Planetary Level ones numbered in the thousands!

And on his side, he was the only Planet-level Peak, with only a hundred or so Planetary Level ones; the battle outlook was grim!

"Go... Governor, what do we do?" a young secretary asked with a trembling voice, fear written all over her face.

Wang Anbang gritted his teeth, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and forced himself to calm down: "What else can we do? We can't hold them off! But we can't let them succeed easily! Immediately send a highest-level distress signal to the Federation's Xuntian Pavilion! At the same time... organize the evacuation of the civilians, and get as many as possible into the underground bunkers!"

He took a deep breath, a look of determination on his face: "As for us... try our best to delay! Every second counts! Hopefully, the Federation reinforcements can make it in time..."

Although he knew how slim that hope was.

The Federation's territory was vast, and by the time the Xuntian Pavilion's fleet arrived, the planet would likely have been looted clean and turned into scorched earth.

An atmosphere of despair spread across the planet.

On the star pirate flagship, Gor laughed triumphantly as he watched the chaotic energy signals and meaningless defensive posturing from the planet below.

"Rat! Look at these Federation pigs, still struggling in vain! How ridiculous!"

"Boss, time is almost up." Rat reminded him.

"Hmm!" A fierce light flashed in Gor's eyes. He stood up and stretched his thick neck, which made a cracking sound.

"Order the landing troops to prepare! For the first wave, I'm going to lead it myself! It's been too long since I personally snapped the necks of those weaklings; my hands are itching!"

He was already imagining the scenes of wanton killing, looting, and enjoyment after landing.

However, just as the landing countdown was about to reach Zero Return, and the moment Gor was about to issue the attack order—

A sudden change occurred!

"Buzz————!!!"

An indescribable, terrifying hum seemed to sweep across the entire star System without warning!

This hum did not travel through a medium but acted directly on the depths of every living being's Soul!

Whether they were Star Pirates or the citizens on the agricultural star, at this moment, they felt their hearts stop and their Souls tremble!

Immediately after, in the terrified detectors of all the star pirate warships, and in the incredulous gazes of the citizens of the agricultural star—

The Void Realm between the agricultural star and the star was torn apart as if by an invisible giant hand!

A massive spatial rift appeared out of thin air!

Inside the rift, there was no pitch-black nothingness, but an endless, roaring river of cyan Sword Qi!

The Sword Qi was so pure, so vast, it seemed like a river of light spanning the galaxy!

The biting Sword Intent felt like a tangible cold wind, instantly blowing across the entire star System!

Under the blowing of this Sword Intent cold wind, the energy shields of all the star pirate warships were extinguished silently, like soap bubbles under the sun, without even creating a ripple!

Inside the warships, all energy Systems instantly overloaded and crashed! Lights flickered, alarms wailed, and everything fell into chaos!

"What's going on?!?"

"Energy shields failed!"

"Engines lost power!"

"Detection Systems are blind!"

"Is... is it the Federation's superweapon?!?"

...

The Star Pirates were terrified and in a mess.

Gor's expression changed drastically. That terrifying Sword Intent made him feel as if he were being stared at by a prehistoric beast, and all the hair on his body stood on end!

"No! This is... this is..." His voice trembled, his eyes filled with incredulous fear.

The next moment, the answer was revealed.

In the center of that vast river of cyan Sword Qi, a more condensed, more dazzling Sword Qi, which seemed to be the core source of the sword river, slowly condensed.

The Sword Qi dissipated, revealing a figure standing proudly within it.

Green clothes, disheveled hair, and a large vermilion wine gourd hanging at his waist.

It was none other than Li Qingshan!

He looked as if he had just woken up, still carrying a bit of laziness and drunkenness. He yawned and casually picked up the wine gourd to take another gulp.

Only then did he seem to notice the tens of thousands of baring-fanged star pirate warships in front of him, as well as the shivering agricultural star.

"Hmm... is this the place?" Li Qingshan rubbed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the star pirate fleet as if he were looking at a swarm of buzzing flies.

His nonchalant attitude only made all the Star Pirates feel a bone-chilling cold and... an insult!

"Who... who are you?!?" Gor resisted the fear and shouted sternly through the public channel, trying to regain some face.

Li Qingshan glanced at the "Blood Tooth," his gaze flat, yet it made Gor feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, as if his Soul were frozen.

"Me?" Li Qingshan sneered, took another gulp of wine, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and then slowly chanted:

"Riding the sword through the star sea, eliminating bandits with a laugh at the heavens!"

The poem came out not as a sound, but as a clear Sword Intent thought, directly imprinted into the minds of all living beings!

At the same time, he pointed like a sword, casually pointing at a deserted, barren asteroid to the side.

"With wine, I slaughter star demons; without wine, I am still mad!"

As the second line was chanted, a cyan Sword Qi, as thin as a hair, burst from his fingertip, instantly crossing ten thousand miles of Void Realm to strike the asteroid with a diameter of hundreds of kilometers.

No explosion, no light.

Under the horrified gaze of everyone, that asteroid was thoroughly decomposed and annihilated at the molecular level, silently, like a hot knife through butter!

As if it had never existed!

"One drink makes the galaxy boil, another drink suspends the sun and moon!"

As the third line sounded, the Sword Intent around Li Qingshan soared again!

The wine gourd in his hand flew up automatically, and what poured out from the gourd's mouth was no longer wine, but a boiling galaxy! It was the suspended sun and moon!

The vast power of the stars and the pure Sword Intent merged, transforming into a Domain of Sword Intent that enveloped the entire star pirate fleet!

Within this Domain, all star pirate warships were like insects frozen in amber, unable to move!

Even the self-destruct sequence could not be activated!

Gor and all the Star Pirates were now completely terrified, their minds blank.

What... what level of power is this?!?

Could this be... the legendary... Stellar Level?!?

How could a Federation Stellar Level Expert personally take action for a remote agricultural star?!?

In our Blood Blade Pirate Group, which Stellar Level isn't a titan commanding millions or tens of millions of interstellar warships?

We only came to rob a tiny agricultural star!

Is it worth it?!?!?

Endless regret and despair drowned Gor.

Li Qingshan looked at this group of stunned Star Pirates, a flash of boredom in his eyes.

He looked up, drank the last bit of wine in the gourd, and then spat out the last line of the poem, which was also the final judgment:

"Ten thousand ships all turn to dust, only I—Li! Sword! Immortal!!!"

The moment the word "Immortal" fell—

"Clang—!!!"

The Domain of Sword Intent that enveloped the star pirate fleet suddenly contracted!

No sound, no light.

In the dazed eyes of countless citizens on the agricultural star, those tens of thousands of star pirate warships that had been arrogant and overbearing just a moment ago, along with all the Star Pirates inside, including the terrified "Bone Splitter" Gor and "Rat"...

Were wiped away as if by an invisible giant hand!

Instantly turned into the most basic particle dust in the Universe!

Not even a trace of wreckage or a hint of energy fluctuation remained!

Truly... ten thousand ships all turned to dust!

The entire Star Domain was dead silent.

Only Li Qingshan remained suspended under the starry sky, his green clothes fluttering, wine gourd in hand.

It was as if he had just casually swatted a group of mosquitoes.

He burped, and his Divine Sense, like mercury pouring onto the ground, instantly swept across the entire agricultural star, accurately finding Cui Hua's parents and her twenty-seven younger siblings, who were huddled together in their farm's underground bunker, shivering.

After confirming that they hadn't even scratched their skin, Li Qingshan nodded with satisfaction.

"Mission accomplished, let's pack up."

He muttered to himself, not even bothering to greet Governor Wang Anbang on the planet below, who was so excited he was about to faint.

He again pointed like a sword and slashed at the Void Realm in front of him—

"Sshh!"

Space was easily torn open again.

He stepped inside, and his figure disappeared.

Leaving behind only the safe and sound agricultural star, and that "cleaner" airspace in the starry sky, proving that a... no, that a thorough "garbage cleanup" had just taken place here.

...

Almost at the same time Li Qingshan left.

In a nebula belt only one barren star System away from the agricultural star.

Dozens of smaller, stealthier Blood Blade Pirate Group scout ships were sliding quietly like ghosts.

They were the forward scout team sent out by "Bone Splitter" Gor a few months ago, tasked with exploring whether there were any valuable targets or hidden Federation strongholds within this nebula belt.

"Captain, just received a forced communication from Boss Gor... it suddenly cut off!" a star pirate operator reported nervously.

The one-eyed star pirate called Captain frowned: "Cut off? What's going on? Signal interference?"

"It doesn't look like it... it's... it's completely disappeared! Along with the life signals and energy signals of the 'Blood Tooth', everything instantly went to Zero Return!"

"What?!?" The one-eyed captain stood up abruptly, his single eye filled with horror, "That's impossible! Did they encounter the Federation's main fleet?!?"

"No... the detectors didn't capture any large-scale fleet jump energy fluctuations... only... only an extremely short, but incomprehensible, ultra-high-level energy reaction appeared at the coordinates of Boss Gor's fleet, and then... and then there was nothing..."

The bridge fell into a dead silence, and a chill rushed from the soles of every star pirate's feet to their scalps.

Boss Gor and his main fleet... just disappeared silently like that?

Without even sending out a distress signal?

This is too bizarre! Too terrifying!

"Retreat! Retreat from this Star Domain immediately! Return to base and report!" The one-eyed captain made a prompt decision, his voice trembling slightly.

Dozens of scout ships immediately changed direction, pushing their engine power to the maximum, preparing for a short-range jump.

However, just as they were about to enter the jump state, at the edge of their ship-borne detectors, they suddenly captured a faint but unmistakable life planet signal!

The signal came from deep within the nebula belt, a corner they had previously ignored where the gravitational field was somewhat disordered.

"Captain! Found an unknown life planet! Energy reaction... very low, it seems to be a primitive civilization!" the operator exclaimed.

The one-eyed captain only wanted to save his life now, and roared impatiently: "Who cares what kind of primitive civilization it is! Let's go!"

"But Captain!" Another star pirate's eyes flashed with greed, "A primitive civilization... means no defensive power, means it's easy to loot! And, such undiscovered planets often have some peculiar indigenous resources or... Treasure Trove! Since we're here, it's not too late to grab some on the way! It won't take much time anyway!"

The one-eyed captain hesitated upon hearing this.

Greed finally overcame fear.

The main fleet had been inexplicably wiped out; if they returned empty-handed, they probably wouldn't have a good end either.

If they could bring back some valuable loot, maybe they could make up for their faults...

"Damn it! Wealth is sought in danger!" The one-eyed captain gritted his teeth, "Change course! Target, that primitive life planet! Move fast! Grab a haul and leave immediately!"

The scout ships immediately changed course, like dozens of hyenas catching the scent of blood, pouncing toward that unfortunate, primitive life planet in the age of ignorance that had been discovered...