172: Chapter 172 Inventorying the Peerless Treasure Vault! The System Poisons Someone Across Starfields, Cripples a Half-Step Dao Integration!

On the edge of the Ancient Star Sea Battlefield,

Skeleton Star City, the Core Divine Bone Hall.

"Tap... Tap..."

Crisp footsteps echoed within the vast and grand bone hall.

This power center, which once belonged to the three major underground tycoons for their deliberations, had now completely changed masters.

Lin Que leaned lazily back on a throne carved from the entire spinal column of an Immemorial Starry Sky Behemoth.

His crimson cloak spread like fresh blood across the pale bone steps, creating a striking visual contrast.

He didn't even deliberately release his pressure, yet having just broken through to the Late Stage Void Return Star Domain Realm, the terrifying extreme physical mass of one hundred million catties beneath his skin still caused the surrounding void to let out faint, overwhelmed wails.

"Crackle..."

Lin Que casually picked up a teacup crafted from Top-grade Spirit Crystals beside him, intending to take a sip of tea.

However, with just the slightest contact between his thumb and index finger, the Top-grade Spirit Crystal teacup—strong enough to withstand a full-strength blow from a Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator—unexpectedly disintegrated into fine powder, trickling down from his fingertips.

"Hiss... This power density really does need some time to settle."

Lin Que helplessly brushed the powder off his hands.

With a pure physical mass of one hundred million catties, he was now like an unstable humanoid black hole; with the slightest lapse in attention, he would ruthlessly crush everything around him.

Below the hall, Su Qingyu and the Chen Family Old Ancestor were holding several spatial rings that emitted a blinding light, their bodies trembling with excitement.

"My Lord! It's all been accounted for! Everything has been tallied!!!"

The Chen Family Old Ancestor scrambled forward, his aged face flushed red with extreme exhilaration:

"Those three old fogies—the Bone King of Poisonous Hands, the Iron-Blooded Barbarian Lord, and the Thousand-Faced Enchantress—ruled Skeleton Star City for thousands of years; they were simply swimming in wealth! From the City Lord's treasury, we seized a staggering three trillion star sea coins in liquid assets!!"

"Not only that!"

Su Qingyu's beautiful eyes sparkled as she continued the report:

"There are eighty million tons of top-grade Star-remnant Ore alone! Over ten thousand sets of wreckage blueprints for various high-dimensional warships! Most crucially, at the deepest part of the Star City's underground, we discovered a complete, slowly flowing—Divine Bone Marrow Spiritual Vein!"

Three trillion star sea coins!

A complete divine Spiritual Vein!

Such terrifying wealth would make even the super-conglomerates of the Central Star Sea go mad with envy!

This was the ultimate profit of a "zero-dollar purchase" of a neutral megacity in the star sea!

"Well done."

Lin Que nodded with satisfaction, his heterochromatic eyes flickering with extreme ambition.

"Money is just scrap paper; turning it into strength is the real path. Qingyu, take all three trillion star sea coins and go on a shopping spree in all the major shops of the Star City! High-grade pills, armor, Top-Grade Spirit Stones—as long as it's useful, buy it all up without exception!"

"Old Chen!"

Lin Que suddenly stood up.

"Your old servant is here!"

With a thought from Lin Que, the vast starry sky inner heaven and earth within his Dantian, which had completely evolved into a 500,000-mile cosmic prototype, boomed open with a massive rift!

"Move all the resources from the Star City treasury into my inner heaven and earth! Activate the hundredfold time acceleration Formation!"

"Let the hundred thousand Dragon Cavalry and the star destroyer craftsmen produce everything they can inside!"

"I want them to be at least at the Soul Transformation Stage when they emerge! The main cannons of the star destroyers must be able to withstand a blow from a Late Void Returning Realm expert!"

"Your servant obeys!! If those hundred thousand boys do not undergo a complete transformation, I shall bring my head to My Lord!"

The Chen Family Old Ancestor roared with excitement as he charged into the inner heaven and earth with the resources.

The hall fell silent once more.

Lin Que lazily sat back down on his throne.

Currently, the hundred thousand-strong army was frantically digesting the opportunities from the Divine Kingdom and the Star City within his inner heaven and earth. And he himself needed to enter a period of solid seclusion.

"The Divine Bone Marrow Spiritual Vein beneath the Star City is the perfect whetstone to stabilize my one hundred million catty extreme Realm."

Lin Que closed his eyes slightly.

"Blood Scripture—Extreme Realm Furnace, extract it for me!!"

"Rumble!!!"

The entire ground of Skeleton Star City trembled violently!

Lin Que's body seemed to turn into a terrifying devouring black hole.

Following the core of the Formation beneath the throne, the Blood Scripture overbearingly transformed into countless purple-gold blood-qi roots, plunging deep into the Divine Bone Marrow Spiritual Vein a hundred thousand feet underground!

Thick, milky-white high-dimensional divine Spiritual Qi was forcibly drawn out like a surging river, frantically pouring into Lin Que's body!

"Comfortable..."

Lin Que let out a low groan of satisfaction.

This Spiritual Qi was too pure. He didn't use it to expand his inner heaven and earth, nor did he use it to forcibly charge toward the ethereal Dao Integration Realm.

He restrainedly and brutally smashed all the divine bone marrow essence into his bones and the thirty-six Starfall Apertures he had just ignited!

Compressing it inch by inch, washing over it again and again!

The one hundred million catties of power, which had been somewhat volatile due to his rapid Breakthrough, began to become mellow and restrained under the nourishment of the gentle divine bone marrow.

Lin Que could even feel his control over this Physical Body smoothly returning to a state of Perfection.

However.

Just after Lin Que had been enjoying the absorption for about half an hour.

"Hmm?"

Lin Que suddenly snapped his eyes open, a hidden sharpness flashing through his heterochromatic eyes.

"There is something malicious in this divine bone marrow..."

Under the overbearing refinement of the Blood Scripture, Lin Que keenly sensed a faint, dark-colored, eerie wisp mixed within the depths of the pure milky-white Spiritual Qi!

As soon as this disgusting thing entered his Meridians, it actually attempted to evade the refinement of the Blood Scripture, coiling venomously toward Lin Que's true Soul and Lifespan!

"System, what the hell is this?"

Lin Que immediately asked in his mind.

[Warning! Detected extremely high-dimensional latent curse—Divine Grudge Ulcer!]

[Analysis: This is an ultimate exotic poison formed from the combination of resentment and corruption Laws within an ancient god upon their fall. The three major tycoons failed to detect it; having cultivated in the city for a long time, seventy percent of their Lifespan has been secretly drained.]

[Side Effect Determination: Once it enters the body, it will frantically consume the host's Lifespan and corrode their Dao foundation like a maggot in the bone. If a Late Void Returning Realm expert fails to notice it, their true Soul will surely wither and die within a thousand years!]

"No wonder those three old useless fools couldn't break through to the Dao Integration Realm despite having a mountain of treasures; they were being used as blood bags by this dead man's bones."

Lin Que smiled coldly.

This chronic, life-taking exotic poison was an absolute, hopeless dead end for anyone in the star sea.

But for Lin Que.

This malicious debuff side effect was simply a brilliant "cross-Realm hidden weapon"!

"Want to suck my Lifespan?"

Lin Que didn't cut off the absorption; instead, he arrogantly cranked the Blood Scripture to its maximum power, frantically sucking all the Divine Grudge Ulcer from the entire Spiritual Vein into his body!

Then, he casually snapped his fingers in his mind.

"System."

"The usual rules. I'll take the pure bone marrow Spiritual Qi. As for this disgusting 'Divine Grudge Ulcer' and the deadly side effect of 'draining Lifespan'..."

The corners of Lin Que's mouth slowly curled into a cruel, demonic smile.

He thought back to the Half-Step Dao Integration Realm old ghost who tried to possess him in the Divine Kingdom, and the arrogant background of Heavenly God Heavy Industry.

"Activate the highest-dimensional Karma line tracking for me!"

"Find whoever currently has the strongest Killing Intent toward me and the highest cultivation, and take this time bomb..."

"And air-drop it precisely onto the top of his head!!!"

[Ding! side effect transfer system maximum authority activated!]

[Scanning star sea Karma lines... Locking onto strong sources of hostility!]

[Target Locked: Central Star Sea Core Region, Grand Ancient Ancestor of Heavenly God Heavy Industry (Half-Step Dao Integration Realm, currently assembling an army of ten million for a cross-Star Domain expedition)!]

[Logic reconstruction complete! Ignoring spatial barriers of countless light-years! The Karma line has been absolutely bound in a single direction!]

[Cross-Star Domain pinpoint poisoning mode, beginning!!]

Buzz—!!!

Under the System's unreasonable determination!

The massive black grudge ulcer within Lin Que's body, which was enough to corrode the Dao foundation of a Peak Void Returning Realm expert, instantly transformed into a wisp of absolute void karmic light, smoothly vanishing from his Meridians entirely!

...

At the same time.

Far from the Black Desolation Star Domain, requiring the crossing of countless star gates to reach—the Central Star Sea Core Region.

Above the grand headquarters of Heavenly God Heavy Industry, which was comparable in size to a small galaxy.

A shriveled old man with eyes as terrifying as blood moons was suspended high in the Nine Heavens.

He was the Half-Step Dao Integration Realm ancestor who had just awakened in the previous chapter—Old Man Tianmie!

Below the old man, dense, sky-blotting interstellar warships were frantically assembling.

A full ten million elite Cultivators and dozens of Void Returning experts were waiting murderously for the ancestor's command.

"To kill my Sect's Grand Elder and seize my Divine Kingdom's ultimate creation... no matter which Star Domain that bastard is from..."

Old Man Tianmie's raspy voice, permeated with terrifying Dao integration Laws, echoed in the Souls of the ten-million-strong army:

"Today, I shall personally lead this army of ten million to trample the Black Desolation Star Domain! I shall cruelly extract that little thief's Soul and light a sky lantern for ten thousand..."

Before the word "years" could leave Old Man Tianmie's mouth.

"Pfft—!!!"

Without any warning!

Without any trajectory of attack!

Standing high in the Nine Heavens, the invincible Half-Step Dao Integration Realm ancestor's shriveled chest suddenly heaved violently, followed by a wild spray of disgusting blood mixed with black, foul-smelling pus!

"Ancestor?!!"

The army of ten million below was instantly stunned!

What happened?!

The ancestor was in the middle of an overbearing pre-war mobilization; how did he suddenly cough up blood?!

"How... ugh, aaaahhh!!!!"

Old Man Tianmie's once-aloof blood-red eyes were instantly replaced by extreme terror!

He discovered in despair that deep within his Dantian—and even at the source of his Karma lines—a mass of malicious black grudge ulcer had eerily appeared at some unknown time!

This terrifying divine exotic poison was frantically devouring the Lifespan he had painstakingly accumulated over tens of thousands of years and his Half-Step Dao Integration Realm Dao foundation at an unreasonable speed!

"No... what poison is this?!! I was in seclusion, I haven't even stepped out the door! Where did this poison come from?!!"

Old Man Tianmie rolled in agony in the void, desperately mobilizing his Half-Step Dao Integration Realm Laws to suppress it.

But he found in despair that this poison didn't even belong to this physical dimension; it was as if it were growing on his Soul's Karma. The more he tried to suppress it, the more violent the backlash became!

"Pfft-ah! Stop... quick, stop... my Lifespan!!"

In just a few breaths, Old Man Tianmie's aura withered and dropped significantly.

The arrogant flames of his planned cross-Star Domain expedition were brutally beaten into a pile of mud by this unreasonable "cross-server poisoning"!

"Ancestor!! Is the expeditionary force still setting out?!"

The commander below asked in terror.

"Set... set out my ass!!!"

Old Man Tianmie roared shrilly and resentfully:

"Seal the Sect!! Activate the highest-level Sect-protecting Formation!! I am entering death-seclusion to purge this poison!! Whoever the hell dares to go to the Black Desolation Star Domain and provoke that plague god, I'll skin them alive first!!!"

A terrifying storm of a Central Star Sea expedition that would have been enough to crush Lin Que's army of a hundred thousand,

Under Lin Que's rogue System operation,

Was comically and forcibly snuffed out in its cradle before its wind-up could even finish.

...

Inside the Divine Bone Hall in Skeleton Star City.

"Whew..."

Lin Que stretched comfortably and exaggeratedly.

He didn't even know about the dramatic farce that had occurred in the Central Star Sea.

He only knew that the pure divine bone marrow had perfectly polished his one hundred million catty extreme Realm body to a state of mastery where he could release and retract his power at will.

Lin Que slowly opened his deep heterochromatic eyes, propping his chin on one hand with a leisurely smile on his face.

"In this world, what could be more physically and mentally pleasing than becoming stronger while lying down..."

"...all while watching one's enemies wail in pain?"