Chapter 1575: An Empty Soulshard

The supreme forces and some other persistent cultivators were still chasing 'Bu Wentian' through the galaxy.

Some had tried to catch 'Bu Wentian' to interrogate him about Zhang Lie and the members of Team Zenith, but all those who struck at him had been killed easily. 'Bu Wentian', who had come to claim the prize, was no trivial foe.

He continued to maneuver around the universe as if he were in no hurry to bring the prizes back to Earth. What his pursuers didn't know was that the flower of universal life had long since been retrieved.

Zhang Lie allowed the teleportation beam to bring him back to Bu Wentian.

Bu Wentian continued, "Don't blame my trial chambers for being weak. You're all just too strong."

"Captain!"

The members of Team Zenith all smiled upon seeing Zhang Lie return.

Bu Wentian said, "I've finished preparing the banquet. Follow me."

The hunters followed him to the dining hall, where a feast had indeed been laid out for them—all manner of food, along with wine brewed only in space. Genetic lifeform meat had been specially prepared and was giving off particularly alluring scents.

Zhang Lie and the members of Team Zenith had consumed much of their energy reserves in order to elevate their status of life, and they were more than happy to replenish their energy. They dug in with gusto.

Bu Wentian raised a glass. "Congratulations on taking the top seven spots in the Rising Stars Cup!"

He paused, only to find that Zhang Lie and the members of Team Zenith were ignoring him as they continued to wage war against the food on the table. Bu Wentian sighed as he looked at the glass of wine he had raised into the air, feeling embarrassed and forlorn.

"There's no rush," he finally said. "I prepared more than enough food."

Bu Wentian snapped his fingers and had more food brought in thrice before the hunters of Team Zenith finally ate their fill. Li Feng continued to gnaw on a drumstick as large as an ordinary human as he asked, "Captain, did you manage to obtain the insight that the eighth Immortal King was searching for?"

Zhang Lie nodded. "I did."

Li Feng asked, "Was it that virtual continent that appeared while you were cultivating?"

Zhang Lie nodded again. "It was an insight that dealt with reality and illusion."

Sun Mengmeng asked, "Captain, can you use your intuition to manifest a virtual realm like the one we used in the tournament?"

Zhang Lie shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't. I've only just embarked down the path of reality and illusion, and constructing such a virtual realm requires an immense source of energy."

"In that case, you might be able to do so in the future, Captain?" Sun Xiaowu asked.

Zhang Lie didn't deny that.

The future wasn't set in stone, after all.

Zhang Lie turned to Bu Wentian. "Senior, would you check on Sun Xiaowu? The demonic seed isn't going to interfere with his development, is it?"

"Did something happen?" Bu Wentian asked.

"During the tournament, we found a demonic seed in Sun Xiaowu's body when he attuned to the golden runes in the rock forest. If he hadn't managed to cultivate those golden runes, the demonic seed would have burrowed deeper into Sun Xiaowu's soul, leading to unimaginable consequences if he came into contact with the demonic ruler in reality."

Bu Wentian was taken aback. "I didn't even consider such a possibility. To think that the demonic seed would have gone so deep—I was careless."

Sun Mengmeng asked in worry, "Will my brother be alright?"

Sun Xiaowu smiled. "Don't worry, Sister. I'm just fine. I successfully mastered the demonic seed thanks to the golden runes from the rock forest and giant palace. It won't affect me any longer."

Sun Mengmeng sighed in relief.

Zhang Lie extended a hand toward Bu Wentian. "Right, you haven't given me the prizes from the Cup yet."

"Don't worry. I have them right here."

Bu Wentian retrieved three chests.

Zhang Lie frowned. "What's inside?"

Bu Wentian opened up the first chest.

"The first chest, of course, contains the first-place prize from the Galactic Rising Stars Cup—the flower of universal life."

The chest glowed with starlit radiance, filling the entire dining hall with light. Sun Mengmeng and Zhou Ying wowed at the sight.

The dining hall seemed to transform into the cosmos. What lay within the chest wasn't a flower, but rather a nebula, fiery-red with destruction one moment, and glittering silver the next. The colors changed again and again, dazzling any onlookers.

"The flower of universal life is, as previously mentioned, a miraculous herb that appears from the heart of a destroyed galaxy. It's rare even relative to the entire universe." Bu Wentian shut the lid of the chest again, then handed it to Zhang Lie. "Now, it's yours."

Zhang Lie kept the chest. "Did you encounter any accidents while claiming the prizes?"

Team Zenith had offended quite a number of forces during the tournament—the Solarvines, Redgold race, Holywings, flamedemons...

They had offended so many forces that Zhang Lie's ten fingers couldn't enumerate them all.

"There were no accidents."

Zhang Lie and the members of Team Zenith were shocked to hear Bu Wentian's response.

Sun Xiaowu said, "In other words, the forces of the fifth realm act in a surprisingly gentlemanly fashion. They're letting bygones be bygones?"

Bu Wentian scoffed. "Hardly. I was tracked and attacked, but those were within my expectations. They just didn't succeed at tailing me down."

In fact, Bu Wentian had specifically hired other cultivators to claim the prizes for him, then covertly meeting those cultivators along the way and retrieving the prizes to no one's knowledge. The prizes had returned to Bu Wentian via a highly circuitous route, one that could fill a three-million-word spy novel.

Bu Wentian sneaked a laugh. "I played a little trick on the entire fifth realm. I suppose they're all still tailing one of the mercenaries I hired..."

Sun Xiaowu asked curiously, "What's in the second chest?"

Bu Wentian handed the second chest over. "It's the prize I promised Zhang Lie."

Zhang Lie opened the second chest to find a white soulshard. As he picked it up, the familiar voice of the will of the world announced, [Empty soulshard obtained.]

"What's an empty soulshard?"

"This is my latest research success. It's a soulshard that's able to absorb any soul and emulate its qualities."

Zhang Lie raised an eyebrow. "In other words, it can even turn an alien into a soulshard?"

"Any lifeform with a soul. After the soul's been inserted into the soulshard, you can even extract the soul from it. It has no grade at the moment; the grade of the soulshard will depend on the quality of the inserted soul. In theory, it can go all the way to monarch-grade."

"An incredible treasure," Zhang Lie murmured.