Chapter 373: Mu Lan Star

Mu Lan Star.
Su Che and Yan Gu used a teleportation portal to reach the most nearby desolate planet to Mu Lan Star. The teleportation array here was intact and hidden deep underground. After that, they flew through space for three consecutive days.
Yan Gu was already at the late Yuan Ying stage. With the Star Emperor Compass, he could travel at speeds of over five million miles per hour in space with almost no resistance, covering more than 100 million miles in three days. As a native of Mu Lan Star, he was naturally very familiar with it. But in Su Che’s eyes, the natural environment of Mu Lan Star was vastly different from that of Qi Yuan Star. Just the fact that most ordinary plants were blue already seemed quite novel and somewhat unfamiliar.
However, the true spiritual herbs had normal colors, similar to those on Qi Yuan Star.
Of course, the environment wasn’t important. Su Che was there only to handle some matters and wouldn’t stay long. After capturing a Rat Demon at the Yao Ying stage and finding an opportunity to seize a few Yuan Ying cultivators from Mu Lan Star, he would leave and head to Wu Huang Star.
Why capture more Yuan Ying cultivators?
Once the fourth layer of the Immortal Prison was opened, it was expected that Su Che could enslave multiple servants through their souls. But only those at the Yuan Ying stage were qualified to assist him in fighting enemies, while those at the Jin Dan stage could merely work in the Immortal Prison.
So, it would be best to capture a few extremely evil Yuan Ying cultivators on Mu Lan Star, transform them into servants, and bring them back to Qi Yuan Star. This would not only enhance Su Che’s overall combat strength but also boost the power of the Tian Xuan Sect.
Just imagine—what a prosperous situation it would be if the Tian Xuan Sect had over twenty Yuan Ying cultivators under its command! What impact would that have on the cultivation world of Qi Yuan Star?
“Master, from what I know, there are four notorious Rat Demons on Mu Lan Star who could be targeted for capture,” Yan Gu suggested. “However, three of them are at the early Yuan Ying stage and live among other demon tribes year-round, making them difficult to approach. Only one, a Cang Lin Rat at the middle Yuan Ying stage, prefers to be alone and doesn’t mix much with others. I think it’s better to check out its lair first.”
“Agreed,” Su Che nodded. “Do as you say.”
“Yes, master.” Yan Gu pointed northeast. “It’s not far. Its lair is on an island in the middle of a lake, just a few thousand miles away.”
This showed that Yan Gu had already planned to enter Mu Lan Star’s atmosphere from this location—he just hadn’t stated it outright.

This is the wonder of the soul shackles—although they enslave the souls of those under them, they do not turn them into mindless puppets. Su Che was glad that his subordinates had their own opinions and thoughts, as long as they remained loyal to him in the broader sense.

In the northeast direction, after flying less than a thousand li, a streak of light appeared heading toward them. Judging from its speed, it belonged to someone at the Golden Core stage, so neither Su Che nor Yan Gu paid it any attention.

Normally, a junior at the Golden Core stage, upon seeing the extremely fast movement of what appeared to be a great cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage from afar, should have taken evasive action long in advance. Yet this streak of light suddenly accelerated and rushed straight toward them.

Su Che and Yan Gu were both puzzled—what kind of person would be so foolish as to commit an act tantamount to suicide?

When the distance narrowed to within three thousand zhang, Su Che could clearly see through his spiritual sense that this human cultivator was in a terrible state—his eyes were blood-red, his expression ferocious, and he exuded an almost insane aura of destruction.

“A possessed one!” Su Che and Yan Gu immediately understood.

Those possessed lose their rationality, knowing only killing and destruction—there is no logic to their actions. Though such a situation was extremely rare, Su Che and Yan Gu could still make a judgment.

There was nothing else to say—such a person could only be destroyed. Even the Immortal Prison did not wish to accept madmen.

Whoosh!

Yan Gu struck casually, not even using any magical artifacts. With just his massive claw, several zhang wide, he grabbed the possessed one who had rushed up close, crushed him with a single squeeze, and reduced him to ashes in an instant.

Killing a Golden Core cultivator in the later stages of the Nascent Soul stage was that simple—no different from crushing an ant. Similarly, if a great cultivator at the Transcendent Spirit stage from the Spirit Realm killed one at the Nascent Soul stage, it would be the same.

They were not even on the same level. Against the attacks of higher-level cultivators, the weaker ones had no chance to resist or dodge. Even if a possessed one could temporarily boost their strength several times over, it was useless.

Whoosh!

Although the man was dead, Yan Gu still seized his Qiankun bracelet from the air and handed it to his master. Even mosquito legs are flesh. Despite his vast wealth, Su Che would not waste it needlessly. Perhaps some young kid’s storage device contained a deeply hidden treasure that seemed useless on the surface but was actually a rare gem.

For example, the Ancient Demon Prison Seal that Su Che had obtained on Aurora Island in exchange for a worthless spiritual artifact was acquired from a base-level cultivator.

The storage bracelet was sent to the Immortal Prison for Old Hei to deal with, while Su Che and Yan Gu continued on their journey. Yet, after flying hundreds of miles, they encountered the same situation that had just happened once again. Another streak of light rushed toward them—this time even more absurd, almost ridiculous. The opponent moved extremely slowly and was only at the Foundation Establishment level. “Is it another possessed one?” Su Che and Yan Gu exchanged a glance; they knew it was definitely not a coincidence but rather some special event had occurred in the nearby area. Snap! With a casual slap, Yan Gu used the crudest method to turn this possessed one into a meat paste. There was no need to capture such a demon to interrogate them, as their reason and memories had long vanished due to possession. Even with the most ruthless soul-searching techniques, no answers could be obtained. In the following few thousand miles, they encountered seven more possessed ones. Su Che captured one of them and sent it to the Immortal Prison for Old White Demon to study, to figure out what was going on and why so many people had become possessed. Although this happened on Mu Lan Star and had little to do with Su Che, it wasn’t bad to understand the situation since they ran into it. Old White Demon used the method of Heavenly Demon possession to study the possessed ones in the Immortal Prison and soon reported, “Master, this possession isn’t caused by internal factors among cultivators but by an external force forcing them to become demons. Many years ago, I saw a similar situation on a planet. It can be said that the culprit behind forcing cultivators to become demons is even more terrifying than us, the extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons.” “Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons are enemies of all things. Are there any demons in this world that are more evil and terrifying than you?” Su Che wondered. Old White Demon chuckled and said, “There are indeed no creatures more evil than us, but there are many demons stronger than us. However, Heavenly Demons are a vast race that exists everywhere, while those advanced demons are just individuals with extremely high cultivation levels. They are powerful, but not necessarily more evil than us Heavenly Demons.” Su Che nodded inwardly, feeling that Old White Demon’s words were fairly objective from a completely neutral perspective. “So, you’re saying that there’s some unknown demon on Mu Lan Star whose strength far exceeds yours, causing chaos everywhere, is that right?” Su Che asked again. “It’s very likely,” Old White Demon replied. “There’s no other explanation.” By then, they had already flown to the lair of the Mid-Yuan Ying stage Cang Lin Rat that Yan Gu had mentioned earlier.

What should have been a picturesque island in the lake was now in complete disarray, as if it had been ravaged several times by extremely powerful wind-based spells. Houses, trees, and plants were utterly destroyed, even a huge rock formation was shattered into pieces.
“Could it be that rat demon has gone mad and destroyed its own lair?” Su Che guessed in his heart.
Yan Gu descended to investigate carefully before returning to report, “Master, these signs of destruction weren’t caused recently; it must have been some time ago. It seems that during the two years since we returned to Qi Yuan Star, some major event must have occurred on Mu Lan Star—so much so that even the lairs painstakingly built by mid-Yuan Ying stage demon cultivators couldn’t be preserved.”
Su Che nodded silently, analyzing the situation in his mind before saying, “I think this isn’t a coincidence; there must be some inherent connection. The five Five Elements Spirit Stars transferred from the Immortal Realm can completely seal off Wu Huang Star at the center, but at the same time, the immense gravitational pull of those giant planets also has a significant impact on Mu Lan Star, which is closer by. If nothing strange happens, that would be strange.”
“That’s likely the reason!” Bai Lao Mo inside the Immortal Prison and Yan Gu outside replied simultaneously.
If someone like Su Che, who was under thirty, could guess this, these two elders surely could make a judgment as well.
“Lao Hei, if you catch a mad Yuan Ying stage rat, can you still devour and merge with it?” Su Che asked in his mind.
“Same thing!” Lao Hei replied carelessly, “As long as it’s a rat, whether it believes in Buddhism or has gone mad, all we merge is their bodies.”
“Good!”
Su Che turned to Yan Gu and said, “Then just explore around. I really can’t believe that if everyone on Mu Lan Star is possessed, there aren’t a few survivors?”
After some thought, Yan Gu activated the Star Emperor Compass and flew in a certain direction. Along the way, he encountered several more possessed beings, all of low strength—the strongest being only at mid-Jin Dan stage. Their fates were identical: all were killed with a single slap.
After flying nearly ten thousand miles, he only encountered so few possessed beings—there weren’t many of them. Su Che guessed that on a giant cultivation planet like Mu Lan Star, there must be hundreds of millions of cultivators. If all of them were affected, there would surely be countless possessed people everywhere, not so few.
It seemed that the cultivators must have gathered together to fight against that demonic force together.
“It’s just a pity for those innocent ordinary people, the common folks…” Su Che sighed inwardly.

Along the way, numerous villages, towns, and cities were seen reduced to ruins. Those possessed by evil, who knew only destruction and slaughter, were all cultivators; just one of them could kill the ordinary people in several cities. Unless the major sects in the cultivation world of Mu Lan Star managed to evacuate the common people to safe places… Boom… Thunderous noises came from ahead. From afar, it was visible that a cultivation market built on a mountain peak was under fierce bombardment by hundreds of possessed cultivators. The defensive barrier surrounding the market was fairly strong, and for now, it didn’t seem at risk of being broken. But undoubtedly, some people must be trapped inside, in far smaller numbers than the possessed cultivators. Otherwise, they should have used the advantages of their formations to eliminate those possessed cultivators one by one.