Chapter 1086 Aftermath

A dozen minutes later, somewhere in a deep level sub-dimension.

On a vast, boundless white sand sea, a figure suddenly flashed into existence, falling onto the sand with a thud, staggering as if it had lost its footing.

Han Xiao barely managed to steady himself, taking a breath. He retracted the black and gold Emperor Mech, revealing a body covered in wounds. Hideous gashes sprayed blood, seeping into the sand, quickly staining the ground a golden-red hue. Large patches of scorched skin and necrotic cells were a shocking sight.

"Whew… almost lost it. Taking on a hundred by myself is still too much. Hiss, that hurts.”

A burning pain spread throughout his body, as if every cell was screaming. Han Xiao's face twitched slightly. He pulled out an injector gun and injected a tube of highly concentrated Aurora life essence into his body. A wave of tingling and comfort instantly washed over him, suppressing the pain and warming his body.

White-gold light surged as the wounds on Han Xiao's body rapidly closed, restoring his body to its healthy, undamaged state, leaving behind only patches of dried blood.

It had been quite a close call. The combined power of a hundred-odd Beyond Grade As had exceeded his limit. Among them were twenty or so peak Beyond Grade As, as well as powerhouses of Zhenshu King's caliber, and he was fighting alone.

Everyone was a Beyond Grade A. Even with his current explosive combat power, without breaking through to a new level, he still couldn't completely ignore the difference in numbers. Zhenshu King alone was difficult to deal with, being the strongest martial artist he had ever fought. Moreover, there was a bunch of other powerhouses helping out.

The details were unnecessary. Gaining the upper hand was out of the question, and even an even match was a luxury. The combined destructive power of so many powerhouses had exceeded his recovery rate. His health bar rose and fell like a rollercoaster. At the most dangerous moment, his health had even dropped below 16%. Had any other Beyond Grade A from the explored universe been there, they would probably be dead. Even Urnos, with his Void Spirit Treasure, probably wouldn't have been able to withstand it.

However, Han Xiao hadn't planned to fight to the death. He had held back many of his abilities, mainly to achieve his goal of gathering combat information on Zhenshu King.

Although the other party's level was higher, causing some of his attributes to appear as question marks, many of his abilities had been revealed, making the intelligence valuable. If he were to encounter Zhenshu King again in the future, he would have a better idea of what to expect.

After obtaining Zhenshu King's information, Han Xiao dared not linger. He immediately switched to the Emperor Mech and retreated, arriving at this temporary sub-dimension where he had set up a King's Throne, instantly escaping the encirclement.

“Having a sub-dimension as a buffer is safer.”

Han Xiao patted his chest, shattering the bloodstains on his body and changing into a new set of clothes.

Although the probability of the World Tree tracking the Emperor Mech's teleportation was very small, he still used the sub-dimension as a transfer point to be safe, not teleporting directly back to the explored universe.

Immediately afterward, Han Xiao retrieved the King's Throne he had left behind and activated the sub-dimension destruction device, shattering the sub-dimension and allowing it to be swallowed by the spatial turbulence, erasing all traces.

Having done all this, Han Xiao finally opened his interface to take a look. The [World Tree's Wrath] mission had been completed.

As expected, the bigger the commotion he caused, the higher the mission rating would be. It had already reached the highest rating, and the rewards were quite generous. The experience alone was 74 billion, more than the experience gained from repelling the three major civilizations back then. It replenished a large amount of his experience reserves, bringing him closer to level 360.

The other reward notifications also popped up:

[You have received Random Reward x5, Milestone Talent - World Tree Bane]

[[World Tree Bane]: When you fight against members of the World Tree faction, the actual damage you deal to them is increased by 12%, and there is a certain chance to trigger the [Fear] status.]

[You have received 5 Divinity Transformation Points.]

[You have received Universe Legendary Points x1.]

[[Universe Legendary Points: Mysterious Outsider] – You have left a fearsome reputation in the World Tree Civilization. Countless people know of you, this powerful and mysterious outsider, and are terrified of you. Your deeds are sung here, shaking the World Tree, almost enough to stop children from crying.]

"This is awesome." Han Xiao's eyes lit up.

[World Tree Bane] goes without saying. It was a faction-targeted talent, similar to [Old People Killer]. Although the effect was simple, it was quite practical.

The 5 Divinity Transformation Points were exactly what he needed, equivalent to creating five Universe Treasures. Currently, his Void Divinity Transformation was at the thirteenth level, and he needed only 2 more points to level up. This windfall was enough to raise his Void Divinity Transformation to the fourteenth level, with some to spare. He was not far from the fifteenth level of perfection, reducing his workload.

Finally, the Universe Legendary Points clearly meant that he had left a deep impression on the World Tree Civilization, filling them with fear of him. He had become a celebrity, and the World Tree's forces should be able to recognize him at a glance next time they met.

There was one last reward notification on the interface. Han Xiao glanced at it and was surprised to see that it was a piece of the various Sanctuary fragments, meaning that his level of authority in the various Sanctuaries had been raised by one level. This was an extra reward for the highest mission rating.

“Yo, good stuff!”

Han Xiao was stunned for a moment, then became pleasantly surprised.

Sanctuary authority was exactly what he needed right now. The higher the authority, the closer the time flow rate of the Sanctuary would be to the main universe. Being able to level up from the mission was an unexpected surprise.

Suppressing his excitement, Han Xiao left the area with a full load of gains.

To be safe, he planned to wander around in the deep level sub-dimension for a while before returning to the explored universe.

…

At the same time, in the World Tree Civilization's territory, at the site of the previous battle.

The scene was a mess, littered with the wreckage of World Tree fleets. Roots were sweeping the battlefield, swallowing up all the debris.

In the command room of a flagship not far away, many of the World Tree powerhouses who had participated in the encirclement were gathered around Zhenshu King, their expressions solemn and heavy, with a lingering hint of shock. Some of them bore injuries.

Tedrian slammed his hand on the table, his voice filled with suspicion.

"There's no doubt about that outsider's combat power. He's one of the strongest individuals we've seen in our years of conquering the universe. We couldn't kill him even with so many of us working together. It's incredible… We can basically conclude that none of us here can beat him in a one-on-one fight. Even Tree King would have a hard time gaining the upper hand.”

Many of the World Tree powerhouses were still feeling apprehensive, and many peak Beyond Grade As remained silent.

Even the expressionless Zhenshu King did not refute, simply shaking his head.

Facing an encirclement of over a hundred people, this outsider dared to stay and fight head-on, which had already surprised them. They didn't expect that he would even have some ability to fight back, injuring quite a few people in return.

Although they had the absolute upper hand in the previous encirclement, this outsider was unbelievably tough. Enduring the concentrated fire of over a hundred people, he had stubbornly refused to fall, holding out for more than ten minutes before retreating unscathed with his strange teleportation methods.

Although the enemy had been driven away, the outsider's formidable performance had been deeply imprinted in everyone's minds, almost becoming a psychological shadow. Every time they recalled it, many of those present couldn't help but feel shocked to the core.

“Although we drove away this outsider this time, there’s no guarantee that he won’t come again in the future. This is very troublesome.”

Roxiliam said in a deep voice.

Tedrian nodded, his voice grave.

“If we can’t limit the other party’s special means of teleportation, our territory will practically become their backyard. They can come and go as they please, leaving us in a passive position… We can’t just empty the star fields and mobilize so many troops to pursue them every time.”

As he spoke, his expression became even more astonished, and he said in a solemn voice, “Moreover, only civilizations with extremely developed individual power can produce such a high-level esper. Who knows how many advanced combatants of the same level there are in this outsider’s civilization? We leaked too many secrets this time. If the other party sends more espers of the same level next time, we’ll be in trouble.”

Hearing this, everyone felt a chill run down their spines, filled with worry.

Han Xiao's astonishing combat power had led them to the erroneous judgment that there were more powerhouses of the same level in the explored universe, causing them to be alarmed.

They had always been conquerors, basically the aggressors. But at this moment, they felt a rare sense of fear, even having thoughts of running away.

“Then what are your suggestions?” another executive officer asked.

Tedrian gritted his teeth and said, "This unknown civilization has already grasped our coordinates. My suggestion is to empty all star fields and immediately relocate our base camp. This is the only way to avoid being harassed by the other party. Then we can find a way to investigate the other party's background."

“That’s indeed a solution, but it won’t allow us to exploit our advantages…” someone objected. “Staying here and allowing the enemy to continue harassing us will lead to deeper information entanglement. That way, we can locate the position of this unknown civilization faster.”

Before Tedrian could speak, someone else interjected, “I don’t think that will work. This outsider used some means to bewitch Babani. All of these ability secrets have been learned by the other party. They will definitely avoid creating more information entanglement and won’t fall for it.”

Hearing this, everyone looked helpless. The biggest problem now was not that the outsider was strong, but that the information gap was too large. They had leaked too much information, but they knew almost nothing about the outsider.

The group was divided into two factions, one suggesting relocation, the other suggesting staying, and they began to argue.

"Tree King, what are your thoughts?"

Tedrian turned his head.

Everyone stopped discussing, as the final decision would be made by Tree King.

Zhenshu King closed his eyes and pondered for a while before opening them again.

“No need to relocate. The loss of territory is not important. Information entanglement is more critical. Now that there is already a certain amount of interaction, I will accelerate the speed of the World Tree’s sensing. At the same time, I will notify the future-state information perceiver team to increase the frequency of predictions, and tell the expeditionary teams that have been sent out in recent years to speed up their journey…”

As he spoke, Zhenshu King paused, then slowly said, "Also, strengthen internal surveillance, deploy more detection devices. The outsider has already grasped some of our confidential information. We can no longer rely solely on the information-state alert network… If you discover the outsider again, notify me immediately."

Beneath Zhenshu King's calm face, a torrent of emotions surged within him. Han Xiao's combat power had also shocked him, but he didn't show it on his face.

Although he didn't express it, Zhenshu King had deeply etched Han Xiao in his mind, looking forward to another battle.

On the one hand, it was the battle intent that all martial artists possessed. On the other hand, the World Tree had expressed its desire for Han Xiao…

Faced with all new things, the Mother Tree had an extremely strong appetite, demanding that Zhenshu King send this outsider into its mouth, to be eaten as a tribute.

As one of the implementers of the World Tree’s will, the World Tree’s needs were his mission, which he could not refuse.