Chapter 336: Eleven

Dr. Lou dropped the empty gun in his hand, turned, and growled towards another part of the woods, "What are you waiting for?!"

Whoosh—!!

As soon as he spoke, a blur shot out like a cannonball, streaking directly towards the Red Star Fragment!

Seeing this, Chen Ling's mind raced instantly! There was someone else in the woods?! Why did Dr. Lou want to kill Wu Tongyuan? Was he the one who triggered the light pillar earlier? What was his relationship with the person in the woods? What was their objective?!

Countless questions flashed through Chen Ling's mind, but he had no time to ponder. His instincts told him that Dr. Lou's stance was far from ordinary, perhaps even opposing the Nine Sovereigns. If so, he absolutely couldn't let that figure in the woods touch the Red Star Fragment! Chen Ling no longer had a reason to hide. He tore off his face with one hand, and as the thin mask fell through the air, a crimson blur simultaneously rushed towards the fragment itself!

The blur was faster than Chen Ling, but Chen Ling was closer to the fragment. In a blink, both blurs arrived within three meters of the fragment, close enough to touch it with an outstretched hand.

"Judgment," Chen Ling pulled the trigger without hesitation!

The deconstructing bullet whistled towards the blur's face. With a cold snort, the blur's palm suddenly erupted with light, shattering the power of Judgment. Even the surrounding void was twisted by the fragmented deconstruction particles! This was the first time Chen Ling had seen someone shatter Judgment Head-on! He knew the figure before him was extraordinary, but he showed no intention of retreating. Instead, he twisted his body and swung a punch at the figure's face!

"Seeking death," the figure said coldly, stopping its movement and meeting Chen Ling's punch with its own.

The two fists collided violently before the Red Star Fragment!

Boom—!!

With a dull, thunderous crash, Chen Ling's entire right hand exploded into countless pieces, flesh and bone instantly pulverized into dust and splattered outwards. In contrast, the mysterious figure merely paused for a fraction of a second, with not even a scratch on its fist.

Excruciating pain flooded Chen Ling's mind, yet it didn't fill him with dread. Instead, using his severely injured body, his strength and speed surged a level. He then leveraged the force of the punch, powerfully pushing off the ground, and used the momentum to grab for the Red Star Fragment with his remaining left hand! Ever since the figure shattered Judgment with its bare hand, Chen Ling knew the gap between them was too vast; he was no match in a direct fight. If that was the case, he might as well take a gamble! He would utilize the Blood Robe's instantaneous burst of power and seize this last thousandth of a second opportunity!

Chen Ling didn't know what the opponent intended to do with the Red Star Fragment, but since he couldn't stop them, he would act faster and seize the initiative himself. When the figure saw this, its expression instantly changed. Without hesitation, it also raised its hand and reached for the Red Star Fragment…

But this thousandth-of-a-second delay allowed Chen Ling, at full burst speed, to be the first to graze the Red Star Fragment.

The next moment, a sudden anomaly occurred!!

Dense cracks spread from where Chen Ling touched the Red Star Fragment, instantly expanding across the entire meteor crater. At that very moment, in the void behind Chen Ling, pairs of crimson eyes suddenly opened, as if roaring!

Boom—!!!

Dazzling light erupted from the cracks, and this massive, mysterious extraterrestrial fragment shattered with a thunderous roar under that touch. Crimson light surged outwards like a tide in all directions, engulfing everyone nearby! Chen Ling felt his vision obscured by a crimson blur, then everything went black, and he lost consciousness.

A crimson ocean flowed through the void, and the figures standing throughout were like submerged reefs stirring a whirlpool. The crimson light continuously spun and burrowed into their bodies, causing their tightly closed eyes to tremble violently. Closest to the center of the crimson sea was Chen Ling in his red robe, and the whirlpool above him was larger than anyone else's!

Under the surge of the crimson sea, their bodies eerily floated, their feet leaving the ground, forming a ring around the edge of the meteor crater... Around Yang Xiao, auroras and lightning appeared; Lu Xun's body reflected nebulae and black holes; beside Su Zhiwei were countless finely vibrating 'strings'; and countless numbers and symbols danced around Wu Tongyuan, almost completely engulfing him... If anyone were to witness this scene, they would surely be dumbfounded. At this moment, nearly everyone was accompanied by different phenomena, with only three exceptions: Chen Ling, the mysterious figure, and Dr. Lou.

They floated silently in mid-air, the crimson light still flowing into their bodies, yet causing no phenomena; it was simply stored within them. This process lasted a full five minutes before the crimson ocean gradually faded. Even then, the figures remained suspended in mid-air, as if in a deep sleep...

The first to open his eyes was Chen Ling. He seemed to have woken suddenly from a dream. The moment he opened his eyes, he fell from mid-air, his red robe landing steadily on the ground.

"Just now... what happened?" Chen Ling rubbed his temples, seemingly trying to recall everything that had just occurred. The fragment exploded after he touched it?

Chen Ling looked up. The faint crimson sea was dissipating, and some figures were still continuously absorbing light above their heads... He observed the phenomena emanating from those figures, lost in thought. It seemed that the crimson light, after the Red Star Fragment exploded, created the Nine Sovereigns. But... why was he caught up in this too?

As if sensing something, Chen Ling slowly closed his eyes. He could feel a crimson mass gradually churning deep within his soul... It wasn't as solid as the crimson light on others; instead, it was illusory, like a three-dimensional projection, containing no power or aura whatsoever. 'Since this is just an era archive, is the Red Star Fragment's energy obtained here also illusory?' Chen Ling mused. He wasn't surprised by this outcome. His involvement in this matter was already an accident; it would be too easy to acquire the true power of the Nine Sovereigns within a mere archive.

"However..." Chen Ling seemed to recall something, and he squinted his eyes, looking up at the sky.

"One, two, three, four..." His gaze swept over the figures floating in the void. "...five, six, seven, eight, nine..." His gaze finally landed on the mysterious figure. "Ten." Finally, he pointed a finger at himself. "Eleven?"

According to historical progression, there should only be a maximum of nine people. But now there were eleven. Excluding himself, one person was extra... Just as Chen Ling's gaze fixed on the mysterious figure who had vied for the fragment with him, that figure suddenly opened its eyes!