The Empire had more or less finished screening and categorizing the various metals and ores collected during this period. Among them were valuable and precious metals, as well as ores that were merely pretty but very common on the seabed. Wen Yuncheng thought it over and decided not to change the material of her mechs; the Azure Sea Crystals was already sufficient. As for these new materials… she could sell them to the Empire in exchange for more Azure Sea Crystals.

The Empire had also studied a rough map of Dragon Island. Although they would be discovered as soon as they passed through the island’s mysterious barrier, the map allowed them to know which entry point was farthest from the dragons, ensuring the slowest response time. With the map, it would also be much easier for the Empire to provide support if Wen Yuncheng and the others got into a fight. Although… they didn’t know how Wen Yuncheng managed to bypass the barrier, it seemed to be another one of her abilities, just like her disguise. By now, the Huanling’s claim that Wen Yuncheng was the future god of the Starry Sky Continent was no longer a secret, and even the Empire was starting to believe it. After all, not even the Star Saint of old had been as heaven-defying as Wen Yuncheng.

Thanks to their long-term cooperation and the high regard the First Princess, the Protectors, and the Star Emperors had for Wen Yuncheng, the Empire’s high command didn’t bother with any preamble. After a simple vote, they unanimously passed the motion to continue giving Wen Yuncheng their full support. Of course, now that she was a Star Emperor, she probably didn’t need much of their support anymore. But the Empire had to make its stance known, and it had to be firm and resolute.

Therefore, when the First Princess and the Protectors brought up Wen Yuncheng’s idea of attacking Dragon Island, the Empire’s high command and the participating half-Saints, though visibly hesitant, voted unanimously in favor.

In other words, the day Wen Yuncheng said, “Prepare to storm Dragon Island,” all of the Empire’s Emperor-level experts would mobilize.

However, Wen Yuncheng wasn’t planning a frontal assault just yet. After all, there was a Saint-level Dragon King on the island.

Wen Yuncheng pondered for a moment. If she secretly killed dragons and the Dragon King couldn’t catch her, he might get angry enough to leave the island to hunt her down. And the moment he left the island, the baby voice could capture him. According to 1947’s analysis and what the Starry Sky Consciousness had revealed, the Dragon King of Dragon Island couldn’t leave for too long. Otherwise, with no one to suppress the secret realm and guard the dragon leyline, some strange phenomena might occur, or perhaps a new secret realm or energy rift would open. But what did that have to do with Wen Yuncheng? Without this Dragon King, the dragon race would naturally produce a new suppressor to become the new Dragon King in order to survive. Besides, with her farming them for experience, who knew how many dragons would even be left in the end? The Emperor-level and Venerate-level ones were likely in for a rough time, and Wen Yuncheng didn’t really care for the King-level ones anymore.

Sometimes, Wen Yuncheng couldn’t help but have an arrogant thought: Exterminating the race was out of the question, but the high-level dragons were mature and had lived long enough. They were perfectly ripe for harvesting.

Dragon Island.

The Dragon King had recently sensed that something was amiss. He always felt as if a small bug was scurrying around right under his nose, but whenever he seriously investigated, he found nothing. The driving core of Dragon Island’s great formation was the dragon leyline. The Dragon King sat atop this leyline and could confirm that no living creature had triggered the formation. But—why did he keep having this strange feeling?

At first, he thought it was just his imagination, but gradually, dragon elders began to report that some dragons seemed to have gone missing within Dragon Island. They had even investigated some dragon caves and found them completely empty.

These dragons loved wealth and enjoyed collecting shiny, beautiful things. The elders and the Dragon King had always turned a blind eye to it. So what if they dug caves on Dragon Island? It was a hobby, so they could hoard what they liked. Thus, Emperor-level dragons wouldn’t wander the outer areas or disturb those caves; it was a dragon’s pastime, after all. But things were different now. The dragons who liked to sleep on their treasures in the open had vanished, and their treasures had disappeared without a trace! Yet the Dragon King hadn’t sensed any dragon leaving the island, which was the most shocking part.

The dragons who knew about this no longer dared to leave their gathering places; some even abandoned their treasures. They had heard a rumor that the treasures were transforming and eating the dragons! Some dragons spun the tale with such vivid detail, claiming that the eaten dragons entered a land of treasure, a place filled with glowing jewels and precious metals, but the treasures there could transform and were sentient. The dragons were the treasures’ collectibles; they would meticulously disassemble the dragons into small pieces, carefully separating even the bones and scales for their collection.

The story was surprisingly convincing, and many young dragons were terrified. The Dragon King’s repeated declarations that “jewels cannot transform” were useless.

The chain reaction from these strange disappearances was that Wen Yuncheng could no longer find a single dragon in the outer areas.

“The dragons might have noticed something,” Wen Yuncheng said with a serious expression. “But it can’t be helped. I have no other choice.”

“Focus on exploration. Try to avoid fighting as much as possible,” Lin Jinyu said softly. “We’ll kill dragons on our way out, but the next time we come, they’ll be on guard.”

“Yes, our efficiency will be much lower then.” Wen Yuncheng nodded. They had already considered this, but Wen Yuncheng had thought she could still catch a few more stragglers in the outer areas. Oh well.

Wen Yuncheng activated her disguise, Lin Jinyu activated her Illusion Dream (Modified), and the two of them stepped onto the Space Shuttle, teleporting directly to the area just outside the center of Dragon Island.

After the teleportation was complete, Wen Yuncheng pulled Lin Jinyu by the hand and they rushed inward.

“Control your breathing, conceal your Star Power.”

The Dragon King, in his giant dragon form coiled around the leyline, suddenly opened his eyes. He frowned and sensed his surroundings for a moment before closing his eyes again. Strange. His perception of Dragon Island hadn’t been abnormal lately, so why did he keep having such a bad feeling?

Wen Yuncheng and Lin Jinyu, who had snuck into the central area, were also on high alert. Wen Yuncheng observed the terrain. The center of Dragon Island was a sprawling, massive valley. The closer one got to the center, the denser the Star Power became.

“Let’s call this place Dragon Valley,” Wen Yuncheng muttered. “1947, can you scan for Emperor-level dragons nearby?”

[The scanning range is too large; the Dragon King might detect the anomaly.] 1947 said, then continued: [The dragons seem to be resting. Go three hundred li east and then straight down. There’s an Emperor-level dragon. There are other dragons resting in caves near this one, not far apart, both Emperor-level and Venerate-level.]

Wen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment. She had assumed the Emperor-level dragons would be closer to the central region. On second thought, perhaps the most important things to the dragons were their young and their eggs. These Emperor-level dragons on the outskirts of Dragon Valley might be acting as “guards.”

This… this was truly great! Wen Yuncheng grew excited. 1947, watch for Saint-level fluctuations!

The moment the Dragon King made a move, they had to retreat immediately. Of course, if Wen Yuncheng were alone, she might linger until the last second. But with Lin Jinyu by her side, Wen Yuncheng wouldn’t take the risk.

It wasn’t worth it.

The Dragon King was currently investigating the outer areas of Dragon Island, still feeling that something was wrong. He even checked the area where the Huanling forces were stationed. Since it was on Dragon Island, even if the Huanling general noticed, he would have to hold his tongue. Dragons disappearing on their own island could be a major or minor issue, but at such a critical time, the Dragon King couldn’t afford to ignore any potential threats. Unfortunately for him, the two dragon-slaying thieves from the outskirts had already infiltrated the inner area.

But he would find out soon enough.

A massive explosion of Star Power erupted, and even from a great distance, the Dragon King felt a monstrous sword intent. The Emperor-level dragons in the outer area shouted, “Enemy attack!” while the young dragons in the inner area burst into tears, thinking the transforming jewels had come to capture them.

Dragon Island was thrown into chaos. Explosions rang out one after another, and even the various Huanling generals rushed to the scene at once.

But it was too late.

When the Dragon King arrived, he only saw two Emperor-level dragon corpses that hadn’t been collected yet. He stood in mid-air with a grim expression as the Huanling generals arrived a moment later.

“It’s Wen Yuncheng,” one of the Huanling generals said. They all looked solemn, and upon closer inspection, a hint of lingering fear was visible. “Wen Yuncheng has landed on Dragon Island… The formation, Dragon Island’s great formation, is completely useless against her!” What did this mean? It meant Dragon Island was no longer safe at all. Today she killed dragons, but what about tomorrow? What if she snuck into the Huanling encampment? Even a half-Saint wouldn’t be confident in escaping unscathed from a full-powered assault by Wen Yuncheng.

Most importantly, they couldn’t locate Wen Yuncheng at all. They couldn’t see her, couldn’t sense her. Perhaps if they focused their spiritual energy to its absolute limit, they could detect an anomaly, but that was far too unrealistic. The cost was too great.

“This king knows, I don’t need you to state the obvious!” the Dragon King sneered, his expression worsening. He looked at the bloodstains around them and could tell that Wen Yuncheng hadn’t come alone this time, and that she had killed more than just these two Emperor-level dragons.

These two Emperor-level dragons must have noticed something was wrong and rushed over to help their comrades, only to be killed in return. And it had all happened in an instant.

“Your Phantom Saint and reinforcements, when will they arrive?”

The generals exchanged a glance. “We will report the situation.”

This was too unexpected.

When the Dragon King first learned of the missing dragons, he had guessed that someone might have used some method to bypass the great formation and sneak onto the island. But he had never imagined that Wen Yuncheng actually possessed spatial abilities. The great formation of Dragon Island was effectively useless against her; she could come and go as she pleased?!

This was too passive! They were in a completely passive position. At this rate, they would just be worn down by Wen Yuncheng alone. The thought itself was incredible. Wen Yuncheng alone was wearing down the combined forces of Dragon Island and the Huanling? Oh, no, that wasn’t quite right. Wen Yuncheng was only killing dragons.

“This king also sensed a sword intent.”

“That must be Wen Yuncheng’s fiancée, Lin Jinyu.” The Huanling side was quite well-informed. “We tried to use this angle against her at the beginning, but she was also capable of killing an Emperor while being a Venerate. After that… we never got another chance to make a move.”

The Dragon King wanted to curse. He regretted agreeing to this alliance. What damn higher plane… they were probably on par with the Starry Sky Continent, weren’t they? And their strength was even reduced because they were fighting across planes.

Of course, if Wen Yuncheng didn’t exist, the Huanling and Dragon Island would have had a pleasant cooperation, and the Fu organization wouldn’t have been taken out of the picture so early. But unfortunately, there were no “what ifs” in this world.