Steady Cultivation: Starting With the Perk “Work Hard, Rest Hard” Chapter 496: Resolving the Crisis Mission

Su Yuan emerged again, making his way back to the area near Miluo Main City.

At that moment, Kuluo, Xue Jian, and Zhou Xing were working in tandem with the Chaos Miluo Grand Array to surround two Chaos Demon Venerables.

Though these two fiends possessed somewhat lesser might, merely reaching the Tenth-Order Fusion Dao Venerable stage, their capabilities remained astonishingly powerful. Even supported by the formation, Kuluo and his companions could scarcely keep the pair in check. Eliminating them would demand a prolonged struggle, no doubt.

Upon his arrival, Su Yuan swiftly entered the fray.

"I'll handle the main assault on the Void Demon! You all just keep the other one occupied!" Su Yuan declared.

"Got it!"

Kuluo promptly left the Void Demon behind and, alongside the other two, concentrated their efforts on the Star Demon.

As Su Yuan engaged, he maintained an apparent power level of Tenth-Order Fusion Dao Principles alone, yet the force behind his strikes evidently outmatched that of a typical Tenth-Order Fusion Dao Venerable by a wide margin.

The Void Demon found itself forced into a purely reactive stance under Su Yuan's onslaught.

From time to time, Kuluo and his allies cast glances their way, each showing expressions of awe. Su Yuan's prowess greatly exceeded their own.

Su Yuan feigned a drawn-out skirmish with the Void Demon for quite some time before delivering a decisive sword blow that ended its existence.

Then, he threw his weight into the collective assault on the Star Demon.

Backed by the array and the trio's combined might, the Star Demon met its end far more rapidly.

"We did it!"

Kuluo cried out in delighted astonishment as the Star Demon's form disintegrated into oblivion, bequeathing only a fragment of Star Black Demon Crystal behind.

"Phew!"

Xue Jian exhaled deeply. "Thank goodness the Garrison Commander showed up, or we'd have been in real trouble this round!"

Su Yuan offered a subtle smile. "Even without my presence, reinforcements would have arrived. It's all thanks to the Miluo Dao Lord's brilliant strategy and keen insight into the foes' moves!"

"Seven Stars Garrison Commander, you're being far too humble! Your power places you among the elite ten in the whole Dao Court! Few can outdo you!" Zhou Xing remarked with genuine admiration.

With that, Kuluo slid the pair of Black Demon Crystals, remnants of the vanquished demons, over to Su Yuan.

"It's because of the Garrison Commander's timely aid that we survived this ordeal. These two Black Demon Crystals rightfully go to you."

Kuluo stated.

Xue Jian and Zhou Xing expressed their assent with nods.

Su Yuan let out a booming laugh. "I could certainly use these two Black Demon Crystals. But since you all put in the work, how could I leave you empty-handed?"

He gathered up the two Black Demon Crystals, then produced one hundred billion Dao Yan Crystals, allotting thirty billion to each of the three.

The leftover ten billion Dao Yan Crystals were divided into portions of one billion Dao Yan Coins apiece, which Su Yuan handed out directly to the cultivators defending the city. Their role in sustaining the Miluo Grand Array had been far from trivial.

Kuluo wavered momentarily. "Isn't this a bit excessive?"

"Haha, when stacked against such premium treasures, I'm the one coming out way ahead!"

Su Yuan chuckled.

"In that case, we won't hold back!" Kuluo grinned while taking hold of the thirty billion Dao Yan Crystals.

This represented an immense fortune even for Kuluo. It offered a solid opportunity to nurture a Dao Venerable straight away or to fuel a push toward greater heights.

Xue Jian and Zhou Xing brimmed with even greater delight.

Joy filled the group as substantial rewards were shared among them.

The threat had been effortlessly neutralized.

At this juncture, Kuluo couldn't resist commenting, "Seven Stars Garrison Commander, the emergence of four Chaos Demon Venerables this instance, especially such elite ones venturing solo, strikes me as highly unusual. Someone must be orchestrating this from the shadows. I fear they're lurking somewhere in our domain still."

In response, Su Yuan gestured casually. "I chased them off. I'd just gone to sort out that issue myself!"

Kuluo stared in shock. "You've taken care of it already?"

"Yes, but let's keep it under wraps moving forward."

The trio nodded without hesitation.

Afterward, Su Yuan headed back into the city, resuming his vigilant post for a stretch. Should no more disturbances arise, he could depart.

In the midst of this, Su Yuan sent the Void Black Demon Crystal to his disciple, the Void Great Emperor, and passed the Star Demon Crystal to Star Dust Elder.

Fortune favored these two. The attributes of the four intruding Chaos Demon Venerables aligned perfectly with their own Dao Principle natures.

"Is this the effect of the Fortune Dao Principle?"

Su Yuan pondered aloud. The merged Fortune Dao Principles from him and Su Li had seemingly guided the Chaos Demon Venerables' types to match exactly those of these four. Otherwise, amid the multitude of Chaos Demon varieties, what odds that these precise four would show up?

Blood Moon Dao Court.

Inside the Dao Venerable Ancestral Hall.

Statues stood in orderly rows.

A Twelfth-Order Dao Venerable elder oversaw the hall, vigilantly protecting this sacred space.

All at once, the elder's face tightened as his gaze shifted to the foremost rows of the Ancestral Hall.

There, fully five statues cracked and crumbled outright.

Five figures stepped forth from the debris in near unison.

Witnessing this, the elder's features grew solemn.

"What befell you?"

These individuals scanned their surroundings in disorientation, feeling the frailty in their forms, and displayed puzzled countenances.

"I... I believe I got one-shot by an attacker!" One recovered his wits and shivered as he spoke.

"Same here. I didn't catch sight of my killer before being wiped out!"

"That's what happened to me too."

The five chimed in successively. Their demises had come so swiftly; they hadn't identified their slayers at all.

"What were you up to?" The elder questioned, brows furrowed in curiosity.

"We were carrying out the Dao Lord's directive to scout the Miluo Dao Court. Things were going smoothly until we were abruptly eliminated!"

The elder creased his brow. "Exercise greater caution next time. Likely, a top-tier expert from the Miluo Dao Court took you down. Luckily, total erasure was avoided!"

Fear lingered on the faces of the five.

They quickly exited the Dao Venerable Ancestral Hall and proceeded to brief the Blood Moon Dao Lord on events.

The Blood Moon Dao Lord occupied his elevated Dao platform, absorbing the five's account, and promptly set about divining the details of their plight.

Yet on this occasion, not a single clue or insight emerged for him.

"That Seven Stars Dao Venerable, his displayed power was solely Tenth-Order Fusion Dao Principles?" The Blood Moon Dao Lord pressed again.

"Affirmative! In his clash with the Reincarnation Demon, the strength he revealed matched that precisely. Those Tenth-Order Fusion Dao Principles felt utterly cohesive and flawless, no sign of fakery!"

One Dao Venerable promptly conjured the visions he'd observed prior to the Dao Lord.

The Blood Moon Dao Lord spared it a few brief looks before piercing Su Yuan's facade, affirming resolutely, "He's nothing more than Tenth-Order Fusion Dao Principles, no real threat!"

He examined it briefly and then ceased, shutting his eyes to delve into thought.

"Peculiar, what could that prior prophecy signify?"

Among the Dao Principles under the Blood Moon Dao Lord's command lurked the Principle of Premonition.

At his Seventeenth-Order Fusion Dao Principles level, his foretellings had scarcely erred.

The foretelling bore just four words: Calamity of the Nine Stars!

That recent addition to the Miluo Dao Court, bearing the Dao title 'Seven Stars', came close to 'Nine Stars', yet seemed worlds away from embodying the "Calamity of the Nine Stars". This enigma troubled the Blood Moon Dao Lord deeply.