1707 Holy Merchant Ancient Planet, Imperial Army's Dominance

Chu Kuangren sat with his legs crossed in the pavilion and took out a white divine fruit. It was the Divine Oceanic Immortal Fruit he got from the Galaxy God King's treasury.

"With this divine fruit, my Immortal's Core Flower should be able to increase a couple of ranks," Chu Kuangren muttered.

The moment he took the fruit, a vast amount of Immortal's Core energy exploded in his body, filling every inch of his bone and muscles.

Its vastness was similar to a boundless ocean.

If Chu Kuangren did not have the Ultimate Almighty Source Physique, the explosive energy would have caused him to explode.

Despite that, Immortal Sparks was still leaking out from his body, impacting the space around him.

Fortunately, he had set up heavy restriction seals around the pavilion, so there was less of a commotion.

"The divine fruit's effect is indeed powerful." Chu Kuangren's lips curled into a smile.

Then, he started to channel the Immortal's Core energy in his body to refine the fruit.

His Immortal's Core Flower was slowly increasing in grade.

While Chu Kuangren was in closed-door meditation, Ling Fei and the others steered the ship to an ancient planet.

"We're finally here, the Holy Merchant Ancient Planet."

The Holy Merchant Ancient Planet was the commercial hub of the Central Heaven Universe, a place for all kinds of businesses and trades.

In fact, the Holy Merchant Ancient Planet was not just one. It was a series of planets scattered across the universe, and they all belonged to the Merchant King Tribe.

The Merchant King Tribe was a tribe that specialized in all kinds of trades and businesses. It was said that they got so rich that they could buy one-tenth of the entire universe.

Although the rumor was never addressed, it was enough to prove how rich the Merchant King Tribe was.

However, no one dared to have thoughts about their businesses because the Merchant King Tribe was also one of the Ancient King Tribes in the Central Heave Universe.

Their network was so vast and complicated that they had deals with almost every force in existence. Their existence was closely tied to the profits of the forces they dealt with, so no one would dare to challenge them simply because it would affect the profits of all the other forces.

"We should resupply at Holy Merchant Ancient Planet," Ling Fei thought.

Since Chu Kuangren had not come out of closed-door mediation, Ling Fei did not park the ship on the planet.

Instead, he told Han Xingyu to stay put while he traveled down to the planet to resupply.

About a dozen of golden lights flew down to the planet.

The leader was a man in golden armor, and he had a scar on his face.

The man looked at the planet coldly. Then, he pulled out a glimmering jade talisman and said, "This is the Holy Merchant Ancient Planet and where the fragment's energy stopped. I guess they must have stopped here to resupply… Go, flush them out."

"Yes, sir!"

A dozen streaks of golden lights scattered away and searched every corner of the planet.

When many of the planet's residents sensed their arrival, they were shocked.

"Those are… the Emperor Tribe's Imperial Army?"

"Damn! Why is the Imperial Army here? What are they doing here?"

"Oh my goodness…"

The Imperial Army's arrival sparked a discussion among the surprised residents.

Even Ling Fei, who was purchasing supplies on the planet, was surprised by the Imperial Army's arrival.

"Imperial Army? Why are they here? Are they passing by?"

The Imperial Army was a bunch of elite soldiers handpicked by the higher-ups of the Emperor Tribe, so each of them had a decent level of cultivation.

Their appearance usually carried the will of the Emperor Tribe, which was one of the oldest King Tribes in the Central Heaven Universe.

They were considered the strongest even among Ancient King Tribes. Only a handful of tribes could rival them in this universe, and that was why their reign remained unchallenged.

"Whatever. I'll just leave after I finish the purchase," Ling Fei muttered.

After completing his purchase, he returned to the ship.

However, right before he wanted to set sail again, an Imperial Army soldier stopped him.

"You can't leave yet."

"Why?" Ling Fei asked with furrowed brows.

"We have some questions for you," said the soldier.

Then, a group of soldiers surrounded him, Han Xinyu, and Feng Qingxue.

"What are you people doing?" Feng Qingxue grumbled.

The leader with the scar did not say anything. He simply took the glowing jade talisman out in front of them.

The jade talisman glowed stronger than usual. "This can't be wrong. The jade is reacting to this ship the most. It must be here. Search! Search for the fragment!"

"How dare you?" Ling Fei bellowed and added, "This is a Spiritual Sword Tribe's ship. Even the Imperial Army has no right to search as you wish!"

"Oh? Spiritual Sword Tribe?" The man with the scar raised a brow and smirked before he continued, "I'm Tian Hong of the Imperial Army. I'm suspecting that this ship has something we are searching for. Please allow us to search the ship and your Yin and Yang Rings."

When he learned that Ling Fei and the others were from the Spiritual Sword Tribe, Tian Hong was not afraid at all. On the contrary, he made an even more ruthless request to search not only the ship but also their Yin and Yang Rings.

Ling Fei and the others reacted grimly to his request

"What gives you the right to search our rings?"

Feng Qingxue said, "Yeah! Are you trying to pick a fight against the Feng clan and the Spiritual Sword Tribe together?"

"Please cooperate," Tian Hong said.

If it were before, he would choose a more gentle approach, but the fragment was important, and he could not afford to fail that mission.

Besides, even though the Feng clan and Spiritual Sword Tribe were King Tribes, they were still far from being an Ancient King Tribe, let alone going up against the Emperor Tribe, who stood at the top of the hierarchy of power.

As long as no blood was shed, Tian Hong could compensate them after the search or even apologize. He did not mind as long as he could achieve his goal.

"What if we refuse?"

"Then, we would have to resolve by force," Tian Hong said as he signaled his men.

The golden-armored soldiers dashed forward and surrounded Feng Qingxue with their weapons.

"Damn it!"

Ling Fei clenched his teeth as his expression turned grim.

There were several Arch Gilded Immortals among the soldiers, and the leader, Tian Hong, emanated a strong energy presence, at least a Five Qi-realm elite.

Chu Kuangren was in cultivation, and with them alone, there was no way they could fight back.

However, to have their bodies and ships searched in public, the Spiritual Sword Tribe would be embarrassed if word about it were to get out.

Besides, Ling Fei knew what was on the ship, and if the soldiers found what they wanted, should he surrender it?

Chu Kuangren was in closed-door meditation. What if the search disturbed him?

"If you want to search the ship, you'll have to go through me," Ling Fei said.

"Defeating you is not difficult." Tian Hong chuckled.

He took a step forward and appeared above Ling Fei. As he threw a palm strike down, the massive Arch Gilded Intent crashed down.

An explosion erupted in the void.

Ling Fei's expression changed. He tried to block it, but he was slammed to the floor by the palm strike.

He spat out a mouthful of blood as he was pinned down.