A glint of light flashed in Zhang Jingcheng's eyes: "The Star Lord intends to..."
"Cooperation would be best." Han Feng's tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable firmness. "If they remain stubborn..." A glint of starlight flashed between his fingertips, disappearing in an instant.
The two old men exchanged a glance and bowed simultaneously: "We await the Star Lord's command."
After bidding farewell to the Dongfang family, Han Feng summoned the power of the stars to envelop the four of them, transforming them into streaks of light that streaked across the sky. Since Han Feng broke through to the Great Dao Realm, he discovered that he could fly through the air. Now, such long-distance flight was no longer a burden for him, especially with the energy circulation formed by the Star Mirror within his body, coupled with the abnormal energy absorption capability of the Star Meridian Diagram, making the power of the stars almost inexhaustible.
Above the clouds, Su Wanwan excitedly leaned on the edge of the energy shield to admire the scenery; Liu Mengran quietly leaned on Han Feng's shoulder; Dongfang Wantang sat cross-legged, with a star chart floating in front of her, slowly rotating.
"Han Feng." Midway through the flight, Liu Mengran suddenly asked softly, "Are we going out again in a while?"
Han Feng was taken aback: "Why do you ask that?"
"I guessed." She reached out and gently stroked his face. "I feel like you're under more and more pressure."
Han Feng grasped her fingers, not answering immediately. The shattered images from the inheritance, the stern warnings of extraterritorial threats, and Zero's increasingly frequent system upgrade notifications... all of these hung like a Damocles' sword over their heads.
"Yes." He finally just smiled. "There are some things we need to do."
Liu Mengran keenly sensed the hidden meaning in his words, but considerately refrained from pressing the matter, instead tightening her grip on his hand.
Two hours later, the outline of Kyoto appeared on the horizon. Han Feng landed in the woods on the outskirts of the villa area. As he deactivated his energy shield, a cell phone rang urgently.
It is Liu Xiaoran.
"We've already entered Chinese territory," the voice on the other end of the phone said succinctly. "We'll arrive in Longyuan in three hours."
Han Feng smiled and asked, "Was it smooth?"
"A little troublesome," Liu Xiaoran's voice sounded weary. "The Ikegami family seems to have discovered Ikegami Aya's disappearance and sent a few people to try and track us down, but it's been resolved."
"Thank you for your hard work." Han Feng glanced at the time. "I'll head to Longyuan to prepare for the takeover. Be careful."
After hanging up the phone, he turned to the three girls: "Liu Xiaoran succeeded. Wanwan, you're coming with me to Longyuan; Mengran, you and Wantang go home and rest first."
Su Wanwan cheered, while Liu Mengran hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped herself. Han Feng understood her worry and leaned closer to whisper in her ear, "Don't worry, it's just a small matter. Come back for dinner tonight."
As Han Feng watched Liu Mengran and Dongfang Wantang walk towards the villa, the ease on his face gradually faded. He looked up at the azure sky, which seemed calm on the surface, but concealed a threat that even a powerful figure like Jue Li had fallen to.
"Let's go." He took Su Wanwan's hand. "It's time to prepare for the next war."
---This is the dividing line---
Inside the medical room on the third basement level of the Longyuan Base, Han Feng was adjusting the last piece of neural monitoring equipment. A pale blue holographic projection rotated above the hospital bed, displaying the missing vital parameters—awaiting its owner's arrival.
"Brainwave monitor, mental stabilizer, and..." Su Wanwan checked the equipment list, then suddenly looked up, "Should we prepare restraint devices? What if that woman wakes up and goes crazy?"
Han Feng shook his head: "The Moon Demon Clan's energy is primarily on the spiritual level; physical restraints are useless." He pointed to his temple. "Once the branding is successful, she'll be more obedient than anyone else."
As soon as he finished speaking, hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. Liu Xiaoran pushed open the door and entered, followed by two Longyuan agents carrying a stretcher. On the stretcher lay a petite figure wrapped in a special material restraint suit—Chi Shangling's pale face peeked out from the collar of the restraint suit, like a fragile porcelain doll.
"Heart rate 45, blood pressure slightly low," Liu Xiaoran reported briefly. "We used three sedatives on the way to suppress her emotional fluctuations."
Han Feng gestured to move the person to the hospital bed. When the restraints were removed, the strange blue markings on Ikegami Aya's wrists immediately elicited a gasp from Su Wanwan: "These are..."
"The energy pathways of the Moon Demon Clan." Han Feng lightly touched the glowing patterns, feeling a subtle resistance at his fingertips. "It has begun to assimilate her body."
The medical team quickly connected the monitoring equipment. On the screen, Aya Ikegami's brainwaves showed abnormally active beta waves, completely inconsistent with the characteristics of a coma.
"She's mentally alert." Han Feng took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and said, "Everyone, step back behind the red line. No matter what happens, don't disturb me."
Su Wanwan nervously bit her lower lip: "Is it dangerous?"
"It's there for her, but not for me." Han Feng gave her a reassuring look, then placed his hands lightly on either side of Chi Shangling's forehead. "Let's begin."
Starlight energy surged from his palm, seeping into Aya Ikegami's temples like a gentle stream. Han Feng closed his eyes, his consciousness entering her sea of consciousness along with the energy—
Darkness. A darkness as thick as ink.
This was Han Feng's first impression. Unlike ordinary people whose mental world is filled with floating fragments of memory, Aya Ikegami's world was deliberately stained a uniform pitch black by some force. Within this darkness, countless blue threads intertwined to form a net, which was the mental control network of the Moon Demon Clan.
"I've found you." Han Feng's thoughts echoed in his mind.
The blue lines suddenly surged, lunging at him like venomous snakes! The Moon Demon Clan's defense mechanism was activated, attempting to drive away the intruder.
Han Feng neither dodged nor evaded, letting the blue threads entangle him. The moment they touched his spiritual body, they were swallowed up by an even more dazzling silver light—the power of the stars had a natural suppressive effect on this type of spiritual energy.
"It's no use." Han Feng's will transformed into a sharp blade, easily cutting through layers of obstacles and advancing towards the deepest part of his sea of consciousness.
As they went deeper, the darkness gradually thinned. At one point, Han Feng "saw" the original consciousness of Ikegami Aya, which was wrapped in a cocoon by blue lines—it was a phantom of a girl curled up with her knees drawn up to her chest, her face bearing a seven-tenths resemblance to the real Ikegami Aya, but appearing more youthful.
"So the real you was hidden here..."
Just as Han Feng was about to approach, a complex barrier of runes suddenly appeared around the cocoon. This was the last line of defense left by the Moon Demon Clan; once triggered, it could very well destroy the host's consciousness.
(We need to find another way...)
Han Feng changed his strategy, simulating the fluctuation frequency of the Moon Demon Clan's energy with the power of the stars. Sure enough, the runic barrier didn't react to this "same kind" of energy. He carefully separated a wisp of energy, precisely cutting into the gaps in the cocoon like a scalpel—
"Ah!" The girl inside the cocoon suddenly looked up, her illusory face contorted with pain.
Han Feng immediately stopped. He noticed that the blue lines had partially merged with Ikegami Aya's primal consciousness, and forcibly separating them would cause irreversible damage.
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