Chapter 351: Rotten World

For the sect’s ordinary members, once a planet was completely taken over by the Sorcerers, it would take a huge amount of time and resources to purge all the corruption. Since no one could manipulate corruption directly, the energy had to be captured inside spatial artifacts and discarded somewhere far away.

For that reason, once a place was taken over, the only viable option was usually to abandon it permanently.

For Priam, however, that was nothing more than a minor detail.

With the main battles over, he could afford to take his time absorbing and eradicating the dark energy. With one full day of nonstop work, he would leave the entire place completely clean.

The level of the Sorcerers here was low; the elite forces had been called to the main battlefield. Priam and Dandara alone were more than enough to clean up the area. Afterward, he could reclaim the planet.

...

...

...

Nearly five hours passed.

The planet now looked devastated and riddled with craters, as if every inch of its surface had been struck by a meteor shower.

Not a single Sorcerer remained alive.

Priam didn’t hold back his power. He knew that the planet’s true wealth lay deep beneath the surface—deposits of extremely high-level rare materials. Destroying the planet’s crust wouldn’t affect the resources deep underground, and with enough time, nature itself would take care of rebuilding the surface.

After unleashing chaos and destruction, Priam moved forward to behead the enemy who carried the essence... only to discover that the man was already dead.

The power of that treasure had completely consumed him. It was merely the residual energy left behind after its use that kept his corpse standing like a temporary puppet.

In other words... even though Priam had taken possession of the essence of that treasure, he would never dare try to use it without first fully understanding its true nature. Or finding a safe way to do so.

Once the enemy’s death was confirmed, Priam returned to Dandara.

Unfortunately, the planet’s entire population had been wiped out. The cost had been high for them as well: of the eight beasts Dandara had available to fight, three had fallen here. Adding those who died on the other planet, only Arvid and Mo Lan had survived. Six of her beasts had perished.

Priam found Dandara at the top of the mountain. When he looked into the depths of her eyes, he could feel the suffocating pain she was trying to swallow at all costs.

Priam’s chest tightened, feeling awful seeing her like this. Without even realizing why, he already deeply wished he could spare her from any suffering, but... his power still wasn’t enough to protect everything he wanted to.

He clenched his fists tightly and made a silent promise: the sacrifice of those six beasts, as well as the countless lives claimed by that war, would not be in vain.

At that moment, three Flying Warships tore through the clouds and appeared in the sky.

When the ships landed nearby, Priam spotted Mishnar at the head of her army. They had triumphed in the main battle and used ordinary vessels to come and provide support, which explained the delay.

"We need to leave. This planet can’t be saved anymore," Mishnar said in a heavy, mournful tone. "But at least you managed to exterminate all the enemies."

The area where Priam and Dandara were, near the mountain, had already been purified by him. But the rest of the planet was still submerged in filth.

Priam simply shook his head in denial. He looked at Dandara, and she understood exactly what he meant.

Carrying Mo Lan, Dandara walked toward Mishnar and her ship.

"We’d better move away and let Boss work," Dandara said, keeping her voice firm. "Let’s go inside. I have something important to explain to you."

Mishnar was surprised by her words, but nodded. The army quickly boarded the ships, and within seconds, the vessels took off and remained stationed in orbit around the planet.

Priam took a deep breath and immediately began the task of purging all the corruption that had permeated the planet.

Meanwhile, Dandara met with Mishnar to explain the plans and the true objectives of the Sorcerers that Priam had discovered.

She conducted the conversation without rushing, offering a superficial explanation of how they had obtained such information. She simply claimed that one of the Celestials previously captured by Priam had a weak mind. Using a few methods, Priam had managed to make him reveal everything.

It was prudent to keep Priam’s ability to read the Sorcerers’ memories a secret for now.

Dandara added that, at first, they themselves had doubted the truthfulness of the information, but after the success of the latest battles guided by those details, there was no longer any doubt.

Despite the deception surrounding the source of their knowledge, the Sorcerers’ reported objective was completely true: they were after eight unique resources located on planets belonging to the sect, three of which happened to be in the territories under Priam’s protection.

The reason behind this search was still a mystery, but it was clear that the multiple simultaneous attacks were nothing more than a gigantic smokescreen.

With these revelations in hand, Mishnar could warn the Elder Central in time for them to readjust their entire war strategy.

---

Twenty-four hours later, Priam finished the purification.

Witnessing the planet’s radical transformation, Mishnar was stunned.

How was this possible? It was obvious that Priam was hiding a terrifying secret.

However, Dandara had already prepared her for this scene, asking her to keep it confidential for the time being. Mishnar had been the only high-ranking authority to witness the place completely overtaken by corruption. If she reported that the enemy had narrowly failed to take complete control of the planet, the total purification would become understandable.

She let out a long sigh. To this day, Priam had never shown any sign of ill intentions—quite the opposite. So, for now, she chose to keep his secret.

When Priam approached, Mishnar looked at him firmly, her tone serious:

"I’m going to meet with the Elder Central and report everything immediately. From what you explained, the enemies won’t retreat and give up, even with their forces severely weakened. We need to prepare for a desperate assault from them."

"I’ll need your help, as well as the Elder army," Priam replied. "I can’t reveal the reason right now, but I guarantee you won’t regret it."

Looking into the determined light in his eyes, Mishnar saw a peculiar conviction. After thinking it over for a moment, she nodded.

"The Elder Central had already assigned me to support your army for a while, so that won’t be a problem. I’ll pass the information along and return in a few days."

Priam simply nodded, his eyes emitting a sharp light.

After saying goodbye to her, Priam walked toward the only remaining Flying Warship. The other twelve vessels had been sent back so the Main Sect could provide the necessary supplies and replenishment; for now, everyone would have to travel in ordinary ships.

Although they were slower, since their current objective was to defend three neighboring planets, the reduced speed wouldn’t be a major obstacle.

Priam and Dandara headed to a secret chamber inside the vessel. There, chained up, were the two Sorcerers captured during the main battle.

The harvest was ready to be reaped.

---

After finishing examining both of their memories, Priam’s eyes shone like bloody stars. A dark, macabre smile spread across his face.

"I found it..." he murmured solemnly, turning toward Dandara in the corner of the room.

He revealed the location he had obtained. Dandara’s reaction upon hearing the destination made Priam’s body tense with a mixture of overwhelming tension and uncontrollable fury.

The world they lived in truly was completely rotten.