Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 897: The Battle for Star Overlord I
[Sword of Glory] is sailing on the designated route, and it is returning to Tunaras with the relevant spoils from the ruins.

On the bridge, the atmosphere was as quiet as still water.

On the return voyage after the war, the hull of the ship vibrated slightly as it traveled through the ripples of deep space.

But inside the silver-white bridge, time seemed to stand still.

The Lord of the Courtyard sat quietly in the high-backed captain's seat, his eyes closed and his expression serene.

His consciousness has long since left the world.
Like a drop of light, it dives deep into the etheric realm deeper than the astral realm.

That is the deepest of the seven etheric levels - [the etheric intrinsic level].

Here, far away from the hustle and bustle of matter and spiritual energy, only essence and source are flowing subtly. Every projection of consciousness is a reality in its own world.

In this vast and twisted ocean of essence.

Xia Xiu's original form, a huge black sun, quietly hung above the eternal void.

It burns silently.

It releases a blazing, cold, and indescribable spiritual flame.

Under the black sun, countless distorted original shadows crawled away.

Once those corrupted thoughts, incomplete magic, and twisted soul ripples approached this area, they would immediately wail and tremble, and be annihilated, dissolved, and scattered into ashes under the scorching flames.

That is not a real entity.

It is a vast field of consciousness that transcends words.

An existence that spontaneously ignites in order and judgment.

In this seventh layer, even an ordinary thaumaturge would spend his entire life.

It is also difficult to catch a glimpse of the radiance of this black sun.

But today, something unexpected happened.

In the deep and dark intrinsic ocean current, Xia Xiu keenly captured the anomaly.

A group of eyes...

A thousand burning and weak gazes were staring at the black sun at the same time.

The fluctuations of their souls are not those of depravity or heresy, but rather an existence that subtly resonates with his flesh, blood, and authority.

Xia Xiu's heart moved slightly, and then he understood.

He made that.

That was his——【Enemy of Flesh and Blood】.

The First Legion of the Courtyard, the Sons of the Blood Oath.

What they saw in those young and ardent souls was not the dark day of judgment.

Instead, it is a huge sun with brilliant golden light and thousands of shining rays.

The golden flames surged, burning the filth.

Every ray of light weighed heavily on their souls, causing their hearts to tremble, their blood to boil, and their desire to fight to surge.

They knew who that represented.

The Lord of the Courtyard.

It is the source of their oaths and glory engraved in their flesh and blood.

And this moment.

The souls of the one thousand Blood Oath Legion members bowed their heads before the sun.

Their souls were cleansed by invisible flames.

The slightest traces of contamination and erosion caused by the battle were completely burned away.

Only the more ardent and pure loyalty and fighting spirit remain.

They received the blessing from the Great Sun.

At that moment, Xia Xiu quietly sensed all of this.

His consciousness made slight contact with those one thousand souls.

No words were spoken, no instructions were given.

Just like between light and light, traces are left silently.

A silent recognition.

A destined shelter.

At the same time, in the deeper level of the etheric ocean,
The Metatron field within Xia Xiu's body vibrated slightly.

In that vast divine kingdom,

The power of the Way of Order is rising quietly:
[The progress of the Way of Order synchronization: 39% → 40%. ]

An invisible beam of ordered light rises from a distant source.

Slowly merging into the depths of Xia Xiu's high-hanging black sun,

Let that black sun,
On a hidden frequency,
It became colder, more brilliant, and more - terrifying.

Xia Xiu slowly opened his eyes.

Deep in his golden pupils, a slowly burning and expanding black sun was reflected.

There was silence on the bridge.

Only the end of the scepter [the lever of heaven],

A slight, almost imperceptible rhythm was struck on the ground - as if foreshadowing an impending flood.

And the first legion of the courtyard, the Sons of Blood Oath.

On the other side of the star realm, with a will bathed in the sacred flame, they embark on a more profound road of conquest.

Xia Xiu sat quietly, tapping his fingers lightly on the silver surface of the scepter, the "Lever of Heaven".

Thoughts are like deep ocean currents, slowly spreading beneath the lake of the heart.

The afterglow of the battle had not yet completely dissipated, but he could already clearly sense that the divine trajectory in his body known as the [Crown Way] was rapidly extending.

In the past, it took years or even decades of accumulation and tempering, but now, just because of a war, several stages have been crossed.

Not only that, the first legion of the courtyard, the Sons of the Blood Oath, also completed their true awakening in this short purification campaign. They were originally just forged flesh and blood tools, but now they have their own glory and will, and have become flames that can stand alone and burn on their own.

Xia Xiu slowly closed his eyes and sighed in his heart.

War is indeed the best way to promote all progress.

Whether it is the sublimation of divinity or the formation of a legion of flesh and blood, it essentially originates from the tempering and sacrifice in the flames of war.

Death, destruction, conquest, these cold and cruel words are the soil that breeds true power and order.

Without the smoke and blood, there would be no glory of the crown.

Without purification and extermination, there would be no glory of the courtyard.

At this moment, as the last piece of information confirming the victory was uploaded, the Sword of Glory also arrived at its destination.

Outside the bridge, through the shield, one can see the huge star hub in the distance slowly unfolding.

[Sword of Glory] slowed down, the ship trembled slightly to adjust its orbit, the auxiliary thrusters sprayed out light blue airflow, and slowly slid into the designated berth.

Inside the bridge, the navigator reported in a brief and calm tone:

"Entering the outer ring defense zone of the Tunaras hub, main thrust shut down, manual fine-tuning mode activated."

"Berth code confirmed, status stable, berthing operation started."

A series of brief and orderly operations echoed in the bridge, and the vibration of the ship gradually stabilized.

Xia Xiu did not move, but just opened his eyes slightly, and his golden pupils reflected the light and shadow of the berth number on the tactical light curtain.

The [Sword of Glory], which serves as the throne of the Lord of the Courtyard, has returned to the loyal Tunaras Hub.

……

The ship shook slightly, indicating that the docking procedure was completely completed.

The tones of all the light screens on the bridge switched from the dark gold of wartime to the silver-white of returning home. The noise on the communication channel also gradually died down, leaving only the various operational instructions flowing in a low voice.

Xia Xiu slowly withdrew his hand from the scepter "Lever of Heaven" and stood up. His movements were calm and steady, like a god awakening from the flames of war.

The black boots stepped on the metal deck, making a deep and powerful sound.

As he stood up, the petty officers who were whispering in the bridge stopped their actions.
Everyone subconsciously held their breath, straightened their backs, and focused their gazes silently.

Xia Xiu took a step forward, his aura like the wind spreading silently around him.

No roaring, no orders.

But it was enough to inspire admiration and awe in the hearts of all the non-commissioned officers in the courtyard.

He walked to the center of the bridge and looked down at the dancing star map on the main command deck.

It was a star map that had not yet been fully illuminated.

Countless colonial hubs, transportation nodes, and psychic waterways outline towers waiting to be conquered against the dark background.

Xia Xiu gently stretched out his hand and placed his palm on the tactical table. The star map was instantly reorganized.

With the Tunaras hub as the center, dozens of advancement routes were gradually laid out, like a giant astral net with ignited corners, about to engulf a large area of ​​the border area of ​​the Soul Absorber Empire.

"The war has already begun in full swing." He sighed.

Then he turned his head slightly and said to [Adam]:

"Transfer the two third-generation and a half aircraft and one fourth-generation aircraft that were previously accommodated to the 13th compartment of the Tunaras Hub Special Management Area."

The command encoding is transmitted to the combat logistics link.

Outside the bridge, the huge transport platform has begun to operate quietly.

The huge carrier platform roared out of the main ship of [Sword of Glory], and the heavy anti-gravity anchor chains dragged the three combat cabins and slowly moved forward in the operating channel of the star hub.

The heavy hatch slowly opened.

A dim light fell on the No. 13 compartment of the special control area, and the air was filled with faint ether particle vibrations.

The first thing that came into view was the two combat machines that were being taken in and escorted here.

[Azligon] on the left.

The height of the machine is about fifty-seven meters, the overall outline is huge and rough, and the surface is covered with broken psychic crystal armor plates.

A half-corroded psychic core was exposed in the center of the chest, surrounded by densely entangled silver tubes like a neural network.

The limbs were thick and bloated, and the shoulders protruded with heavy armored components like hammers, emitting an oppressive aura of destruction under the dim light.

[Western] on the right.

Its body is taller and more slender than Azligon's, with three pairs of twisted psychic tentacles growing from its back.

The surface of the machine is gray-blue, with fine psychic rune light patterns flowing through it.

The head structure is extremely asymmetrical, with an alien eyeball glowing purple bulging out on the left side.

The eye was still twitching faintly, as if it had not yet completely died.

Between the two machines is an even larger and more suffocating presence.

The [God-given Colossus] was placed in the center.

The altitude is 101 meters, and the half-bone and half-metal shell is badly damaged.

An unextinguished ether core was burning in the chest cavity, and the blazing light poured down through the gaps between the broken bones.

The broken divine inscriptions were faintly visible on the body of the colossus, like the remains of a dormant celestial being.

Even though it was blocked by multiple layers of ether suppression locks, it still released a divine pressure that slightly distorted the space itself.

There was dead silence in the cabin.

Then, the ground began to shake.

A group of figures wearing robes of dark copper and gray-silver swarmed out.

They walked in step and breathed heavily.

Every mechanical priest of the Mole Science Society carries a heavy and complex mechanical backpack.
The backpack is connected to several psychic pipelines and detection modules.

They retained most of their human bodies, with only partial prosthetics implanted in their arms or chests.
To ensure accuracy and psychic perception strength during operation.

Not a word was spoken.

They simply stared at the three captured machines with burning eyes.

Like a pilgrim gazing upon a miracle for the first time.

…………

the other side.

In the outer orbit of the Tunaras Hub, the astral dust light flows quietly.

Two Courtyard Sword-class frigates were advancing slowly and heavily. Between them, a huge alien life form was being dragged roughly, as if bringing an altar of the god of death into the human realm.

That is the Soul Sucker Empire’s——【Mastermind Three】.

Dozens of [God-killing Nails] were nailed into its surface, and psychic restraint chains penetrated through the deep nerves layer by layer.

The other ends of these chains were wrapped around the engine bases of the two warships. The main body of the dragged [Master Brain Three] was shaped like a giant brain, and its surface was composed of densely packed nerve protrusions.

Its tentacle-like sensory organs drooped in the astral vacuum like a dead snake, and every traction caused a low-frequency mental whine to emanate from it.

It was a moan that could not be heard but could reach deep into the consciousness, making the entire towing route gloomy and cold.

In a half-destroyed crack on its back, one could still see the flickering psychic core deep in its nerve center.
Like an unextinguished malicious star, it struggled desperately between the sealing stakes.

At the end of the route, the restricted area of ​​the Tunaras hub has been fully opened.

It will be nailed into Turanas and become Xia Xiu's "ether wetware" to capture the mind network of the Soul Sucker Empire.

However, Xia Xiu did not enjoy the fruits of his victory immediately.

There's no rush yet.

He knew that now was not the time to win a decisive victory.

The Soul Sucker Empire is currently in a phase of strategic contraction due to the capture of Mastermind Three.

Their mental network was severely damaged, the cluster coordination rate declined, and even if they had high-level combat power, they were afraid to use it because they were afraid of the courtyard.

They are afraid.

And the courtyard finally got a valuable "adjustment window".

It can organize the army, analyze the results of the battle, and place prisoners of war.

You can also heal your wounds, deploy your formation, and accumulate strength for the next, more advanced conquest.

He now wants to visit the imperial guards who were injured in the war.

In this battle, the scribe Araz Trincas;
Thomas Picton, ordnance officer;
Inquisitor Searle Draven;

Grey Knight Joachim Murat.

They were all seriously injured and are currently in a coma.

Xia Xiu now has to rescue his imperial guards from hell.

……

Xia Xiu walked into the ward, where four ether isolation cabins stood quietly, separated from each other.

The surface of the cabin is covered with classical silver inscriptions to stabilize the neural map and suppress soul-level vibrations.

Behind the transparent window, in the dim light, one can vaguely see the four quietly lying figures.

They are the first batch of Sons of the Courtyard.

They are the scars and price behind this victory.

Xia Xiu walked to the center of the four people.

He stopped and slowly raised his right palm from his side.

The next moment, three halos appeared behind him, overlapping each other.

The air suddenly became stagnant.

Then, a roll of blood-red parchment appeared in his left hand.

Xia Xiu stared at the parchment silently, his expression calm.

He whispered silently in his heart:

"Since I recovered the First Apostle, I have unlocked some of the authority of [Fourth Archon Elios]... I have begun to understand what the so-called ability to 'guide flesh and blood' means."

[Elaios], one of the six rulers of Sarkic, is mainly manifested in the control of the harmless [Infinity Covered by Him] of the divine flesh.

It can not only transform, reshape, and proliferate...

It can also awaken, continue and repair.

"No wonder Ion is feared by so many people... Possessing this authority is equivalent to possessing an army of nearly immortal flesh-and-blood enemies."

Xia Xiu sighed inwardly as he raised his hand and tapped the parchment.

A drop of scarlet light emerged from the paper, slowly descending like a falling star, and quickly extending in the air.

Soon, it turned into a tentacle-like ball of flesh and blood, floating quietly in his palm.

It has no heartbeat, but a certain rhythm can be faintly heard.

It has no consciousness, but can respond to the master's will instinctively.

This is no ordinary flesh, this is the supreme flesh and blood under the Sarkic lineage, coming from the body of [His Infinite Coverage] - "God's Flesh".

The "Flesh of God" in his palm began to wriggle and was slowly cut under his mental command.

Like a sculptor cutting a block of stone.

Like gods carving new life.

Xia Xiu pointed his finger, and the cut pieces of divine flesh turned into thin threads of blood and flesh.
It drilled accurately into the broken bones, severed nerves, and torn fascia of the four imperial guards in the recovery cabin.

There is no erosion or mutation. Instead, they are precisely matched and reshaped under the guidance of the original body tissues.

Unlike a virus that spreads, it stitches and repairs a broken body like an embroiderer, and can even reconstruct injuries that were originally impossible to recover from.