From the Abyss Invasion to the Blasting Star.

Energy is the hard currency of advanced stages of civilization.

Even before the Abyss Era, oil represented an energy source and was valued as hard currency.

As civilization levels continue to rise, energy will become an increasingly important form of hard currency.

For example, on the abandoned old-world industrial planet of the Sykes civilization, the Sykes citizens who remained on the desolate planet used batteries as hard currency.

However, the essence of batteries as a form of hard currency is still related to energy.

The history of human civilization can also be seen as a history of energy development.

From firewood to coal, from oil to nuclear energy, these transformations have repeatedly reshaped human life and society.

Every energy innovation triggers an energy revolution.

Now, under Lu Heng's leadership, humanity has launched a technological leap forward plan.

The first step in technological advancement is to break through the bottlenecks in energy technology.

In fact.

The energy technology bottleneck for human civilization emerged as early as the last century.

The use of nuclear energy is a revolution.

However, fission nuclear energy poses a risk of nuclear contamination, so it cannot be used on a large scale.

Before the Abyss Era, only a few countries with cutting-edge technology were capable of building nuclear power plants.

It can be said that fission nuclear energy is only the initial exploration of this advanced energy by mankind.

The realization of controlled nuclear fusion technology is essential to triggering a true energy revolution.

The abyss descended, bringing crisis to humanity and even causing a reduction of over a billion people in the population of Earth within three years.

The threat of the Abyss is considerable, but the summoning will that accompanied the Abyss invasion also brought humanity into contact with a world of higher civilization.

After witnessing the combination of Xavier technology and the Dark Iron Dwarves, Lu Hengcai resolutely pushed forward this technological leap.

With the leap in human technology, controlled nuclear fusion technology was mastered in just three months.

And with the help of Xavier Technologies, nuclear fusion technology began to be miniaturized.

This means that humanity will rapidly enter an era of abundant energy.

Because of nuclear fusion technology, there is no nuclear pollution, and the environmental pollution is even less than that of thermal power generation.

Therefore, after the breakthrough in controlled nuclear fusion technology, Daxia simultaneously launched dozens of fusion power plant projects, planning to use fusion power plants to illuminate the Chinese mainland.

The value of controlled nuclear fusion technology far exceeds what most people imagine.

Because the fuel used in nuclear fusion is deuterium, which is an isotope of hydrogen.

Deuterium is abundant in seawater; it is present in a certain proportion of the two hydrogen atoms in seawater molecules.

Human scientists have calculated that the energy produced by the fusion of deuterium in one liter of seawater is equivalent to the energy released by burning 300 liters of gasoline.

What is this concept?
A typical car fuel tank holds about 50 liters when full.

In other words, 166 milliliters of deuterium in seawater can provide the energy equivalent to filling a car with gasoline.

If a car engine could use fusion energy, simply pouring a ladle of seawater into it would allow it to travel 700 to 800 kilometers.

Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are more convenient; floating at sea, they are practically perpetual motion machines.

If the raw material is purified deuterium, the energy density is even higher.

Nuclear fusion reactions also have another raw material, which is another isotope of hydrogen, tritium.

This substance is relatively scarce in nature, but can be easily produced through the reaction of neutrons with lithium. The lithium contained in the oceans of the blue planet is sufficient to support long-term demand.

This means that once humanity masters nuclear fusion technology, the energy supply will be virtually inexhaustible.

……

In May of the fourth year after the abyss descended, human civilization officially entered the nuclear fusion energy revolution.

Dramatic changes began to occur in all aspects of society, life, and the military.

Not only that.

Human armies have begun to gradually master Xavier Technology's nuclear bomb manufacturing technology, significantly reducing the radiation pollution from nuclear bombs.

Combined with nuclear contamination cleanup technology, this allows humanity to use nuclear weapons on a large scale to launch long-range strikes against the demons of the abyss.

Beginning in May of the fourth year after the Abyss descended, humanity launched its first counterattack against the Abyss's encroachment, clearing large areas of mist and eliminating an immeasurable number of Abyss demons.

Beyond nuclear weapons, with the ongoing energy revolution, energy weapons have become more widespread, giving human armies greater retaliatory capabilities when facing abyssal demons.

……

With the addition of astral merchants to the Swordholder Alliance, and with the help of astral technology, the Swordholder Alliance acquired astral communication technology.

This allows members of the Swordholder Alliance to communicate without crossing world boundaries.

After this astral communication technology was implemented, Lu Heng convened the first meeting of all the Swordholders.

Azik arranged a council chamber for the Swordholders on the Astral Merchant Ship.

A circular table was set up in the council chamber. Lu Heng and Azik attended the meeting in their physical forms, while the other Swordholder members projected holographic images into the meeting room through astral communication technology.

After the meeting began, members of the Swordholders from various civilizations appeared one after another.

Queen Orianna appeared first. She was already a demigod, and even though she appeared as a holographic projection, she exuded a divine aura that made people want to look up to her.

She looked around and exclaimed, "Astral communication is amazing; it seems even more magical than magic."

In fact, from a certain perspective, magic is the technology of the magical world.

Whether it's technology or magic, both are methods that intelligent beings learn and study to master and utilize the rules of the world to serve themselves.

The astral technology possessed by the astral merchants was seen by the elves as a kind of magical enchantment.

Then, the high priestess Sona of the Siren Clan appeared with a stream of water, turning the surrounding environment a deep blue.

"Long time no see, I never thought I would see so many friends in the tidal sea one day."

After that, Soreville Copper Furnace, Master Gollum, Mia, and Xavier Matrix appeared one after another.

After a few pleasantries, Lu Heng spoke up: "This is the first online meeting of the Swordholders. We can continue to communicate through online meetings in the future."

"Azik will serve as the Swordholder's communications officer, responsible for online meetings."

At this point, Lu Heng turned to look at Azik and expressed his approval of his work.

"From now on, the Swordholder Alliance will strengthen cooperation, help each other, and work together to find a way to defeat the Abyss."

"First, we need to try to study the relationship between the Abyss and the will to summon, and investigate the reasons for the emergence of the Abyss Battlefield. In this way, we can try to influence the summoning patterns of the Abyss Battlefield." Everyone listened and thought at the same time, and they all agreed with the goal proposed by Lu Heng.

To date, no one knows what the abyss really is.

Similarly, they didn't know what the will to conscript was.

The only certainty is that the Abyss and the Will of Conscription appear to be hostile.

This created two opposing camps between civilized races and abyssal races, and the enmity between them was fundamentally irreconcilable.

Lu Heng continued, "What is certain at present is that there is indeed a way to influence conscription. Because the Zero Civilization possesses this technology."

"I obtained a document from the Zero Civilization about influence recruitment, but its contents are beyond the scope of human cognition."

"Therefore, I plan to pass this information on to everyone so that we can study the patterns of the summoning of will together."

The method of influence recruitment provided by the Zero Civilization has been given to Azik, who will then compile it into a language and transmit it to the Swordholder members present.

Queen Alleanna, having already received the information, replied, "I will convene the scholars of the Arcane Council to study this information, and if there are any findings, I will share them with everyone."

Sona and Soreville Bronze Furnace both indicated they would try to study the matter and share their findings.

Lu Heng turned to Azik and continued, "I also asked the Zero Civilization about the technology for maintaining the properties of fluorescent plants, but I didn't get any results. The technology they possess is the same as your ecosphere technology."

"However, I also asked the elven druids for help. They have a talent for planting, so maybe we'll have some success."

Azik said gratefully, "Thank you all for your help. If my people are ever able to find a new world to live in, I will definitely repay you all."

Sorelwell Bronze Furnace hadn't had a chance to interject until the previous topics were finished, at which point he finally found an opening:

"I have some good news to share with everyone: my kingdom has built a demigod forge and has successfully forged a demigod-level weapon."

"If you need anything in the future, as long as there are enough forging materials, our forging masters are willing to help you."

Even for races with deep historical roots like the elves and the siren, demigod weapons are rare treasures.

Therefore, the civilizations present all had a high demand for demigod forges.

Soreville Copper Furnace's words immediately attracted everyone's attention.

He turned to the side and introduced, "This Master Gollum is the master blacksmith of our Dark Iron Dwarf Kingdom. Mr. Lu Heng's weapon is his creation."

Master Gulu waved his hand somewhat shyly; his low-key nature made him uncomfortable with such flattery.

In the end, only the Banser tribe couldn't offer any help, which left Mia a little disappointed.

After the meeting, Lu Heng and Mia had a private chat for a while.

Mia sighed, "You are all too powerful. There's nothing I can do to help you."

Lu Heng smiled, squatted down slightly, looked into her eyes, and said, "Don't think too much. The original intention of the Swordholders is to help each other. Once you have developed, you will naturally be able to repay everyone."

Mia took a deep breath, clenched her fist, and said, "Don't worry. I will definitely make the Bansel tribe strong."

After the meeting, the various civilizations exchanged information on some important resources.

For example, information about class-based qualities and divine qualities.

Some resources exist in places that are too dangerous for a single civilization to access, and some are even inaccessible. However, by combining the power of the Swordholder Alliance, these problems can be easily solved.

After obtaining several pieces of information about fifth-tier job-level source materials, Lu Heng and Azik discussed it and decided to take Mia, along with Su Muyu, Lin Zeyu, and Xie Shi'en, and set off together to obtain them.

The worlds containing these class-specific resources are inaccessible through normal means, but with Lu Heng's astral travels and Azik's astral merchant ships working together, they overcame spatial barriers and obtained these resources.

After this trip, Lin Zeyu finally obtained the fifth-tier job skill [Eye of Radios], which increased his target locking distance from 100 kilometers to 10000 kilometers, officially allowing him to enter the realm of deep space.

With Lu Heng's help, Mia also obtained a fifth-tier class during this adventure, becoming the first warrior of the Banser tribe to obtain a fifth-tier class.

The Banser ethnic group has a population of over 200,000 and has entered a stage of rapid development.

Having a high-ranking leader to protect the tribe allows for a period of safe development.

……

Azik also learned about several worlds with special plants through the Elven Tree of Knowledge, and prepared to go and see if these worlds were suitable for the growth of fluorescent plants.

During his exploration of these worlds, Lu Heng also met Lismavi, the leader of the Astral Merchant Civilization.

After meeting with Lismavi, Lin Zeyu brought up the matter of purchasing an astral merchant ship again.

Lismavi stated that they are indeed building small astral merchant ships for sale, but they cannot be completed in the short term.

As for the purchase price, it is currently beyond the reach of human civilization.

The main issue is that the high-value resources currently available to humanity are not of much help to astral merchants.

However, after speaking with Lismavie, Azik promised to give away an astral merchant ship for free if they could find a world suitable for the growth of fluorescent plants, or if the Swordholder Alliance helped them develop the technology to cultivate fluorescent plants.

Finding a suitable environment for fluorescent plants to grow is basically a matter of luck.

However, the elven druids have the potential to research and cultivate fluorescent plants.

If it succeeds, it will be a salvation for the astral merchants.

The astral merchant ships gifted by the astral merchants were a huge help to the Swordholder Alliance.

……

Time has entered the fourth month of the Abyss Era.

Human civilization and technology are advancing at an accelerated pace. At the same time, good news comes from the Siren Clan: High Priestess Sona, with the power of the Sea God's Scepter, initiated an ascension ceremony at the Vashj Temple and ascended to become a demigod.

This means that the Tidal Sea has once again welcomed a demigod, who, with the blessing of the Sea God's Scepter, can unleash even greater power.

The appearance of the Siren demigods also brought the Siren race, which had originally split into three tribes, back together, forming a more powerful tribe that began to suppress the Blackscale Demons' living space.

After Sona ascended to demigod status, she began planning to reclaim the Tidal Sea.

The invasion of the Blackscale Demons led to the Blackscale Demons taking control of the Bodi Sea, which was once the richest resource area in the Tidal Sea.

The Siren Clan split into three tribes after migrating from the Bodi Sea.

One of the key reasons Sona was able to unite the three divided tribes was her promise to reclaim the Bodhi Sea.

That is the birthplace of the Siren race.

However, it would be difficult for the Siren Clan to reclaim this sea area with their strength alone, and even if they succeeded, the casualties would be extremely heavy.

Therefore, during the second online meeting of the Swordholders Alliance, she proposed to Lu Heng a joint attack on the Blackscale Demon territory.

The Alliance of Swordholders had successfully destroyed the Shadow Demon world before, making that collaboration a great success.

If Sona can persuade Lu Heng to help, the chances of success for this plan will greatly increase. (End of Chapter)