Bengtie: My death fueled their madness.

When Mianxue returned home, she happened to see Jingliu bringing dishes to the table.

"Senior Mianxue."

"Congratulations on your triumphant return. I'm not much older than you, so there's no need to address me as a senior."

Having lived in Yaoqing for over ten years, Mianxue still occasionally communicates with people unconsciously using the colloquial language from her Cangcheng days.

Unlike Cangcheng, Yaoqing, influenced by its close cooperation with the Interstellar Peace Company, has the most modern vernacular language among all the immortal ships.

"Yes, Senior Mianxue." Jingliu nodded.

"..."

Helpless, Mianxue glanced left and right and, not seeing Qi Zhimu and Qinghan, knew what they were doing.

Just as they thought of this, the two of them walked out from around the corner of the corridor.

Seeing the smile on her younger sister's face, and the tenderness and gratitude in her eyes as she looked at Qi Zhimu's back, the outcome was self-evident.

"Thank you for taking care of my younger sister all this time, Master Zhimu."

"Better early than late, let's get ready to eat." Qi Zhimu didn't dwell on these formalities.

Mianxue's sincerity and loyalty were far more touching than her words of thanks.

At the dinner table, Jingliu couldn't help but steal glances at Qinghan from the corner of his eye.

Even though Qinghan was wearing loose, casual loungewear, it couldn't hide her full, alluring curves.

Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her eyes were bright and spirited; she was radiant.

It's as if it was nourished by something not long ago.

Jingliu felt a pang of unease as the detailed information about that subject that he had gathered through Yu Zhao floated into his mind.

However, she was able to comfort herself by telling herself that it was nothing.

It has always been an unspoken agreement among everyone that one should not speak while eating.

Jingliu only spoke after everyone had put down their bowls and chopsticks.

"Master, I have accepted the mission. Tomorrow I will continue the expedition. This time it is quite far, more than eighty light-years away from the Yaoqing Immortal Ship."

Qi Zhimu's gaze fell on Jing Liu's face. After looking at it carefully for a moment, a word involuntarily popped into his mind.

—My little girl is growing up.

Jingliu was certainly not his daughter, but ever since he took her as his disciple, he had been raising her as a descendant of the Qi family.

Now, she is no longer the frail girl who could only wait to die when faced with evil creatures and could only survive by being saved by others.

Although they started late, they persevered through hellish training and made tremendous progress through countless efforts and sweat.

Looking at the history of the Qi family, she absolutely deserves the title of outstanding.

But how many of the equally outstanding descendants of the Qi family also died young?

While there are cases of small and medium-sized battles where all troops returned victorious, there has never been a large-scale expeditionary campaign.

"Large" is a very general term, but a few points remain constant—

The people you eat with today may be gone tomorrow.

The recruits praised today may disappear tomorrow.

The superior you argued with today, whether it was your adjutant or a colleague, might be gone tomorrow.

The troops you encouraged and fought alongside today may be gone tomorrow.

A large-scale battle is bound to be ten or even a hundred times larger than a medium-sized battle. It is brutal, and every time you experience it firsthand, you will have a completely new understanding of it.

What numbs our emotions is not witnessing life and death, but parting.

"You don't have to report everything to me. As long as you don't act recklessly, you can go kill those monstrous creatures whenever you want."

Qi Zhimu suppressed his complicated thoughts and spoke in a normal tone.

After saying this, he realized that he had selfish motives, and the fear that had been lurking deep in his heart since his mother showed signs of demonic influence resurfaced at this moment.

He was afraid of losing this only disciple whom he had been grooming as his successor.

When did it start to become like this...?

Mingming believed that from the moment her mother passed away and Cangcheng fell, she had nothing left to lose.

Qi Zhimu remained silent.

Jingliu didn't seem to care about his master's calm tone; instead, a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips: "Yes, Master."

As long as you don't overdo it—aren't these five words the essence of caring?

enough.

It doesn't matter if there's no place for her in Master's heart; it's enough that he cares about this area.

As for anything else, she doesn't expect anything more at the moment.

……

Time flies like an arrow.

In the blink of an eye, it has reached the year 6318 in the astrological calendar.

Jingliu has participated in forty-nine medium-sized expeditionary battles, and is only one battle away from meeting the requirements that Qi Zhimu made back then.

Completing all training programs in one day is no longer a problem for her.

At Yaoqing's various military ports, the roar of patrol fleets taking off and landing never ceased, day and night.

Jingliu, clad in a turquoise standard light battle armor, stood on the observation platform of Zhen-88 port.

Her long, icy-black hair fluttered slightly with the airflow from the rising and falling of the starship, and her face, which had long lost its youthful innocence, was now filled with the sharpness honed by countless battles.

"Report to the captain, resupply complete 97%." The adjutant's voice came through the communicator.

"All personnel board the ship and await orders," Kagami ordered.

Over the years, she has made outstanding military achievements and has been promoted to captain of the 1753rd front-line detachment of Dangewei.

The target this time is several rich lairs of monstrous creatures in a certain star system.

Five thousand cavalry captains each led their own troops, totaling more than five million soldiers, to launch the campaign.

Intelligence indicates that the activities of the monstrous creatures there have been unusually active recently, and there is a trend of them spreading.

The mission is rated as medium to high, but the Taipusi simulation results indicate that there are certain risks.

She had seen similar assessment results many times.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the result this time will be no different.

When the time came, the commander-in-chief ordered the departure.

The imposing fleet of warships departed from the port, left the Yaoqing Realm Gate, and disappeared into the vast sea of ​​stars.

During the six months that followed, the battle reports that came back every three days were mostly positive.

During the Jingliu Expedition, Qi Zhimu was not idle either. He led the Cloud Cavalry Army to wipe out hundreds of abundant and exotic species.

Unbeknownst to many, most of the hundreds of thousands of Cloud Cavalry soldiers who survived in Cangcheng came under his direct command.

Such a remarkable record has led to the widespread dissemination of Qi Zhimu's deeds among the common people of Yaoqing and among the Yunqi Army, whose numbers are in the hundreds of millions.

Many people asserted that he would definitely assume the position of Chief of the Cloud Cavalry.

Unfortunately, every year we say the same thing, but every year we're wrong.

The sword pommel remained suspended in mid-air, and the general never gave Qi Zhimu any orders, which was puzzling.

"Welcome back in triumph, Lord Zhimu!!!"

Above the military port, countless warships pierced the sky, while deafening cheers from the staff below echoed through the heavens.

Back at the Yunqi main camp, Dongtian, Qi Zhimu, holding his helmet, joined the entire army in a solemn salute to General Shafeng.

"General, I have not failed in my mission."

"Thank you for bringing back good news, but unfortunately... I have bad news for you."

"Speaking."

"As you return to Yaoqing, a team engaged in a medium-sized battle sends a distress signal... Jingliu is among them."

Upon hearing this, Qi Zhimu's eyes instantly sharpened.