The Last Sentinel

At noon, accompanied by a low engine roar above the Taibai Restaurant, a spaceship appeared outside the window.

Aside from the Grand Secretary, who is second only to the Emperor in power in the Ming Dynasty, no one else would dare to be so arrogant and domineering as to fly a spaceship in such a bustling aristocratic city.

Ye Feng had already tidied himself up and was waiting for this moment.

For Ye Feng, calculating the time, it had been almost two months since he left.

At a time exchange rate of 1 to 10, about a week has passed back to my hometown.

In just one week, although he didn't make many breakthroughs in his cultivation level, he made significant progress in his combat power. In particular, through his battles with Meng Xinghun and Mu, who were exponentially powerful satellite space warriors, Ye Feng's combat power increased exponentially.

It's time to go back and take a look.

"Ye Feng!" Yan Shifan's voice came. "He's gone!"

Ye Feng pushed open the window, jumped out, and entered the spaceship.

With a whoosh, the antique-style wooden boat-shaped spaceship soared into the sky, leaving the two star systems and breaking through their spatial bubble.

Inside the spaceship, Yan Shifan's expression was not good; he frowned and rubbed a pair of antique beads.

Ye Feng said, "Sir, Hai Rui came to see me this morning."

Yan Shifan asked, "Hai Gangfeng? What does he want with you?"

Ye Feng said, "Inquire about matters related to Zhou Yunyi."

Upon hearing Ye Feng's words, Yan Shifan sighed, "As expected, the truth can't be hidden forever. The Prince Yu's Mansion and the Qingliu faction all know!"

Ye Feng said, "Hai Rui said that Zhou Yunyi invented a very remarkable item..."

"It's not an invention," Yan Shifan said. "To be precise, it's a restoration! Zhou Yunyi restored a door, or rather, a path. This door is called the [Meridian Astral Path]!"

Ye Feng asked, "The ecliptic? What's that?"

Yan Shifan, with his hands behind his back, said, "The name 'Ziwu Huangdao' was given by His Majesty. Its true form is a treasure, originating from the first cataclysmic Chaos Star Sea Treasure Land, Golden Land. It is a Chaos-type treasure obtained by Li Wenzhong, the God of War of the Ming Dynasty, when he ventured into Golden Land. This treasure has not seen much progress for a long time. It is rare that Zhou Yunyi has thoroughly studied this item, and even repaired it. However, after completing the 'Ziwu Huangdao,' Zhou Yunyi embarked on this 'Ziwu Huangdao,' and then saw some things he had never seen before. Subsequently, he chose to betray the Ming Dynasty and the Empire."

"Zhou Yunyi, in collusion with the Chaos Star Sea, persuaded Meng Xinghun, a prodigy of the Chaos Star Sea, to break the rules of Baiyujing and rescue him from the Meridian Gate in exchange for the complete version of the [Meridian Zodiac]. Meng Xinghun originally thought he could obtain the [Meridian Zodiac], but man proposes, God disposes. Meng Xinghun encountered you, and Zhou Yunyi was completely freed. Without Meng Xinghun's control, Zhou Yunyi is now truly like a fish in the sea, a bird in the sky, completely unrestrained!"

After listening, Ye Feng read aloud, "What about the [Meridian Zodiac]?"

Yan Shifan said, "You'll see in a moment."

Ye Feng asked, "Does the master mean that you will come back with me and take the 'Meridian Astral Path'?"

Yan Shifan smiled without saying a word, but it was clear that he intended to take the "Meridian Path".

Ye Feng couldn't help but feel uneasy. If the [Meridian Zodiac] could allow people to trace themselves back to their ancestral star, did that mean that the Seven Warlords of the Sea he brought might also lead the other three major forces—Chaos Star Sea, Mechanical Zenith Star, and Entropy Silence Zerg—back to their home planet?

The more Ye Feng thought about it, the more he felt that things would develop in this direction.

If things really develop this way, then the three major powers can continuously draw talent from their homelands and then use that talent to revive the glorious Tang Dynasty, the domineering Qin Dynasty, and the powerful Han Dynasty!

Then, won't the next thing be internal strife and internal war?

I must prevent the emergence of the [Meridian Zodiac] and launch a human alliance to encircle and annihilate the three major forces!

But soon, Ye Feng remembered Jiajing and the last words Jiajing left for him.

Beyond the six directions, the sage remains silent.

Within the six directions, the sage discusses but does not debate.

Don't meddle in other people's business. Let them run wild. I, Jiajing, and the Great Ming Empire will back you up!

Perhaps my actions in obstructing this might accelerate the plans of the three major powers.

Perhaps Jiajing was right; his failure to stop it was the biggest obstacle he could face.

Anyway, if the sky falls, the tallest person will be hit first. If things really go wrong, the Emperor Jiajing, who lived for five thousand years, will pay the price, and the Ming Dynasty will pay the price. I'm just a sentry, a soldier. My duty is to bring those wanderers home and do my job well.

Just then, the entire spaceship began to tremble. This sensation was a sign that the engine was overclocking and accelerating wildly.

Yan Shifan stood up and went to the front of the spaceship's cockpit. In his left hand, a dark golden cube of energy that shimmered with golden light appeared. The moment the dark golden energy cube was sunk into the spaceship, the entire spaceship hissed and released a powerful trail of flames. This trail of flames almost converged into a visible protective shield, enveloping the entire spaceship.

"Ye Feng," Yan Shifan said, "After activating the [Meridian Zodiac], I will temporarily lose my combat power due to the restrictions of the laws of spacetime and the laws of my home planet. I will only retain the most basic human state. If I encounter trouble, I'm afraid I will need your help."

Ye Feng smiled and said, "Don't worry, sir, Ye Feng is absolutely reliable."

Yan Shifan suddenly raised his hand and pushed the engine stick. A series of twinkling stars appeared on the spaceship's huge screen. These stars suddenly shone brightly and connected with each other to form a huge star gate.

Ye Feng looked at the gleaming stars. "The twelve zodiacal stars?"

Yan Shifan, with his hands behind his back, said, "Longevity Star, Great Fire, Ximu, Xingji, Xuanxiao, Juzi, Jianglou, Daliang, Shichen, Quail Head, Quail Fire, Quail Tail."

Ye Feng seemed to be deep in thought. "During the 1999 Planet Defense War, the Ancestral Star Alliance fought a major battle with the Sabbit Expeditionary Force at the Xuanxiao Star Gate."

Yan Shifan nodded and said, "I know. I can also tell you that the Xuanxiao Star Gate is the weakest star gate among all the invasions from the myriad realms."

Ye Feng asked, "The weakest star gate, sir, what do you mean?"

Yan Shifan said, "The wars waged against us by all the worlds have never ceased. The invasion of the Sabitians was the most recent one. At that time, they invaded through twenty-four star gates, namely the twelve zodiacal star gates in the east and the twelve constellation gates of Emperor Terra. Among them, the Ming Empire was responsible for the five major star gates of Shouxing, Dahuo, Ximu, Xingji, and Juzi; the mechanical forces of the Zenith Star were responsible for the seven major star gates of Jianglou, Daliang, Shichen, Chunshou, Chunhuo, Chunwei, and Xuanxiao; the Chaos Star Sea was responsible for the five major star gates of Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, and Leo; and the Entropy Silence Zerg were responsible for the seven major star gates of Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces."

"The myriad realms suddenly reinforced their forces at the Xuanxiao Star Gate, causing the Xuanxiao Star Gate, which was under the control of the Zenith Star's mechanical forces, to break open. Taking advantage of this, the Sabitians invaded the Milky Way, attempting to destroy the Supreme Arena!"

"There was no other way. The Zenith forces released Zenith technology to the Supreme Arena, which allowed you to arm your Star River Fleet overnight and launch a counterattack."

Upon hearing this, Ye Feng was shocked. "The four major powers have actually joined forces to fight against all the myriad realms?"

Yan Shifan smiled slightly, "Otherwise what? Although the four major powers look down on each other and each wants to kill the other, if one of them really dies, the other three powers will panic. Because for them, losing even one person means they can't withstand the invasion of the myriad realms. This is why they can't stand each other, but they have to tolerate each other's sliver of hope instead of sending their experts to kill each other's geniuses!"

"Alright, we're about to time travel!"

The spaceship emitted intense starlight, merging with the light of the twelve zodiac constellations. At that moment, the meridian appeared on the horizon, and that golden meridian seemed to break through the barriers of time and space.

"Ye Feng, unleash the imprint of your hometown! Recall the coordinates of your ancestral star!"

Ye Feng immediately contacted his main body. The next moment, the spaceship was pulled by this force and rushed into the meridian, entering the [Meridian Ecliptic]!

Accompanied by intense dizziness and discomfort, a familiar cosmic law descended, and a familiar divine source reaction appeared.

"I'm back!"

"How nostalgic!"

Yan Shifan lay weakly in the captain's seat. "The winds of the desolate universe have finally blown to our homeland. From now on, going home is no longer an exclusive act for those above the Venerable Realm. We low-level cultivators can also go home."

Ye Feng was astonished as he listened to Yan Shifan's words. "Exclusive to the Venerable Realm? Doesn't that mean that the Barbarian God's cultivation level is the Venerable Realm?"

Could there also be Venerable Realm experts in that empire? Was Jiajing a Venerable Realm expert?

It should be.

The South Heavenly Gate of the Human Alliance looks just like a foreign affairs office of the Jiajing Emperor...

A strong turbulence was coming; the spaceship was passing through the atmosphere, undergoing the scrutiny of the fundamental laws...