High Martial Arts: Slay enemies to become stronger, forge invincibility from billions of corpses.

Song Chen doesn't care about the temperature; the heat generated inside his body by his four million units of Qi and blood is enough to keep him warm even in an absolute zero environment.

His daily routine was monotonous: he practiced the first eight strikes of the Star-Splitting Slash repeatedly in the morning, reducing the time from the first strike to the eighth strike from 0.5 seconds to 0.3 seconds.

In the afternoon, I meditated and introspected to check if there were any hidden dangers left by the sudden increase in my physical attributes, including my meridians, bones, and internal organs.

I practice mental perception at night to stabilize the detection range of several thousand kilometers and improve accuracy.

He even specifically tested the ninth strike once. He found an open area, charged up for 1.5 seconds, and slashed. The ninth strike cleaved a rock about eight kilometers in diameter in the debris field into powder—not split, but completely pulverized. But after the strike, his right arm lost sensation again, the rotation speed of his star core plummeted, and he was almost rendered incapable of fighting within two seconds.

On the tenth night, though I say night is just a habit, the desolate star has no morning or evening.

Song Chen stood on the wreckage of the asteroid he had shattered and unleashed his Star-Splitting Slash one last time.

The blade's light crisscrossed in the void, each trajectory precise to the millimeter level.

"It's time to go back."

Song Chen said to himself.

He returned to the cockpit of the jump ship, closed the hatch, and started the engine.

The life support system restarted, the cabin was filled with recirculated and filtered air, and the temperature returned to normal.

With the warp drive fully warmed up, Song Chen set his destination as Judgment Star and pushed down the warp lever.

……

When we returned to Judgment Star, the standard time there was 3 PM.

Song Chen docked the jump boat at berth number three in the seventh berth area.

He was just about to go to the logistics department when the terminal on his wrist suddenly vibrated.

He knew all too well the dark gold flame emblem on the encrypted frequency band and the energy signature—Lal Aurelion Castor, his investor.

"Come to the investment department."

It's just this one very simple sentence.

Song Chen looked down at the words on the terminal screen for about five seconds.

He didn't leave immediately, but leaned against the alloy railing along the corridor for a while.

The psionic lights in the berth area illuminated the corridor, and the rhythmic sound of patrol robots' tracks rolling over the deck receded into the distance.

A heavy cruiser from the Department of Punishment was entering the harbor, its engine exhaust flames shining through the translucent portholes and casting ever-changing orange shadows on the corridor walls.

Song Chen was thinking about something. He had been in seclusion in the void for ten days, and when he returned to Judgment Star, he hadn't even had a chance to sit down properly before Ral's message arrived.

What does this mean? It means that Ral may already know about the changes in his strength.

Song Chen wasn't afraid, but Lar had placed a huge bet on him: permanent interest-free loans, permanent exemption from penalties, free access to technical files below level three, and a Black Crystal Token to recommend him to the disciplinary department. Any one of these things could buy the lives of hundreds of seventh-tier individuals.

An investor will not easily destroy the project they believe in most, at least not while the project still has value.

But even though he's not afraid, he still needs to give an explanation.

When I last saw Lar, he made up a story called "Meteor Legacy" to cover up the origin of the four Star Core combat techniques.

This time, what Lars wants to ask is: How can you gain millions of points of health and spirit in ten days?

Meteorite inheritance cannot explain this.

Let alone the Meteor Inheritance, even if you turned the entire cultivation system of the Azure Star Alliance upside down, you wouldn't find such a rapid improvement.

Unless it was achieved through some extreme means, such as forbidden techniques that burn life potential, evil cultivation methods that devour other life forms, or simply not through cultivation at all.

He certainly didn't achieve this through cultivation, but that can't be said.

As Song Chen walked towards the portal hall, he mentally considered several possible explanations.

Five minutes later, he arrived at the portal hall.

The quantum portals remained quietly arranged in a ring, with dozens of mirrors simultaneously shimmering with pale blue quantum fluctuations.

He swiped the disciplinary department terminal and selected the headquarters of Liuguangxing Investment Department.

"Target confirmed: Investment Department, Galaxy Branch, Flowing Star Main City. Please proceed."

The surface of the portal rippled, and the quantum fluctuations spread from the center to the edges.

The reflection in the mirror wasn't his image, but rather the golden dome of the reception hall of the Flowing Star Investment Department.

Song Chen took a deep breath and stepped into the portal.

The quantum ripples of the portal converged from all directions, and his boots landed on the ground of the headquarters of the Flowing Star Investment Department.

The last time he came here was with the delegation to sign a contract. At that time, he had just broken through to the seventh level and knew nothing about this universe. He didn't even dare to breathe loudly as he walked down the corridor of the investment department.

Things are different now. Although his strength is still average, at least his steps are steady.

On the dome of the reception hall, there is still that star map mural that occupies the entire ceiling.

A woman in the investment department's standard uniform walked over: "Mr. Song Chen, Director Lars is waiting for you in his office. Please come with me."

Song Chen followed her through the corridor. The huge signing hall where the last contract was signed was on the left, but this time they turned to the right.

The corridor on the right was noticeably quieter than the one on the left, with fewer decorations on the walls, but of better quality.

The light from the psionic lamps dimmed automatically at the end of the corridor, where a silver-gray alloy door stood quietly.

The receptionist stopped at the door, bowed slightly, and then stepped aside.

The alloy door slid open silently.

Lal's office was smaller than Song Chen had imagined, but what was inside made his eyelids twitch.

The desk was carved from the core of a single ninth-order psionic crystal core; the value of this desk alone was enough to buy several second-level civilizations.

A shattered suit of armor hung on the wall; judging from the energy burn marks on it, it had been pierced by an attack of at least the tenth rank.

In the corner stood a semi-transparent display case, which displayed more than a dozen ores and crystals of various shapes. The spiritual energy fluctuations emitted by each piece caused Song Chen's star core to tremble slightly. Any one of those things could start a war in the Milky Way if taken out.

Lall sat behind his desk, the dark golden flame mark on his forehead shining even brighter than when they last met.

He sat casually, one hand on the armrest of the chair, the other swiping on a data screen on the table.

Seeing Song Chen come in, he pointed to the chair opposite the desk: "Don't be nervous, I don't have as many rules as the disciplinary department here, sit down."

Song Chen walked over and sat down. The chair had an alloy frame and a cushion made of some kind of biological leather, and it was much more comfortable to sit on than it looked.

His back was ramrod straight, he looked a little nervous, and Lars had a very strong presence.

A super strongman at the peak of the ninth-order True Star Realm, one of the top 100 combat power in the entire Milky Way. Even if he concealed his aura completely, just sitting there gave people the feeling of facing a star.

Lars glanced at him, his gaze like an invisible scalpel, sweeping from Song Chen's head to his feet.

It swept over every meridian, every bone, and every inch of muscle.

Song Chen could feel his blood and spirit completely exposed under that gaze, leaving him no room to hide.