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

The three biological warships of the Blood-Eroded Civilization were stationed approximately 800,000 kilometers north of the node defense line, arranged in a loose triangle.

The giant serpent-shaped warship was at the forefront, flanked by the fleshy and skeletal behemoths, with a dense swarm of small biological vessels behind them, like a dark red tide slowly rising and falling in the starry sky.

Three figures hovered directly in front of the fleet.

The tall, blood-scaled man was the first to speak. His voice resonated directly in the consciousness of the other two without being amplified by the surrounding spiritual energy vibrations, and his tone carried an undisguised disdain.

"It's just an outer node, and the strongest guard there is only at the eighth rank. To assign the three of us this kind of work, the elders in the clan are being far too cautious."

The short, stocky four-armed man chuckled softly, crossing his arms over his chest, and said, "Being careful is never a bad thing. The spatial blockade of Tian Shu has been quite troublesome as we flew here."

"Without a jump, just those 800,000 kilometers would be enough for the fleet to crawl for quite a while. If we hadn't hidden in the sub-light speed route beforehand, we would have had a hard time even getting close."

"Once we get close, it'll be over," the gaunt, bone-armored warrior said calmly.

"We're three Tier 8 here, are we supposed to wait for the rear guard? Let's just push forward, destroy that node, and then find the next one. This kind of outlying town won't take long."

The tall, blood-scaled figure did not respond immediately, but instead turned his three cracked face toward the distant Tian Shu main defensive line.

Even though they were 2.2 light-years apart, the light from the main defensive line still faintly reflected on his scales, like a layer of frost that could not be washed off.

The short, stocky man suddenly spoke again, his tone now more serious: "Speaking of which, there are quite a few forces in the Milky Way. If we keep pushing along like this, what if we run into the main force of a level-five civilization like the Cangxing Alliance?"

The tall, blood-scaled man snorted, "Do you think our clan's Holy Lord didn't consider this? The Cangxing Alliance is indeed a Level 5 civilization, but their influence spans the universe; the Milky Way is just a small part of it."

"The forces they're deploying here aren't nearly as strong as they seem, and they don't need to fight us to the death for these natives."

"The Cangxing Alliance is a loan shark, not a charity. They've supported so many investing civilizations, when have they ever truly risked their lives for them?"

"Our true target has always been the native civilization of the Milky Way," the skinny man with the bone armor replied.

"Only by devouring these natives, consuming their spiritual energy, and refining their star cores and civilization foundations can the few in the clan have a chance to cross the threshold of the tenth rank."

"To become a Level 5 civilization, a race must have living beings who have reached the eleventh level of the Ascension Realm."

"Only then will we truly have a place in the universe."

"Alright, let's take this place first."

The tall, blood-scaled creature raised an arm, and red steam seeped from the gaps in its scales, gradually condensing into a slender energy javelin.

"The longer we drag this out, the closer Tian Shu's reinforcements will be. I'll lead the way, and you two will clear the flanks. Don't let any living creature in the city escape."

As soon as he finished speaking, the three biological warships lit up simultaneously.

The giant serpent warship launched the first attack.

Its 200-kilometer-long body suddenly arched, like a real giant snake gathering strength before hunting. The blood mist on its body surface converged towards its head in a very short time, compressing into a dark red ball of light with a diameter of more than ten kilometers at the mouth.

The sphere of light was churning with destructive psionic turbulence, distorting the surrounding space.

Immediately afterwards, the giant serpent warship spat out the ball of light, and the dark red energy torrent, like a blood river piercing through the starry sky, crashed towards the front of the node defense line.

The node defenses reacted almost simultaneously.

Hundreds of psionic turrets on the city's outskirts simultaneously turned their cannons, unleashing beams of blue and white psionic energy that intertwined in mid-air to form a dense network of firepower.

However, the beam did not directly intercept the dark red orb, because all the defenders knew that an attack of that level could not be stopped by the turret.

The real interception came from the middle of the defensive line.

The pillar of light that reached the sky suddenly doubled in brightness, and the golden light expanded outwards in a wide arc.

Above, the light blue shield that had been semi-transparent suddenly stacked seven layers in a very short time, from the outside in: cyan, gray-white, dark silver, light gold, dark green, deep red, and gray-blue.

The seven-layered shield, like seven giant shields of different materials, stood one after another in front of the city.

Before the sirens had even stopped, the northern night sky had already changed color.

Song Chen stood on the combat platform at the edge of the city, the chill of the metal railings seeping into his palms.

He looked up and saw the giant serpent warship, its two-hundred-kilometer-long hull, slowly rotating in the starry sky, like a real living creature adjusting its posture.

Dozens of narrow slits split open on both sides of its head, from which dark red light seeped out, like red-hot iron sheets.

The snake's mouth slowly opened, the angle between the upper and lower jaws widening, and a dark red sphere of light was taking shape deep within.

The color of the sphere of light deepened continuously, from dark red to blood red, until it became so bright that it was impossible to look directly at it.

The starry sky around it was distorted, and the starlight was stretched into thin arcs that circled the sphere of light like a crumpled black cloth.

"What is that?" Song Chen murmured to himself.

Beside him, a heavily armored soldier from the Rock Iron Civilization raised his rock-formed head and replied in a deep voice, "They call that a Blood Tide. On other battlefields, it can wipe out an entire asteroid city in one go."

Song Chen didn't ask any more questions.

In that instant, he heard a huge buzzing sound coming from below the city.

The sound traveled directly through the metal floor, through the bones, and through the star core in the dantian.

He looked down and saw that the light pillar at the central spatial node was changing color.

The golden runes seemed to be ignited, and the beam of light turned from gold to a dazzling silver-white, like a reverse-flowing galaxy, frantically pouring energy into the shield generator.

Then the sky above his head began to brighten, and layers of shields unfolded.

The moment all seven layers of shields were in place, the giant serpent warship's attack began.

Song Chen could feel how chaotic the energy inside that thing was. Even though it was hundreds of kilometers away and there were seven layers of shields, his skin felt as hot as if it were being roasted by fire.

The star's core was also spinning wildly, a warning that danger was approaching.

All Song Chen could see was white, and he instinctively closed his eyes.

A tremendous force came from the direction of the city, pushing him backward half a meter.

When he opened his eyes again, the first and second layers of shields were gone.

Fragments of blue and grayish-white light fell from above like snowflakes, hitting the street and sending up bursts of psionic sparks.

But the ball of light had also thinned out, and its flight speed had noticeably slowed down, as if it were being squeezed from both sides by something.

Instead of directly blocking the third layer of dark silver shield, six silver-white light bands popped out from the shield's surface, like six soft arms, wrapping around the light sphere from the side.