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

Song Chen said, "Lord Ral, I've arrived."

Lal turned around, his face pale and his skin covered in a layer of ashen. He looked at Song Chen and forced a smile: "You're back."

Are you injured?

Lal waved his hand: "It's a minor injury. It was just two level 10 beings colliding. I got hit by the aftershocks, but it's nothing serious."

Song Chen was shocked. The aftershocks of a clash between tenth-level Radiant Transformation Realm cultivators were enough to severely injure anyone below the tenth level.

Lal said it was nothing serious, but the injury clearly had reached the root of the problem.

He suddenly understood why the main battlefield of Tian Shu had turned out that way. Even a strong person like Lar was seriously injured by the aftershocks. The ordinary soldiers here were really just numbers.

"Have a seat," Ral said, gesturing to the chair next to him.

Song Chen walked over and sat down.

Lar spoke first, his tone as concise and forceful as ever: "I'm relieved you came back alive from the node. Tell me about what happened there."

Song Chen recounted how the node was breached, from the enemy's five Tier 8 units surrounding the city, to the destruction of 90% of the defense line, to Zefar's order to retreat.

He put it simply, but Lal listened attentively without interrupting.

After Song Chen finished speaking, Lar slowly said, "It's already quite an achievement that you were able to withdraw."

"The Blood Erosion Civilization has deployed more than twice the number of troops we anticipated. Billions of combat entities are surging into the main battlefield on the outskirts of the Black Dimension Nebula every day."

"All the tenth-tier members of the Nine Luminaries Civilization have already reached the top. Otherwise, how do you think those spatial rifts came about? They were all forcibly created."

"But you don't need to worry too much about the defenses."

"They have reinforcements, and so do we. The Joint Defense Council has already given the order, and civilizations throughout the galaxy are mobilizing. Over the next few months, warships and powerful warriors from various races will arrive in waves, and the number of troops in Tian Shu will only increase."

A thought struck Song Chen, and he wondered about Blue Star. He asked, "What about Blue Star? Will the mobilization order affect Blue Star?"

Lal glanced at him and shook his head slightly: "Of course not. Blue Star hasn't even established itself as a Level One civilization yet. You're the only one at the seventh level. How could it possibly be able to mobilize at this level?"

"Don't worry, no one will requisition a planet that can't even walk yet."

Song Chen breathed a sigh of relief. Blue Star was his root; his parents, Lin Qingxue, his master, and the speaker all lived on that planet.

He couldn't imagine what the consequences would be if the mobilization order really dragged Blue Star into it.

Lal reached out and drew a line on the star map, zooming in on the location of Blue Star: "Don't worry, Blue Star is under my protection."

"Our Cangxing civilization's name still carries weight in the Milky Way. As long as you remain an affiliated investment entity of the Alliance, no matter how chaotic other civilizations become, they won't affect you."

"But remember, don't really leave the battlefield unless absolutely necessary. If you want to survive in the galaxy, you can't be a deserter."

Song Chen nodded: "I understand."

He hesitated for a moment, then continued, "Lord Ral, I would like to ask for leave. I feel that I am ready to break through."

Lal wasn't surprised; his expression didn't even change. He simply asked, "When?"

"The sooner the better."

"Okay," Lal replied readily.

"The most important thing in advancing from the seventh to the eighth rank is condensing star source power. You have already reached the limit. All that's left is to find a place and quietly transform."

"This battlefield is indeed no longer suitable for you."

As he said this, he reached out and tapped on the star map, bringing up a planet called Canglan Star.

"This planet is called Canglan Star. It's under the Alliance's name and is about 8,000 light-years away from here. Actually, it's a property I privately invested in. It has ready-made training rooms, and the psionic environment is very suitable for your breakthrough."

"I will issue you an order from the operations department, ostensibly ordering you to go to Canglan Star to seek reinforcements."

"Actually, there are no reinforcements there, only you."

Song Chen stood up and bowed solemnly: "Thank you, Lord Ral."

Lal waved his hand: "Don't be so polite. Only after you break through to the eighth rank will you truly have a foothold in the universe. If you become stronger, then my investment won't be a loss. Go on."

Song Chen did not linger any longer. He left the room and headed towards the military jump gate of the Tian Shu defense line.

Soon, Lar's mission order came through, and he successfully entered the jump gate with it.

When they emerged again, they were far from the main battlefield of Tian Shu.

Song Chen glanced back and saw that Tian Shu had shrunk into a blurry band of light in the far distance behind him, like a thin line burning in the darkness.

He knew that the band of light would burn for a long time, and he had to use that time to become stronger.

He took out the Shadow Bee and flew towards the direction of Azure Star.

Eight thousand light-years, a three-day journey.

The Shadow Bee moved in and out of the jump tunnel, and the surrounding starry sky became increasingly quiet.

Song Chen sat in the driver's seat, occasionally glancing at the coordinates on the star map, but mostly closing his eyes to regulate his breathing.

He thought of the floating fortress ruins in the airspace of Tian Shu, the executed Frostmoon soldiers, and Ral's ashen face.

The universe is so vast that no matter where a person dies, they are just a speck of dust among the stars.

Three days later, the Shadow Bee glided out of its final jump tunnel.

Canglan Star appeared before him; it was an extremely beautiful planet.

From a distance, it looks like a crystal bead enveloped in a pale blue mist, suspended in a soft golden glow.

Canglan Star is twice the size of Blue Star, and its surface is covered with large areas of pale blue ocean and large white clouds. The land is covered with dark green and purplish-red vegetation.

What's most special is its extremely wide star ring, which encircles the entire planet from south to north and is filled with countless glittering ice crystals.

It refracts colorful, tiny points of light under the starlight, as if crowning this planet with a crown of shattered diamonds.

There were almost no warships in the planet's orbit, only a few silver-white spaceports floating quietly, a stark contrast to the grim atmosphere of the main battlefield.

Song Chen even saw several small yachts slowly entering and leaving the port.

He piloted the Shadow Bee down slowly, passing through the star rings and entering the atmosphere.

The ship's hull hummed as it rubbed against the air. Outside the porthole, the sky was first deep blue, then light blue, and finally filled with white clouds.

When the clouds dispersed, Song Chen saw the land.

Vast purple forests stretch from the mountaintops all the way to the sea, with waterfalls cascading down the mountainside, their spray reflected in the sunlight to create tiny rainbows.

Low-rise cities were built on the hills. Unlike those on Earth, these cities had almost no tall buildings. All the buildings seemed to grow out of the ground, round and soft, with glowing vines climbing on their exterior walls.

There were many people in the city. As he flew closer, he saw brightly colored stalls and pedestrians dressed in casual clothes everywhere on the streets.

An atmosphere more relaxed than that of Earth rose from below, and even the air seemed to carry a faint sweetness.