Reborn as a lotus, she initially refuses to hand it over to the state.

As the Hunter's Court adjudicator's voice fell, 100,000 white bone warships simultaneously opened their bows.

There were no cannons, no energy gathering, only countless pale hands reaching out from the gaps in the bones, grabbing at the starry sky where the ancestral world escort legion was located.

Behind Gu Tianheng, the First Guardian Army quickly deployed its crimson-gold formation.

Sixteen thousand accompanying soldiers simultaneously raised their weapons, and their crimson-gold spiritual power converged to form a protective barrier, shielding the Jianmu Jiezhi at the very center.

Qin Zhenyuan also drew his black knife at the same time.

The three thousand contemporary gatekeepers accompanying the group quickly dispersed, and all the modern naval guns and psionic barriers were activated, but none of the locking devices were able to locate the enemy's energy core.

Shen Xinglan's voice came through the remote communication: "The fleet's mass response is zero, the thermal response is zero, and the psionic response cannot be determined either."

Most of these skeletal warships are not actually existing matter.

A skeletal warship has already reached the forefront.

The psionic cannons responsible for interception automatically opened fire, and a blue beam of light pierced through the center of the ship, instantly shattering the massive bone ship into tens of thousands of white bones.

But there were no Hunter's soldiers inside the skeleton.

Thousands of human souls, pierced by iron chains, fell from the shattered ship's hull. Before they could regain consciousness, they were all absorbed by the golden sacrificial wheel in the distance.

The aura emanating from the Hunter's Court intensified.

A skeletal warship, which had just been shattered, reformed amidst the cries of the dead and continued to approach the Ancestral Realm Legion.

[Large-scale detection of the Law of the Dead.]

The skeletal ship was formed from the souls of human casualties and the remnants of the world.

Destroy the skeletal ship; the souls within will be sacrificed.

[The completion rate of the Fifth Hunting Court Civilization's Soul Sacrifice is increasing.]

"Cease fire!"

Qin Zhenyuan severed the charging turret connection with a single strike, his voice echoing throughout all the warships: "Without my order, no one is permitted to attack the White Bone Fleet."

A general of the First Border Guard looked at the skeletal ships pressing in from all directions, his face grave: "If we don't fire, they will soon surround us. The enemy has at least 100,000 ships; we can't hold out for long."

"All 100,000 ships are fake." Gu Tianheng stared at the constantly flashing golden chains inside the Bone Fleet: "What truly maintains the fleet are the 108 Soul-Guiding Motherships hidden inside."

Qin Zhenyuan looked at him: "You've seen this kind of fleet before?" Gu Tianheng was silent for a moment: "When the First Guardian Army fought for the Hunting Court, it escorted the Soul Harvesting Fleet for the Fifth Hunting Court three times."

After these words were spoken, the soldiers of the First Border Guard fell silent.

They all knew exactly where the souls taken away by the Fifth Hunting Court came from.

A golden sacrificial robe unfurled, and the Hunting Court Adjudicator stepped out of the main ship.

Its body had no flesh and blood, only a skeleton covered with golden scriptures, with a human head that was constantly crying hanging from its chest.

[Target: Soul Judge Mokara.]

[Realm Level: Late Stage of the Eleventh Rank]

[Mastering the Law: Souls borrow lives, the hundred realms weep for the sea, and sins return to the Lord.]

The target entity is dead; its soul is scattered across 108 soul-guiding motherships.

Mogalo looked at Gu Tianheng, and the human head on his chest suddenly opened its eyes: "First Commander, you once personally escorted the Soul Ship Fleet, so why are you stopping the Hunting Court from collecting the offerings today?"

Gu Tianheng did not answer.

Mogala raised a bone finger, and a large number of images immediately appeared on the surface of the white bone warships, all of which were worlds that the First Guardian Army had once conquered.

Collapsed cities, burning mountains and rivers, and living beings kneeling in the ruins awaiting death—scenes appear one after another.

Countless dead people looked up at the same time, casting their gazes at Gu Tianheng.

"Gu Tianheng".

Hundreds of millions of voices overlapped and rang out: "It was you who led the First Border Guard to find us, it was you who provided the coordinates to the Hunter's Court, and it was you who let the main cannon destroy our world."

The golden armor on Gu Tianheng's chest vibrated violently.

The torn-off Hunter's Law circuits actually regrowed, and golden chains sprouted from the severed right wrist.

The First Border Guard's Crimson Gold Battleship was also affected.

A large number of extinguished Hunter's Eyes re-opened from deep within the ship's hull, beginning to seize control of the warship.

"Sins return to their master." Gu Tianheng recognized this law: "It can regain control of the weapons and armor of the First Guardian Army through the Hunter's Court aura I left behind in the past."

Mogala extended his bony palm, and a complete golden decree of offering to the realm appeared in his palm: "Re-sign the contract. I allow you to continue to command the First Guardian Army, and I also allow this Ancestral Realm Legion to leave."

"If you refuse, all 108 Soul Furnaces will be activated simultaneously. Every act of resistance will become nourishment for the Fifth High Priest to complete the Great Civilization Sacrifice."

Gu Tianheng did not make a choice immediately as he had done 100,000 years ago.

He turned to Qin Zhenyuan: "You are the commander of the gatekeepers of this era. If you were in his shoes, what would you decide?"

Qin Zhenyuan plunged the black blade into the deck beneath his feet, and the Mountain and River Blade Realm rapidly expanded, temporarily suppressing all the revived Hunter's Court Vertical Pupils: "Not a single person will be handed over, nor will a single soul be sacrificed."

Gu Tianheng looked at the approaching 100,000 skeletal warships: "The enemy has only given us two paths." Qin Zhenyuan's voice was calm: "Then kill the enemy who gave us the choice, and then take the third path."

Upon hearing this, Mogala let out a piercing laugh from the human head on his chest: "A ninth-tier human king dares to presume to kill an eleventh-tier judge? Has the ancestral realm become so arrogant?"

Qin Zhenyuan did not respond.

He raised his hand to retrieve all the detection data, and then connected the Mountain and River Blade Realm to the fleet's psionic system, using the spatial resistance that each bone warship experienced to search for the entity in reverse.

The outlines of 100,000 warships quickly overlapped.

Most of them can pass through each other, with only 108 areas causing a slight shift in the surrounding world debris when moving.

"All 108 motherships have been locked." Shen Xinglan immediately marked the coordinates: "However, their positions are constantly changing, and each mothership is protected by thousands of undead projections."

Chu Zhou's voice came through the Azure Lotus Mark: "There are Soul-Suppressing Nails in the mothership. As long as the Soul-Suppressing Nails are still there, the souls of the dead cannot escape the control of the Fifth Hunting Court."

Gu Tianheng added: "The Soul-Suppressing Nails are connected to the 108 Soul Furnaces."

They must be removed simultaneously; if any one fails prematurely, Mogala will transfer his soul to another soul furnace.

Qin Zhenyuan looked at the accompanying legion: "Three thousand contemporary gatekeepers and sixteen thousand First Border Guards will be mixed and organized into one hundred and eight landing fleets, each responsible for a mothership."

A commander of the First Border Guard frowned: "The two sides have different cultivation systems, and their armor and weapons cannot be used together. Temporarily mixing them will only make the military formation more chaotic."

"So each team only needs to accomplish one thing." Qin Zhenyuan drew his black sword: "Enter the mothership, find the Soul-Suppressing Nails, and pull them out together when I give the order."

Gu Tianheng looked at Qin Zhenyuan: "The 100,000 White Bone Warships will not allow the landing fleet to get close easily."

Qin Zhenyuan looked up at Mogala in the distance: "The main ship and the frontal army are responsible for clearing the way."

Thirty ancestral-realm modified warships simultaneously changed formation, protecting the crimson-gold main ship carrying the Jianmu boundary branch in the center.

The mountain spirit lifted up the mountain-bearing stone, and the phantom images of ten ancient mountains covered the fleet.

Bai Shanjun stood at the very front of the main ship, the white tiger stripe between his eyebrows fully lit up.

Instead of attacking the dead, it used its Zhenxing bloodline to sense the core of the soul in the 108 motherships.

"Three thousand miles to the left front, seven motherships overlap." Bai Shanjun's voice echoed through the army formation: "Behind the world wreckage on the right, there are twelve more entities."

One hundred and eight landing fleets boarded small shuttle ships.

The First Guardian Army is responsible for providing navigational coordinates, while the current Gatekeepers are responsible for breaching the Hunter's Court defenses inside the mothership.

Magala did not stop it.

It watched as the shuttle ships left the battlefield, its skeletal jaw slowly splitting open: "Enter the Soul Furnace, and you will see the thing you least want to see."

One hundred thousand white-boned warships charged toward the center at the same time.

With Harrison not in the legion, Qin Zhenyuan could only fully deploy the Mountain and River Blade Realm, using the will of three thousand gatekeepers to construct the first layer of barrier.

One after another, skeletal ships crashed into the realm of blades, the cries of the dead on their surfaces piercing straight to the soul.

Many of the young gatekeepers turned pale, but they never fired at the bone warship.

The First Border Guard Army, led by Gu Tianheng, also deployed its crimson-gold formation.

After losing the Golden Law of the Hunting Court, the military formation's power decreased by more than half, but for the first time, it was entirely powered by the human race's own spiritual energy.

The two military formations interlocked in the starry sky.

The Mountain and River Blade Realm was responsible for identifying the true coordinates, while the Crimson Gold Army Formation was responsible for resisting the White Bone Fleet, tearing open 108 paths through the shadows of 100,000 ships.

The first landing force stormed the mothership.

There were no cabins or passageways inside the ship, only a black expanse of earth piled with human bones, with a long golden nail standing in the center, piercing through the sky.

Hundreds of thousands of souls were nailed around the long spikes.

They have no consciousness; they can only continuously drag the souls to provide power for the entire mothership.

Just as a contemporary gatekeeper was about to approach, thousands of dead souls simultaneously looked up.

They opened their mouths, but what they let out was their last scream as they lived.

The soul impact instantly overturned the entire landing fleet.

The captain of the First Guardian Army planted his spear into the ground, using his own soul to block out the cries: "Do not attack, they are just repeating the memory of death."

More and more squads are entering the Soul-Guiding Mothership.

Some saw the guardian soldiers who died in the ancient ancestral realm, while others saw human rebels secretly executed by the Hunting Court in the seven star cities.

Gu Tianheng and Qin Zhenyuan then entered the first main soul ship together.

This mothership is much larger than other soul ships, and it suppresses more than ten million dead souls inside.

As soon as they landed, all the dead souls turned their heads at the same time.

The blurry faces gradually returned to normal, and many of them were still wearing the clothing of the ancient ancestral realm.

A woman holding a child emerges from the spirits of the dead.

She didn't look at Qin Zhenyuan, but stared intently at Gu Tianheng: "Didn't the First Border Guard say they would come back to pick us up?"

Gu Tianheng recognized the Shenxing City clothing she was wearing.

Ten thousand years ago, after the First Guardian Army lost contact, many of their families left Chenxing City to search for their relatives, but eventually all of them disappeared.

"Why didn't you come back?" The child in the woman's arms opened its eyes: "We waited for a long time, and then the golden eyes took everyone away."

More souls surrounded Gu Tianheng.

Some were angry, some resentful, and others simply repeated blankly, "When will the First Border Guard return?"

Gu Tianheng instinctively gripped the commander's battle flag, trying to make all the dead souls retreat.

But before the military order could be given, he released his hand.

These people were not soldiers of the First Border Guard, nor did they belong to any commander.

He has no right to demand their continued obedience, much less to ask for their forgiveness.

Gu Tianheng removed his golden helmet and slowly bowed to the surrounding souls: "I did not return. The Hunting Court blocked the news, but the one who dared not search for you is still me."

"I have no right to order you to forgive, nor do I have the right to make you fight for humanity again. I only beg you not to die a second time for the Hunter's Court."

The interior of the main soul ship fell silent.

The woman holding the child looked at Gu Tianheng, her eyes showing no forgiveness, but she also stopped channeling power into the Soul-Suppressing Nail.

The first soul departed from the golden nail.

Immediately afterwards, more and more dead souls stopped dragging their soul bodies, causing the entire main soul ship to tremble violently.

Mokala immediately sensed the abnormality.

A skeletal arm behind it pointed towards the main soul ship, and the law of sin returning to the master crossed the starry sky, pressing down entirely on Gu Tianheng.

The scene before Gu Tianheng's eyes suddenly changed.

Twenty-seven worlds breached by the First Guardian Army appeared simultaneously in his consciousness, with 36.1 billion dead beings constantly demanding his life.

Those were not actual dead souls, but rather formed from Gu Tianheng's own memories.

The more he tries to prove that his choice back then was not wrong, the stronger the illusion of guilt becomes.

Gu Tianheng slowly knelt down, and cracks appeared in the core of the eleventh-order law.

If he admits that all his crimes were for the sake of humanity, the Hunter's Court can once again use that obsession to control him.

Qin Zhenyuan slashed at Gu Tianheng with his sword.

The Mountain and River Blade Intent did not attack the illusion of sin, but only temporarily severed the connection between it and the remaining link between it and the Golden Contract of Offering to the Realm.

"Did these people die because of you?" Qin Zhenyuan asked. Gu Tianheng was silent for a moment, then finally nodded: "Yes, I gave the military order and provided the world coordinates."

"Then remember this." Qin Zhenyuan sheathed his black sword: "Don't use the seven hundred million humans to defend yourself, and don't think that dying here will wipe all the debts clean."

Gu Tianheng raised his head: "How do you think I should repay this?"

Qin Zhenyuan looked at the millions of souls suppressed in the main soul ship: "First, save those who can be saved right now."

Gu Tianheng no longer resisted the evil illusions.

He allowed the figures of the dead to pass through his body, imprinting the names of each destroyed world back into his soul.

"Crimson Flame Realm, Mystic Feather Realm, Azure Sea Realm..." He recited each world that had been breached by the First Guardian Army: "I remember you, and I will never erase you for any reason."

The sins returned to the Lord did not disappear, but he could no longer control Gu Tianheng.

After he confessed his sins, those illusions lost their power to entice him to re-sign the deed of dedicating the world to gold.

The undead in the main soul ship also heard these words.

They did not forgive Gu Tianheng, but began to actively break free from the Soul-Suppressing Nails, unwilling to continue being the weapons used by the Hunting Court to kill.

Meanwhile, the remaining 107 landing fleets successively sent back messages.

Most of the Soul-Suppressing Nails have been found, but no team has been able to remove them.

A layer of soul law exists on the surface of the golden nail.

If any living person touches it, the damage will be transferred to the surrounding dead souls; forcibly removing it will only cause all those who have been suppressed to be scattered to the winds.

Chu Zhou's divine sense entered the main soul ship through the Azure Lotus Mark.

The newly acquired Soul-Guiding Lamp transformed into a wisp of blue flame, slowly settling atop the golden nail.

The lights were not intense, but they allowed the nearest departed souls to regain some clarity.

The woman holding the child finally remembered her own name.

"My name is Zhou Ning." She looked down at the child in her arms. "His name is Gu An. We were originally going to find his father, but then we encountered the Hunter's Fleet."

More names emerged from the mouths of the dead.

With each name restored, the golden laws on the surface of the Soul-Suppressing Nail dim slightly.

The guiding lamps are illuminating the souls of the departed human race.

The goal is to regain self-awareness.

The Soul-Suppressing Nail's enslavement law is being weakened.

[The current range of light is insufficient to cover all 108 soul furnaces.]

Chu Zhou's main body remains rooted in Black Dragon Lake, too far from this star field. The Jianmu branch of Crimson Star City has not yet taken root, preventing him from fully projecting the ninth node here.

In Linjiang City, Chen Mo lay in the treatment pod when he suddenly saw the Guardian Lamp light up on its own, and a picture of a distant starry sky and countless souls being suppressed appeared in the center of the lamp.

His half-soul had not yet recovered, but he still stretched out his palm and pressed down on the Azure Lotus Main Lamp: "Linjiang was just rescued by the master, so we can't just pretend we didn't see anything right away."