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

Elder Ye looked at the blue lotus in the center of the Myriad Spirits Realm Ship: "If you haven't finished fighting in twelve hours, we'll continue to hold out."

Qin Zhenyuan remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

This statement did not promise that the ancestral realm would not be attacked, nor did it require the expeditionary force to end the battle within twelve hours.

Both parties simply took over the portion that they could each bear.

Zhou Zhenshan then took out three constant-temperature boxes from his storage ring and handed them to the ship's logistics personnel.

The box contained no weapons of law, nor any high-level potions to restore the soul; it only contained more than three hundred freshly cooked dumplings.

"There aren't enough to go around for everyone."

"Leave it for the wounded who are rotated out in the first round."

Qin Zhenyuan glanced at the box: "Did your sister-in-law prepare this?"

"She thought it was only enough for a few of you."

Zhou Zhenshan said calmly, "After learning that the expeditionary force numbered over 10,000, she used up all the remaining flour and filling at home. Any more, and there wouldn't be enough time."

Old Ye added from the side, "She also told you to bring the boxes back. Don't let the battle end with you losing even their mess kits."

For the first time, Qin Zhenyuan showed a slight smile: "Bring the box and the person back together."

Zhou Zhenshan did not give any further instructions.

He and Elder Ye withdrew from the Myriad Spirits Realm Ship and stood outside the lunar docking port, watching the giant blue lotus formed by 108 soul-guiding motherships slowly rotate.

The Fire Star Gate was also fully opened at this moment.

On the ground, no large-scale send-off ceremonies were held in major cities around the world.

The Fifth Hunting Court has not yet been destroyed; there is no point in celebrating prematurely.

But in Linjiang City, Baizhou Shengcheng, Beihai Shihuan and Taiyang Gucheng, lights representing key moments in the world still shine at the same time.

Countless ordinary people saw the Myriad Spirits Ship, composed of the mothership of the dead, the remnants of civilization, and the core of the star tomb ship, through publicly available footage.

Some people worried that the expedition would fail.

Some argue that since the Ancestral Realm has only recently acquired the ability to defend against star-space attacks, it should not provoke the Fifth Hunting Court, which possesses 12th-tier powerhouses.

Professor Ye did not demand that global public opinion maintain a single voice.

Fear, questioning, and opposition are rights that everyone possesses.

However, the expeditionary force also made its own choice.

Before boarding the ship, Gu Tianheng stood before the 12,000 First Border Guards once again.

"The Fifth Hunting Court has twelve ranks of priests."

"This battle may not offer any chance to return to the ancestral realm."

"Those who wish to remain in the seven star cities may now withdraw."

"No one will be recorded as a deserter because of this."

The army remained silent for a long time.

In the end, more than 700 soldiers laid down their weapons and chose to return to Xingcheng.

Some of them had just found their families who had been asleep for 100,000 years, while others were still recovering from injuries and did not want to become a burden to the expeditionary force.

Gu Tianheng did not blame him.

He ordered that those who had withdrawn be sent back to the remnant star of the guardian realm, and that the positions they had originally been responsible for be reassigned to the remaining soldiers who had volunteered to stay.

A young soldier couldn't help but speak up: "Commander, with more than seven hundred men missing, there will be gaps in our formation."

"Then let's rearrange the formation."

Gu Tianheng looked at the departing escort ship: "The First Border Guard has broken away from the Border Concession Contract. We can't say they have a choice while demanding that everyone make the same decision."

The new Crimson Gold Army Formation quickly took shape.

With fewer people, the formation's power did indeed decrease slightly.

But everyone standing in their positions knew clearly where they were going.

Ning Yue stood on the outermost layer of the Myriad Spirits Realm Ship.

Only 108 remnant souls remained of the Ninth Guardian Army; not a single one withdrew.

It's not because they had no choice.

Rather, it was a war that had not been completed 100,000 years ago that finally had the opportunity to take the initiative and invade the Hunting Court.

"Open the path for the sacrifice."

Qin Zhenyuan gave the order.

Inside the first level of the Azure Lotus Prison, the golden right arm of the Fifth High Priest was forcibly lifted by nine Suppression Rings.

The hand struggled incessantly, yet the sixth eye in its palm slowly opened under Chu Zhou's control.

A path to the Fifth Hunting Grounds, a path for the sacrifice of civilization, has reappeared on the far side of the moon.

There is no normal traffic light inside the road.

A narrow tunnel composed only of countless golden scriptures.

Each verse is used to determine the identity of the person entering.

The Hunter's Court warships are allowed free passage.

Returning to the court requires permission.

Any other life form that enters will be immediately judged as a sacrifice, with its physical body, soul, and laws all sent to the Fifth Hunting Court Altar.

As soon as the Myriad Spirits Ship approached, hundreds of millions of golden scriptures lit up simultaneously.

[Civilized worship practice detected.]

[Determining the ownership of the Myriad Spirits Realm Ship.]

[No Hunter's Golden Law detected.]

No decree of return to court was detected.

[Target identified: Large-scale sacrificial offering.]

[Forced teleportation is being initiated at the sacrificial altar.]

One hundred and eight soul-guiding motherships trembled simultaneously.

Numerous golden chains extended from both sides of the road, attempting to pierce the core of the civilization and dismantle the entire Myriad Spirits Ship into a source that could be sacrificed.

Ning Yue raised the broken flag, preparing to sever the chains.

Chu Zhou did not attack immediately.

All beings uphold the covenant, unfolding along the moving lotus platform and directly connecting with the civilized sacrificial path of the Fifth Hunting Court.

"Modify the judgment."

Chu Zhou's voice faded.

The target does not belong to the Fifth Hunting Court.

The target does not accept the status of a sacrifice.

The goal is to acquire some authority over the civilized road-worshiping ceremony.

[The case is being reassessed.]

The golden scriptures shimmered continuously.

The Sixth Sacrificial Eye, which was suppressed in the Qinglian Town Prison, also released its complete sacrificial aura at the same time.

[Authority verification passed.]

[Target Identity: The Fifth Priest's Direct Subordinate Sacrificial Boat.]

[Offering contents: Not yet identifiable.]

[Passage is permitted along the designated route for civilized tomb-sweeping.]

The golden chains that were originally aimed at the Myriad Spirits Ship all stopped in mid-air.

Deep within the sacrificial path, one after another, sealed golden gates opened.

Upon seeing the judgment, the Dragon Ancestor of Myriad Calamities' eyes blazed with intense soul fire: "You suppressed the right arm of the Fifth High Priest just to impersonate its sacrificial vessel?"

Chu Zhou pressed down on the sixth sacrificial eye: "I am merely using its path."

"What are the offerings?"

Little Jinbao squatted outside the stone gate of the prison, asking questions curiously.

Chu Zhou gently unfurled ten lotus leaves: "The Fifth Hunting Ground."

The Dragon Ancestor of Myriad Calamities fell silent.

It suddenly occurred to it that after the Fifth Priest lost his right arm, the most important thing he should do was not to summon the fleet, but to immediately abolish the entire Civilization Ritual Road.

But it's too late now.

The Myriad Spirits Ark has fully entered the passage.

The first golden door closed behind us.

The outer ancestral world and the moon rapidly disappeared, leaving only a road paved with countless remnants of civilizations.

Along both sides of the star path, images of the Fifth Hunting Court reaping other worlds over the past 100,000 years continuously appeared.

Some people surrendered voluntarily.

Some resisted until the last person remained.

Many civilizations initially exchanged a small amount of resources for the protection of the Hunting Court, but by the time they realized the contract was flawed, their bloodlines and ley lines were already entirely under the control of the Golden Law.

A world filled with blue forests appeared on the left side of the All-Spirit Realm Ship.

In the scene, countless blue-skinned beings kneel beneath the Hunter's Court warship, surrendering the first batch of world origins.

One of the blue civilization remnants that participated in the expedition suddenly trembled violently.

It recognized its hometown.

The images continue to change.

The first time, the Hunter's Court only took one-tenth of the ley lines.

The second time, they demanded 30% of the world's origin.

By the time of the third arrival, the entire world had been transformed into the core of civilization on the Star Tomb ship.

The blue remnant kernel releases a sense of grief.

It did not regret participating in the counterattack.

Instead, it proactively sent the remaining essence into the Myriad Spirits Ark, making the moving nodes more stable.

More and more core civilizations are witnessing how their worlds are being destroyed.

The Wanling War Merit Monument did not turn off its video feed.

Every harvest record left behind by the Fifth Hunting Court has been preserved. Even if the Hunting Court is destroyed in the future, those destroyed worlds will not remain just a vague number.

No enemies appeared in the six days leading up to the sacrificial ceremony.

On the morning of the seventh day, all the lights inside the Myriad Spirits Ship suddenly turned golden at the same time.

Shen Xinglan's research projection left in the mobile node immediately issued a warning: "A law checkpoint has appeared ahead. The priesthood we are using is being re-verified."

Three golden city gates stood across the middle of the sacrificial path.

Behind each city gate, hundreds of Hunter's Court warships were moored.

At the highest point of the city gate stood three eleventh-rank adjudicators.

The left-hand arbiter has no physical body, only a gray space bound by chains.

The central arbiter wore a robe of white bones, with tens of millions of soul banners floating behind him.

The arbitrator on the right possesses a complete golden body, with twelve law marks representing the authority of the Hunting Court surrounding the vertical pupil between his brows.

[Target: Luo Qi, the Judge of the Lock Realm.]

[Realm Level: Early Stage of the Eleventh Rank]

[Master the Laws: Sacrifice Path Blockade, Spatial Cage.]

[Target: Soul-Eating Judge Bai Tuo.]

[Realm Level: Mid-stage of the eleventh rank.]

[Mastering the Laws: Possessing Ten Thousand Souls, Devouring Divine Souls.]

[Target: Kasyapa, the Golden Law Enforcer.]

[Realm Level: Late Stage of the Eleventh Rank]

[Master the rules: return to court for investigation, and suppress with blood.]

[Three hundred and sixty Hunter's Court warships detected.]

Of these, 271 warships were equipped with soldiers from an affiliated civilization.

Total number of soldiers in affiliated civilizations: 1,080,000.

Kassapa's vertical pupil between his brows slowly opened.

The golden gaze swept over the Myriad Spirits Ship and finally stopped in the center of the moving lotus platform.

"Why is there no hunting court flag or seal on the sacrificial boat directly under the jurisdiction of the ritual officer?"

Chu Zhou did not answer.

Kassapa raised his right hand.

A complete list of offerings appeared above the city gate.

"Open all Soul Ships."

"Hand over the core of civilization."

"I need to confirm the number of offerings."

Hiding inside the supply depot, Xiao Jinbao heard the other party demanding the hand over the core of civilization and immediately hugged the several storage bags beside him.

"Does it also want to inspect the scraps?"

A researcher nearby ignored it and continued to rapidly analyze the structure of the three Golden Gates.

Qin Zhenyuan drew his black sword: "They did not receive news of the Fifth High Priest's severed arm and suppression."

Gu Tianheng looked at the affiliated civilization's warships behind the city gate: "If we act now, all the warships will be blocked by the sacrificial road. We must close the three golden gates first."

Shen Xinglan's remote projection quickly marked twelve nodes: "Kinmen is maintained by one hundred and eight road-suppressing nails. As long as they are removed at the same time, the road-suppressing blockade will fail."

A goalkeeper looked up.

All the road-stabbing nails grew inside the three city gates, and were protected by the Hunter's Army formation.

To pull them out simultaneously, they must first pass through 360 warships.

Kassapa did not wait any longer.

"Refuse censorship."

"There are irregularities in Ji Zhou's identity."

"Block the roads."

The three golden gates lit up simultaneously.

The sacrificial paths before and after were forcibly closed, and the space around the Myriad Spirits Ark began to compress inward.

Luo Qi, the arbitrator of the Lock Realm, was the first to make a move.

The gray spatial body expanded outward, forming a huge cage that enveloped the entire Myriad Spirits Ark.

"Remove all the cores of civilizations."

Those who rebelled were seen as sacrificial offerings and deserted.

The ten lotus leaves of Chuzhou slowly unfurled.

Jie Lian's true form descended completely along the moving nodes.

"Is the review finished?"

Kassapa's vertical pupil between his brows contracted instantly.

It finally recognized the blue lotus in front of it.

"Pure Lotus of Dharma!"

"How could you possibly have entered the Civilization Festival Path?"

Chu Zhou pressed down on the moving lotus platform with one of his roots: "I have already answered."

"The sacrificial boat contained the Fifth Hunting Ground."

"I've come to collect the offerings."

Luo Qi immediately contracted the spatial cage.

The eleventh-order Locking Realm Law simultaneously compressed the Myriad Spirits Realm Ship, attempting to destroy the moving node before Chu Ship could fully unfold the Myriad Spirits Azure Lotus Realm.

The first core of civilization lit up automatically.

Then came the second and the third.

Seventeen thousand six hundred and nine civilizational wills together form a layer of mottled world barrier.

Their rules are not the same.

Some came from the ocean world, some from fiery stars, and some civilizations have only the faintest traces of their original mountain and river origins.

However, when all forces were directed outwards, Luo Qi's spatial cage could no longer shrink.