Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

She glanced at the sky, her hands moving swiftly. First, she stirred something in the air as if disturbing it, then she wove a spatial interference spell. The spell's structure bore many similarities to the 'Sky Shift' used by the Skywing race, but its core was still the space bridge developed by the Cybertronian civilization. A new spatial barrier immediately enveloped her and Zheng Caidao, and then the concealed spatial transfer began.

“This is not the right place to talk. These three Skywings are just a hunting party. Although I didn’t kill them completely, their condition will definitely provoke a reaction from the higher-ups of the Skywings—they have a very powerful enemy behind them. We must move to a safe place first.”

The next moment, their forms vanished in the light of teleportation. And about thirty seconds later, countless stars plummeted from the heavens!

More than ten individuals with similar auras to the three Skywing species appeared together, two of whom were even a level higher than them. Among the two strongest Skywing species, the one with emerald-green hair and a horn on its head surveyed the ravaged surface before reaching out and grabbing at the air.

Her brows immediately furrowed deeply.

Section 5 Sharpening Weapons

As the eldest of the Winged Race, Azriel has always regarded all the Winged Race born after her as her own sisters. She believes it is her duty to take good care of them and ensure that the lives of each of them are spent in a meaningful and appropriate way—for a Winged Race born for war, dying a meaningful death in battle is indeed the most ideal ending. This sentiment became even more evident more than a decade ago when, during a world-shaking upheaval, she was bestowed with horns symbolizing her leadership by the creators of her race.

The creator of their race is the God of War, Arthas. All the Winged Race are His creations, His puppets, His minions, extensions of His will. Infused with divine essence, these divinely crafted weapons were born with the mission of war; they would create war even where none exists, and open battlefields even where there is no conflict. As their leader, Azriel didn't really care whether her three perhaps high-ranking members died. What she cared about was whether these three had died a worthy death, and whether their deaths meant a new war.

“Something’s not right, meow.” – Unfortunately, the eldest had a verbal tic that completely undermined her authority. So much so that even when she was serious, she found it hard to get her comrades to take things seriously – “The atmosphere on the battlefield is heavily disturbed by the remnants of the elves, and even the information left behind by Israphar is incomplete, so it’s hard to be sure whether this information is accurate, meow.”

She held a swirling mass of energy between her fingers, with numerous intertwined runes flashing and shimmering within. The specific structure was complex and difficult to decipher, but several structural gaps were clearly visible in the center. As a result, when the final data was exported, some crucial information was difficult to identify precisely.

"What are the specific details?" asked a Skywing race member of similar status.

"It seems there are traces of vampires and dragon spirits, meow, and there is indeed a hint of vampire blood magic on the battlefield, meow. Not only that, the ultimate dragon scales that Master bestowed upon Israphael and the others seem to have been broken, meow, it's very likely that dragon spirits and vampires have joined forces, meow!"

“Dragonkin and Vampires… Ever since the End Dragon and the Fallen Dragon were defeated, the North Wind Dragon ascended the throne, and the first Vampire Lord appeared, they do seem to maintain some kind of strange tacit understanding.” Another Skywing, on par with Azriel, took over the conversation, flapping her wings, her cross-shaped pupils scanning the shattered earth. “It’s not entirely incomprehensible that they cooperate. But before that, there seemed to be signs of activity from several Demonkin—the one capable of defeating Israphari and her two companions working together was at least a Vampire Lord. I don’t think a mere Demonkin would dare to attack it.”

“That’s the problem, meow.” Azriel nodded. With a wave of her hand, some carbonized flesh and blood remains filled in the cracks of the earth were drawn to her fingertips. “These demons were killed very thoroughly; it’s certain that a very powerful being did it, meow. And if they did it to lure Israphal and the others down, then the traces here should have been cleaned up more thoroughly, instead of making it so obvious that they were dragon spirits and vampires, meow!”

"Could this be a scheme to frame us? First, they use their strength to kill a few demon species to attract Israphal's attention, then kill them and pretend it's a union of vampires and dragon spirits, thus luring us into war?" The Skywing, who was on par with Azriel, pondered, "Using their strength against them, driving one tiger to devour another—I remember hearing something like that from the 'Sky Demon' of the Fantasy species when we fought them before."

“I can’t rule out that possibility, meow!” Azriel nodded vigorously. Ever since the battle that granted her the leader’s horns, she had begun to study all sorts of war techniques and strategies. The horns bestowed upon her by the tribe’s master were proof that helped her overcome her innate cognitive limitations. Although her tactics were still terrible, they were already much better than the reckless, headlong charges she had made decades ago.

After all, following the great war decades ago, the Skywing race still ranked sixth, behind only the five races whose names alone suggested immense power: gods, illusions, dragon spirits, elves, and titans. However, they no longer possessed the absolute dominance they once had over lower-ranking races. The act of a single individual flying over the Forest Elf capital to destroy their base years ago would now only result in being riddled with bullets by a dense anti-air volley. And it wasn't just the Skywing race; even their creator, the once invincible God of War Altshu, whose only rival was the 'boredom' of war, no longer found himself alone and adrift on the battlefields of the heavens.

Times have changed; strategy and tactics have become essential lessons. The Skywing race, who once only knew how to conjure energy balls to smash people, energy beams to break shields, and energy blades to reap kills—and who only needed these skills to maintain their dominance over lower-ranking races—have gradually been granted new powers by their masters due to the escalating intensity of the war. The old adage that 'races of six ranks or higher are life, those below six are merely creatures' has long since become empty rhetoric. And the war has expanded from its intensity, confined to the planetary surface, to beyond the heavens, even affecting the past and the future.

So, what should we do?

“There is indeed a possibility of being strategically manipulated, but we can’t rule out the possibility that the appearance of the demon race is another hidden party trying to break the alliance between the vampire race and the dragon spirit race, meow. And in any case, Israphael, Saharil, and Uriel are indeed currently missing, their fates unknown. Although Master hasn’t spoken, they are very likely already dead, meow.” Azriel clenched her small fist, and as she slammed her fist into her palm, the halo above her head suddenly lit up.

"It's a fact that we Skywing race have been injured, and it's also a fact that Dragon Spirits and Vampires have appeared here. So there's no need to endure it, meow! Although Master doesn't allow us to wage war against the Dragon Spirits at will, we can go and cause trouble for the Vampires and expose everything that's happening here. That way, no matter if there are any sneaky guys plotting in the dark, those Dragon Spirits who can see into the past and future will come knocking on our door, meow!"

Her eyes suddenly lit up!

"Everyone, join me in a direct raid on the vampire territory! This time, we must take the heads of at least three vampire lords to console Israphar and the others who may already be dead!"

"Whoa!"—The numerous Skywing species responded by flapping their wings, their blood boiling with excitement at the impending war.

"Jibril, I'm giving you a separate mission, meow." Azriel looked at the other Skywing beside her, the only one besides herself with strategic vision, and then seriously gave the order. "If they were able to easily defeat Israphal and the others who possessed the Dragonscale bestowed by our master, then if there's a hidden mastermind behind it all, they must possess power equal to or even slightly greater than yours and mine. Try to find them using your own methods, and then proceed with extreme caution, meow!"

"Understood. I will send back the information as soon as I discover the other side."

"Don't be careful when sending it back, just use the Wide Area Spell to declare it to either side, meow!" Azriel corrected seriously. "If something like what happened decades ago were to happen again, we at least need to give our master the initiative to strike, meow!"

Jibril nodded in agreement, flapped her wings, and transformed into a streak of light, disappearing into the horizon.

The remaining Skywings, led by Azriel, stirred up a tide of light and surged toward a direction not adjacent to the Lone Wanderer.

....................................

"This should be about right." Chu Xuan made a gesture, and the Zhongzhou team, who had been traveling along the active ley lines and relying on Zhao Yingkong to secretly launch more than a dozen group space jumps along the way, stopped their movement in an underground cavern about two thousand kilometers away from the landing point.

The sound of birds chirping filled the air.

'Coo coo coo—coo coo coo—'

A creature resembling a pigeon suddenly appeared beside him—it was a messenger, exchanged from the Main God Space, a means of intelligence transmission touted as capable of evading the gaze of any life not yet a Light of the Mind, and never being late. Because of their substantial gains in the Star River Squad world, the Central Continent Team, who placed great importance on information transmission, gritted their teeth and bought one. Although this thing had a rather low profile in the other world's online world, this so-called 'secret channel' wasn't a new occurrence.

Chu Xuan fed the pigeon-like creature something that looked like a small piece of paper. He then immediately received information in return.

“Iris sent back some information about this world, about which we know nothing. Our operation this time may not go as smoothly as usual.” Chu Xuan pushed up his glasses, his tone cold: “Although there is no direct evidence yet to prove that the world we are in is a continuation of the original Lord of the Rings world, my guess is still correct—this world is currently in the midst of some kind of extremely intense war conflict. And unfortunately, we have to participate in this battle.”

He glanced at Zhang Jie, who nodded in understanding. The mental link was then activated, and the message from Alice was transmitted to every individual present through the mental network.

The reincarnators were immediately taken aback and their expressions changed drastically.

"Fifteen races, a war for the one true god..." Xiao Honglu frowned, reaching out to pluck a hair from his forehead but then restraining himself. "Is this to make up for our lack of strength in the Starship Troopers universe? These races... I don't think they should be confined to this small planet based on their established lore... Although they broke free decades ago. Even so, the concept of the Star Cup feels rather strange."

“It is indeed very strange.” Patchouli, who had been silent until now, opened the Great Library in her hands, and a swarm of silver-gray nanobots immediately surged out. They began to analyze and modify the surrounding environment. A small patch of gray swarm constructed a scaled-down model of a star along her feet, and then several important areas were marked.

"According to the known information, the Star Cup is actually a ritual used by the gods to compete for the divine throne. The purpose is to kill other gods and destroy their divine essence in order to obtain enough energy to create the throne of the One God. However, according to the known information, all the gods originated from the 'Elf Corridor' inside this planet, so we only need to destroy this planet itself to obtain that enormous energy, and thus obtain... no, we don't even need to do that."

She snapped her fingers, and the Zhongzhou team's dedicated energy collector made a dazzling appearance before everyone's eyes.

“The Stellar Extraction Tower,” Patchouli said. “All we need to do is activate the Stellar Extraction Tower and drain any star dry, or even directly drain the interior of a planet and turn it into a dead star. The energy obtained will be greater than the sum of all the divine essences of all the gods. And I think this mission probably won’t end so easily.”

"This is a ritual," Chu Xuan said calmly. "Breaking through the divine essence may not be just about obtaining energy; the act of killing the god himself may represent the progress of the ritual. According to my speculation, if we want to obtain the Star Cup, whether we have enough energy is secondary; the key is whether we have killed the strongest god."

"The strongest war god..." Patchouli pursed her lips, not directly naming a deity who undoubtedly possessed the light of the soul. "The gathering of energy is merely an unnecessary condition, like a ticket. The real key lies in whether we have obtained a sufficient quantity and weight of gains during the ritual?"

"The possibility is very high, and this also explains why the strongest God of War didn't achieve victory directly but had to prolong the war." Xiao Honglu picked up the conversation again, sneering, twirling a strand of hair between his fingers. "If I'm not mistaken, among the known divine species, the God of War's share of divine essence has probably exceeded the threshold required by the Star Grail. At least decades ago, according to the intelligence, even if He killed all the other divine species except Himself, He still wouldn't have met the requirement of breaking through the share of divine essence, and therefore wouldn't have been able to obtain the Star Grail."

“The torment of power: being the strongest means being so powerful that the only option to obtain enough divine essence to break through one's defenses is to kill oneself…” Patchouli rubbed her forehead. “But if this hypothesis holds true, then the God of War is already the strongest among all the gods. He is already a supreme god in name only, and there is no need for him to compete for this meaningless throne of the One God… It can’t be that the so-called ascension ceremony of the One God was done behind his back by other gods, and he himself didn’t care whether it succeeded or not. That would be too ridiculous.”

Then Chu Xuan's voice rang out.

“They are not after the position of the One God; that's not what they're after. Or rather, the position of the One God is merely an add-on, a cheap item like a free tissue included with a phone top-up.”

"What they really want is the Star Cup."

Section 6. But I refuse.

"The Star Grail is not a creation concocted by the gods; on the contrary, the gods are the source of the Star Grail's power." A celestial model constructed of light appeared in front of Alice, and then several points of light marked the locations of powerful races stationed around the model.

"The so-called Supreme God Competition Ritual is actually the delusion of these gods created by the Star Cup regarding the Star Cup. It's like a bunch of self-aware programs wanting to become an operating system and directly control the underlying hardware. Although it doesn't really mean much to them, it's one of the few things they can do in their long and boring divine lives."

The two were in a constantly shifting spatial crevice, and Alice had spent considerable effort exploring to find this place. Only after the environment finally became safe and stable did they have the leisure to stop and exchange information.

Of course, what was called an exchange was actually just Alice explaining things to Zheng Zha. The latter had already exhausted his brain cells just trying to understand the current worldview—although he wasn't actually incapable of understanding, racking his brains was nowhere near as easy and enjoyable as simply hearing the answer!

"So how can we obtain this so-called Star Cup?" Zheng Zha asked at the opportune moment. "According to your previous speculation, do we have to defeat all the gods head-on before we can finally achieve victory in the ritual? Isn't there a more convenient, faster method with fewer side effects?"

“Unfortunately, there are no more methods. At least not at this point in time.” Alice shook her head and said, “If we had arrived a few decades earlier, perhaps we could have used some tricks, such as using the Extraction Tower to directly absorb several stars and then bombard the Elf Corridor inside the Earth’s core, forcibly activating all the unactivated divine essences in this world and then destroying them to directly gain victory, or draining the Elf Corridor, using ‘Origin’ to cover up the concept of the God of War as ‘the strongest,’ killing this strongest god and winning the Star Cup… But unfortunately, these methods no longer work. This world is no longer like it was decades ago, when the God of War was the only one who could dominate, stronger than everyone else except himself. The enemies we need to face are also much more numerous than you expect.”

"That war decades ago..." Zheng Zha frowned, and relevant information gradually surfaced in his mind.

Decades ago—the reason for saying decades ago, rather than a precise time, is because the timeline and world lines were once tangled in a complex mess. At least three, perhaps even four, world lines were intertwined, the specifics of which are unknown and impossible to ascertain. Even the information Alice obtained from the heads of the Skywing race only confirms that the event occurred after the successive defeats of the Dragon Spirit race's Final Dragon and the Desolate Dragon, and was instigated by the third Dragon Spirit King, whose existence has been completely erased, leaving only a vague phantom in even the gods' memories.

The event was called 'Dragon Break' by the gods. In essence, it was a fragment of spacetime. The Third Dragon King, who was born with the power to observe the past and future, was erased from the world at the cost of his existence. Through some unknown means, he forcibly pulled several world lines that originally did not belong to the same category as this world from the outer void and merged them into the present world.

From that moment on, among the previously leaderless Dragonkin, emerged the powerful white dragon Ismir, known as the Lord of the North Wind. Among the previously insignificant Vampires, the first Vampire Lord, calling himself Shalltear, appeared, capable of easily defeating a small squad of Skywings. The situation of the Moonsongs is unclear, but it is said that their subsequent war with the Fairy race destroyed two small planets. Even among the lowest-ranking Beastmen, many ape-like beings emerged and joined the war against the Moonsongs, bringing the flames of war to the moon.

Aside from the Skywing race, a puppet race entirely created by the God of War, and the Mech race, a wandering calamity resembling an out-of-control autonomous weapon, all races underwent unexpected changes during the Dragon Break. Previously stagnant mechanical technology and magical knowledge increased dramatically. The main battlefield shifted primarily from the planet 'Disbod' to outer space. In the decades of recorded history, the number of planets destroyed in war has exceeded double digits. Perhaps when more advanced resource utilization technologies are developed and the ability to jump between dimensions is successfully exploited, a Heavenly War sweeping across the galaxy will begin.

After all this happened, the God of War Artesius, who should have been the strongest and always would be the strongest, showed no change in the eyes of Alice's source of information, the Angel Israpheel.

Perhaps before the Dragon Break, the God of War possessed the ability to end this long war single-handedly. However, afterward, it was no longer so easy. The activated divine essence had transcended its original scope. The War Lord, who once stood alone at the pinnacle, laughed wildly, gleefully dealing with one powerful opponent after another—opponents he could only defeat, not kill, even with his full strength, and whose combined strength posed a threat to him. And the long war was no longer confined to 'Disbod,' but spread outward, reaching even farther.

Let's get back to the main topic.

“So you understand now, Mr. Zheng.” Alice snapped her fingers, extinguishing the planet model. “From the moment this event, which was clearly called Dragon Break, began, this world ceased to be a simple, independent story and became a complex, troublesome universe. I’m even now speculating that the Elf Corridor beneath the planet is the outlet for the Star Cup’s energy, and all these gods are actually activated concepts that have obtained energy—this thing is quite similar to the information magic I’m good at. But whether it’s similar or not, dealing with concepts is unavoidable in this world.”

The witch shrugged.

“Conceptual issues are more complex to deal with. If there is no absolute force to break through them, then we must follow the way the concept itself works to find a reasonable solution. In this world, if we want to obtain the Star Grail, there are only two strategies we can adopt—first, defeat all, or most, gods, including the God of War, through violence. Let strength speak for itself and obtain the Star Grail in a worthy manner.”

As she spoke, she glanced at Zheng, who was unconsciously shaking his head because he had acquired enough combat records.

"It's not as difficult as you think. Just like the Queen of Chess can't compete with the Queen of Spades, even the God of War who has acquired the concept of 'strongest' in this world can't extend that concept to us reincarnators, and it's even difficult to extend it to visitors from other worlds online. Although he probably has mid-to-high-level combat power at the fourth tier, he's not invincible..."

Someone raised their hand to indicate that they couldn't do it.

“Alright.” Alice raised an eyebrow, not surprised by Zheng Zha’s melancholy. “Then the second strategy is to act according to the rules, actively participating in this battle for the One God in a compliant manner—the essence of the gods is a living concept, and their origin is the prayers of mortals. As long as we can find a suitable race and become their racial god, developing them to an extremely prosperous state, we can naturally increase the scale of our ‘concept,’ or ‘essence,’ to a corresponding level. And fortunately, there is a very suitable race in this world that we can use.”

The girl tilted her head slightly.

"Since the strongest being here is a god created by activating the 'strongest' divine essence, then we might as well activate the 'victory' or a similar divine essence and occupy its position. In that case, what we need to deal with is the war between our clan and other races. After all, the conceptual scale is similar, and the strength of the clan will determine the winner. As for the current situation, in terms of business development, I still have the confidence to defeat the gods of this world."

"Alright, the rules for victory have been established. There's only one thing to do next."

A faint light flickered in Alice's eyes, her tone cheerful and resolute. "Become the Human Emperor, Zheng Zha. Just as you have done so many times before!"

Then--

"I'm sorry, but I must decline." — Alice, full of confidence, received a result that was completely unexpected.

"--Clam?"

................................................

"What we need to do next is find places where mortals gather in this world. Their faith is essential to our mission. If the essence is oil and energy is fire, then faith is the fuel that makes the fire burn on the oil, like oxygen in the atmosphere."

From the memories of the Skywing race named Israphar, we learn that mortals existed in this world, and that the civilizations and kingdoms they built were destroyed in the aftermath of a long war—they met such an end, and were not even considered one of the fifteen intelligent races, not because they were weak, but because they lacked a strong leader or god to provide them with protection. Our arrival was like a lifeline for them.

Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses, calmly making decision after decision. In Israphar's memory, humanity occupied only a tiny, insignificant fragment, a speck of dust unworthy even of exploitation. Yet, even such specks of dust had once built cities and nations. Clearly, if the mortals of this world possessed supernatural abilities, they must have all been channeled into the 'survival instinct.' Even in this era of swirling black snow, where all beings with blood and energy perished like weeds, a considerable number of them must still tenaciously survive.

It's obvious that mortals, so weak and pathetic compared to the fifteen races, would choose to settle in secluded locations that would shield them from most known detection methods. Without deliberate searching, these places would be blind spots for mortals, dead zones of vision. Even reincarnators, without a conspicuous and extensive search, wouldn't be able to pinpoint their exact coordinates.

but……

Patchouli, who is skilled in information magic and can read information directly from the earth, is here.

"Fifteen coordinates have been located, and faint traces of human consciousness remain near each coordinate. Nine of these targets are located in areas with harsh terrain, such as volcanoes, deep valleys, or even natural barriers like permanent wind pillars and thunderclouds." Patchouli marked more than a dozen coordinates on the star model constructed by the nano-gray tides. Nine of them were highlighted by her.

Above everyone's heads, the unfolded Grand Library floated in this vast underground void, with countless silver and gray tides surging outwards and altering the surrounding environment. According to known intelligence, only the Goblin race, the eighth in the fifteen races, is currently involved in underground development. However, decades ago, during the 'Dragon Break,' they abandoned their royal city located ten kilometers underground, transferring the main body of their civilization to a floating fleet. Currently, they are engaged in fierce battles with the Forest Elves, who have planted trees in space, on a large star ring in outer space.

This location is about 400 kilometers underground. Even for Disbod, which is much larger than Earth, this location is still beyond the crust and close to the mantle.

“Conduct a detailed reconnaissance of those nine coordinates, and first absorb those settlements that are in a bad situation.” Chu Xuan nodded to Patchouli, then turned his gaze to Zhao Yingkong. “Zhao Yingkong, take a few people with you. Although I think that given the current situation, the mortals of this world would not refuse our helping hand, it is still better to send someone with good communication skills. As the saying goes, it is better to be prepared.”

Zhao Yingkong nodded with a slight smile, but she didn't have the gloomy image she had during the Ju-on arc. She stretched out her hand, preparing to create a hidden temporary passage in the surrounding space.

“Leave the eloquence to me. Brother Cheng Xiao seems to have some experience in organizing and uniting people, so let’s count the two of us together,” Xiao Honglu suddenly said. “Should we give Brother Zheng Zha some support? Since we’re planning to use mortal civilization as a foundation to revitalize the divine essence and create gods, then Brother Zheng Zha is probably the most suitable choice. After all, he’s done the same thing more than once, so continuing the effort is a good decision, isn’t it?”

“He is indeed the best option, but it’s best to prepare other alternative plans.” Chu Xuan pushed up his glasses, the lenses subtly reflecting a cold light. “Don’t do anything unnecessary yet. First, establish a temporary base here and gather enough mortals before making any other plans. Mortals have lived in this world for many years; theoretically, they should have already activated the divine essence of the gods who protect them through prayer. But the current situation suggests there might be other hidden reasons behind it. Our current intelligence is insufficient to reach a completely accurate conclusion. So, let’s postpone it for now. I need some samples and some more precise intelligence to support our inferences.”

Xiao Honglu opened his mouth, nodded, and did not refute.

And just then...

"Everyone," Patchouli's voice rang clearly in everyone's ears. "There's some situation here."

Section 7: Dragon or Vampire

The Orcs, ranked fourteenth among the fifteen races, are only stronger than the bottom-ranked Marine race. Their defining characteristic is immense physical strength, possessing certain bestial features. However, they are completely unable to sense elves and thus cannot use magic. Therefore, while they have a significant advantage in close combat, they often struggle to survive under the influence of ranged spells, curses, and even triggered shields.

Some of these individuals possess an ability known as 'Blood Destruction'. Physically, it can be seen as a kind of explosive power, similar to a genetic lock. By destructively stimulating the body's internal structure, it allows the five senses and motor abilities to experience explosive growth, supported by the orc race's already slightly superior physique compared to other lower-ranking races. Although it may ultimately lead to overload and death, and unlike a genetic lock, it doesn't produce a fundamental transformation at the fourth stage, it is still a powerful force.

If judged from the perspective of a reincarnator, an ordinary orc would be roughly equivalent to a mortal with a D to DD level of power. Armed with simple melee weapons, they could single-handedly annihilate an elite early 21st-century city guard unit in urban warfare. Higher orcs with 'blood corruption' abilities are equivalent to armed humans with C to CC level enhancements and the ability to unlock one or two tiers of genetic locks for a short period. Even in the open field, the best of them could withstand low-intensity artillery fire and defeat a regular armored regiment with 93 tanks, 30 infantry fighting vehicles, and several self-propelled howitzers and anti-aircraft guns head-on.