46: Chapter 46 The Dark Forest Theory

"I suppose you have all seen it clearly." Mu Qingge's voice rang out at the right time, steady in tone. "This place is the boundary of the human territory—the Domain Defense Line, and the place where you are about to participate in the trial is the buffer zone of the Outer Realm Battlefield."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of all the students changed drastically in unison, and a chill grew deep in their hearts.

The domain boundary was the transitional buffer zone between the human race and the myriad clans; beyond it lay the true heavens and outer realms.

That was a cruel battlefield where the myriad clans fought in chaos, with endless warfare and endless slaughter. Demigods were like ants here, and the fall of true gods was also the norm. Even the supreme main gods were not absolutely safe when they were in the outer realms.

When the human race first entered the starry skies, there were no territorial barriers, and the myriad clans of the heavens eyed them covetously, repeatedly invading to nibble away at human territory and slaughter human lives.

The deities of the older generations fought bloody battles, exhausting countless flesh and lives, just to build void fortresses one after another at the edge of the territory, setting up the Domain Defense Line to protect the entire human race so that they could multiply and thrive, isolating them from the disasters and chaos of the myriad clans.

Su Ming had long heard that all registered deities of the human race, regardless of their origin or background,

as long as they were war deities, were all required to go to the Outer Realm Battlefield to accumulate merits and guard the territory.

Noble families and chaebols possessed massive resources and privileges, and their corresponding merit missions and guarding responsibilities were also far heavier than those of ordinary deities.

The glory of noble families and aristocratic privileges witnessed by the world were never obtained out of thin air, but rather the foundation and heritage earned by generations of clan members rushing to the outer realms, fighting in blood, and trading their lives.

Even though the contradictions between commoners and noble families had long existed and were difficult to reconcile, in the face of the grand trend of human survival, all internal disputes appeared insignificant.

Moreover, the Human Federation had never blocked the upward mobility channels for commoners.

As long as you had talent and dared to fight, if you kept fighting generation after generation, you would have a chance.

Many noble families and chaebols among the human race came about this way.

The federal system had already achieved relative ultimate fairness within the cruel pattern of the interstellar myriad clans.

And this was also the fundamental reason why Su Ming tried his utmost, persistently sprinting towards the Nine Divine Mansions, and competing for top opportunities.

For a commoner like him, this was the most likely and fastest path to defy the heavens, change his fate, and step into the top tier.

Gazing at the terrifying void fortress spanning across the star domain before them, all the students present saw deep worry rise in the depths of their eyes.

They were all demigods. Even the most marginal buffer zone in the Outer Realm Battlefield was by no means something they could currently set foot in.

Mu Qingge saw through everyone's concerns at a glance, and spoke up at the right time to comfort them: "There is no need to worry. This trial does not require your true bodies to enter; instead, you will participate in the trial with divine power avatars."

Hearing this, everyone present collectively breathed a sigh of relief, their doubts completely dissipating, replaced by an expression of sudden realization.

"So that's how it is! No wonder the trial was chosen at the border. Only the Domain Defense Line can rely on the star domain grand array, link to the outer realm planes via divine domain simulation pods, and achieve entering the realms with avatars."

Everyone's minds suddenly became enlightened.

The divine domain simulation pod was not used for them to conduct simulation battles.

Its true function was to anchor the coordinates of outer realm planes, guide divine power avatars, and allow deities to enter outer realm planes using divine power avatars.

Of course, another reason for using the divine domain simulation pod was for relative fairness.

If the students could make moves themselves, then what would be contested was the heritage of their respective families.

Standing beneath the starry sky, Su Ming's mind stirred slightly, vaguely sensing that the human territory was constantly expanding.

Human territory was never fixed and unchanging; rather, in the flow of time, it was expanding outward, devouring, and regenerating at every moment.

He knew clearly in his heart that the essence of human territorial expansion was the continuous devouring and assimilation of weak outer realm planes, incorporating them into the human divine domain system for one's own use.

The entire vast universe was inherently a cold and cruel dark forest.

Countless civilizations and countless planes were all hunters lurking in the depths of the dense forest.

They lurked while holding their breath, hiding their traces, not daring to expose the slightest aura, because the rules of the universe were always cruel to the extreme, devoid of warmth or morality, with only the law of the jungle and survival of the fittest.

Weakness was the original sin, and exposure could mean destruction.

Survival was the only ultimate bottom line for all civilizations.

The human race had once been prey in this dark forest.

But now, the human race had already shed its frail outer garment and become a top-tier hunter.

However, within the dark forest, the human race was never the only hunter.

Moreover, the identities of hunter and prey were never eternally fixed.

Today one could nibble away at other clans and dominate a region, but tomorrow one might degenerate into fish meat on the plate of a stronger race.

To survive forever and stand tall without falling, the only way was to make oneself and the race forever maintain progress and continuously grow stronger.

Yet, the invasion of outer realm planes was never an easy task.

Every complete world nurtured countless living beings and possessed a profound heritage.

Any world worthy of being called a "plane" inevitably had native true gods guarding it.

The moment foreign invaders stepped into the plane, they would suffer desperate counterattacks and comprehensive encirclement and suppression by the native living beings.

Not only that, the plane world's will would instinctively repel outsiders and suppress the strength of the invaders in all aspects.

Under this repulsion and suppression, it would be considered not bad to be able to display half of one's strength.

If the rhythm of the invasion was too radical and completely enraged the world's will, it would even burn its origin, crazily enhancing the strength of the native living beings, and taking the opportunity to spawn a child of destiny protected by fate.

Precisely because there were extremely many variables, every plane invasion was a game of chess.

The Human Federation had already explored a mature invasion system: first, true gods would make a move to tie down and blockade the enemy's native true gods, cutting off the plane's top-tier combat power; then, a massive amount of demigod combat power would be thrown into the realm to clear out native living beings and consume the plane's heritage.

The scarcer the number of native living beings, the weaker the suppression force of the world's will would be.

Until the plane's origin was consumed to a critical point and the world's will was powerless to counterattack, the huge plane would be slowly devoured and assimilated, incorporating into human territory.

The core essence of this system lay in the graded suppression of the plane's will: the suppression of true gods was extremely strong, the suppression of demigods was significantly weakened, and for transcendental beings below demigods, the suppression was even negligible.

This was also the fundamental reason why countless deities relied heavily on their familiars.

The divine domain familiars were massive in number and feared not death; they were the absolute main force for plane invasion and clearing out bottom-tier combat power.

The federation setting the trial venue in the outer realms must have screened out a batch of abandoned, weak planes with extremely low risk and frail heritage, specifically used to provide trials and experiences for demigods.

For such weak planes, most human deities would not expend energy to thoroughly plunder them personally; instead, they would list their plane coordinates on the divine network for public sale, providing them for demigods to gain experience, pioneer, and accumulate resources.

There were even powerful deities who could annex weak planes with their own divine domain origin, turning them into subordinate divine domains.

Su Ming and his party quickly completed the security check, and under the guidance of mechanical guards, smoothly stepped into the interior of the star domain fortress.

Passing through layers of defensive corridors, everyone arrived at a neat and magnificent military camp.

Inside the camp area, a large number of young students from various planets had already gathered. Among them, quite a few were familiar faces—those proud prodigies from various places who had previously participated in the Hanging Secret Realm trial together.

Under Mu Qingge's leadership, the group quickly found the garrison area exclusive to Planet Blue.

"Su Ming! Old Gu! Over here!"

As soon as the two of them landed their feet, a familiar shout was transmitted over.

Mo Beichen was standing not far away, smiling and waving vigorously at them.

Seeing an old friend, both Su Ming and Gu Qingfeng revealed expressions of joy and stepped forward quickly.

"Old Mo, I didn't expect you to have obtained a trial quota as well!"

Mo Beichen scratched his head, his modest smile unable to hide the pride in the depths of his eyes: "Just good luck. During this period, my cultivation has steadily broken through, just barely enough to reach the threshold of the trial, and I snatched this quota."

"Little fellow, we meet again."

Just as the three of them were exchanging pleasantries, a gentle and aged voice slowly drifted over.

Su Ming turned his head to look, feeling slightly surprised. The person who came was unexpectedly Principal Ning Zhengqi of Xingyao Academy.

Although Su Ming knew Principal Ning Zhengqi, he had never thought that the other party would take the initiative to talk to him.

Principal Ning Zhengqi stepped forward, raised his hand to gently pat Su Ming's shoulder, his gaze gentle and solemn: "For this outer realm trial, seize it well and go all out."

Su Ming was flattered and hurriedly bowed to reply: "Please rest assured, Principal, this student will definitely try his utmost."

Principal Ning Zhengqi nodded, then turned to look at Gu Qingfeng and Mo Beichen with a smile, his eyes full of expectations.

At this moment, Su Ming was still somewhat dazed, his heart filled with confusion, unable to understand why he could receive such extraordinary value from the principal.

Little did he know that as early as the divine domain simulation battle, Principal Ning Zhengqi had already taken notice of him.

And the news of him winning first place in the Hanging Secret Realm was transmitted to his ears at the very first moment.

How could he not pay attention to such a prodigy?

If not for this trial, upon returning, he would definitely have received the full cultivation of Xingyao Deity Middle School.

A moment later, dignified and stern footsteps resounded through the entire military camp.

A stalwart man wearing iron-blooded combat attire with a posture as straight as a spear strode over. The military fiendish aura around his body rushed forward, suppressing the entire audience into instant silence.

"The trial purpose of your trip this time, I suppose your elders have already informed you in advance, so I won't go into superfluous details." The stalwart man's tone was crisp without a single word of nonsense, "Next, I will publicize all the intelligence of this trial plane."

As his voice fell, he waved his hand, and a huge holographic light curtain instantly unfolded above the void, with densely packed plane information listed out.

Su Ming concentrated on reading carefully, quickly sorting out and summarizing the core intelligence:

First, the outer realm plane invaded in this trial is called the Chaoming Realm, which is a tiny plane where the time ratio with the main plane is 1:10.

Second, this plane has two native true gods, who have now been suppressed and slain in advance by strong figures of the Human Federation.

Third, two major hostile forces coexist locally in the Chaoming Realm, namely the Xiguang Dynasty and the Youying Dynasty. Each of the two dynasties occupies half of the plane, waging endless wars across generations, respectively believing in different deities with extremely deep grievances.

Fourth, all students will be randomly teleported into the realm with divine power avatars, with random landing points, and the system will avoid core main city areas.

Fifth, with the fall of the two native true gods, the order of the Chaoming Realm collapsed, and the two imperial cities already showed signs of chaos; however, the plane's will has also fallen into a state of violent imbalance, with a high probability of spawning a child of destiny.