301: The Vanished Blue Star Warriors

Several weak yet death-defying energy beams, like fireflies struggling in a violent storm, shot from behind Lin Yuan—from the direction of the remaining hemisphere of Blue Star that had not yet been swallowed by the darkness—laboriously penetrating the thin atmosphere and chaotic cosmic radiation toward the edge of the dark tide!

Following closely, several scarred interstellar warships, shaped like worn-out shuttles, engines spewing unstable flares, wobbled out of Blue Star's orbit. Their hulls were covered in charred marks left by dark erosion, and their shield lights flickered dimly, as if they would completely disintegrate at any second. These warships formed a broken wedge formation and charged toward the boundless darkness without hesitation, attempting to use their battered frames and weak cannon fire to buy even one more second for their home planet behind them!

"Target locked! Unknown dark erosion source! Main cannons at maximum power! Fire!" A hoarse voice, filled with iron-blooded will, echoed through the dead silence of the Universe via the public channel.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Slightly thicker energy beams struck the edge of the darkness, exploding into a few insignificant sparks of energy before being silently swallowed by the viscous darkness, failing to cause even a single ripple.

"Reporting to the Commander! Attack ineffective! The energy Rank gap is too large! We..." A voice filled with despair sounded over the channel.

"Shut up! Keep firing even if it's ineffective! Blue Star is right behind us! There is no retreat! All units, fire at will! Even if we have to ram them, do it!" That hoarse voice roared with a tragic madness.

Several warships, like moths to a flame, their engines overloaded and emitting overburdened wails, dragged long tails of light and resolutely charged toward the dark curtain that swallowed everything!

Lin Yuan's Divine Thought had long since enveloped the entire battlefield. Those warships, that hoarse roar, and that death-defying will erupting from despair were like cold needles piercing into his battle-tempered Dao Heart. Those were his compatriots! His clansmen! Facing an extinction-level disaster, they were launching a final charge against the abyss with strength like that of ants!

An indescribable bitterness and rage instantly shattered the calm Lin Yuan had deliberately maintained. Had all those martial arts powerhouses on Blue Star died out? Was the only combat force left on Blue Star these ordinary humans piloting starships?

"Ants shaking the heavens, your will is respectable," Lin Yuan's voice was low, yet it exploded like rolling thunder directly in the depths of the Souls of the commander and all the charging crew members. "But, with me here, it is not yet your turn to go to your deaths!"

Before his voice had even faded!

Deep within the pupil of Lin Yuan's left eye, that speck of Time Origin Projection suddenly lit up! A supreme temporal power, far beyond the understanding of the soldiers on the starships, came crashing down!

Buzz—!

The several warships ahead, charging toward the darkness at death-defying speeds, along with all the energy beams they had fired, instantly fell into absolute stillness! Time was forcibly solidified in this area! The warships maintained their charging postures, their engine flares looking like frozen amber, and the fired energy beams were fixed at the edge of the darkness, as if the Universe had pressed a pause button!

"This... this is..." Inside the flagship's command center, Commander Qin Yuanshan maintained his roaring posture, but his thoughts felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar. He could not move an inch; only in his lone eye was the reflection of that dark-gold figure slowly raising his right hand, and that speck of Chaos primal light lighting up at his fingertip once more!

This time, the target of the light was not the core of the Burial God Abyss, but the several warships frozen in time!

"Chaos Void Return Creation Seal — Trace!"

Lin Yuan lightly tapped with his fingertip!

That speck of Chaos light instantly split, precisely sinking into each of the charging warships!

A miracle occurred!

Time did not flow backward, but the charred marks left by dark erosion on the warships were quickly wiped away as if by an invisible eraser! The damaged armor plates automatically repaired and closed as if time were reverting! The dim shield generators erupted with brand-new light, and energy readings instantly returned to their Peak state! Even the crew members' exhausted spirits and physical injuries were rapidly restored and healed under a gentle yet majestic creation power!

This was not simple time reversal, but Lin Yuan using Chaos creation power to forcibly erase the "damaged" state the warships had suffered over the past period, "restoring" them to the perfect moment before they were damaged! It was a higher level of "State Restoration"!

The time freeze was lifted!

The several warships jolted violently, their engine roars becoming smooth and powerful, and their shield lights steady and brilliant! The crew members looked blankly at their instantly rejuvenated hulls and their abundant physical strength, as if that tragic charge just now had only been a nightmare.

"This... a miracle?!" Qin Yuanshan touched his intact cheek, where even the scars had vanished, his lone eye filled with extreme shock and disbelief. He abruptly looked up at the god-like figure ahead.

"Retreat," Lin Yuan's voice sounded in their Souls again, calm yet containing an unquestionable majesty. "Leave this place to me."

This time, there was no hesitation! Qin Yuanshan almost roared his command: "All units! Maximum speed! Exit the battlefield! Retreat to Blue Star's synchronous orbit! Now!" He took a deep look at Lin Yuan's back, which seemed to prop up the heavens and earth, his gaze filled with the wild joy of surviving a disaster, incomprehensible awe, and... a newly ignited spark of light called hope. Furthermore, the appearance of that powerhouse seemed like something he had seen somewhere before.

The engines of the several warships went to full power, turning into streams of light as they retreated toward that planet—of which only half remained azure—with a speed even faster than their charge, panicked yet incredibly determined.

Having sent off those warships, Lin Yuan's gaze refocused on the dark core ahead, which was violently twisting and shrinking due to the destruction of the giant claw and the backlash of power. That viscous darkness was like a wounded beast, letting out low, pained roars and churning even more violently. A deeper, filthier aura that seemed capable of directly polluting the Soul's Origin was frantically brewing and accumulating within it!

"It seems that unless I completely chop off your claws, you won't give up." Lin Yuan's eyes were icy, and his killing intent spread out like a tangible cold tide. He slowly raised both hands, cupping them in a circle before his chest.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The Chaos Domain rapidly contracted, turning into a dark-gold stream of light clinging tightly to his body. The Chaos Dao Bone fused into his spine erupted with unprecedentedly brilliant light, the primordial azure lotus dao embryo swayed in his Sea of Consciousness, and the embryonic form of a Grandmist Being at the heart of the lotus opened its ignorant yet majestic eyes!

"Chaos Void Return Creation Seal —"

Between Lin Yuan's hands, a speck of Chaos primal light expanded rapidly! This time, it was not purification, not destruction, and not restoration! It was the purest Origin Annihilation—which fused the three supreme powers of Chaos inclusion, creation-opening, and Void Return termination!

"— Origin Annihilation!"