174: The ninth wave arrives, and the power of the long river of civilization is revealed.

The light from the central Abyss Fissure shifted from its previous violent expansion to a heart-palpitating, inward-collapsing silence.

It was no longer a chaotic venting, but an extreme concentration. All the filth, Devilish Qi, roars, and pain seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand, kneaded and compressed into a point at the core of the fissure that suddenly darkened—a darkness that seemed capable of swallowing all light.

The air on the battlefield became as viscous as congealed grease. The Abyssal Giants struggling in the swamp stopped their futile bellows, the remaining Gargoyles hovered mid-air, and even the low-level monsters entangled by the demon-devouring vines instinctively cowered. An absolute sense of suppression, originating from the level of life and rules, flooded the consciousness of every living being like a cold tide.

"It's coming." Lin Zhou hovered in the air, his expression solemn to the extreme. His Godhead load had been maintained at a high level of over 85%, and at this moment, he felt a needle-like stinging sensation—a malicious gaze from deep within the fissure. His Divine Power reserves were down to less than two hundred units, and the Fire of Civilization flickered slightly, yet it never dimmed.

The Star Gazing Platform could no longer issue alarms; all monitoring runes flickered uncertainly under that pressure, barely maintaining the final flow of information: "Energy readings... exceeding threshold... unable to analyze... morphology locked... Demigod-Rank Abyss Lord... Will manifestation process... 99%... Descent countdown... ten... nine..."

Every second felt as long as a century.

Behind the swamp, on the new defensive line, Rock Shield's palms, gripping his battle-axe, were drenched in sweat; he could hear his heart beating like a war drum. Fire Hammer stood before the console of the partially damaged Mechanism City, teeth clenched. Qing Lin gripped her [Spirit Pivot Needle], her soft face full of resolve. The three hundred Stone Spirit Guards were as silent as mountains, but the yellow light in their eyes fluctuated. All the warriors who could still stand gripped their weapons, placing their final hope on that figure in the sky that had never retreated.

In the sky, the light of the seven Observers also dimmed slightly, adopting a solemn posture of observation. The star map phantom rotated slowly, as if recording this historic moment.

"Eight... seven... six..."

Lin Zhou closed his eyes. It was not abandonment, but communication, calling out, and gathering. His consciousness sank into the very core of his Divine Domain, into the place that carried all his beliefs and the source of his path—the Temple of Chinese Civilization.

Inside the Sacred Hall, it was no longer just a single school's area shining. Confucian classics radiated grand Confucian Righteousness, Legalist bamboo slips flowed with cold light, Mohist Mechanisms patterns operated with precision, School of Military strategies shimmered with the aura of slaughter, Daoist scriptures glowed with clear light, School of Medicine classics teemed with vitality, School of Agriculture scrolls carried the weight of the earth, School of Names sophistry intertwined logic, School of Diplomacy treatises rose and fell with the momentum of the world, and School of Miscellaneous's vastness embraced everything like the sea... The lights of the Hundred Schools of Thought reflected each other and resonated, no longer distinctly separated, but beginning to slowly fuse and flow. Their light, their intent, and their "Dao" merged into the original Fire of Civilization ignited at the center of the hall. The color of the flame shifted from pale gold to jade white, and now, it presented an indescribable, all-encompassing, and pure glazed color.

"Five... four... three..."

Lin Zhou's will fused completely with this glazed Fire of Civilization. He seemed to see the figures of countless sages wading, thinking, debating, and practicing within the long river of history, hearing teachings and shouts that remained deafening across time and space. Civilization was not a dead dogma, but a living, flowing, and constantly inclusive river of civilization!

"Two... one..."

The moment the countdown hit zero, the extreme darkness of the central Abyss Fissure snapped inward, and then—it exploded!

There was no earth-shattering roar, only a sigh filled with greed, tyranny, destruction, and endless malice that seemed to echo directly in the depths of every Soul!

A figure stepped out from the exploding darkness.

It was not the heaven-propping, muscle-bound demon god image one might expect. It was only about five meters tall, appearing almost "small" compared to the Abyssal Giants. Its entire body was covered in a sort of flowing shadow armor that constantly shifted with faces of pain, and viscous, living purple-black energy flows seeped from the gaps in the armor. Its head was shrouded in a hood-like shadow, revealing only two eyes burning with cold white flames—eyes that held no emotion, only pure hatred for all ordered existence and a desire to devour.

In its hands, there were no weapons, only claws extending from its fingers, formed of the purest condensed darkness, constantly twisting and stretching. Behind it, a deeper darkness spread out like a cloak, within which the phantoms of countless monsters could be faintly seen wailing and struggling before being consumed by the dark.

Merely by standing there, the surrounding space began to spontaneously twist and corrupt, as if "existence" itself was rejecting and repelling it, yet was being forcibly distorted and occupied by it.

[Abyss Lord · Incarnation of the Devouring Phantom (Demigod / LV95)]:

Form: Humanoid, flowing shadow armor, shadow hood, white flame eyes, dark claws, abyssal cloak.

Core Attributes (Preliminary Godhead Analysis):

Strength: 90+ (Rule-enhanced; physical attacks carry strong "Order-Breaking" and "Erosion" attributes)

Agility: 75+ (Shadow movement; trajectory difficult to capture)

Physique: 100+ (Demigod body; high HP and energy resistance, possesses extreme regeneration and resistance)

Spirit/Will: 120+ (Demigod will; highly condensed, extremely high resistance to mental attacks and rule interference, carries a strong "Presence" and "Pressure" aura)

HP/Energy: Estimated 250,000+ / ???

Rule Characteristics:

[Abyssal Erosion Domain (Passive)]: Centered on itself, it continuously erodes the surrounding environment and rules, converting them into [Shadow Scorched Earth] (higher tier than filthy scorched earth), weakening all attributes of non-abyssal units (approx. 10%) and providing attribute bonuses to itself and abyssal units (approx. 10%).

[Presence Erasure (Aura)]: Intense pressure of presence; low-level units cannot even look directly at or clearly perceive its existence, falling into "cognitive blurring" and "instinctive fear."

[Phantom Traverse]: Can perform short-distance blinks within its own shadow Domain or through shadows.

[Devouring Touch (Claw Attack)]: Attacks ignore portions of physical and energy defense; upon hitting, adds a "Devour" effect, continuously draining the target's vitality and energy while suppressing healing and recovery effects.

[Shadow Burst (AOE)]: Summons an explosion of dark energy, dealing massive area shadow damage with a chance to inflict negative states such as "Corrode," "Silence," and "Slow."

[??? (Demigod-Rank Exclusive Ability, not fully analyzed)]

Threat Level: World-Ending (for the current battlefield). Its very existence is a negation of Order and civilization. Conventional physical attacks, energy blasts, and even most mental shocks will have their effects greatly diminished against it.

It—the Abyss Lord's gaze, like two poisoned ice picks, pierced through space directly at Lin Zhou. The will-impact contained in that gaze caused Lin Zhou's Divine Fire to darken abruptly, and his Godhead groaned under the unbearable weight, the load instantly soaring to 91%! Just eye contact alone nearly made him lose his composure!

"Order... weak... spark... interesting... but... eventually... extinguished... returning... to nothingness..." Disconnected thoughts, sounding like metal scraping glass, echoed directly in Lin Zhou's mind, carrying a cruel, cat-and-mouse playfulness.

With its descent, the seven Abyssal Giants previously trapped by the School of Agriculture's swamp, along with the remaining monsters, acted as if they had been injected with a stimulant. They let out frenzied roars and struggled even more violently; the filthy scorched earth even showed signs of re-eroding the swamp!

Despair, like the coldest current, swept through every corner of the side of Order. A Demigod! This was an existence that truly transcended the mundane and touched the Origin of rules! It was fundamentally different from all previous monsters! It was like a small child facing a fully armed giant!

Rock Shield and the others turned pale instantly. The Stone Spirit Leader's thoughts carried a heavy sigh. Even the seven Observers in the sky showed a clear contraction of their light, seemingly evaluating the true power of this Abyss Lord.

The voice of the star map phantom took on a rare gravity: "A Demigod Incarnation... though not a full manifestation, it already possesses the traits of the Origin... a tendency toward 'Devouring' and 'Nothingness'... Young Fire Sower, your 'fire' may find it difficult to illuminate such deep darkness..."

At this moment, however, the corners of Lin Zhou's mouth slowly curled into a slight arc. In that arc, there was no fear, no despair, only a resolution to burn his bridges, and... an endless pride hidden deep within his Bloodline, Soul, and civilizational memory!

"The spark is weak?" Lin Zhou's voice was no longer transmitted through Divine Thought but rang out directly in this world shrouded by darkness, clear and calm, yet carrying a power that pierced through all gloom. "That is because you have never seen how a single spark can start a prairie fire! You have never heard how trickling streams can converge into a great river!"

"The weakness of Order you perceive is but the deepest darkness before the dawn! You think civilization is about to be extinguished, yet you do not know that the torch is passed down, endless and ever-living!"

He suddenly threw his arms wide, as if to embrace the entire world! Within him, the glazed Fire of Civilization burned fiercely with an unprecedented posture! In his Godhead, the budding [Education] and the embryonic [Law] divine offices resonated crazily! Within his Divine Domain, the [Jixia Academy], [Temple of Law], [Tiangong Workshop], [Imperial Hospital], and [Altar of Shennong]... all buildings containing the thoughts of the hundred schools burst forth with their strongest light simultaneously!

"Today, I shall let you, shadow of the abyss, witness what the power of civilization truly is!"

"With my Divine Fire as the guide, the thoughts of the hundred schools as the source, and endless belief as the Foundation—"

"Manifest! The carrier of my race's wisdom and Luck—the river of civilization!"

BOOM—!!!

An indescribable roar resounded, originating not from the material world, but from the level of rules, from the deepest depths of the Soul of every sentient being that yearned for Order!

Behind Lin Zhou, the void suddenly cracked open! No, it wasn't a crack; it was as if an incomparably vast, ancient, and glorious scroll was slowly unfurling!

At first, it was just a speck of glimmer, like the first ray of dawn at the beginning of Chaos. Immediately after, this speck of light rapidly expanded, elongated, and surged! It transformed into the phantom of a vast river whose source could not be glimpsed and whose destination was unknown, lying across the space between Lin Zhou and the Abyss Lord, spanning the sky above the entire battlefield!

This river was not composed of water. Its "river water" consisted of countless flowing sparks of thought flashing with the light of wisdom, sedimented imprints of civilization carrying the weight of history, and a surging spiritual Luck symbolizing unceasing struggle! The river water displayed unpredictable colors, sometimes as majestic as the pale gold of Confucian Righteousness, sometimes as cold as the deep blue of Legalist Edicts, sometimes as precise as the silver-gray of Mohist Ingenuity, and sometimes as pure as the jade-white of Daoist nature... the colors of the Hundred Schools of Thought blended and flowed within it, finally returning to a deep and bright color of civilization that encompassed everything!

Within the phantom of the river, countless looming scenes rose and fell: sages carving characters on bamboo slips, scholars debating in academies, craftsmen researching in workshops, farmers tilling the fields, soldiers arrayed on battlefields, physicians administering needles by sickbeds... and volumes of blurred yet profound ancient texts flickered and floated with the river water! the analects, the Tao Te Ching, Mozi, The Art of War, Han Feizi, the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, Qimin Yaoshu... countless crystallizations of wisdom belonging to the Huaxia civilization shone within it with immortal light!

【river of civilization · Phantom Manifestation (First Active Full Summoning)】:

Form: An aggregate of rules and spirit, a river phantom spanning heaven and earth.

Core Characteristics:

Civilization Radiance (Passive Domain): Wherever the river phantom shines, all non-Abyss/Chaos faction units receive the 【Civilization Protection】 status.

【Civilization Protection】: Mental resistance significantly increased (+50%), immune to fear, confusion, charm, and other mental control effects below the "Demi-God Rank"; grants a slight chance for "Civilization Insight" (temporarily increases Comprehension Ability, skill success rate +5%); increases damage dealt to Abyss/Chaos units by 15%.

Rule Suppression · principles of civilization: The river itself represents the principles of civilization—Order, Legacy, innovation, and inclusiveness—possessing a natural suppression effect against all rules of Chaos, destruction, stagnation, and singularity.

Current Suppression Target: Abyss Lord and its 【Abyssal Erosion Domain】.

Suppression Effect: Weakens all attributes of the Abyss Lord by 20%! (Including Strength, Agility, Physique, Spirit/Will, and their derived attack power, defense, health regeneration speed, rule resistance, etc.!)

Domain Confrontation: 【Civilization Radiance】 collides with the 【Abyssal Erosion Domain】, significantly offsetting the latter's weakening effects on Order units and reducing the conversion speed of 【Shadow Scorched Earth】 by 80%!

Purification Wash: As the river phantom flows, the radiance of civilization and the sparks of thought containing rules of Order it emits can continuously wash away and purify Abyss Devilish Qi, Mental Pollution, and rule corrosion within range. It has a direct purification (instant kill) effect on low-Rank monsters and deals continuous Holy/Order attribute damage to high-Rank monsters.

Will Empowerment: While within the radiance of the river, Order units will feel the weight and unyielding nature of civilization's Legacy, greatly boosting morale and temporarily increasing willpower, offsetting the "presence" suppression of high-Rank beings to a certain extent.

Range: Centered on Lin Zhou, covering a fan-shaped area with a radius of approximately two kilometers (primarily facing the Abyss Lord and the main force of the Demonic Tide).

Consumption: Extremely terrifying! Consumes 50 units of Divine Power and a massive amount of Divine Thought from Lin Zhou every second! Simultaneously consumes "civilization points" stored in the Temple of Civilization (approximately 100 points per second)! The Godhead load instantly reaches the 95% critical danger threshold!

Duration: In Lin Zhou's current state, it can be maintained for a maximum of 30 seconds! Exceeding this time will severely damage the Godhead Foundation and may even lead to the Fire of Civilization being extinguished!

Note: This is one of the core abilities of the Temple of Civilization. It requires a deep integrated understanding of the Hundred Schools of Thought, and the Divine Fire must possess sufficient "Civilization" traits to initially awaken the manifestation. Its power and range grow with Lin Zhou's strength, depth of civilization understanding, and civilization points reserves.

The moment the river of civilization manifested, the pattern of light and dark on the entire battlefield was completely reversed!

The originally all-encompassing, suffocating Abyssal pressure was forcibly dispersed and mostly neutralized, as if meeting scorching sunlight! The expansion of the pitch-black 【Shadow Scorched Earth】 suddenly halted, its surface even emitting "sizzling" sounds and faint green smoke as it was scorched by the radiance of civilization!

The boiling devilish flames on the Abyssal Giants struggling in the swamp dimmed significantly as if cold water had been poured on them, and their struggling strength weakened! The remaining Gargoyles seemed to encounter a natural enemy, letting out terrified shrieks and not daring to approach the area covered by the river's radiance!

Most importantly, the newly descended, overbearing Abyss Lord!

When the radiance of the river of civilization shone upon its armor of flowing shadows, the surface of the armor actually emitted a violent "hissing" sound, like cold water dripping into hot oil! Countless tiny, pained faces twisted and surfaced on the armor, only to pop like bubbles under the light of civilization! Its two eyes of cold white flame also flickered and contracted violently!

【Attribute Weakening in Effect!】

The Abyss Lord felt its own strength, speed, its link to the Abyss, and even its pure "presence" being suppressed and weakened by a vast, majestic, and indisputable "Principle"! Although it did not damage its core, this feeling of being forcibly "downgraded" caused a clear ripple named "shock and anger" to surface for the first time within its pure will of destruction!

“What... is... this?!” Its thoughts were no longer playful, but carried gravity and incomprehension. It could not understand why such a "weak" deity could summon a rule manifestation of this level and nature! The "Order" contained in this river phantom was completely different from the "Divine Kingdom Order" or "Law · Order" of the God Race it knew; it was more... ancient? More... inclusive? More... resilient?

“This is the unceasing spirit of my Human Race's Legacy, the wisdom gained from exploring the ultimate principles of heaven and earth, and the unyielding will to fight against fate—the river of civilization!” Lin Zhou's voice came through the roar of the river; though it carried obvious fatigue and a tremor from the difficulty of maintaining it, every word was powerful and resonant. “The shadows of the Abyss may swallow for a time, but the sparks of civilization will eventually illuminate eternity!”

“Arrogance!” The Abyss Lord's thoughts suddenly became sharp and violent. “A mere phantom... thinks it can shake the dignity of a Demi-God?! Darkness... devours everything!”

It waited no longer. Its figure blurred as if merging into the surrounding shadows, and in the next moment, it crossed hundreds of meters to appear at the edge of the river of civilization phantom. Ten dark claws, carrying a space-tearing shriek, clawed fiercely at the flowing radiance of civilization! Simultaneously, the Abyssal cloak behind it expanded infinitely, turning into a darkness curtain that blotted out the sun, covering the river phantom! It intended to use its own Demi-God power to forcibly tear and devour this "Order" it loathed!

The river phantom collided violently with the dark claws and the Abyssal curtain!

There was no world-shaking explosion, only the most intense annihilation and confrontation at the level of rules! The radiance of civilization and the darkness of the Abyss eroded and dissolved each other, emitting a silent hiss that made the Souls of all onlookers tremble!

Lin Zhou's body shook violently, and pale gold divine blood overflowed from his mouth and nose! Divine Power poured out like a floodgate opening! The sound of his Godhead cracking under the unbearable burden rang out! But his eyes remained steadfast, his hands deathly still as he maintained the seal, pouring all his will and all his conviction into this manifested river of civilization!

The river water surged and roared, and the phantoms of the ancient texts within it shone brightly. The figures of the sages seemed to become more solid, together resisting the darkness that sought to devour all!

For a moment, they were at a stalemate!

“He blocked it! The Dominator blocked that monster!” Behind the defense line, heaven-shaking cheers and hot tears erupted! Rock Shield and the others were so excited their entire bodies trembled.

The seven Observers in the sky were no longer indifferent. The star map phantom rotated rapidly, its light blazing: “The river of civilization... to think it takes such a form... encompassing the hundred schools... spanning ancient and modern... this is not the history of a single race, but a torrent of wisdom and spirit! This child... this 'Kindling'... is extraordinary!”

The earthy-yellow rock body emitted a low roar, like the resonance of the earth: “Order... heavy... like the earth that carries all things...”

The emerald-green light cluster swayed: “Vitality... Legacy... like a forest that grows unceasingly...”

The other elemental Incarnations also shone brightly, clearly deeply shocked by the manifestation of the river of civilization.

However, Lin Zhou knew this was only the beginning. Thirty seconds—he only had thirty seconds! After thirty seconds, if he could not repel or heavily wound this Abyss Lord, he, with his Divine Power exhausted and his Godhead damaged, would have no further chance!

“Everyone!” Lin Zhou's shout, saturated with Divine Thought, echoed in the hearts of all Order units. “The river has manifested for only thirty breaths! This is the moment of decisive victory! Follow me—slay the demon!”

“Slay the demon!!!”

An unprecedented Battle Intent burned fiercely under the radiance of the river of civilization!