237: The flame of civilization burns away falsehoods and preserves one's true self.

"Wang Meng! Zhao Hao!"

"That last Crystal Scorpion is yours! At all costs, within five minutes, solve it, or at least make sure it can't interfere with me!"

"I want to personally burn that disgusting thing clean, from the inside out!"

Lin Zhou's decisive command exploded through the mental link, carrying an unquestionable resolve. Within the "Civilization Pure Land" expanded behind him, the warm and steady aura of Order formed two distinct worlds against the pervasive filth, chaos, and the lingering cold whispers of "Nihility" within the basin.

Wang Meng and Zhao Hao's hearts tightened; they had never heard Lin Zhou issue a command in such a cold, almost burning tone. But both were veterans of many battles and instantly understood the gravity of the situation—Lin Zhou had clearly "seen" something from that Broodmother that far exceeded expectations, something that might even threaten the Foundation of his own path!

"Don't worry, Brother Lin! This big scorpion is for me and Zhao Ritian!" Wang Meng spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his eyes glaring fiercely at the last and largest Crystal Scorpion. Although his Behemoth Giant Beasts were covered in scars and some were even limping, driven by Wang Meng's coarse yet firm will, they still let out unyielding roars, their eyes burning with Battle Intent. The dwarves also restabilized their shield formation, despite the shocking cracks on their shields.

"Five minutes? It won't take that long! Raging Flame, can you still move? Follow me! Clear the obstacles for Lin Zhou!" Zhao Hao gritted his teeth, forcibly suppressing the residual irritation and self-doubt caused by the Nihility whispers, focusing all his attention on the enemy before him. His dragons, including Raging Flame whose wings were still injured and flight somewhat staggering, let out low dragon roars. Though their Dragon Breath wasn't as solid as when they were at their peak, it carried a tragic sense of fighting for survival.

"Roar—!" "For the Lord/Master!" The roars and shouts of the subordinates intertwined as the final battle erupted on one side of the basin. Wang Meng's Behemoths and dwarves, and Zhao Hao's dragons, like two strands of a steel torrent twisted together, launched a death-defying charge toward the last Crystal Scorpion standing alone in the Broodmother's path!

Meanwhile, Lin Zhou was deaf to the fierce battle behind him. His entire mind was locked onto the pulsating purple-black tumor ahead that revealed the terrifying traces of the "Void Sect." Pure white Fire of Civilization burned quietly in his eyes; the flame was not blazing or ostentatious, but instead radiated a pure and resilient glow that seemed to have distilled history and wisdom.

He raised his right hand, palm upward.

A wisp of pure white flame with faint golden patterns rose silently from his palm. Initially only the size of a candle flame, it seemed to contain infinite weight and temperature. The surrounding murky air was scorched into distortion, making faint crackling sounds, and even the drifting fungal spores turned to ash the moment they drew near.

Divine Art Construction: Fire of Civilization · Purifying World Lotus (Prototype)

Driving Core: The Origin of the Temple of Civilization within Lin Zhou's Godhead (LV201, Initial Stage of Lesser Divinity).

Energy Source: Pure Divine Power + Fire of Civilization (Conceptual Manifestation).

Current Divine Power Reserve: Approx. 6800/10000 points (continuously consuming).

Estimated Divine Art Consumption: Base construction 500 points/sec, subsequent maintenance and burst depend on the target's resistance.

Divine Art Characteristics:

【Conceptual Purification】: Has a high-priority purification and dispersal effect on manifestations/energy of negative concepts such as "Chaos," "Evil," "Depravity," and "Nihility." The strength of the effect depends on the purity and output power of the Fire of Civilization.

【Rule Scorching】: The flame itself carries fragments of the "principles of civilization," which can directly scorch and correct distorted rules that do not conform to the Laws of civilizational development or violate basic logic of existence.

【Passing the Torch】: The flame possesses a weak "Legacy" characteristic. During the purification process, if it encounters salvageable, not fully contaminated fragments of original consciousness, there is a certain chance to "detach" and "protect" them (requires extra consumption).

【Controllable Range】: Can be finely controlled, from single-target purification to area-of-effect scorching.

Current Form: Initial State (Lotus Prototype), pursuing ultimate purification penetration and rule specificity, with a small range.

"With this fire, burn through falsehood and illuminate the truth." Lin Zhou murmured to himself, as if speaking to himself, or perhaps to the wisp of flame in his palm. As the words fell, his wrist gave a light flick.

"Go."

The wisp of pure white flame floated away silently from his palm, slow at first, then surging in speed, turning into a straight, extremely condensed white fireline. It ignored the Broodmother's tentacles still waving slowly in the air under the influence of the Jingzhe Arrow's aftereffects, and ignored the Pouncing Beasts that tried to block it but were vaporized by the residual heat meters away. It shot with unerring precision toward the Broodmother's surface—the area where the pulsating membrane was slightly sluggish after being grazed by the Jingzhe Arrow's interference halo!

"Sizzle—!!!"

The white fireline was like a hot knife cutting through congealed grease; it met almost no real resistance as it silently vanished into the thick, purple-black membrane covered in slime and blood vessels!

There was no world-shaking explosion.

But in the next instant, with the entry point of the fireline as the center, a circle of pure and soft white halo suddenly expanded, covering an area of about ten square meters on the Broodmother's surface! Wherever the halo passed, the scene changed drastically!

The originally purple-black, slime-secreting, and constantly pulsating membrane seemed to be subjected to a time-accelerated purification spell. The slime on the surface evaporated rapidly, and the flesh beneath faded, withered, and shriveled at a visible rate, turning from an evilly active purple-black to a lifeless grayish-white, finally turning into falling ash! The twisted metal components and energy conduits beneath the membrane were exposed, rusting and crumbling rapidly under the white light!

Even more striking were the eerie patterns flowing with dark purple energy on the membrane surface—which Lin Zhou could now clearly identify as being mixed with many distorted, profane runes and simplified variants of that "Void" mark—under the white halo, they were like snow thrown into boiling water, twisting and struggling violently before rapidly fading and disappearing!

"Wooo—!!!"

The core of the Broodmother, that bound collective of Souls, let out a roar far more painful and furious than before! This roar acted directly on the mental level, sharper and more chaotic than the previous Nihility whispers, filled with the ultimate agony and rage of being "burned"!

The entire basin shook violently with this roar! The fungal carpet surged like a boiling asphalt lake; the remaining, undisturbed tentacles lashed wildly at the ground and themselves, trying to extinguish the spreading white fire; even the last Crystal Scorpion, which was fighting Wang Meng and Zhao Hao, showed violent disturbances in its movements, as if receiving interference signals from the Broodmother's painful struggle.

The white halo continued to spread, and the purification area kept expanding. The Fire of Civilization showed an amazing suppressive power against "Nihility" pollutants. Wherever it went, it wasn't just physical destruction, but "disinfection" on the levels of rules and concepts. Those distorted runes were directly "erased," the aura of the "Void" mark was continuously "scorched" and weakened, and even the "doctrinal pollution" and "intent of termination" belonging to the Void Sect mixed within the Soul collective deep in the Broodmother's core let out silent screams and dissolved under the illumination of the Fire of Civilization.

Lin Zhou's face turned slightly pale. The consumption of maintaining this "Purifying World Lotus" prototype was even greater than he had anticipated! The burning of over 500 points of Divine Power per second caused his Divine Power reserve, which was already half-depleted from maintaining his Domain and fighting, to drop rapidly like a floodgate being opened!

Divine Power Reserve: 6300... 5800... 5300... But his gaze remained firm, without the slightest hesitation. He could clearly "perceive" that under the burning of the Fire of Civilization, the phantom of the "Void" mark deep within the Broodmother was becoming dim, and its obscure link with the "Nihility" concept of the surrounding Universe was being forcibly scorched and broken! The Broodmother's own production capacity (spitting out Parasitic Beast eggs) had almost stopped, and its unified will network showed signs of large-scale disorder and collapse.

The scales of victory seemed to be tipping in his favor.

However, just as Lin Zhou's Divine Power reserve fell below the 5000-point mark, and the white purification area expanded to nearly one-fifth of the Broodmother's surface, with the "Void" mark phantom already faded to near invisibility—

Another anomaly occurred!

The Broodmother's Soul collective seemed to realize that conventional means and whispering erosion were ineffective against Lin Zhou, and also realized that the "Nihility Imprint" at its own core was being rapidly purified. It made a final, most desperate counterattack!

"Gurgle... gurgle..."

A scalp-numbing sound, like countless thick bubbles bursting, came from the unpurified areas of the Broodmother, especially the base parts most tightly connected to the fungal carpet.

Immediately following, in the areas of the Broodmother's surface not covered by white fire, countless fist-sized, violently pulsating purple-black tumors suddenly bulged out! These tumors expanded rapidly, growing to the size of a human head in just two or three seconds, their surfaces covered in hideous blood vessels, with some unstable energy seemingly converging wildly inside, emitting an extremely dangerous aura!

Then—

"Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!..."

A continuous series of muffled pops, like overripe fruit bursting, exploded! Tens of thousands of purple-black tumors that had expanded to their limit suddenly shot out and detached from the Broodmother's surface! They were not simple shed material; the moment they left the Broodmother, they extended extremely crude but very fast appendages and mouthparts, turning into special Parasitic Beasts that looked like oversized fleas with purple-black carapaces and abdomens swollen to near transparency!

These newborn Parasitic Beasts were slightly smaller than ordinary Parasitic Beasts (about half a meter long), and their carapace defense seemed average, but they had one common feature—the extremely swollen energy sac in their abdomen flashing with unstable dark purple light! And in those small crimson eyes, there was no trace of reason, only the madness of pure destruction and self-destructive desire!

【Mutant Parasitic Beast: Corrupted Self-Destructing Bug】

Quantity: Instant burst, estimated 8,000-10,000 (and the Broodmother is still continuously "producing").

Rank: LV25-30 (Mutant template, extreme attributes).

Form: Flea-like, body length about 0.5 meters, thin and brittle carapace, huge swollen abdomen (occupying more than 60% of body volume).

Core Attribute Tendencies:

Strength: 15-20 (Low).

Agility: 65-75 (Extremely high! Jumping and short-range burst movement speed is very fast).

Physique: 25-30 (Fragile, especially the abdominal energy sac).

Soul/Intelligence: Extremely low, only has the simplest "Lock Target - Charge - Self-Destruct" instruction set.

Characteristics/Talents:

【Unstable Energy Core】: The abdominal energy sac is compressed with high concentrations of filthy energy, the Broodmother's painful mental fragments, and a trace of "Nihility" pollution. It is extremely unstable; any severe impact or energy stimulus may trigger an explosion.

【Death Charge】: After locking onto a target, it will charge in a straight line at extremely high speed (burst speed comparable to LV40 Agility-type units), and actively or passively detonate when close to the target (usually within 1-3 meters).

【Corrupted Chain-Explosion】: The self-destruction not only produces a high amount of area-of-effect energy impact (Damage type: Mixed - Physical impact + Filthy energy corrosion + Mental fragment piercing), but also leaves a small area of continuous pollution after the explosion (ground corrosion, air poisoning, weak mental interference), lasting about 10-30 seconds.

[Swarm Will]: Driven by the final frantic unified will of the Broodmother, ignoring casualties and charging forward one after another.

Estimated Self-Destruction Damage (Per Unit):

Center Point Damage: Approximately 800-1200 points of mixed damage (ignores a portion of physical defense, causes extra erosion to energy shields/barriers).

Explosion Radius: Approximately 5 meters (Effective kill radius of 3 meters).

Comparative Reference: A well-equipped LV35 Dwarf Warrior (heavy armor + rune shield) has a base health of approximately 1500 points, armor damage reduction of about 40%, and energy resistance of about 30%. If within 3 meters of the self-destruction center, the damage taken is approximately: (800~1200) * (1-40% armor reduction) * (1-30% energy resistance) ≈ 336~504 actual damage. A single explosion can cause severe trauma (22%-34% health loss); if hit by more than two simultaneously at close range, or if other damage stacks, it can easily lead to direct death or loss of combat effectiveness.

Tactical Positioning: One-time suicide attack unit. Used at the final moment to drown and destroy key targets or dismantle enemy formations regardless of cost.

“What the hell is that?!” Wang Meng knocked back a tail whip from a Crystal Scorpion with his axe. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the self-destructing swarm surging from the Broodmother’s base like a black tide, making his scalp tingle. One of his LV36 Dwarf Warriors, standing slightly forward and fighting ordinary Parasitic Beasts, was caught off guard as three rushing Self-Destructing Insects closed in!

“Watch out!” Wang Meng’s eyes nearly split from strain, but it was too late to save him.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Three consecutive dull explosions rang out almost simultaneously! Dark purple energy mixed with flesh fragments and corrosive slime completely engulfed the Dwarf Warrior and two nearby Dwarf Warriors who couldn't dodge in time!

After the smoke and filth of the explosions cleared, only three mangled, charred bodies with shattered armor and covered in corrosive slime remained! The LV36 Dwarf Warrior died on the spot, and the other two fell heavily wounded, gasping for breath as they were further eroded by the rapidly spreading contaminated area!

“Bastard!!!” Wang Meng’s eyes instantly turned red. These dwarves were his kin who had followed him through life and death; they were the core strength of his Divine Domain!

“Everyone! Tighten the formation! Shield wall! Watch out for those exploding bugs! Ranged units, prioritize picking them off!” Zhao Hao also saw this scene and roared sternly. His dragons had to give up some of their suppression on the Crystal Scorpion to pull up in altitude, breathing Dragon Breath to intercept the self-destructing swarm rushing toward their position. But there were too many insects, they were too fast, and they were fearless; the Dragon Breath could only clear patches of space, while more insects bypassed the flames and pounced from other directions!

Even more terrifying was that the primary target of these Self-Destructing Insects did not seem to be Wang Meng’s or Zhao Hao’s ground troops or aerial dragons.

Their tiny crimson eyes were mostly locked onto one person—Lin Zhou, who was surrounded by pure white flames and continuously burning the Broodmother!

Like a pack of sharks smelling blood, over seventy percent of the Self-Destructing Insects traced eerie arcs and charged at incredible speeds from all directions toward the “Civilization Pure Land” where Lin Zhou stood!

“My Lord, be careful!” Gongsun Li’s expression changed drastically. The legal ruler in his hand glowed with golden light as he attempted to deploy a Law barrier.

“Lord!” Xuan Zhenzi waved his whisk urgently, shooting out streaks of clear light that blew up dozens of the leading insects in mid-air, though the aftershocks of the explosions made his Qi and blood churn.

The Wenxin Elf Priests desperately maintained the purification Domain, trying to weaken the charge speed and explosion power of the insects, but the Domain was teetering under such dense and frantic impact.

The four Tiangong Dwarf Masters were empty-handed (their tools couldn't be used for combat) and could only watch helplessly as the black tide of death surged toward them.

Lin Zhou was the primary target! The Broodmother’s final gamble was to use a massive number of Self-Destructing Insects to drown this “source of fire” that was posing a fatal purification threat to it!

Lin Zhou’s pupils constricted. He could feel the destructive power contained within the unstable energy core of every single insect. A single one might not be a threat to him—his Divine Power shield and Fire of Civilization were enough to withstand or even detonate them early. But thousands and tens of thousands, charging forward one after another from all directions... this was no longer a situation that skill or individual strength could fully handle! This was pure numerical suppression, a “Swarm Self-Destruction” tactic launched by the Broodmother with its final strength in a bid to take him down with it!

His Divine Power reserves had dropped below 4500 points, and maintaining the “Lotus of World Purification” was still consuming energy. If the self-destructing swarm closed in, he might be able to protect himself, but Xuan Zhenzi, Gongsun Li, the priest group, and the Dwarf Masters by his side would have no chance of survival! Even Wang Meng, Zhao Hao, and their kin fighting behind him could be heavily damaged by the explosion aftershocks and the spreading contamination!

“Retract the ‘Lotus of World Purification’! Prioritize defense!” Lin Zhou made an instant decision. The white fire lines in his palm snapped back, and the spreading purification halo rapidly shrank, returning to his body to form a more solid, pure white flame shield about five meters in diameter. The action of burning the Broodmother was forced to a temporary halt.

However, the self-destructing swarm was already close at hand! The nearest batch was less than fifty meters from the flame shield! Their crimson eyes reflected the white firelight, and the energy sacs in their abdomens were distended to the limit, emitting a heart-palpitating hum!

“It’s too late...” Gongsun Li gripped his legal ruler, a flash of determination in his eyes as he prepared to burn his Divine Power to cast a forbidden technique. Xuan Zhenzi also began forming hand seals.

At this critical juncture—

“Lin Zhou! Hold on! We’re here!” Li Mo’s voice, carrying an unprecedented urgency and a metallic sharpness, forcibly inserted itself into the mental link!

Immediately after, behind Lin Zhou, in the Dwarf Thunder Crossbowmen position which was slightly chaotic due to the battle between Wang Meng, Zhao Hao, and the Crystal Scorpion, six strange-looking “artillery carriages” that appeared to have just been urgently assembled—with rough structures and even some parts sparking—were pushed and dragged to the front by a group of Mechanical Goblins and Tiangong Dwarves!

These “artillery carriages” had bases similar to catapults, but their throwing arms were extremely short. Mounted on them were large metal horn-shaped muzzles covered in temporary welding marks and crude runes! Behind the muzzles were connected complex (and unstable) energy pipes and several violently operating, roaring Psionic-Steam hybrid power cores!

【Emergency Tactical Device: Wide-Area Thunderfire Shock Array (Prototype/One-time use)】

Designers: Li Mo (Remote Guidance) + Remaining personnel of the Tian Gong Institute at the front (Emergency Assembly).

Manufacturing Base: Utilizing damaged war machine parts, reserved explosive rune stones, temporarily modified energy cores, and the “Resonance Generation Module” design (Simplified version) urgently sent by Li Mo via a small teleportation array.

Number of Devices: 6 units.

Current Status: Extremely unstable, operating under overload; expected to be destroyed after a single firing.

Core Function:

【High-Frequency Thunderfire Shockwave】: Emits a wide-range, mixed energy shockwave of Thunder and Fire attributes lasting approximately 1.5 seconds.

【Area Coverage】: A single device covers an angle of about 120 degrees with an effective radius of 80 meters (fan-shaped area). Six units fired simultaneously can cover most of the incoming area from Lin Zhou’s direction.

【Operational Principle】: The shockwave does not seek direct lethality but uses high-frequency energy oscillation to greatly interfere with the stability of the unstable energy cores inside the Self-Destructing Insects and suppress their primitive neural rhythms.

【Expected Effects】:

Early Detonation: Causes insects within the shockwave range to be passively detonated early during their charge before they reach the target.

Stalling Action: Causes brief movement paralysis and loss of direction (approx. 0.5-1 second) for insects not detonated.

Chain Reaction: The explosion of early-detonated insect corpses may trigger a chain reaction of explosions among other nearby insects.

Activation Command: Remote activation rune signal from Li Mo.

Cost of Use: One-time destruction of the devices; consumption of a large number of emergency energy cores and rune stones reserved at the front; exhaustion of the engineering personnel involved in assembly.

“Now—Fire!!!” Li Mo’s roar echoed in the link.

“Buzz—Boom boom boom boom boom boom!!!”

The six crudely made “Thunderfire Shock Cannons” simultaneously emitted a roar of being overburdened! The large metal horn muzzles suddenly erupted with blinding blue and red flashes! Six visible fan-shaped shockwaves, distorted with patterns of lightning and fire, acted like six giant, invisible brooms, “sweeping” fiercely toward the front of the surging self-destructing swarm!

Wherever the shockwaves passed, the air emitted sharp explosive cracks!

For the hundreds of insects in the lead, the moment their energy sacs touched the high-frequency shockwaves, the light within them became chaotic and blinding, and then—

“Boom boom boom boom boom...!!!”

The sound of explosions, ten times and a hundred times denser than before, merged into a deafening symphony of death! Dark purple explosive fireballs bloomed like flowers of death, bursting in clusters along the front line of the swarm! Shattered insect limbs, corrosive slime, and chaotic energy turbulence completely turned that area into a purgatory of destruction!

A chain reaction of explosions occurred! One insect’s explosion affected and triggered two or three nearby... the wave of explosions spread backward like falling dominoes!

Meanwhile, those insects on the edge of the shockwaves that weren't directly detonated became like they were drunk; their charging trajectories became wobbly, their speed plummeted, and some even spun in place, colliding with each other and triggering new explosions.

The unstoppable suicide charge of the swarm was forcibly checked, disrupted, and dealt heavy frontal losses by these six sudden, precisely intercepted shockwaves! At least over two thousand Self-Destructing Insects were detonated early or caught in the chain reactions during their charge, and more fell into chaos.

This bought Lin Zhou and those around him precious—perhaps only a dozen or so seconds—of breathing and response time!

“Li Mo... well done!” A flash of appreciation crossed Lin Zhou’s eyes, but he knew the crisis wasn't over. The Broodmother was still “producing” Self-Destructing Insects, and the follow-up forces of the swarm were still surging. The Thunderfire Shock Cannons were one-time use and couldn't be used again.

He glanced at his remaining 4200 points of Divine Power, then at the swarm that was temporarily blocked by explosions and chaos but remained hideous and frantic, and finally at the Broodmother behind the swarm; although its purification had been interrupted, its “Hollow” mark had dimmed, and its aura had clearly withered significantly.

“I can't delay... I must go all out and destroy the core in one go!” Lin Zhou felt a surge of ruthlessness in his heart.

His gaze once again fell upon the pure white Fire of Civilization in his palm. A more risky idea that would consume more energy but might settle the situation in one stroke emerged in his mind.

He needed to take his remaining Divine Power and the concepts of “Purification” and “Legacy” contained within the Fire of Civilization and drive them into the deepest part of the Broodmother in a more impactful and wide-reaching way!

“Looks like... I’ll have to try that...” Lin Zhou whispered to himself, the white fire in his eyes burning with increasing calm and resolve.