365: Chapter 300: Counterattack and Fame, Points Surge into the Top 100

Time, within the eerie rule-field of the Civilization Maze Formation, seemed to stretch and twist.

For the Titan Legion trapped within, every minute and every second was agony.

That stifling feeling of having nowhere to exert force, the bizarre way their power was invisibly dispersed and dissipated, and the anxiety of sensory confusion and lost direction, clung to them like maggots on bones, constantly gnawing away at their once unbreakable fighting will and arrogant confidence.

Octavius had ceased his futile, berserk attacks.

He panted heavily, the lightning on his dark golden skin slightly dim, his thunderous great hammer still tightly gripped, but that overbearing dominance that looked down on everything had largely dissipated, replaced by deep vigilance, anger, and a trace... of unbelievable confusion.

He looked around; fog filled the air, light and shadow were chaotic, and the Titan warriors who had originally followed closely behind now appeared and disappeared in the mist.

The sense of distance and direction between them had become blurred, and their spiritual links were intermittent, making it difficult to form effective commands.

"Captain! This ghost of a Formation is absorbing our power! I feel the power of thunder in my body slowly draining away!" A voice filled with shock and anger came from an elite Titan (LV54).

"Space has been fixed! Conventional spatial jumps and short-range teleports cannot be executed!" A Storm Giants priest shouted after an unsuccessful attempt.

"Those damned dwarves and elves are hiding in the dark and shooting cold arrows! The attacks aren't strong, but they are incredibly annoying!" Another Titan roared, accompanied by the sound of explosions from harassment shots fired by defensive towers on the maze's perimeter, which had been precisely calculated.

Yes, Xinghai University did not let them "rest" in the maze.

Li Mo precisely controlled those defensive towers not incorporated into the maze core, distributed on the edges or high ground, as well as some mobile ranged units (such as elf archers and dwarf ballistae), launching continuous harassing attacks from "outside" the maze.

These attacks did not seek a fatal blow, but precisely struck the defensive gaps exposed by the Titans due to the influence of the Formation, or interfered with their attempts to break the Formation.

Like maggots on bones, while not fatal, they continuously consumed their stamina, patience, and Divine Power shields.

What made Octavius even more alarmed was that he could feel this eerie Formation space seemed to be subtly absorbing and analyzing their dissipated power and rule fluctuations.

It was a feeling of "digestion" that was extremely obscure yet truly existed.

It was as if they were not trapped in a Formation, but had been thrown into a huge, living "rule digestive System."

"This cannot continue!" Octavius was, after all, a battle-hardened captain of a top academy.

He quickly calmed down from his initial shock and rage (though still feeling stifled), "This Formation is weird; trying to brute-force through it costs too much and may not succeed. I must find the Formation eye, or... force that kid to come out and fight!"

His gaze swept toward the direction where Xinghai University's power was most concentrated in his perception—the central main island.

Although his vision was distorted, that unique "civilization" aura and the fluctuations of the Divine Kingdom core, under the interference of the maze, still acted like a lighthouse in the dark night, pointing him in the general direction.

"All units, close in on me! Ignore the harassment, save your strength! Follow me, we will concentrate on one point, head in that direction, and break through at any cost!"

Octavius issued a new order, his voice transmitted through the remaining spiritual links and roars.

He decided to abandon the fantasy of cracking the entire maze and adopted the most primitive and direct method—gathering all remaining strength and launching a desperate, piercing charge toward the core area where Lin Zhou was located!

By breaking the surface with a point, he would forcibly tear a passage through the maze rules and strike directly at the heart!

Upon hearing this, the Titans felt their spirits lift and gathered toward the direction where Octavius's energy fluctuations were strongest.

Although the Formation's interference made the gathering slow and chaotic, relying on their strong individual strength and the tacit understanding built over years of fighting, the remaining thirty-plus Titans (some severely injured in previous Breakthroughs and harassment) and a small number of Storm Giants and Gargoyles gradually formed a relatively compact assault Formation.

Octavius took a deep breath, the dark golden light on his body flared, the [Divine Power] and [Earth] divine offices were fully activated, resonating faintly with the power of the Titans behind him.

He raised his thunderous great hammer high, and on the hammerhead, an unprecedented, compressed-to-the-limit golden thunderball condensed, with the space around the thunderball showing distorted ripples.

"The glory of the Titan! Not to be profaned! Follow me—break the Formation!"

Boom!

He charged out first, the great hammer carrying that destructive thunderball, smashing fiercely toward the "fog" ahead!

The Titans following closely behind also erupted with their strongest attacks—thunder, shockwaves, and pure power bombardment merged into a destructive torrent, following closely behind Octavius, blasting in the same direction!

This was a desperate, unreserved strike that gathered the remaining main force of the Titan Domain Academy!

The power far exceeded any previous attack, even approaching the burst level of a mid-tier Mid-Tier Divine Power!

Even if the maze Formation had a "power dispersion" rule, facing such a concentrated, such violent, and such resolute impact, it would inevitably have to bear immense pressure!

"They are going all out!" On the Star Gazing Platform of the central main island, Li Mo's monitoring data instantly turned red, emitting an urgent alarm.

"The load on the 'Xun position' and 'Li position' force-bearing points of the maze Formation is rising sharply! It is estimated that it will reach the dispersion limit within thirty seconds! Some structures may suffer local overload and collapse!"

Lin Zhou, who had been closing his eyes and adjusting his breath, suddenly opened his eyes.

His eyes were bright with divine light; the Divine Power he had consumed had been mostly restored through the Divine Kingdom's reserves and the accelerated conversion of the civilization furnace (Current Divine Power: 172,000 / 200,000).

He was waiting for this exact moment!

The opponent was fighting like a trapped beast, with power gathered at one point; it was the moment their edge was sharpest, but also the moment their flaws were greatest, and they were most unable to attend to the overall situation!

More importantly, all their attention and all their power were concentrated on the single point of "breaking through forward," so the protection of their own Divine Kingdom core must have dropped to the lowest level!

"Activate the final plan! 'Scroll' ready!"

Lin Zhou stood up, his voice steady and resolute.

"Understood!" Su Yueyao, Qin Qing, Li Mo, and Zhao Hao responded in unison, each taking their positions.

Su Yueyao outputted her moonlight power to the fullest, stabilizing the core area's defense and providing energy support and purification protection for Lin Zhou's next move.

Qin Qing shrank the Net of Law to the extreme, firmly anchoring their own Divine Kingdom's rules to resist the aftermath of the rules brought by the opponent's impact.

Li Mo began to over-operate the command network, preparing to activate the pre-set "backhand" used for cooperation and finishing blows at the critical moment.

Zhao Hao roared and led the dragon flock, which had recovered most of their injuries, to take flight again—not to intercept (as they couldn't), but to prepare to launch a fatal counter-charge at the moment of chaos after the opponent's offensive was thwarted!

Lin Zhou stepped out of the Star Gazing Platform and stood in the air.

He slowly held his hands in front of him, as if holding an invisible, incomparably heavy scroll.

The river of civilization surged and roared behind him.

Amidst the sound of waves, countless phantoms of civilizations, sparks of thought, and crystals of wisdom floated and flickered.

At the source of the river, the Hundred Schools Temple between existence and non-existence trembled slightly, emitting an ancient and magnificent aura.

"With civilization as the scroll, with time as the axis, with thought as the ink..."

Lin Zhou chanted in a low voice, every word seeming to resonate with the surrounding spatial rules.

The Divine Power within him surged out like an opened floodgate, crazily pouring into that "invisible scroll"!

10,000 Divine Power... 15,000 Divine Power... 20,000 Divine Power!

Just the prelude to "unfolding" consumed a full 20,000 points of Divine Power!

This was almost the entire reserve of a Peak ordinary Lesser Divinity!

But the effect was also astonishing.

Seeing between Lin Zhou's held palms, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared, then rapidly expanded and extended, turning into a translucent, singular scroll phantom with pale golden civilization brilliance flowing at the edges.

The scroll was not a physical entity, but more of a conceptual manifestation composed of countless tiny rule lines and civilization runes.

As Divine Power continued to be injected, the scroll slowly "unfolded."

There was no earth-shattering momentum, but the moment this "scroll" unfolded, the entire battlefield—whether it was the Titans charging violently in the maze Formation, the people of Xinghai University waiting in full array, or even the peepers who might exist further away—felt a kind of inexplicable "stagnation" and "being watched" feeling originating from the rule level.

It was as if a pair of invisible eyes covering the past and present were "examining" this area through this scroll, preparing to "record" or "Seal" it.

Octavius's alarm bells rang wildly in his heart!

It was a sense of crisis that was stronger and more directed at the Origin than being trapped in the maze Formation!

He looked up abruptly, looking toward the direction where the scroll was unfolding, and finally, a look of horror appeared in his golden thunder pupils: "This is... rule Seal?! How could he possibly master this level of power?!"

But the arrow was on the bowstring and had to be fired!

He roared, smashing the compressed-to-the-limit destructive thunderball in his hand, along with his great hammer, fiercely toward the unfolding scroll phantom!

The Titan torrent behind him followed closely!

Just as the destructive attack was about to touch the scroll, a sharp light exploded in Lin Zhou's eyes, and he pulled his hands to the sides!

"Scroll of Civilization — Seal Heaven and Lock Earth!"

Clatter—!

It was as if an invisible giant curtain had been completely pulled open!

The translucent scroll phantom expanded suddenly, instantly covering the frontal area of the Titan Legion's charge, and like something with life, "wrapped" around Octavius and the core Titans behind him!

What was even more shocking was that as the scroll expanded, scenes began to clearly emerge on its "picture"!

That was not the surrounding starry sky or floating islands, but a miniature, dynamic, and lifelike three-dimensional topographic map!

In the map, there were towering mountains flowing with lava (corresponding to the characteristics of the divine kingdom of Octavius), standing giant temples, and phantoms of the Titan Legion lined up... This was clearly the projection and manifestation of the Seal of the core region of Octavius's divine kingdom!

The Scroll of Civilization was forcibly "imprinting" and "sealing" the core rules and scenes of the opponent's divine kingdom into itself!

This was the terrifying aspect of the "Scroll of Civilization" divine technique—it did not directly attack the enemy themselves, but rather used its own principles of civilization as a framework and massive amounts of Divine Power as fuel, acting directly upon the target's "Foundation of Existence"—the core rules of their divine kingdom!

Once successfully "sealed" into the scroll, unless the caster voluntarily releases it or the target's power far exceeds the caster's and they break it by force, the target's fundamental power will be severely restricted or even temporarily stripped away!

The destructive thunderball hurled by Octavius, the moment it touched the "picture" of the scroll, was like a clay ox entering the sea; it stirred up not a single ripple, but instead seemed to be "absorbed" by the scroll, becoming a fleeting flash of lightning within the miniature divine kingdom scene!

The Titan Legion torrent behind him crashed into the scroll, feeling as if they had collided with a layer of extremely flexible yet bottomless quagmire of rules; all their power was "absorbed" and "dissipated" by the scenes belonging to their own divine kingdom that kept emerging!

"No——!!!" Octavius let out a roar of despair and unwillingness.

He felt his connection to his divine kingdom being forcibly interfered with and weakened by an invisible, vast, and exquisite power of rules!

The fear of being "stripped away" and "sealed" coming from the core of the divine kingdom terrified him far more than physical injury!

Once the core of the divine kingdom was completely sealed, not only would he lose his greatest source of power and home-field advantage, but he might even damage his Foundation and affect his future Dao path!

He frantically urged his Divine Power, attempting to break free from the shroud of the scroll, recall the projection of his divine kingdom, and even wanted to self-destruct part of the structure of his divine kingdom to impact the Seal.

But it was all too late.

Once the unfolding of the "Scroll of Civilization" began, it was extremely difficult to interrupt unless one possessed an overwhelming advantage in the hierarchy of rules or total Divine Power.

And the timing of the fatal blow that Lin Zhou had carefully planned—luring the enemy deep, exhausting his power, disrupting his mind, and finally launching it when he was at his limit while breaking out with old strength exhausted and new strength yet to be born, and when the divine kingdom's defense was at its weakest—was grasped to perfection!

The scroll slowly closed, like heaven and earth coming together.

The miniature scene of the Titan divine kingdom became clearer and increasingly "static" within the scroll.

The figures of Octavius and the dozen or so core Titan heroes and elites beside him began to become blurred and transparent, as if they were about to be pulled into the scroll!

"I... admit defeat!!!" At the very last moment before the core of his divine kingdom was completely sealed, Octavius finally squeezed out these three words from the boundless terror and humiliation.

His voice was hoarse, filled with unwillingness and resentment, but even more so with a deep sense of powerlessness when facing a force that could not be understood or contended with.

If he continued to resist, the core of his divine kingdom might truly suffer permanent damage, a price he could not afford to pay.

The tournament could be lost, but the future could not be ruined!

Following his cry of "admit defeat," an invisible force of the tournament rules descended, temporarily separating the sealing power of the "Scroll of Civilization" (the tournament rules protect those who admit defeat from being completely crippled), and simultaneously began the settlement.

【Battle Ended: Xinghai University (Win) vs Titan Domain Academy (Loss)】

【Calculating point transfer... Titan Domain Academy original points: 8746.】

【Xinghai University gained points: 2623.8 (30%)】

【Xinghai University current points: 3035.8】

【Leaderboard ranking updating...】

Hum!

All remaining personnel of the Titan Domain Academy (including Octavius and those Titans who were almost sealed) had white light representing elimination and protection shine upon them. The next moment, they, along with the projection of their divine kingdom, vanished from this Star Domain as if erased by an eraser, and were teleported out of the "Endless Star Sea" tournament arena.

The battlefield was suddenly left empty.

All that remained were damaged floating islands, lingering energy smoke, and... the phantom of the "Scroll of Civilization" suspended in the air, slowly closing, its light gradually receding.

On the scroll, the miniature scene of the Titan divine kingdom finally froze, then gradually faded and dissipated like an ink painting.

The phantom of the scroll also transformed into specks of civilization radiance, returning into Lin Zhou's body.

Lin Zhou's figure swayed slightly, his face pale as paper.

This blow had almost drained most of his remaining Divine Power, and the mental exhaustion was even greater.

But he forced himself to stand steady, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield, across those cheering, jubilant yet exhausted and sorrowful kin warriors, and across his teammates who were also quite drained but filled with excitement and admiration in their eyes.

Won.

Defeated the top-tier powerhouse ranked 8th on the leaderboard head-on!

Winning against the strong with the weak, breaking force with wisdom!

"We... won!" Zhao Hao was the first to roar, his voice shaking the starry sky, filled with incomparable exhilaration and pride.

Su Yueyao let out a soft sigh of relief, walked to Lin Zhou's side, and moonlight quietly flowed into his body to help him stabilize his breath, her beautiful eyes shimmering with brilliance.

Qin Qing's tense face also relaxed, revealing a rare, relieved smile.

Li Mo was rapidly recording various data, especially the precious information on the actual combat effectiveness of the "Scroll of Civilization," his hands trembling slightly with excitement.

Soon, everyone's identity crystal cards vibrated violently, and the projected leaderboard underwent earth-shaking changes!

【All-Universe Academy Championship · Endless Star Sea Elimination Battle · Real-time Leaderboard (Top 10,000)】

The gaze locked directly onto the changes at the very front: Honghuang Academy (Points: 11230), Eternal Divine Court Academy (Points: 10895), Abyss Contractor Academy (Points: 10567), Void Zerg Hive Academy (Points: 9987)...

99. Xinghai University (Points: 3035.8), Trickery and Deception Academy (Points: 3021.4)

99th place!

From over 40,000th place, leaping into the top 100!

And it was by stepping on the "corpse" of the Titan Domain Academy, which was originally ranked 8th, that they ascended to this position!

This ranking change was like dropping a bombshell into the relatively calm leaderboard!

All teams paying attention to the leaderboard, as long as they were not in the midst of intense combat, almost instantly noticed this abruptly rising name and the astonishing jump in points!

"Xinghai University? That 15th-ranked seed? What did they do? How did they suddenly surge to 99th?"

"Titan Domain Academy's points plummeted just now! They dropped straight out of the top 1,000 from 8th! Could it be... they were eliminated by Xinghai University?!"

"That's impossible, right? Titan Domain Academy is led by Octavius! Mid-Tier Divine Power! Titan Legion! How could they be defeated by some unknown... wait, 15th seed... but that's a seed!"

"Investigate! Immediately investigate the information on that Xinghai University! And their current coordinate area!"

"Eliminating the 8th place with one blow and obtaining 30% of their points... This Xinghai University is a dark horse! No, this is already a ferocious tiger!"

Countless gazes and Divine Thoughts, whether suspicious, grave, curious, or greedy, seemed to cross the distant sea of stars, casting towards the general direction where Xinghai University was located (the leaderboard roughly displays the current star sector of the top 10,000 teams).

Lin Zhou and the others immediately felt that the sensation of being watched was more than ten times stronger than before!

"We... are famous." Li Mo pushed up his glasses, his voice carrying a trace of excitement, and also a trace of worry.

"It was bound to happen sooner or later." Lin Zhou, supported by Su Yueyao, slowly landed on the Star Gazing Platform, his voice somewhat weak but exceptionally firm, "This battle is our declaration. Telling everyone that Xinghai University and Way of Civilization cannot be lightly insulted. Next, I fear there will be more probing, and even more violent attacks. But we also have the point buffer of the top 100 and... a reputation."

He looked at the battlefield in the distance that was gradually calming down, at the fortifications that were beginning to repair themselves, and at his companions who had experienced blood and fire and whose eyes were sharper.

"Clean up the battlefield, repair defenses, treat the wounded, and calculate battle losses and gains. Qin Qing, strengthen the alert and anti-reconnaissance. Li Mo, analyze all data from this battle and optimize the tactics and defense System. Zhao Hao, expand the patrol and alert range. Yue Yao, please coordinate the treatment and recovery."

"Yes!" Everyone acknowledged the order and immediately took action.

Although exhausted, their morale was high, filled with the confidence and cohesion after victory.

Lin Zhou walked alone to the edge of the Star Gazing Platform, looking at the vast sea of stars.

His Divine Power was empty, his mind exhausted, but a flame was burning in his heart.

The "Scroll of Civilization" had its first trial, and the effect was astonishing, but the consumption was also terrifying.

It could not be used again in the short term.

And the top 100 ranking was both an honor and a target.

Titan Domain Academy was only the first.

Next, there would be more and stronger opponents casting their eyes here.

Primordial, Eternal, Abyss... those true behemoths were probably also starting to notice this "dark horse" that had suddenly soared.

But, so what?

The Fire of Civilization, having been ignited, should spread like a prairie fire.

The road ahead is long, surrounded by powerful enemies, only then can the magnificence of my Dao be displayed.

"99th place..." Lin Zhou whispered to himself, the corners of his mouth curling into a faint arc filled with endless sharpness.

"This is just the beginning."