379: Chapter 314: Eternal Change, Initiative

The light of the Scroll of Civilization slowly flowed through the darkness like the only ever-burning lamp under the night sky.

The five-kilometer sea of insects was frozen in place, forming an eerie and spectacular "War Amber." Beyond the scroll, the purple torrent of the insect tide continued to surge, hissing and crashing, yet unable to intrude even half a step into that sealed space-time. Within the scroll, millions of Zerg maintained their charging postures; hideous mouthparts, waving limbs, splashing acid, along with flying dust and the firelight of explosions, were all rendered motionless, composing a frozen epic of violent aesthetics.

But this "stillness" was by no means safe.

Lin Zhou stood suspended at the "axis" where the scroll unfurled, his face as pale as paper, his aura withered to the extreme. He maintained a posture of embracing the void with both hands, but his fingertips were trembling uncontrollably. At his brow, the phantom of the Temple of Civilization flickered in and out of existence, emitting a faint glow that echoed the scroll below, providing the most fundamental support of rules. However, the price of this support was immense.

Divine Power Reserves: 138,500/200,000 (continuously decreasing, current maintenance consumption approx. 120 Divine Power/sec)

Mental Load: 97% (critical state, Godhead operating in overclocked mode)

Divine Fire Status: Stable (core purple rhythm and Taiji phantom are stable, but output power has reached its limit)

Scroll of Civilization Maintenance: 88% (under continuous impact from the Mother Empress's will, decreasing by approx. 1.2% per minute)

Every second, a massive amount of Divine Power was drained, turning into the "fuel" that maintained this space-time stagnation. Even more terrifying was the cold, vast, and maliciously calculated impact of the Zerg Mother Empress's will. It was not a simple energy bombardment but rather like billions of invisible, barbed, cold tentacles, constantly attempting to pry, analyze, and tear apart the "Principles of Sealing" of the scroll from every dimension and rule level. Because of this, the scroll's light flickered incessantly, and ripples of rules, visible to the naked eye like water waves, rose around its edges as if it might shatter at any moment.

Su Yueyao and Qin Qing stood to his left and right, pouring their strength without reservation into the protective cocoon of light surrounding Lin Zhou.

Su Yueyao's moonlight had transformed from cold and clear to a condensed, almost substantial milky-white halo; her [Moon Goddess Bloodline] had been activated to its current bearable limit (65% activation). Moonlight Purification Efficiency: 72%, playing a key role in filtering and weakening the surrounding logical turbulence, data toxins, and the mental aftershocks of the Mother Empress's will. Fine beads of sweat broke out on her delicate nose, but her cold eyes were full of determination; occasionally, when she looked at Lin Zhou's profile, a trace of hard-to-detect heartache and worry would surface.

Qin Qing had completely entered the state of a "Law Wielder." The phantom of the Temple of Law behind her had almost solidified; her long sword was thrust into the ground as her hands formed Seals, and the Law runes around her flickered like breathing. She directed most of her Divine Power (currently 300/1,200) toward maintaining the "Absolute Order Domain" around Lin Zhou, resisting the chaotic and erosive characteristics contained within the Mother Empress's will. Her complexion was no better than Lin Zhou's, her lips were tightly pursed, and her gaze was as sharp as a blade as she constantly monitored the Domain's stability (currently 91%).

"Maintenance is at 85%," Qin Qing's voice came through the encrypted mental link, carrying a metallic chill. "The rate of decline is slightly faster than expected. The intensity of the Mother Empress's impact is increasing."

"Moonlight purification has limited effect on the will's impact; I can only weaken the accompanying mental pollution," Su Yueyao added, her voice coming through the link with a rare hint of urgency. "Lin Zhou, your Godhead load..."

"I can still hold on." Lin Zhou kept his eyes closed, his voice low but steady, forcibly suppressing the waves of tearing pain coming from the depths of his Divine Soul. His consciousness seemed split in two: one half was firmly anchored at the "axis" of the Scroll of Civilization, merging with that sealed space-time and sensing every vibration of the rules and the trajectory of the Mother Empress's impact; the other half calmly calculated the Divine Power consumption, the rate of maintenance decline, and... the changes in the surrounding battlefield.

Inside the Seal was dead silence; outside the Seal was a life-and-death race against time!

Elios's Orders were executed with high efficiency.

The Heroic Spirit Legion of the Eternal Divine Court acted like a golden steel torrent, rapidly changing their marching route. They did not attempt to attack the sealed insect sea (that would be meaningless); instead, they split into several groups, galloping along the edges of the scroll's sealed zone to clear out the stray Zerg that had circled around from other directions and were attempting to continue their assault on the psionic hub's defensive line. Simultaneously, a large number of heavy-armored [Heroic Spirit Heavy Guards] (Elite units, Rank LV45-LV50, attributes focused on Physique and Will, Skill: [Holy Bulwark Lv.4] can generate a high-value physical/energy shield shared by the squad) were gathered to begin constructing a temporary defensive line at the largest gap between the sealed zone and the psionic hub.

"Holy Bulwark, overlapping reconstruction!" a [Heroic Spirit Commander] (Hero unit, Rank LV58, Attributes: Strength 45, Physique 52, Intelligence 60, Will 65, Charisma 50; Talent: [Legion Coordination Lv.5]; Skill: [Holy Hymn Lv.3] increases all attributes of nearby allies by 10%) chanted loudly. Following his command, the Heroic Spirit Heavy Guards slammed their giant shields onto the ground; the holy runes on the shield surfaces glowed brightly and connected with each other, quickly forming a pale gold energy wall ten meters high, three meters thick, and over two hundred meters long!

[Temporary Holy Bulwark Defense Line]

Physical Defense: 8,500

Energy Resistance: All-attribute resistance +40% (additional +20% resistance against Chaos and Evil attribute damage)

Durability: 150,000/150,000 (automatically recovers 500 points per second, boosted by commander skills and the number of Heroic Spirits)

Special Effect: Deals 50 points of continuous Holy Burn damage per second to non-holy units (such as Zerg).

Although this temporary defense line could not compare to the composite fortifications of the original mechanical defense line, its strength lay in its rapid construction and its natural attribute suppression against the Zerg. It was like a golden dam, temporarily blocking the most turbulent gap in the "flood."

On the Mechanical Divine Domain's side, the logic reset was proceeding at full speed. The light at the tip of the psionic hub became extremely unstable, at times brilliant white and at others stained with an eerie purple, clearly undergoing an intense internal struggle. However, it could be observed that the purple data patterns that originally covered the tower and surrounding areas were significantly slowing in their spread and pulsation; some shallower patterns even began to show signs of fading. But, as the mechanical captain had said, during the reset, all of the psionic hub's own external defense Systems and most auxiliary functions had ceased, making it exceptionally vulnerable.

The Spirit-Voice Singers of the Phantom Sound Academy gathered in the relatively safe rear. Their songs were no longer attacks on the enemy but instead transformed into visible pale blue sonic ripples containing powers of calming and purification. These ripples spread out like water, focusing their coverage on the periphery of the sealed zone and the areas where the defense line was being rebuilt. These sound waves had a mediocre effect on the Zerg, but they seemed to play a role in interfering with the Mother Empress's "perceptual lock" and "precision calculations"—the intensity of the will's impact on the scroll showed small, brief fluctuations.

Members of the Star Hunter Academy broke into small groups, acting like the deadliest ghosts as they prowled the shadowed corners of the battlefield. They specialized in hunting Zerg units with special abilities that attempted to bypass the defense line or interfere with key nodes, especially the [Void Lurkers] (Rank LV48-LV52, Traits: Short-range Blink, Armor-Piercing Attack, +50% damage to shields/buildings), which posed a great threat to buildings and energy nodes with their short-range space jumps. Their achievements were not conspicuous, but they were vital, ensuring that key areas were not "decapitated."

Time passed minute by minute.

Six minutes... seven minutes... eight minutes...

Lin Zhou's Divine Power reserves had dropped below the 130,000 mark (129,000/200,000), his mental load fluctuated around the dangerous 97% red line, and the Scroll of Civilization's maintenance had dropped to 79%. The ripples at the edge of the scroll grew more violent, and small, web-like pale gold cracks even began to appear; though they vanished in an instant, it was clear the Seal was under increasing pressure. Within the scroll, in the depths of the compound eyes of those frozen Zerg, a faint glimmer of struggling purple data would occasionally flash, as if they might break free from their shackles at any moment.

Su Yueyao and Qin Qing's consumption was equally massive. Su Yueyao's moonlight purification efficiency had dropped to 68% due to continuous high-load output; Qin Qing's Law Domain stability had also fallen to 85%, and her Divine Power was nearly bottomed out (150/1,200). Both were nearing their limits, holding on entirely by sheer will.

Just then—

Hum!

From the direction of the psionic hub, a circle of pure and intense white light suddenly erupted! The halo swept through the surrounding area of several kilometers like liquid silver! Wherever it passed, the purple data streams permeating the air, the virus patterns remaining on the ground, and the purple light on the surfaces of those infected but not yet fully "logically collapsed" mechanical units rapidly dissolved and faded away like snow under a blazing sun!

Logic reset, complete!

Although the psionic hub itself remained fragile, at the very least, the internal viral erosion and continuous logical collapse had been forcibly halted! Those mechanical units that had not yet gone completely "mad" regained stable blue lights in their eyes and began to spontaneously assemble behind the temporary Holy Bulwark defense line according to preset emergency protocols, filling the gaps in firepower.

Almost simultaneously, behind the Eternal Divine Court's temporary defense line, several hurriedly erected [Heroic Spirit Energy Matrix Towers] (Rapid-build defense buildings, Attributes: Energy Attack 300-500, Range 1.5km, average attack speed, carries slight Holy damage) began to charge. Pale gold energy beams shot toward the insect tide that was starting to assault the defense line; though their power was inferior to the original mechanical turrets, they were better than nothing.

Nine minutes!

"Defense line preliminarily stabilized! Logical pollution cleared!" Elios's cold voice rang out again, this time carrying an imperceptible hint of relief. "Lin Zhou, that's enough!"

Lin Zhou snapped his eyes open, his eyes bloodshot but as sharp as ever. He no longer hesitated; with a thought, he forcibly cut the connection between himself and the Scroll of Civilization, which had felt as heavy as a mountain!

"Retract!"

Whoosh—!

As if a scroll were being snapped shut, the translucent phantom of the scroll that covered five kilometers, along with the millions of frozen insects within it, suddenly contracted inward and faded, finally turning into a speck of light that vanished into the space between Lin Zhou's brows. The moment the scroll disappeared, flow returned to that sealed space-time.

Time began to run once more!

However, the expected scene of the insect tide instantly surging forward did not immediately occur.

Those millions of Zerg, after experiencing over nine minutes of "space-time stagnation," seemed to undergo a momentary collective "confusion" and "incoordination." Their movements showed obvious lag and disorder; their charging formation became loose, and small-scale collisions and tramplings even occurred. It was like a set of precision gears that had been suddenly jammed; when restarted, some turbulence was inevitable. More importantly, their mental link and command synchronization with the Mother Empress seemed to require a brief recalibration due to the long "signal interruption."

This was the precious window of chaos, lasting perhaps only a dozen seconds!

"Attack!" Elios seized this fleeting opportunity.

The Heroic Spirit Legion, the mechanical remnants that had just recovered partial functions, the auxiliary sound waves of the Phantom Sound Academy, the precision kills of the Star Hunters... all firepower, as if calculated to the millisecond, poured onto the vanguard of the insect tide that had just regained its flow but was mired in brief confusion!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Holy energy, physical munitions, energy beams, sonic vibrations, poisoned arrows... all sorts of attacks drowned the insect swarm. Having lost their charging momentum and tight formation, the Zerg suffered heavy losses under this sudden concentrated fire, with a massive area being cleared out instantly! The offensive of the insect tide was blunted!

Although more Zerg quickly reorganized and the Mother Empress's will once again firmly took control of the front line, hissing as it launched an even more violent assault, the temporary Holy Bulwark defense line had already stood its ground. The mechanical forces reorganizing in the rear also began to provide fire support, and the continuous interference from the Phantom Sound Academy reduced the coordination of the Zerg's attack. The crisis of the collapsing left wing had been stubbornly suppressed! The situation had been dragged back from the brink of total collapse to a dangerous stalemate.

Pfft!

The moment the scroll was retracted, Lin Zhou's body swayed, and he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of pale gold blood, his aura suddenly plummeting. Su Yueyao and Qin Qing hurried forward to support him.

"Lin Zhou!"

"Captain!"

Lin Zhou waved his hand, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and forced himself to stand straight. His status panel was currently a mess:

Divine Power Reserves: 126,500/200,000 (massive consumption, and recovery speed temporarily reduced by 50% after Godhead overclocking)

Mental Load: 89% (still at a high level, needs time to settle)

Divine Fire Status: Slight tremor (core stable, but output power needs cooling)

Godhead Durability: 98% (slight damage due to overloaded operation)

But he couldn't afford to worry about these things as his gaze quickly swept across the battlefield. Seeing that the defense line had temporarily stabilized and that the insect tide, though still surging, had been effectively hindered, his tense nerves finally relaxed slightly. He had succeeded; at the cost of almost draining himself, he had won back the time for the defense line's reconstruction and avoided the worst-case scenario.

"I'm fine, just a bit over-exhausted." Lin Zhou's voice was raspy, but he gave the two women a tired yet comforting smile. "Thanks to you two."

Su Yueyao silently handed over a bottle of potion emitting a clear moonlight aura ([Moonlight Dew], rapidly recovers mental fatigue and slightly nourishes the Divine Soul), while Qin Qing began to cast a low-consumption Law skill [Order Soothing] to help Lin Zhou stabilize the slightly turbulent Divine Power flow within his body.

Just then, a golden figure cut through the slightly chaotic battlefield and landed in front of them. The figure solidified, and it was none other than the captain of the Eternal Divine Court—Elios. He still wore that ornate, cold Eternal Armor, but the gaze behind his visor fell on Lin Zhou directly for the first time, without the slightest hint of condescension.

He first glanced at Lin Zhou, whose face was pale and aura withered, yet whose eyes remained clear. Then, he scanned Su Yueyao and Qin Qing, who were also heavily exhausted from putting their all into maintaining the defenses. Finally, his gaze fell upon the scorched battlefield that had just undergone the scroll's Seal and was currently being fiercely contested by both sides' firepower. There, the Zerg tide, which should have surged straight through and drowned everything, was held firmly in place by a hastily constructed golden barrier and scattered fire, unable to advance a single step.

There was a moment of silence.

Elios raised his hand, retracting his faceplate to reveal a young face that could be called perfect yet was as cold as a sculpture. Within his golden pupils, complex emotions were churning—shock, scrutiny, doubt, and a trace of... reluctant admiration.

He spoke, his voice still carrying that unique metallic coldness, but the absolute arrogance belonging to 'Eternity' had mostly dissipated.

"Captain Lin Zhou." He paused, seemingly weighing his words. "I apologize for my previous judgment and attitude. Your tactics, your power, and..." He glanced at Lin Zhou, searching for the right words to describe the feat of sealing ten miles of the insect sea just now, "...the price you paid to buy us time have earned my respect."

Lin Zhou nodded slightly without speaking, merely looking at him calmly, waiting for what came next. He could tell that this proud Eternal captain had not come solely to apologize.

Sure enough, Elios continued, "The crisis on the left wing is temporarily resolved, but the overall situation remains dire. The Zerg tide is endless, and the Mother Empress's schemes are unfathomable. Our five teams' joint defense is currently only barely holding, and our combat losses and consumption are steadily increasing. Under the current model, we might hold for seven days, but the cost will be so heavy it becomes unacceptable, potentially even affecting subsequent missions."

His golden pupils stared intently at Lin Zhou. "I observed your battle, whether it was dealing with the Chaos Beasts, countering the Mechanical Logic Virus, or just now... sealing the insect sea. Your vassals and your power System always seem to find a 'variable' solution in the midst of rule-based confrontations that seem hopeless—a way of responding that differs from the path of 'Eternal Invariance.' This 'variability' seems to be the key to countering an enemy like the Mother Empress, who possesses extreme calculation and adaptation capabilities."

He took a step forward, his armor making a slight clinking sound, and his tone became extremely serious, even carrying a hint of a request for guidance. "I, Elios St. Eternal, in my capacity as the seventh-in-line heir of the Eternal Divine Court, request you, Captain Lin Zhou—could you... guide me, or my Heroic Spirit Legion, on how to integrate your combat philosophy of 'responding to the infinite with change' while maintaining our 'Eternal' core? I do not seek to copy your path entirely, but at least... I hope my legion can play a greater role in the upcoming defense, reducing unnecessary sacrifices and increasing our flexibility in responding to the Mother Empress's various tactical shifts."

These words, coming from an heir of the Eternal Divine Court—a place where 'Eternity' and 'Invariance' are etched into divinity, and which is known for absolute Order and majesty—carried an undeniable weight and represented a profound shock to their core beliefs.

Su Yueyao and Qin Qing both looked at Elios with some surprise. They could feel that this proud captain was sincerely seeking guidance, not merely being polite or probing.

Lin Zhou was also slightly surprised but soon understood. Elios was not stupid; on the contrary, he was extremely intelligent and proud. Precisely because of his pride, he could not accept the 'rigidity' and 'passivity' shown by the Heroic Spirit Legion he led—which represented the peak combat power of the Human Race—when facing the Zerg tide. Having witnessed Lin Zhou resolve crises time and again with strange and unpredictable methods, even at a great cost to secure a chance for the whole, the impact was enough to shake some of his deep-seated beliefs.

"It's not so much guidance as it is an exchange," Lin Zhou's voice was still raspy, yet it carried a peaceful strength. "Captain Elios, your Heroic Spirit Legion has extremely high individual quality, discipline, coordination, and mastery of Divine Rules—all of which are top-tier. But as you said, you focus too much on 'Eternity' and 'Invariance,' pursuing ultimate synergy and overwhelming power under absolute Order. There is nothing inherently wrong with this; against most enemies, it is even invincible."

His tone shifted. "But the Zerg Mother Empress, especially a Void Mother Empress with such high intelligence and calculation power, is exactly one of the 'natural enemies' of this tactic. Its core advantage lies in 'calculation' and 'adaptation.' The more fixed your tactics, the more standard your formations, and the more regular your attack patterns, the faster it can calculate the optimal solution. It can even turn your 'regularity' against you to create traps, much like how it infected the Mechanical Divine Domain earlier. You seek to 'meet all changes with the unchanging,' while it is an expert at 'breaking the unchanging with myriad changes.'"

Elios frowned deeply and listened intently, the light in his golden pupils flickering, clearly deep in rapid thought.

"What I rely on is not a single powerful skill or vassal type," Lin Zhou continued, slowly channeling a trace of recovered Divine Power to condense several tiny, ever-shifting points of light in his palm, representing the brilliance of Confucian, Legalist, Mohist, and School of Military thought. "Rather, it is a 'thought'—a bottom-level logic that is inclusive, keeps pace with the times, and emphasizes 'achieving victory by changing according to the enemy.' You can understand it as a 'tactical philosophy.'"

"The School of Military says: 'Military force has no constant momentum, and water has no constant form; he who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed may be called divine.'" The point of light representing the School of Military in Lin Zhou's palm suddenly brightened. "Your Heroic Spirit Legion can attempt to integrate more elements of 'change' while maintaining their core divine attributes and overall discipline."

He explained specifically, "For example, formation changes. Your existing formations, whether it's the defensive 'Divine Circular Formation' or the offensive 'Arrowhead Formation,' are too standardized. You can try designing several 'variant formations' derived from the basic ones—switching rapidly during battle based on the enemy type, number, attack patterns, battlefield terrain, or even timing, such as the Mother Empress's calculation fatigue periods. The core of shifting formations is not complexity, but 'surprise' and 'specificity.' For instance, against a dense charge of the insect sea, you could use a 'Heavy Shield Scattering Formation' where shield units spread out to draw fire while ranged units focus on killing high-threat targets. Against elite Zerg with special armor-piercing or ranged abilities, you could use an 'Elastic Defense Formation' where unit spacing is widened to increase maneuvering space for evasion, coordinated with small-scale rapid support. The key is for both commanders and grassroots units to understand the purpose and timing of the shift, rather than executing it mechanically."

"Another example is skill combinations and release rhythm. Don't always release skills according to the optimal cycle used in training. You can try 'deceptive skill releases'—pretending to release a powerful skill like a large-scale Divine Judgment to draw the Mother Empress's calculation resources into making a defensive prediction, while actually switching to a fast, low-consumption control or harassment skill. Or, after the Zerg tide has adapted to one of your attack rhythms, suddenly change the rhythm to disrupt its calculation model."

"You could even allow Heroic Spirit units within a small range to make limited independent judgments and fine-tune their actions based on real-time combat conditions within a set of pre-defined tactical choices, rather than waiting for unified Orders for everything. This requires extremely high discipline and trust as a Foundation, but once formed, it can greatly increase the Mother Empress's calculation difficulty."

Lin Zhou's voice was not loud, yet every word was clear. Combined with the demonstration of the shifting lights in his palm, he laid out a philosophy full of elasticity and spirit, vastly different from the rigid tactics of the Eternal Divine Court. This was not the teaching of a specific skill, but the inspiration of a way of thinking.

Elios listened with extreme focus, the light in his eyes growing brighter as he occasionally fell into deep thought. In the void behind him, a faint phantom of his eternal throne appeared, but now, the throne no longer seemed so frozen and unchanging; at its edges, there seemed to be extremely subtle flows of light representing 'thought' and 'possibility' quietly circulating.

"...Most importantly," Lin Zhou concluded, "you must understand that the so-called 'adaptation' is not rooted in chaos, but is built upon deeper 'knowledge' and 'calculation.' Know yourself and know your enemy, know the heavens and the earth, and only then can you adapt to circumstances. Your Heroic Spirit Legion possesses powerful information gathering and analysis capabilities through Divine Insight skills; you can definitely do better. Incorporate more real-time battlefield information—not just enemy numbers and positions, but also energy fluctuations, rule disturbances, and even subtle changes in the Mother Empress's mental network—into your command considerations as the basis for 'change.'"

Having said this, Lin Zhou spoke no more, and the lights in his palm dissipated. He panted slightly; this explanation had also cost him a great deal of mental energy.

Elios remained silent for a full minute. The expression on his handsome, cold face shifted constantly before finally turning into a grave resolve. He looked at Lin Zhou again and solemnly performed an ancient and dignified deity's salute—placing his right hand over his chest and bowing slightly.

"I have learned much, Captain Lin Zhou." Within his voice, that metallic coldness remained, but it strangely gained a trace of... warmth. "Your thoughts have opened a new door for me. Perhaps the true essence of 'Eternity' is not absolute stasis, but maintaining the core 'Invariance' of divinity and faith within the endless river of time, while embracing necessary 'changes' in methods and forms to face the eternal torrent. The balance and wisdom within this... I will need time to digest and practice."

He straightened up, his gaze scanning the defense line which had initially stabilized but remained intense. "I will immediately issue 'Basic Formation Change Thinking' and 'Elastic Tactical Commands' to the Heroic Spirit Legion's commander level, and begin trial formation change training and real-time fine-tuning starting with my personal guard. Although it won't result in a qualitative change in a short time, even if it only improves response efficiency and reduces combat losses by a few percentage points, it is worth it."

He looked at Lin Zhou and suddenly asked, "Captain Lin Zhou, do you have more specific suggestions for the overall defense moving forward? Given the... vision you just displayed."

Lin Zhou pondered for a moment and said, "The main force of the Zerg tide is currently drawn to our front, and the Mother Empress's attention is also focused here. But with its calculation power, it's impossible for it to only conduct a frontal assault. We need to immediately organize elite scouting squads to reconnoiter the periphery, especially potential spatial weak points on the flanks and rear, to be wary of the Zerg opening a second battlefield or conducting decapitation strikes. Additionally, we can try using small-scale, high-mobility elite units to harass and destroy the Zerg rear during defensive gaps, especially areas suspected to be mental nodes or hatching nests; even just interfering can distract its calculation resources. Finally, the communication, command, and skill complementarity of the five teams need further refinement. It would be best to establish a more efficient joint command link to share critical intelligence and tactical intent."

After listening, a sharp light flashed in Elios's eyes, and he nodded. "That coincides with some of my own thoughts. Scouting and harassment can be handled by my Eternal Divine Court's high-speed Heroic Spirit Rangers and the Star Hunter Academy. As for the joint command link... I will immediately contact the other three captains and propose the formation of a temporary Joint Command Center, led by you and me. They should take your opinions seriously now."

He took another deep look at Lin Zhou. "I will visit again after tonight. I hope by then, I can bring some preliminary results of 'change.' Also..." He paused, and with a flash of light in his hand, a small piece of crystal-clear golden crystal emitting a gentle eternal aura appeared. "[Eternal Warm Jade]. It is exceptionally effective for stabilizing a Godhead, nourishing the Divine Soul, and accelerating Divine Power recovery. Consider it my personal... thanks to Your Excellency for turning the tide just now."

With that, he gently sent the crystal floating toward Lin Zhou and said no more. With a flash of golden light, he vanished from the spot, clearly busy with deployments.

Lin Zhou looked at the [Eternal Warm Jade] emitting gentle power (a Legendary quality material that can be directly absorbed, estimated to recover 3000 Divine Power points, stabilize Godhead tremors, and slightly increase Divine Soul toughness). He did not refuse and took it. He knew this was not just a thank-you gift, but the beginning of recognition and an alliance.

Su Yueyao and Qin Qing also breathed a sigh of relief. A very faint, almost invisible smile appeared on Qin Qing's cold face. "It seems this 'Eternal Highness' has finally learned how to look at people with his eyes."

Su Yueyao gently took Lin Zhou's hand, her moonlight-like power flowing over to assist him in absorbing the strength of the Eternal Warm Jade, whispering, "Recover first. The defense line is temporarily stable, and with Elios coordinating the joint command, we can catch our breath for a moment."

Lin Zhou nodded and no longer suppressed his fatigue. He sat cross-legged, holding the Eternal Warm Jade, and began to fully regulate his breathing and recover. In his mind, the river of civilization flowed slowly, and the brilliance of the Hundred Schools shone quietly. The philosophy of 'change' he had just taught Elios also settled and was ruminated upon in his heart. He knew the real test was still ahead; the Mother Empress would certainly have more than just these tricks. But at least, after tonight, a crack had been opened in the invisible high wall within this hastily assembled team.

Beyond that crack lay the possibility of surviving together, and the glimmer of civilization's thoughts quietly spreading.

In the distance, within the Eternal Divine Court's defense line, some Heroic Spirit Commanders had already begun gathering their subordinates, quietly passing down new Orders. Within the once unchanging battle formations, a very subtle, new 'rhythm' seemed to be quietly sprouting.

The night was still long, and the battle was far from over. But some changes, once begun, are hard to reverse.