382: Chapter 317: The Flame of Civilization, Confronting the Devouring Force of the Void

The Mother Empress moved.

A three-hundred-meter-diameter sac body, twelve thousand-meter-long limbs rooted in the Void Realm and the earth—this terrifying existence, known as the "Zerg Mother Empress," had a "movement" that in itself constituted a blasphemy against the Laws of physics. It wasn't walking; it was like an iceberg dragging across the sea, or a planetary fragment sliding through gravitationally turbulent space. With an undeniable, crushing slowness and weight, it "pressed" step by step towards the Temple of the Eternal Flame.

With each "step," the colossal, pillar-like limb didn't actually touch the ground. Instead, when it was still dozens of meters from the surface, a certain "Void Realm field" attached to its end had already descended. The earth was silently annihilated; it didn't explode or collapse, but was erased as if by the most precise eraser, leaving bottomless pits with edges as smooth as mirrors. The soil and rocks around the pits exhibited a bizarre, almost instantaneously vitrified state, as if subjected to extreme heat. Simultaneously, space was brutally folded and compressed, emitting an unbearable, piercing shriek like thousands of glass panes shattering at once. Black spatial cracks spread like spiderwebs on both sides of the Mother Empress's path, flickering and then swiftly filled and devoured by the purple energy flowing out of the Void Realm.

Wherever it passed, it left not ruins, but a constantly extending zone of absolute nothingness, over five hundred meters wide. Within this zone, light was twisted and dim, elements were stagnant, and even the most basic concept of material existence became tenuous. That was the most direct manifestation of the [Void Realm] divine office authority—forcibly transforming a part of the real world into its own "Void Realm Domain."

And the cold, vast mental Divine Might emanating with its movement was like tangible heavy water, filling every corner of the battlefield. Apart from Lin Zhou and a few core personnel, all other living beings felt as if they were carrying mountains, struggling to breathe, their Divine Power operating sluggishly, and even their thoughts becoming slow. The S-class joint defense line's original 35% overall defense strength bonus was reduced to less than 15% under this absolute suppression of status. The formation effect that reduced the Zerg swarm's advance speed by 50% seemed negligible to the Mother Empress's main body; its seemingly slow steps, in reality, each spanned thousands of meters, and the distance to the Temple was rapidly shrinking!

"Attack! Stop it!" Elios endured the Soul-rending pain, his handsome face contorted, almost roaring as he gave the command. The Eternal Divine Court's Heroic Spirit Barrier flashed brightly, and countless thick Holy Light pillars shot out from the [Divine Judgment Cannons] (War Wonder, special attack against evil/chaotic units, huge consumption) behind the barrier, merging into a golden torrent over ten meters in diameter, blasting towards the front of the Mother Empress's sac body!

Almost simultaneously, the Mechanical Divine Domain's remaining firepower network reacted. Under Kevin's cold command, all operational turrets, including the few [Titan's Fist Siege Arrays] that were overloading and charging, locked onto the Mother Empress. In an instant, thousands of energy rays, physical shells, and arcane missiles, like an enraged swarm of bees, trailed various colored exhaust flames, forming a dense, suffocating curtain of death that covered the Mother Empress's massive body, specifically targeting the seemingly fragile compound eye arrays and the connections of its oral tubes.

Evelyn of Phantom Sound Academy had a face as pale as paper, a trace of faint golden blood even spilling from the corner of her mouth, but she still stubbornly held her head high, her ethereal voice hoarse from overuse, yet still singing the most soaring [Song of Breaking Illusions]! The invisible sound waves were no longer gentle support, but transformed into sharp blades targeting spirit and Law, attempting to penetrate the layer of flowing Void Realm substance on the Mother Empress's body and interfere with any potential spiritual nodes or computational cores within.

Hunter Star-Slayer Ryan knelt, enduring the tumultuous chaos in his mind and the double vision before his eyes, pouring his remaining will and Divine Power into the "Star-Slayer" longbow in his hand. The bow groaned under the strain, and an arrow formed entirely of dark starlight and the Law of destruction slowly materialized—[Meteor Strike · Boundary Breaker]! This was the most penetrating and Law-destroying strike he could unleash in his current state, aimed directly at the slowly rotating dark halo above the Mother Empress's sac body, attempting to shake the materialized symbol of its three divine offices!

However—

Facing this terrifying concentrated fire, which gathered the remaining strength of four top teams and was enough to instantly destroy the main planet of an ordinary stellar civilization, the Mother Empress showed no intention of even "dodging" or "defending."

It merely... continued to advance.

Rumble rumble rumble—!!!

The Holy Light torrent first hit the front of the sac body, golden light exploding and illuminating half of the dark red sky. But that judgment light, powerful enough to purify Abyssal Lords and vaporize demon legions, landed on the flowing dark purple Void Realm substance like a mud ox entering the sea, failing to even stir a ripple, and was mercilessly devoured and absorbed by the profound "Void Realm"! The purple luster on the Mother Empress's sac body even became deeper and more concentrated because of it!

Immediately afterward, the Mechanical Divine Domain's metal storm descended. Physical shells and energy rays, capable of tearing through thick city walls and melting warship armor, struck the Mother Empress, producing dense thuds like rain on banana leaves, yet failing to even shake the outermost layer of Void Realm substance. These energy attacks were also swiftly devoured, transforming into nourishment for the Mother Empress itself. A few attacks containing special armor-piercing Laws or high-energy reactions (such as the Titan's Fist) only left a few insignificant, fleeting shallow pits on the surface of the Void Realm substance, failing to even touch the Mother Empress's true "skin."

Evelyn's [Song of Breaking Illusions] sound waves crashed against an invisible wall composed of absolute chaos and cold calculation, dissipating and vanishing on their own a hundred meters from the Mother Empress's sac body, failing to produce any of the anticipated interference effects.

Only Ryan's arrow, imbued with all his essence, Qi, and spirit—[Meteor Strike · Boundary Breaker]—like a black meteor moving against the current, tore through the viscous spatial pressure along its path, carrying an unyielding determination, and precisely shot towards the center of the dark halo!

This time, the Mother Empress finally showed a trace of "reaction."

At the center of the halo, one of the three complex symbols representing the [Void Realm], [Devour], and [Evolution] divine offices (Devour) subtly lit up.

The moment the arrow touched the edge of the halo, it seemed to crash into an invisible vortex. The destructive starlight and boundary-breaking Law condensed on the arrow were as if grasped, kneaded, and then... swallowed by an invisible large hand! There was no explosion, no flash; that arrow, capable of threatening a Faint Divinity's divine personality, simply vanished silently, leaving only a barely perceptible, instantly healing spatial fold at the edge of the halo.

Ryan was struck as if by lightning, spitting out a large mouthful of fresh blood, his aura suddenly weakening, and the light of the "Star-Slayer" longbow in his hand dimmed by more than half. Not only was this arrow fruitless, but part of the Law power it contained seemed to have been reverse-absorbed and analyzed by the Mother Empress!

Ineffective! All ineffective!

The four captains, and all the frontline warriors who witnessed this scene, were instantly enveloped by a chilling cold. The gap was too vast! This was not a gap that could be compensated by tactics and coordination; it was an absolute chasm in life level, Divine Power status, and Law mastery! The Mother Empress was like an unshakable, moving cosmic wonder; their attacks were not even tickles to it, but rather "snacks" delivered to its doorstep!

And the Mother Empress, from beginning to end, had never taken its tens of thousands of compound eyes off the Temple of the Eternal Flame. It seemed to disdain the harassment of these "ants." Its goal was clear and singular—to devour that seed of civilization, that existence containing the last essence and hope of an ancient civilization! It could feel that devouring that spark would bring it unimaginable opportunities for Evolution, perhaps even allowing it to Break through its shackles and truly step into the Domain of powerful Divine Power!

The distance rapidly closed in despair. One hundred thousand meters... eighty thousand meters... fifty thousand meters...

The Mother Empress had entered a "range of attack" in some sense. The spatial pressure brought by its massive body caused the entire Temple of the Eternal Flame to tremble slightly, and the faint light on the Temple's surface, symbolizing the eternal civilization, flickered erratically under the erosion of the Void Realm Domain, like a candle in the wind.

They couldn't wait any longer!

A sharp glint flashed in Lin Zhou's eyes. He knew the Mother Empress's terror better than anyone, and he understood better than anyone that the Temple of the Eternal Flame absolutely could not fall! This was not only about the success or failure of the mission but also about the symbol of a civilization, the Legacy of a spirit! The Temple of Civilization within him was frantically warning, the river of civilization surged and roared, and the purple charm and Taiji phantom in his divine fire core rotated at an unprecedented speed.

"You all hold the defense line, clear the remaining Zerg swarm, and prevent the Mother Empress from having other tricks!" Lin Zhou quickly instructed Su Yueyao, Qin Qing, and everyone in the command link, "Leave the Temple to me!"

Before his voice faded, he stepped out of the command post's observation tower, his figure transforming into a faint golden stream of light, rushing against the mountain-like Mother Empress that was crushing down, moving against the current! Su Yueyao and Qin Qing exclaimed, but could not stop him, only gritting their teeth and putting more power into maintaining the defense line and stabilizing the rear.

Thirty thousand meters! Only this last distance remained between the Mother Empress and the Temple. It seemed to have "seen" this "little light spot" that dared to face it alone; the cold purple light in its compound eyes subtly swirled, and among the hundreds of dancing oral tubes, a dozen slowly adjusted their direction, aiming at the swiftly approaching Lin Zhou. The layered teeth at the ends of the oral tubes began to rotate at high speed, emitting a grating metallic friction sound, and deep darkness swirled within, as a terrifying suction began to brew—that was the most direct manifestation of the [Devour] divine office, preparing to swallow this "little snack" that didn't know its place.

But Lin Zhou's target was not the Mother Empress itself. He knew that with his current power (Divine Personality LV500, Mid-Tier Divine Power threshold), a frontal attack on the Mother Empress would be like throwing an egg at a rock. His target was the space between the Mother Empress and the Temple, the irresistible [Devour] attack that the Mother Empress was about to launch on the Temple!

What he wanted to do was to build a firewall for the Temple of the Eternal Flame! A firewall forged with the Fire of Civilization, with the Huaxia Civilization spirit, and with the indomitable will of the Human Race!

Just as the devouring vortex was about to form in the dozen oral tubes of the Mother Empress aimed at Lin Zhou, Lin Zhou suddenly stopped at the midpoint, about fifteen thousand meters from the Temple and fifteen thousand meters from the Mother Empress!

[part:gemini-3.0-flash]

He suspended himself in mid-air, spreading his arms wide to face the approaching terrifying shadow and the cold gaze that could freeze the Soul. The gale blew the black hair on his forehead into a wild dance, revealing a pair of eyes burning with resolute flames beneath.

“The fire is passed on, and civilization is immortal!”

A low declaration that seemed to penetrate the barriers of time and space escaped Lin Zhou's mouth. In the next moment, he no longer suppressed or held back, completely detonating his Godhead, Divine Fire, and even his deepest connection with the Temple of Civilization!

BOOM—!!!

Flames more blazing than the sun and more brilliant than the galaxy erupted from Lin Zhou's body!

That was no ordinary fire, not elemental fire, nor divine fire, but the Fire of Civilization! It was the spiritual manifestation of five thousand years of Huaxia wisdom, struggle, Legacy, and development—the essence of civilization refined after the collision and fusion of the Hundred Schools of Thought!

The flames displayed an indescribable color, an all-encompassing intertwining of pale gold and noble purple. Upon appearing, they violently expanded and rose, instantly forming a massive flame shield over a thousand meters in diameter with Lin Zhou at its center! The shield was not perfectly round but shaped like an inverted giant bowl, its opening facing the Mother Empress while its base firmly protected the Temple of the Eternal Flame behind it!

The moment the shield formed, the Void Might and mental erosion belonging to the Mother Empress that had filled the area were fiercely pushed back and repelled as if meeting their nemesis! The space inside the shield was rapidly filled and stabilized by a warm, firm force full of vitality and Order. Those spatial rifts spreading nearby actually made a 'sizzling' sound upon touching the edge of the flame shield, being forcibly closed and repaired like snow meeting a hot iron!

[Fire of Civilization Shield]

Defense Value: ??? (Directly related to Lin Zhou's Divine Power, Spirit, civilization points, and resonance intensity with the Civilization Epic; dynamically changing)

Current Divine Power Input: 5,000 points/second (Lin Zhou's Divine Power Reserves: 126,500/200,000, and continuing to consume at high speed)

Rule Characteristics:

1. [principles of civilization]: Extremely effective against all erosion from chaos, devouring, annihilation, and void-type rules.

2. [Mental Barrier]: Completely isolates mental detection, pollution, control, and pressure.

3. [Legacy]: The shield's strength resonates with the 'seed of civilization' (Temple of the Eternal Flame) protected inside; as long as the spark is not extinguished, the shield is difficult to break.

4. [Epic Manifestation]: Within the shield's flames, epic scenes corresponding to the Huaxia Civilization's struggles, development, and Legacy will automatically emerge to counter negative rules and boost the morale of one's own side.

The Mother Empress's massive body, before this suddenly appearing Fire of Civilization Shield, truly... stopped for the first time.

In its tens of thousands of compound eyes, cold purple light flickered violently, seemingly performing high-speed calculations and analysis. The flames before it, these rules, and this kind of orderly power it had never encountered before—containing something that made it instinctively feel 'threatened' and 'disgusted'—exceeded the existing models in its database.

But that was all. The sense of threat instead stimulated an even stronger desire to devour! It could feel that devouring these flames and the spark protected by them would bring benefits far exceeding expectations!

No more hesitation.

At the very top of the Mother Empress's sac, in the center of that slowly rotating dark halo, the symbol representing the [Devouring] divine office suddenly erupted with a piercing, deep purple light that seemed capable of swallowing all light!

Simultaneously, those hundreds of dancing mouthpart tubes all turned their direction, no longer minding Lin Zhou, but all aiming at the Temple of the Eternal Flame behind the flame shield! At the ends of the mouthparts, terrifying devouring vortices instantly formed and expanded. Hundreds of pitch-black vortices, ranging from a few meters to dozens of meters in diameter, were like passages to the Return to the Ruins, emitting an absolute suction that froze the Soul!

This suction was not a pull in the physical sense but acted directly upon existence itself! Upon rules! Upon concepts!

[Void Devour · All Things Return to the Ruins]!

Skill activated!

Buzz—!!!

Amidst an indescribable, eerie sound, the space where the flame shield and the Temple of the Eternal Flame were located seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand and collapsed inward! Light twisted as it was sucked into those pitch-black vortices, sound vanished, and even the 'thickness' of space itself was being crazily stripped and devoured! The flames at the outer edge of the shield began to flicker and peel uncontrollably, turning into small streams of fire forcibly pulled toward those mouthpart vortices! Even the 'principles of civilization' rule Domain maintained by the shield began to show signs of blurring and crumbling at the edges, like a cake being gnawed on!

This was a confrontation and erosion at the rule level! It was the full exertion of the [Devouring] divine office's authority!

Lin Zhou's body shook violently, his face instantly turning pale as gold paper, and pale gold blood overflowed from his mouth again. He could clearly feel that his connection with the Fire of Civilization Shield was under unimaginable pressure; his Divine Power was pouring out like a floodgate opening, his Godhead let out a groan of being overburdened, and even his Divine Soul felt as if it were about to be pulled from his body and swallowed by that terrifying suction!

“Want to devour it? It's not that easy!”

Lin Zhou's eyes were blood-red as he roared, no longer relying solely on Divine Power to hold on. His mind completely sank into the Temple of Civilization, communicating with the surging river of civilization to trigger the deepest, most unyielding spiritual imprints belonging to the Huaxia nation!

“Ancestors protect me! Heroic spirits aid me! Civilization Epic—Manifest!”

Following his call, the massive Fire of Civilization Shield suddenly underwent a change!

The flames that were originally just pure burning now seemed to transform into a grand screen. Within the fire, light and shadow shifted as scene after scene of magnificent, Soul-stirring epic images—like a revolving lantern—moved from far to near, from illusory to real, clearly emerging and playing out!

The first image: Da Yu Taming the Floods!

Catastrophic floods ravaged the land, leaving the people destitute. A figure, not particularly tall but with a back like a mountain, held a plow and passed his own home three times without entering, leading the ancestors to clear riverbeds and split mountains, fighting against the violent forces of nature! What the image conveyed was the pride of 'man conquering nature,' the responsibility of 'sacrificing the small family for the big family,' and the spirit of resistance that never bows in the face of a world-ending disaster! This spirit turned into an invisible force that merged into the flame shield; the edges of the shield being eroded by the Devouring rule actually stopped their crumbling trend and even pushed back slightly!

The second image: The Foolish Old Man Removing Mountains!

The towering Taihang and Wangwu mountains blocked the path. A white-haired old man led his descendants, using the simplest hoes and baskets, digging day after day, year after year, without stopping. Facing the ridicule of The Wise Old Man, he responded impassionedly: 'My descendants are endless, but the mountains do not grow; why worry about not leveling them?' Contained in the image was the persistence of 'perseverance,' the dedication of 'unwavering faith,' and that tenacity rooted deep in the Bloodline when facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles! Under the blessing of this power, the 'thickness' of the flame shield seemed to increase out of thin air, and its stability improved significantly.

The third image: Jingwei Filling the Sea!

A tiny, colorful bird carried small twigs and stones in its beak, flying over the surging East Sea, repeatedly dropping them into the sea in an attempt to fill the vast, raging waves. The scene was tragic and beautiful, conveying the determination of 'unswerving purpose,' the tragedy of 'doing what is known to be impossible,' and the unyielding will to challenge fate even if one's strength is minuscule! This will turned into specks of light that scattered onto the shield, making the flickering flames more solid and pure.

The fourth image: The Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought!

At Jixia Academy, the various masters sat and discussed the Dao. Confucius traveled through the states preaching benevolent governance; Laozi rode a green ox out of the pass, leaving behind the words of the Dao De Jing; Mozi rushed about advocating for universal love and Non-Aggression; Han Fei wrote rapidly, explaining the legal principles to strengthen the state... The sparks of clashing thoughts and the light of flowing wisdom formed a scroll of the most brilliant civilization. Contained within was the tolerance of 'inclusivity,' the wisdom of 'seeking truth,' and the internal drive for civilization to constantly innovate and move forward! This drive was injected into the shield, causing its ability to 'analyze' and 'counter' the Devouring rule to instantly leap to a new level!

Epic scenes emerged one after another: Shennong Tasting the Hundred Herbs, Houyi Shooting the Suns, Su Wu Herding Sheep, Yue Fei Resisting the Jin, Wen Tianxiang's Song of Righteousness... Countless figures of sages, countless acts of struggle, and countless moments of Legacy surged and roared in the flame shield like a torrent gathering five thousand years of Huaxia Civilization's spirit!

These were not simple illusions, but spiritual manifestations triggered by the Fire of Civilization and imprinted deep within the river of civilization! Each image represented a spiritual quality for resisting adversity, fending off foreign aggression, and passing on civilization. Now, under Lin Zhou's guidance, they all turned into rule-based power to counter the Mother Empress's [Devouring] divine office!

“ROAR—!!!”

In the Mother Empress's cold compound eyes, intense emotional fluctuations appeared for the first time—a mix of shock, incomprehension, and the rage of being severely offended! It felt that its invincible [Devouring] authority had now crashed into a Wall of Sighs forged from countless tenacious wills, immortal spirits, and the light of wisdom! Those seemingly illusory images, and the 'principles' and 'thoughts' contained within them, were stubbornly resisting and even neutralizing its devouring power at the rule level!

Although the flame shield was still vibrating violently and the surface flames were being constantly stripped and devoured, the core of the shield—the 'rule framework' supported by the spirit of the Civilization Epic—remained unshakable! The Temple of the Eternal Flame behind the shield, though its light was dim, still burned tenaciously, not having been sucked away by the devouring vortex in the slightest!

The Void Devour was actually blocked!

It was held back ten thousand meters away from the temple by a shield supported by the strength of one man, burning with the Fire of Civilization!

On the battlefield, whether it was the four teams struggling to maintain the defensive line or Su Yueyao, Qin Qing, and the others watching tensely from behind, everyone looked at that miraculous scene in the sky in shock—a tiny human figure supporting the vast Fire of Civilization, with ancient epics reflected in the fire, clashing head-on with the world-destroying Zerg Mother Empress!

Hope, like the flames burning in that shield, was ignited once more in the midst of desperation.

But Lin Zhou knew this was only the beginning.

His Divine Power was burning crazily, and his Divine Soul was bearing a massive load while resonating with the entire Civilization Epic.

And the Mother Empress's rage and next attack could arrive at any moment.

The rule duel between the Fire of Civilization and the Void Devour had entered its most dangerous War of attrition.