406: Chapter 341: The River Reverses, Cracks Appear on the Eternal Throne

Darkness.

Endless darkness.

Lin Zhou's consciousness floated in the Void Realm, without direction, sound, or temperature. His godhood had entered a dormant state, and his divine fire burned at its lowest power, like a candle in the wind, ready to extinguish at any moment.

But, his consciousness remained.

It was not the calculation of his godhood or the driving force of his divine fire, but the most primitive Soul core belonging to the existence known as "Lin Zhou"—that "True Soul" that had come through Transmigration, carrying the memories of Huaxia Civilization.

Deep within the True Soul, the light of the Temple of Civilization was as faint as a bean, yet it never extinguished.

"Where... am I?" Lin Zhou's consciousness murmured.

There was no answer.

Only the endless darkness, and the blurry fragments of civilization that occasionally flashed through the dark—

Great Yu taming the floods, passing his home three times without entering.

Confucius traveling the world, singing and playing music even when trapped between Chen and Cai.

Qu Yuan chanting by the marsh, sighing, "The road ahead is long and arduous."

Su Wu herding sheep at the Northern Sea, holding his staff for nineteen years without yielding.

Wen Tianxiang crossing the Lingding Ocean, leaving behind the words, "Since ancient times, who has not died? Let my loyal heart shine in the annals of history."

These fragments flashed through Lin Zhou's consciousness like a revolving lantern, each carrying the warmth of millennia, warming his icy Soul.

"Is this... the memory within the river of civilization?"

Lin Zhou suddenly understood.

The "darkness" he was in right now was not the true Void Realm, but the "source" of the river of civilization—the "starting point" where civilization had not yet been born and everything was still in Chaos.

And the civilization fragments he saw were the "imprints" flowing in the river, forged by countless predecessors with their lives and wisdom.

"So, the river of civilization has always been there."

"It was there before me. It will still be there after me."

"I am just... a drop of water in the river."

This realization caused an unprecedented sense of "insignificance" to surge in Lin Zhou's heart, but following it was an even greater "sense of belonging."

He was not alone.

Behind him was five thousand years of accumulated civilization.

Before him, countless descendants would continue to move forward.

And he was just one link in this endless Legacy.

"Therefore, I cannot die here."

"At least, not now."

Lin Zhou's consciousness suddenly condensed!

He wanted to—wake up!

In the preparation space, Lin Zhou's body in the medical pod trembled violently.

His eyelids twitched rapidly, his fingers curled slightly, and a hoarse sound like sandpaper rubbing together came from his throat: "Water..."

"The captain is awake!" Wang Meng rushed over first.

Qin Qing followed closely, holding a cup of warm, faintly fragrant [Spirit Spring Water]. She carefully brought the water to Lin Zhou's lips. Lin Zhou drank a few mouthfuls greedily, and his pale complexion regained a hint of color.

"How long have I been unconscious?" Lin Zhou's voice was still hoarse.

"Three hours," Qin Qing said. "You were just moved into the medical pod three hours ago, how are you awake already? The medical report said you needed to sleep for at least seven days."

"The Temple of Civilization... helped me accelerate my recovery." Lin Zhou sat up with difficulty, leaning against the head of the medical pod. "There is a 'Fire of Civilization' in the Sanctuary, which can nourish the godhood. Although it cannot completely replace sleep, it can shorten the recovery time."

He closed his eyes and looked inside his godhood.

[Godhood · Status Update]

- Dormant State: Lifted (Accelerated recovery by Temple of Civilization, took 3 hours, equivalent to 24 hours of normal sleep)

- Current Completeness: 43% (Still recovering slowly, expected to fully recover in 5-7 days)

- Divine Power Reserve: 3000 / 200000 (Extremely low, needs faith conversion to replenish)

- civilization furnace Durability: 32% (Stopped dropping, started repairing slowly)

- god-king fragment: 80% completeness, can continue absorbing (Current absorption progress 0.01% / day)

"The recovery speed is faster than expected, but it is far from being able to fight." Lin Zhou frowned. "When is the next round of the match?"

"Drawing lots tonight, match tomorrow," Qin Qing said. "Captain, we... should just forfeit. Your condition, you can't fight at all."

"No," Lin Zhou shook his head. "I said seven days is enough. Tomorrow is only the first day."

"But..." Wang Meng still wanted to say something.

Lin Zhou raised his hand to stop him: "Let's wait for the results of the draw for the next opponent. If the opponent is too strong, we will consider forfeiting. If the opponent is average, I can barely fight."

Everyone was silent.

They all knew what Lin Zhou meant by "barely fight."

His godhood was only 43% complete, his Divine Power was only 3000, the civilization furnace was on the verge of destruction, the god-king fragment could not be ignited again in the short term... In such a state, let alone fighting against a top-20 opponent, he might not even be able to beat an ordinary True God.

But they also knew that once Lin Zhou made a decision, he wouldn't change it.

"Alright," Qin Qing sighed. "Then we'll hurry and help you recover."

She turned to Li Mo: "Li Mo, check if there are any items or potions that can accelerate godhood recovery? Use our honor points to exchange for them."

Li Mo's projection nodded: "Searching... Yes. Epic-grade potion [Godhood Repair Liquid], can accelerate godhood recovery speed by 300%, lasting 24 hours. But it requires 500,000 honor points, we currently only have 350,000."

"Short by 150,000..." Qin Qing gritted her teeth. "I'll make up the rest privately. I have 200,000 honor points, I'll lend them to the team."

"I'll contribute 50,000," Wang Meng said.

"I'll contribute 30,000," Zhao Hao said.

"I'll contribute 20,000," Su Yueyao's moonlight projection also spoke up.

Li Mo calculated: "350,000 + 200,000 + 50,000 + 30,000 + 20,000 = 650,000. Enough."

The [Godhood Repair Liquid] was quickly obtained through the competition System.

It was a silver-white tube emitting a faint fluorescent glow and a fresh fragrance. The surface of the potion flowed with countless fine rule runes, each one twitching slightly, as if alive.

[Godhood Repair Liquid (Epic Grade)]

- Effect: Accelerates godhood recovery by 300%, lasts 24 hours.

- Side effect: Within 24 hours after use, the godhood cannot perform any "overload" operations (i.e., cannot use power that exceeds current completeness).

- Consumption: One-time use.

- Value: 500,000 honor points.

Lin Zhou took the potion and drank it in one gulp.

The moment the potion entered his throat, a cool, mountain spring-like power surged into his godhood. The fine cracks on the surface of the godhood began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye!

[Godhood · Recovery Accelerated]

- Recovery speed: +300%

- Current completeness: 43%... 45%... 47%...

- Estimated time to full recovery: Shortened from 5-7 days to 1.5 - 2 days.

"Much better." Lin Zhou exhaled, his complexion looking much better.

But he knew this was only treating the symptoms, not the root cause. The godhood completeness could be restored, but Divine Power reserves, the civilization furnace, the god-king fragment... these all needed time.

"Are the draw results out?" Lin Zhou asked.

"Not yet," Qin Qing looked at the light screen. "Should be soon."

No sooner had she spoken than golden text slowly appeared on the light screen:

[All-Universe Academy Championship — Phase 3 "The Path of Kings" Knockout Stage]

[Top 20 born! The next round draw results are as follows...]

[Star Sea University Team (Milky Way Galaxy) next opponent —]

The text enlarged, flashing with blinding golden light:

[Void Contractor Academy (Void Galaxy)! Rank: 9th!]

"Void Contractor?" Wang Meng was stunned. "What is the relationship with Abyss Contractor?"

"Same origin, different branches," Qin Qing quickly pulled up the data. "Void Contractors sign contracts with 'Void Existences' in the depths of the abyss, and their power leans towards 'Nothingness,' 'Devouring,' and 'Erasure.' They are more troublesome than Abyss Contractors because Void power has extremely high resistance to rule-based attacks."

[Void Contractor Academy Main Team Core Intelligence]

- Captain: Void Walker · Norn (Godhood Rank LV560, Mid-Tier Divine Power, Mid-Stage)

- Divine Realm: [Void Divine Kingdom] (Has eroded fifteen star realms, Divine Kingdom area about 3000 square kilometers)

- Divine Kingdom Characteristic: [Void Domain] — All "existence" within the Domain is slowly "erased" (movement speed, attack power, defense, and even sense of existence will decrease as time passes).

- Kin Composition: Primarily [Void Ghost] (Rank LV55 - LV65, Characteristic: 50% physical immunity, 30% energy immunity, 70% rule resistance), supplemented by [Void Devourer] (Elite Unit, can devour Divine Power) and [Void Walker] (Hero Unit, can short-range teleport).

- Core Tactics: Use the Void Domain to consume enemies, use the immortality of Void Ghosts to drag enemies down, use Void Devourers to exhaust the enemy's Divine Power, and finally let the enemy "be devoured by the Void."

- Record: Undefeated in group stage, one loss in knockout stage (lost to Eternal Divine Court), but that battle also consumed nearly half of the Eternal Divine Court's Divine Power.

"Void power..." Lin Zhou frowned. "70% rule resistance, this is very disadvantageous for us. Our Hundred Schools of Thought is essentially a type of 'rule.' If the rule resistance is too high, our skill effects will be greatly reduced."

"Not only that," Li Mo added. "The Void Domain will also 'erase' one's sense of existence. The longer we stay in the Domain, the more 'weak' our kin will become—not weak in terms of physical strength, but weak in terms of 'existence.' Eventually, they will be completely devoured by the Void, without even a chance to respawn."

"This is the terrifying thing about Void Contractors," Qin Qing said with a grave expression. "They don't fight you head-on, they slowly 'grind' you to death. The more you resist, the more you consume; if you don't resist, you will be devoured by the Void."

"Therefore, to deal with them, we must win quickly," Lin Zhou said in a deep voice. "The longer it drags on, the more disadvantageous it is for us."

"But your condition..." Qin Qing looked at him worriedly.

"My condition will take another two days to fully recover," Lin Zhou said. "And the match starts tomorrow. That means tomorrow I will only have 43% godhood completeness, 3000 Divine Power, and a civilization furnace on the verge of destruction."

"How can we fight?" Wang Meng said anxiously.

"If we can't fight head-on, we'll attack from the side," a sharp glint flashed in Lin Zhou's eyes. "The weakness of the Void Contractors is—their Void Domain relies on a 'contract.' As long as the contract is broken, the Domain will collapse."

He quickly pulled up the Void Contractor's data and pointed to one line: "Look here: The core of the Void Contractor's contract is the captain Norn's 'Void Mark.' The mark is in his godhood. As long as we can attack his godhood, we can break the contract."

"But how to attack? His godhood is in the core of the Divine Kingdom, protected by the Void Domain," Zhao Hao asked.

"Use [Scroll of Civilization]," Lin Zhou said. "[Scroll of Civilization] can Seal space, and it can also 'fold' space. I can extend the [Scroll of Civilization] to the core of his Divine Kingdom, bypass the protection of the Void Domain, and attack his godhood directly."

"But this requires a large amount of Divine Power," Li Mo reminded. "You only have 3000 Divine Power, not even enough to unfold the scroll."

"Therefore, I need your help," Lin Zhou looked at everyone. "In tomorrow's match, you are responsible for containing the Void Ghosts and Void Devourers, and buying me time. I only need... three minutes."

"Three minutes, is that enough?" Qin Qing asked.

"Enough," Lin Zhou nodded. "As long as I can unfold the scroll, it will only take three seconds to lock onto his godhood."

Everyone looked at each other and finally nodded.

"Alright, that's settled," Qin Qing said. "Tonight, we will prepare overnight."

"No," Lin Zhou shook his head. "Tonight, you rest. I need to be alone for a while."

"But..."

"Trust me," Lin Zhou smiled. "I won't joke with my own life."

Everyone was silent for a moment, then left one by one, returning to their own rest areas.

In the medical pod, only Lin Zhou was left.

He leaned against the head of the bed and closed his eyes.

His consciousness sank into the Temple of Civilization again.

In the Sanctuary, the river of civilization was still flowing, just much dimmer than usual. The water level of the river had dropped significantly; that was the civilization foundation consumed in the previous battle.

However, the source of the river—that eternally burning Fire of Civilization—was still blazing.

"Fire of Civilization..." Lin Zhou murmured. "How much longer can you burn?"

The flame did not answer, just burning quietly.

Lin Zhou reached out and touched the flame virtually.

Warmth came from his fingertips.

That was the temperature of five thousand years, the body temperature of countless predecessors, the lingering warmth of the civilization Legacy.

"Enough," Lin Zhou smiled. "With this fire, I will not lose."

He withdrew his hand and opened his eyes.

His gaze was as firm as iron.

On the light screen, the words "Void Contractor Academy" were still flashing with cold light.

But in Lin Zhou's eyes, there was no fear, only Battle Intent.

Tomorrow, he would face the 9th-ranked powerful enemy with a broken body.

Not for anything else, just to prove—Way of Civilization cannot be stopped.