133: Chapter 133 Reinforcements Arrive Out of the Sky, Su Qingyue Erupts

The myriad things mother qi cauldron embryo slowly emerged from Lin Ye's glabella.

That fist-sized, ash-colored, and unremarkable little cauldron now seemed to carry the weight of ten thousand tons. The fine cracks on its surface, left by the Four Extremities Heavenly Tribulation, emitted a faint and ancient ghostly light under the infusion of Chaos Power, like a slumbering giant beast opening its eyes slightly.

Lin Ye's face paled at a visible speed. His Divine Power had long been exhausted; activating the cauldron embryo now burned the Origin essence blood of his Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body. Every drop of essence blood lost was like carving a piece of flesh from his Foundation, a heavy cost beyond measure.

But he had no other choice.

Ahead, thirty Blood God Guardss had already formed a Death Battle Array, advancing silently, each step producing a dull, thunderous resonance. Behind him, a hundred Archaic Race pursuers were quickly closing in; the Blood Race leader at the front could even see the hideous smile on his face. High in the sky, the Blood Prince's blood light was like a sword hanging over their heads, coldly watching this hunt that was about to close its net.

"Mother Qi Body Protection..."

Lin Ye's voice was hoarse, yet it carried a will that brooked no disobedience. He bit the tip of his tongue and sprayed a mouthful of essence blood onto the myriad things mother qi cauldron embryo.

Hum—

The little cauldron suddenly jolted.

An extremely faint, subtle, gray airflow, as if flowing from the beginning of creation, slowly overflowed from the mouth of the cauldron. That airflow was only as thick as a strand of hair, flickering as if it could be blown away by the night wind at any moment. But the moment it appeared, the nearest Blood God Guardss actually stopped their footsteps in unison.

That was the myriad mother qi.

Before the heavens and earth opened and Chaos was divided, it was the Origin qi that nurtured all things. Although the strand Lin Ye forcibly stimulated by burning his essence blood was not even one-billionth as pure as the true myriad mother qi, that Origin pressure that transcended all grades still made these mindless Blood God Guardss instinctively feel fear.

"Still not enough..." Lin Ye gritted his teeth and sprayed another mouthful of essence blood, his face completely devoid of color.

The myriad things mother qi cauldron embryo trembled again, and that gray airflow grew a bit stronger, slowly wrapping around Lin Ye's arm to form a protective layer as thin as a cicada's wing but exceptionally solid. At the same time, the cauldron body let out a mournful cry—those cracks deepened by another degree.

[myriad things mother qi cauldron embryo (Damaged)]

[Current Status: Durability 31% (Severely Damaged)]

[Warning: Continuous overloading of Origin power may lead to permanent destruction of the cauldron embryo.]

Lin Ye ignored the System's warning.

Just as he was prepared to burn more essence blood to try and stimulate more mother qi for a wide-range impact—

A sudden change occurred!

In the night sky to the southwest, on the horizon that was tightly blockaded by the Primordial Royal Court's second echelon, a piercing crimson light suddenly lit up!

That crimson was not the dark red of Blood Race energy, nor the orange-red of fire Spells, but a blazing, pure flame-red, like erupting lava!

Immediately after, a dense, scalp-numbing whistling sound, like tens of thousands of locusts vibrating their wings simultaneously, tore through the silence of the Blackstone Wasteland!

"Vermilion Bird Hall · Flame Feather Arrow Array—Fire!!!"

Chen Hao's hoarse and determined roar penetrated dozens of miles of night sky, exploding with a bang!

The next instant—

A thousand arrows fired at once!

At least three hundred special arrows, entirely crimson and engraved with fire feather patterns, were like a reverse rain of meteors. They pierced the long sky with a momentum that blotted out the sun and slammed into the center of the Primordial Royal Court's second echelon interception formation!

[Flame Feather Arrow]

[Type: Consumable Ammunition]

[Quality: Epic]

[Description: A standard-issue arrow specially supplied by the Heavenly Court's Vermilion Bird Hall. It features an arrowhead forged from Iron-Spine Fire Copper, a shaft made from century-old parasol wood, and fletching from Fire Crow feathers, enchanted with flame runes by a master craftsman.]

[Effects:]

[1. Base Damage: 800-1200 Fire damage (depending on the user's attack power bonus)]

[2. Explosion: Upon hitting a target or landing, it produces a small explosion with a 3-meter radius, dealing 300 area Fire damage.]

[3. Burn: Targets directly hit are afflicted with 100 Fire damage per second for 5 seconds.]

[4. Armor Piercing: Damage to heavy-armored units is increased by 20%.]

[Production Cost: Each arrow requires 30 Spirit Stones, 0.5 jin of Iron-Spine Fire Copper, and 1 parasol wood log.]

[Note: This arrow is expensive to produce. The entire Vermilion Bird Hall has a reserve of only 1,200 arrows; 300 were used in this battle.]

"Boom boom boom boom boom—!!!"

Continuous explosions rolled across the wasteland like thunder! A massive gap was instantly torn in the center of the Primordial Royal Court's second echelon formation! At least twenty Archaic Race players were shot dead or blown away in the first wave of arrows, and even more players were caught in the flames, their bodies catching fire as they scattered in screams!

But this was only the beginning.

"First round, fire! Second round, prepare—fire!"

Chen Hao's voice rang out again, even colder and more decisive. He was the Heavenly Court's number one Mecha Master, but he was currently taking temporary command of the Vermilion Bird Hall's long-range fire. Because he knew that Lin Ye, Su Qingyue, and Shi Potian were besieged deep in the Blackstone Wasteland, struggling on the line between life and death every second!

The second batch of three hundred Flame Feather Arrows soared into the sky again, accurately targeting those Archaic Race players trying to regroup. The dense explosions tore the barely gathered formation apart once more, and the flames blocked the pursuit route!

"Vermilion Bird Hall! Charge formation! At all costs, retrieve the Heavenly Emperor!" Chen Hao leapt out from behind cover, the [Starlight Battle Armor Type III] he wore flashing with silver-blue light in the night sky. Behind him were two hundred elites of the Vermilion Bird Hall, everyone's bowstrings drawn taut, arrow tips gleaming with different colors—fire, ice, lightning, armor-piercing...

This wasn't a conventional long-range attrition battle; this was a desperate assault that exhausted all of the Vermilion Bird Hall's resources!

High in the sky, the Blood Prince's expression finally changed.

The second echelon he had deployed, though numerous, mostly consisted of level 45-48 conventional forces. He hadn't expected the Heavenly Court to be so insane—knowing the disparity in strength, they actually dared to come out in full force and use long-range fire to forcibly tear through the defense!

"Stop them!" the Blood Prince shouted.

But it was too late.

Led by Chen Hao, the two hundred archers of the Vermilion Bird Hall were like an unstoppable iron torrent, charging frantically along the flame-filled path opened by the Flame Feather Arrows!

At the same time—

In the center of the Blackstone Wasteland battlefield, Su Qingyue looked at Lin Ye's face, which was so pale it was almost transparent, at the little cauldron in his glabella's divine treasury that was covered in new cracks and teetering on the brink of collapse, and at the gold-flecked Chaos Heavenly Emperor blood constantly overflowing from the corner of his mouth...

Her ice-blue eyes suddenly became completely calm.

It was the kind of silence that precedes a storm, where all things are still.

"Lin Ye." Her voice was very soft, so soft that only the two of them could hear it. "That's enough."

She reached out her left hand, her cold fingertips lightly pressing on Lin Ye's wrist as he tightly gripped the cauldron embryo. What those fingertips transmitted was a Vast Cold Spiritual Power that was purer and colder than ever before.

"You've already done enough."

Su Qingyue let go and slowly stood up.

Her moon-white robe, which already had frost patterns, actually began to condense fine ice crystals on its own. Those ice crystals did not condense from the outside; they grew naturally from within her body, from every inch of her skin, and from every strand of her hair.

Her ice-blue long hair moved without wind, fluttering in the air, each strand entwined with visible extreme cold spiritual power. Her pupils were no longer a clear ice-blue but gradually became deep, like the reflection of the ancient and cold lunar surface.

Vast Cold Spirit Body.

This was the first time since she had unexpectedly awakened this top-tier Physique during the first clear of the Bronze Ancient Palace that she was truly... fully liberating it.

Because of emotion, because of worry, because of anger, and because of that back that didn't hesitate to burn its Origin to protect everyone.

And also because she finally understood one thing.

"I cultivate the Vast Cold Dao not to become a piece of glass protected behind someone's back."

"My ice can freeze all things, and it can also... cut down all enemies blocking your path."

Su Qingyue closed her eyes and then opened them.

That one glance seemed to have moonlight falling from the Nine Heavens.

[System Notification: Your teammate "Su Qingyue" has broken through the deep-level Seal of the Vast Cold Spirit Body during extreme emotional resonance.]

[Rank Increase: Level 48 → Level 49 (Four Extremities Second Layer)]

[All attributes significantly increased: Health +35%, Divine Power +50%, Dao Art Bonus +40%, Ice Spell Damage +60%]

[Learned New Talent Skill: Vast Cold Descent (Unique)]

[Vast Cold Descent]

[Type: Active Skill/Domain Skill/Unique]

[Level: LV1 (Growable)]

[Cost: 50% of maximum Divine Power to activate, followed by 200 Divine Power per second to maintain.]

[Cooldown: 12 hours (Natural cooldown) or 72 hours (After forced cancellation)]

[Description: One of the ultimate talents of the Vast Cold Spirit Body. It draws upon the projection of the Taiyin Star's Origin power to create an absolute ice Domain.]

[Effects:]

[1. Vast Cold Domain: Within a 100-meter radius centered on the caster, the area turns into the "Vast Cold Heavenly Domain". Within the Domain, friendly units gain +80% Ice Resistance and +50% Ice Damage; enemy units suffer -50% Movement Speed, -40% Attack Speed, and -50% Fire Resistance.]

[2. Moonlight Baptism: Every 3 seconds within the Domain, all friendly units recover 5% of their lost Health and have one negative status effect dispelled.]

[3. Taiyin Swords: The caster can condense up to nine "Moon Soul Ice Swords". Each ice sword possesses 60% of the caster's attack power and can be independently controlled to attack enemies, lasting for 30 seconds.]

[4. Vast Cold Projection (Ultimate Effect): During the Domain's duration, the caster can guide a 3-second ultra-wide-range freeze, freezing all enemies within the Domain whose level is no more than 5 levels higher than their own for 5 seconds. This effect can only be triggered once per battle.]

When Su Qingyue opened her eyes, her pupils had completely turned silver-white, devoid of emotion and temperature, containing only a coldness and majesty like that of an ancient moon goddess.

She took a step forward.

The moment she took that step, a visible ring of ice, formed purely from condensed extreme cold spiritual power, exploded outward from her!

Wherever the ice ring passed, the earth froze, the air solidified, and even the dust floating in the night sky was frozen into tiny ice crystals that rustled as they fell.

Those thirty Blood God Guardss who were just steadily advancing bore the brunt of it. Thick layers of ice quickly condensed on their bodies. Although they were still struggling forward, their speed had slowed to the point of moving through a swamp.

"Moon Soul · Condense!"

Su Qingyue made a grasping motion with her right hand.

In the air of her palm, a crystal-clear ice sword with faint moonlight flowing on its blade suddenly condensed. It was not her usual epic-grade sword, but a Taiyin Sword constructed purely from Law and spiritual power, not existing in any equipment blueprint.

[Moon Soul Ice Sword (Vast Cold Descent Exclusive)]

[Type: Summoned Weapon/Law Creation]

[Quality: Grows with skill level (Currently LV1, quality equivalent to Legendary)]

[Attack Power: +6500-7800 (Ice Damage)]

[Special Effect 1: Moonlight Slash—Each attack has a 30% chance to trigger an additional ice-attribute slash dealing 150% damage.]

[Special Effect 2: Frost Mark—Hits stack "Frost" on the target, with each stack reducing movement speed by 5%, up to 10 stacks.]

[Special Effect 3: Law-Breaking Cold—Deals 300% damage to energy shields and Spell shield defenses.]

[Duration: 30 seconds]

The moment Su Qingyue gripped the sword, she seemed to merge into one with the sword, the overwhelming extreme cold Domain, and the cold moon hidden behind the clouds high in the Nine Heavens.

She swung the sword.

Not at the Blood God Guardss, not at the pursuers, but—at the ground!

"Rumble—!!!"

The moment the Moon Soul Ice Sword pierced the frozen earth of the wasteland, the violent ice spiritual power was like a volcano that had found an outlet, frantically pouring into the ground! Immediately, with the sword tip as the center, the earth cracked, and countless ice pillars as thick as buckets burst out, like blooming ice lotuses, like an inverted forest of swords, spreading frantically in all directions!

Ten meters, twenty meters, fifty meters, eighty meters...

In just three seconds, the 100-meter radius "Vast Cold Domain" had turned into a deadly wasteland of ice pillars and frozen earth!

Seventeen of the thirty Blood God Guardss were pierced from below by ice pillars, turning into shattered ice sculptures on the spot; the remaining thirteen were all frozen in place, the ice on their bodies half a meter thick, making it impossible for them to break free in a short time!

The Archaic Race players who had just closed in were even more thrown into Chaos by this sudden ice pillar storm. Those with slightly lower levels were directly pierced by the ice pillars and turned into white light; those with higher levels barely avoided them but were also suppressed by the extreme cold Domain, finding it difficult to move as their movement speed plummeted!

"W-what the hell is this?!" A level 52 Blood Race leader looked in horror at his legs, which were covered in thick frost. He desperately circulated his blood energy to dispel the cold, only to find that the flow of blood energy was nearly half as slow as usual!

"It's that ice-attribute female mage from the Heavenly Court! She broke through!" someone screamed.

The entire pursuit formation completely fell into Chaos at this moment.

High in the sky, the Blood Prince's face could no longer be described as merely gloomy.

He stared fixedly at Su Qingyue, at the woman in the center of the Vast Cold Domain surrounded by moonlight and ice crystals, and for the first time, genuine wariness appeared in his eyes.

"Vast Cold Spirit Body... a top-tier Physique ranked in the top thirty of the Primordial Myriad Races Ranking..." he murmured, a hint of uncontrollable greed in his voice. "To think that a Physique of this level would appear in a Human Race woman."

"If I could refine this woman into a blood slave and extract her Spirit Body's Origin..."

But he quickly suppressed this crazy thought.

Because now was not the time to consider that.

Although the Vast Cold Descent was strong, Su Qingyue's level was only 49 after all. Forcibly activating a Domain skill of this level was extremely taxing. Her Divine Power was falling frantically at a rate of two hundred points per second; she could only last another minute at most.

And the Blood Prince still had trump cards he hadn't played.

"Everyone, retreat fifty meters! Use long-range attacks to wear down her Domain!" the Blood Prince ordered coldly. "She can't last long!"

The Archaic Race players were as if granted a great reprieve and quickly retreated. They had been terrified by Su Qingyue's sudden outburst; no one was willing to venture into that deadly ice pillar wasteland again.

However, just as the Archaic Race players retreated and the encirclement loosened—

Another roar, like that of a prehistoric Vicious Beast, exploded from beside Lin Ye's feet!

"Tyrant! Body! Activate—!!!"

Shi Potian had woken up.

It wasn't a normal Awakening; it was a near-insane, forced Awakening at the cost of burning his remaining Hegemon Blood!

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

He was covered in blood. The golden Hegemon Blood patterns under his skin, which had dimmed to the point of almost disappearing, now erupted with blinding, almost twisted, golden-red light, as if they were lava scorched by flames!

His eyes were bloodshot, the veins on his forehead bulged, and he looked like an enraged lion backed into a corner, beginning to frantically tear at its prey!

"Dare to hurt my Boss... dare to surround my Heavenly Court brothers..." Shi Potian's voice was impossibly hoarse, but every word sounded like a war hammer striking a steel plate—heavy, violent, and unyielding. "I'll crush you all!!!"

He lunged forward, plunging his hands deep into the frozen ground!

[Hegemon Blood Burning · World-Shattering Impact]

[Type: Physique Secret Forbidden Technique]

[Cost: 70% of current HP (Forced trigger, ignores current health)]

[Effect: At the cost of burning Hegemon Blood, enter the "Physique · Berserk" state for 10 seconds]

[1. Physique · Berserk: Immune to all crowd control effects, defense increased by 200%, attack power increased by 150%, movement speed increased by 100%]

[2. World-Shattering Strike: The next impact-type attack has its power increased by 500% and inflicts an "Armor Break" effect on all enemies in its path (Defense reduced by 50%, lasts 15 seconds)]

[3. Aftereffect: After the forbidden technique ends, enter the "Hegemon Blood Depletion" state, all attributes reduced by 80% for 24 hours (Healing effects halved)]

[Warning: This forbidden technique will severely damage the Foundation; frequent use may lead to Physique degradation!]

"Aaaaaah—!!!" Shi Potian let out a roar that did not sound human. His mountain-like, burly frame shot forward like a golden-red meteor leaving the barrel, carrying an earth-shattering Aura as he crashed straight into the wall of the remaining Blood God Guards formation that had yet to be fully shattered!

The speed was too fast! The Aura was too fierce! The remaining Blood God Guardss, most of whom had been pierced through by ice shards, didn't even have time to make any evasive maneuvers—

"Boom—!!!" The ground shook and the mountains swayed!

The thirteen Blood God Guardss blocking the path of impact were sent flying backward together like clay figurines struck by a hammer! The moment their blood-colored heavy armor made contact with Shi Potian's body, visible dents and cracks appeared, and the crisp sound of bones breaking was as dense as firecrackers!

But Shi Potian's charge did not stop! Using these thirteen Blood God Guardss as stepping stones, his momentum remained undiminished. Like a red-hot battering ram, he slammed fiercely into the formation of Archaic Race players who were retreating and regrouping further back!

"Crack! Crack! Crack!" These were the sounds of shields shattering, bones snapping, and chest armor caving in—dense and chilling.

Shi Potian was like a Tyrannosaurus Rex charging into a flock of sheep. Wherever he passed, people and horses were overturned, severed limbs and broken equipment flew everywhere, and screams and roars intertwined! No one could stop this Berserker's desperate charge, and no one dared to stand directly in his path!

"Get lost! Get the hell out of my way!!!" Shi Potian's eyes were blood-red, he was covered in blood, yet he grew wilder the more he fought. The battle saber in his hand, which had long since had its edge dulled, had flown off somewhere, so he simply threw away the hilt and fought empty-handed—no, with "shattering" fists! Every punch he threw caused an Archaic Race player's sternum to collapse and blood to spray from their mouth; every sweep of his elbow sent several people flying backward like kites with broken strings!

Thirty meters, fifty meters, eighty meters... With his flesh and blood, he had forcefully chiseled a five-meter-wide gap—filled with fallen and wailing enemies—through the iron-clad wall of the hundred-man encirclement!

"Boss... hurry... leave..." Shi Potian's consciousness was beginning to blur, but his body continued to charge forward by inertia, using his last bit of strength to maintain this gap that he had traded his life to create.

Lin Ye watched him, watching that blood-soaked back that still stood tall, watching those eyes that were beginning to lose focus but were still staring fixedly ahead. He took a deep breath. The myriad things mother qi cauldron embryo slowly sank into his brow, and that precious wisp of mother qi wrapped around his body, stabilizing his Aura slightly. Although his Divine Power was still exhausted and his body was still extremely weak, at least he could move.

"Let's go." Lin Ye did not say any superfluous words. With one hand, he supported Su Qingyue, who was exhausted and barely able to stand (her Vast Cold Descent had just reached its limit at this moment, the Domain dissipated, and the ice shards shattered), and with his other hand, he grabbed at the Void Realm. Chaos Power barely condensed into a thread, wrapping around the waist of the tottering Shi Potian. Then—Void Step!

Lin Ye's figure suddenly blurred, turning into an almost untraceable afterimage, flickering continuously through the gap that Shi Potian had opened with his life! The first flash bypassed five Blood Clan assassins who tried to intercept him; their daggers pierced the afterimage, missing. The second flash skimmed past the edge of a stone war hammer that swept across; the wind from the hammer scraped Lin Ye's cheek, causing a sharp pain, but he did not stop. Third flash, fourth flash, fifth flash... Each flicker precisely landed at the moment when the encirclement was weakest and the enemies' attention was most scattered. Each landing point narrowly avoided attacks coming from all directions.

The Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body's affinity for space, combined with the high Rank of Void Step itself, was pushed to a level beyond its limits under the last shred of willpower Lin Ye was forcing himself to maintain.

[Void Step]

[Current consecutive flashes: 7 times (Exceeds normal consecutive usage limit by 3)]

[Status: Overloaded, slight tearing in leg Meridians, movement speed will decrease by 60% after exiting combat, lasts 30 minutes]

Thirty meters, fifty meters, one hundred meters... The outer defensive line of the encirclement—that originally impregnable net of death formed by over a hundred Archaic Race players—was finally torn open, creating a real breach, thanks to the near-mad relay outburst of Su Qingyue, Shi Potian, and Lin Ye!

"Quick! The Heavenly Emperor has broken through! Provide cover!" Chen Hao's roar was already close at hand. The remaining archers of Vermilion Bird Hall shouted in unison, and the final batch of Flame Feather Arrows poured down like a rainstorm, suppressing the Archaic Race players who tried to pursue them, pinning them down in explosions and flames!

Lin Ye saw the reinforcements. He saw Chen Hao's anxious yet ecstatic face, saw the Vermilion Bird Hall brothers holding their bows and shields high, and saw the [chaos unit no. 1] mecha that had been urgently driven out, its body flickering with the lights of startup. Supporting the heavily injured and unconscious Su Qingyue, and dragging the completely unconscious Shi Potian, he stumbled into the cover of Vermilion Bird Hall's firepower.

"Retreat! Everyone retreat!" Chen Hao commanded at the top of his lungs. "Mecha, cover the rear! Archers, provide alternating cover! Move!"

The silver-blue steel giant body of chaos unit no. 1 stood between the pursuers and the retreating team. The energy core in its chest emitted a low hum, and the dual-linked particle cannons on its shoulders began to charge, emitting a dangerous blue light.

The Archaic Royal Court players hesitated. They had seen intelligence on this mecha; it was the first Four Extremities-Rank mecha produced independently by Heavenly Court with technical support from the Eternal Star Domain. Although the pilot's experience was still shallow, the sense of oppression emitted by that steel behemoth, along with the terrifying rain of arrows that had nearly crippled their second wave just moments ago, made them afraid to pursue easily.

Blood Prince hovered high in the sky, watching the remnants of Heavenly Court retreat into the depths of the night, battered yet determined, watching that steel behemoth blocking the pursuit route, and watching his own side's forces, which had suffered heavy losses and were low in morale. He did not order a pursuit. It was not that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't.

More than half of the thirty Blood God Guardss were lost, the second wave had suffered over forty casualties, and nearly twenty from the first wave had lost their combat effectiveness due to Su Qingyue's freezing and Shi Potian's charge. In this battle, although the Archaic Royal Court had superior numbers, they had been forced into a casualty ratio of nearly one to two by just three people and a round of reinforcements from the other side.

Furthermore... he looked at his own hands. Just now, in order to maintain surveillance on the Purple Mountain altar and divide his attention to command the three-way encirclement, his own consumption had been significant. Moreover, he vaguely sensed that the Human Race member named Lin Ye still had trump cards he hadn't revealed—that small cauldron, covered in cracks yet possessing a terrifying Aura, and that wisp of gray, eerie airflow... Rashly pursuing into the firepower range of the enemy's mecha and archers carried too much risk.

"...Retreat." Blood Prince squeezed this word through his teeth. His cold gaze pierced the night, locking onto the back that was being supported and stumbling into the distance behind the desolate hills. "Lin Ye... Night Emperor..." He chewed on the name in a low voice, as if savoring a cup of poisonous wine mixed with humiliation and bitterness. "This time, you're lucky." "But next time, you won't have such luck." "And that woman with the Vast Cold Spirit Body..." A flash of extremely complex light crossed Blood Prince's eyes; it was not pure killing intent, nor was it entirely greed, but a more secretive, more stubborn—possessiveness. "You will be mine eventually."

He turned, and a bloody light cut through the night sky, disappearing in the direction of Purple Mountain. The Archaic Royal Court players, as if granted amnesty, carried the equipment dropped by the fallen and their heavily injured companions, retreating like a receding tide. The Black Stone Wasteland returned to silence. Only the devastated earth, the not-yet-fully-melted ice shards, and the sporadic flames still burning remained, silently telling the story of the bloody breakout battle that had lasted less than a quarter of an hour but had been extremely brutal.

Two hours later. On the border of Yan State, at the edge of the Heavenly Court controlled area, there was a temporarily constructed hidden camp. Inside the tent, players of healing classes were busy running off their feet. Shi Potian lay on a makeshift cot, his body wrapped in bandages soaked with healing potions; his breath was still weak, but it had stabilized at least. On his System panel, his HP had recovered from 7% when he exited combat to 34% under continuous treatment; although it was still dangerous, he had at least escaped the near-death state.

[Status: Hegemon Blood Depletion]

[All Attributes: -80%]

[Estimated recovery time: 22 hours 47 minutes]

Su Qingyue's situation was much better. Her injuries were mainly due to the overdraft of Divine Power and excessive mental exhaustion. After taking three bottles of Advanced spirit recovery pill and resting quietly for an hour, some color had returned to her face. She was currently leaning against a soft couch in the corner of the tent, her ice-blue eyes half-closed, silently operating her Cultivation Technique to recover her spiritual power. Her level had stabilized at level 49 (78%), just one step away from the Peak of Four Extremities at level 50. On her System panel, the icon for the newly awakened [Vast Cold Descent] skill was emitting a faint lunar luster, announcing its existence.

Lin Ye stood at the entrance of the tent, his back to everyone, looking at the night sky. His state was equally bad. Although his Divine Power had recovered to about 12,000 points (one-quarter of his normal state) relying on Medicinal Pill, the aftereffects of continuously burning his vital blood—damage to Meridians, depletion of Origin—could not be quickly compensated for by Medicinal Pill. The durability of the myriad things mother qi cauldron embryo remained at 31%, and the newly added cracks were clearly visible, extremely jarring. Yet his spine remained straight.

"Casualty report." Lin Ye did not turn around, his voice calm. Chen Hao swallowed, reporting truthfully: "Vermilion Bird Hall deployed two hundred and seventeen people in this battle; thirty-nine died (in-game death), seventeen were heavily injured, and fifty-three were lightly injured. The fallen brothers have already respawned at the Heavenly Court headquarters and are receiving treatment for the aftereffects (the weakness period after in-game death)."

"Material consumption: 642 Flame Feather Arrows fired, accounting for 53% of the hall's total reserves; 47 bottles of Advanced healing pills consumed, 32 bottles of spirit recovery pill consumed; chaos unit no. 1 mecha energy core depleted by 35%, requires recharging and maintenance; various Talisman and Formation Plate consumption..." He reported a long, shocking list of data. The summary was one sentence: To rescue the three of them, Vermilion Bird Hall had exhausted nearly 80% of its Foundation.

"Distribute compensation for all fallen brothers at three times the standard rate." Lin Ye finally turned around; his face was still pale, but his eyes were calm and firm. "Replenish the consumed equipment and supplies from the faction warehouse with priority. Tell the brothers that I, Lin Ye, have noted their kindness tonight."

Chen Hao nodded vigorously, his eyes slightly red, but he didn't say much more, turning to arrange the follow-up matters. Inside the tent, only Lin Ye, Su Qingyue, and the unconscious Shi Potian remained.

Su Qingyue opened her eyes, looking at Lin Ye's pale profile, and said softly, "You don't need to shoulder all the responsibility yourself. Tonight's choice was Potian's and my own decision."

Lin Ye was silent for a moment, walked to Su Qingyue's side, and sat down slowly. "I know," he said. "But I will still remember." He paused, turned to look at Su Qingyue, and in those eyes that were always deep and calm, for the first time, a trace of extremely faint, extremely complex emotion was revealed.

"Thank you." "And thank you, Potian." "And all the brothers of Vermilion Bird Hall."

Su Qingyue shook her head gently, not responding to the thanks. She steered the topic in a more realistic direction: "What's next? The third star token is in the Eternal Star Domain; in our current state, we cannot organize an expedition in the short term. Although the Archaic Royal Court has retreated, Blood Prince will not let this rest, and the next retaliation will only be more violent."

Lin Ye was silent for a few seconds, then took out the special Storage Ring from his bosom. Two star tokens lay quietly in the ring's space, their starlight dim, far less brilliant than when they were first obtained. The previous outburst had consumed the power they had accumulated and they needed time to recover. But that resonance still existed, the illusory star map pointing to the Eternal Star Domain was still clear, and those incomplete ancient characters, suspected to be "Star Grave," also still floated quietly beside the third light spot.

"One month," Lin Ye said. "Give us one month to rest, recover, and improve." "Then, I will take you to the Eternal Star Domain." "To get the third star token, to open the Ancient Star Road." "And to meet this game's most Advanced technological civilization." His voice was soft, but every word sounded like it was striking a steel plate.

Su Qingyue looked at him, not asking "What if we fail," not asking "What if Blood Prince attacks within this month," not asking any superfluous questions. She just nodded gently. "Okay."

Outside the tent, the night wind grew cooler, and the galaxy revolved. In the distance, the outline of Chaos Valley was looming in the faint morning light. The bloody battle of this night had finally passed. But everyone knew that this was just a moment of tranquility before the storm arrived. A greater storm was slowly brewing in the auction venues of distant Star Domains, at the blood-colored altars of the Archaic Royal Court, and in the depths of those ancient ruins that had yet to be opened.