141: Chapter 141 The Ancestor's Approval, Orders to Return to Master

But when that fist descended, Shi Potian saw the sky.

It was the shadow left behind after a fist blotted out all light—a shadow deeper than darkness.

It was not death.

It was something older, purer, and more absolute than death—Force.

Pure force.

No Laws, no attributes, no will, not even the intent to 'attack'. It was simply power itself.

Shi Potian did not dodge.

His legs could no longer support any form of movement—his right leg had been carbonized in the fourth trial, reattached in the sixth, and repeatedly scoured by the memories of the thirty-seven generations of Hegemons during the eighth trial; at this moment, every muscle fiber was emitting a whine on the verge of snapping.

He did not block.

In the seventh trial, his arms had traded seven hundred and thirty-one blows with a mirror image; both sides of his ulnar olecranon were shattered, his deltoids were completely torn, and his supraspinatus tendons had yet to heal after snapping, making even lifting them to his chest an impossible luxury.

He did not retreat.

Behind him stood the stone gate of the eighth trial zone. Behind that door were the twenty-seven fist imprints, a solidified lava river, a displaced mountain, and a field of star debris he had torn apart with his own hands—all bought with eight trials, forty-seven Hegemon Blood Essences, and seven near-death experiences.

That was his road home.

He had no way back.

So, he simply stood there.

He stood directly beneath that transparent fist, which had spanned the ages and poured down from the fist of the progenitor of the Hegemon Body lineage.

Then, he did three things.

First, he pressed the two [Hegemon Blood Essence - Ancestral Star Special] obtained from the eighth trial rewards directly into the center of his chest.

Second, he ignited everything: his remaining 17.4% Hegemon Blood concentration, his 1% health, and the last lingering trace of Chaos Divine Power that had traveled across the star sea from Chaos Valley.

Third, he raised his head.

With eyes that had suffered retinal detachment in the fifth trial, had their orbital bones shattered by a mirror image in the seventh trial, and had been left with almost permanent damage from the memory impact of thirty-seven generations of Hegemons in the eighth trial—he stared directly at that transparent, descending fist shadow.

'Come.'

BOOM—!!!

That was not a sound.

It was the gravitational field of the entire eighth trial zone, which, in the instant that fist descended, surged from 300 times to—immeasurable.

The crust of the Ancestral Star beneath Shi Potian's feet exploded outward from him as the center, creating spiderweb cracks thirty-seven meters in diameter and nine meters deep.

His knees did not buckle.

It wasn't because he didn't want them to; it was because, within 0.01 seconds of enduring the impact of that fist, his knee joints had completed the entire process of 'bone shattering, ligament rupture, meniscus pulverization, and complete destruction of the joint capsule'.

Then, that force penetrated his knees and entered his femurs.

The femur—the strongest bone in the human body, capable of withstanding about 4,000 Newtons of pressure—shattered into forty-seven pieces from the intertrochanteric to the supracondylar region within 0.03 seconds.

The force continued upward.

The pelvis.

The sacroiliac joint is the most stable joint in the human body, requiring more than 2,000 Newtons of force to separate. At this moment, it was torn apart from the inside.

The spine.

Thoracic 11, Thoracic 12, Lumbar 1—compressive fractures of these three vertebrae occurred in the same instant, each reducing in height by 47%.

The internal organs.

The liver was torn by a 7-centimeter laceration.

There was a subcapsular hematoma of the spleen, with its volume increasing by 40%.

The middle lobe of his right lung was pierced by a broken rib, causing a pneumothorax.

The heart.

That heart, which had been gently supported by Chaos Divine Power during the eighth trial and was currently beating frantically at a frequency of 178 times per minute—was struck head-on by this force.

Thump.

That was not a heartbeat.

It was the heaviest drumbeat Shi Potian had ever heard in his life.

[System Prompt: You have been hit by a direct attack from 'Hegemon Body Old Ancestor - Primordial Phantom']

[Damage Type: Pure Force (Ignores Defense/Ignores Resistance/Ignores Damage Reduction)]

[Theoretical Damage: ∞ (One-Hit Kill)]

[Actual Damage Sustained: ???]

[Your Current Health: 1% → 0%]

[Forced Judgment in Progress...]

[Judgment Condition: Did the Trial Taker use 'Dodge/Block/Retreat' to avoid this attack]

[Detection Result: No Dodge/No Block/No Retreat]

[Judgment Passed: You possess the qualification to 'Face the Progenitor's Fist']

[Your Current Health: 0% → 1%]

[Forced retention of 1 Health point to complete the final judgment of the ninth trial]

Shi Potian was still standing.

His knees could no longer bear weight, his pelvis was shattered, his spine had three compressive fractures, his internal organs were extensively damaged, and his heart had stopped and restarted three times within 0.1 seconds.

Yet, he was still standing.

Using hands that had completely lost their grip strength but still maintained the form of a 'fist'—he braced himself against the air.

Then, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

That blood was not red.

It was dark gold.

It was the 64.7% purity Hegemon Blood, the most essential part that had been forcibly 'squeezed' out of his circulatory System when his heart stopped and restarted for the last time.

That mouthful of blood landed on the ground, and under the 300 times gravity of the Ancestral Star, it acted like a miniature meteorite, smashing a fist-sized crater into the ground.

At the bottom of the crater, that pool of dark golden liquid slowly seeped into the crust of the Ancestral Star, merging into one with the countless fist imprints, footprints, and bloodstains left behind by the thirty-seven generations of Hegemons of this ancient star.

The phantom paused.

Its fist, still raised in mid-air and not yet fully retracted, showed a pause for the first time.

It was not a procedural pause waiting for judgment.

It was a kind of doubt—something deeper, as if a consciousness that had slept for eons had been awakened by an extremely faint fluctuation.

The phantom slowly lowered its head.

It had no eyes, no face, only a blurry humanoid outline. But at this moment, its 'gaze'—if it could be called a gaze—was falling upon the pool of dark golden blood at Shi Potian's feet that was seeping into the crust.

Then, it looked at Shi Potian again.

It looked at his broken body, his shattered bones, his stopped heart, and those hands that had not let go even in death, had not drooped even in death, and had maintained the form of a 'fist' even in death.

The phantom was silent for a long time.

So long that Shi Potian thought it would not make any more moves.

So long that his remaining 1% health began to flash red, and the System popped up a 'Forced Offline Protection' warning for the third time.

So long that everything in his field of vision—the phantom, the stone gate, the dark golden Ancestral Star—began to blur, fade, and fall into boundless darkness.

Then, the phantom spoke.

There was no sound.

But that will, spanning the eons, in a way that transcended language, transcended Laws, and transcended all forms of perception—was branded directly into the depths of Shi Potian's Soul.

'...Forty-seventh generation.' The voice was light, slow, each word like a star of immense weight being slowly pushed forward.

'Three thousand seven hundred years.'

'You are the fourth one.'

'Who could take my punch without falling.'

Shi Potian's consciousness had dissipated to the point where he could not understand any complete sentences.

But he understood three words.

The fourth one.

He was the fourth one.

Before him, in twelve thousand years, thirty-seven generations of Hegemons, and countless Hegemon Body inheritors who had set foot on the path of the Ancestral Star's trials—only three people had taken this punch from the progenitor's phantom.

And now, he was the fourth.

The phantom slowly retracted its fist.

It still had no face, still just a blurry outline, but Shi Potian could feel—it was looking at him.

'What is your name?' the voice asked.

Shi Potian opened his mouth.

His vocal cords had been damaged in the vacuum of the sixth trial, his tongue had been bitten off and reattached in the seventh trial, and his lips had been burned away and regenerated in the lava river of the fourth trial.

But he still made a sound.

The voice was hoarse, broken, and almost unrecognizable, yet in this silent eighth trial zone, it was incomparably clear: 'Shi... Po... Tian.'

The phantom was silent.

Again, for a long time.

So long that Shi Potian thought it would not respond anymore.

Then, the phantom—that immortal will born from the progenitor of the Hegemon Body lineage, from eons ago, from the first ray of the 'Law of Force' at the beginning of the Universe—took a step forward.

This step caused the gravitational field of the entire eighth trial zone to plummet from 300 times to—normal.

It allowed Shi Potian's right leg—which had been carbonized in the fourth trial, reattached in the sixth, and repeatedly tempered by the memories of thirty-seven generations of Hegemons in the eighth trial—to feel 'light' for the first time.

It allowed that mouthful of dark golden Hegemon Blood, squeezed out of his heart and seeped into the crust of the Ancestral Star—to begin to glow.

That was not the light of burning.

It was the light of resonance.

The phantom stretched out its hand.

That hand, which had just shattered all of Shi Potian's bones, torn his internal organs, and stopped his heart three times with one punch, now gently—very gently—pressed down on the top of Shi Potian's head.

'Forty-seventh generation,' the voice said.

'Your Hegemon Blood is not pure.'

'Your foundation is not strong.'

'Your Aptitude, among the thirty-seven generations of Hegemons, only Ranks in the low-middle.'

Shi Potian did not refute.

He knew this was a fact.

His Hegemon Blood purity started at 43.2%, which was only low-middle among the successive inheritors of the Hegemon Body lineage.

His physical strength was 147,000 points, which was top-tier among players of the same level, but by the standards of the eternal Hegemons, it had only just passed the threshold.

His combat talent, comprehension, and even willpower—after experiencing eight trials and the memory infusion of thirty-seven generations of Hegemons—he realized with absolute clarity—he was not a Genius. He never was.

The phantom's voice continued: 'But you have three things.'

'That the previous forty-six generations of Hegemons did not have.'

Shi Potian raised his head.

'First,' the phantom said, 'you are not afraid of death.'

It was not 'not cherishing life.' It was not 'daring to risk one's life.' It was 'not afraid.' These two are completely different.

People who do not cherish their lives treat their lives as chips, gambling for a possibility in a desperate situation. People who are not afraid of death treat their lives as steps, stepping on them to walk further.

From the first trial, Shi Potian had never calculated 'what would happen if I died.' He was just walking. Finishing one step, then taking another. Finishing one trial, then finishing another. Finishing eight trials, standing in front of the door of the ninth. Then raising his head, looking at that fist that wanted to take his life—saying 'Come.'

'Second,' the phantom said, 'you have someone in your heart.'

It was not the clichéd description of 'having someone in your heart.' It was truly, definitely, every moment—carrying others in his heart.

The phantom had no eyes, but it seemed to be able to see through the storage inner pocket on Shi Potian's chest. There were three things there.

A Hall Master token engraved with [Heavenly Court · Azure Dragon Hall · Shi Potian].

A micro storage crystal labeled 'Meteorite Belt Peripheral Environment Analysis Report'.

A phone with its screen lit up, the wallpaper being a photo of him and a thin young man with their arms around each other's shoulders at the Martial Arts Practice Field at dusk.

'The road of a Hegemon has always been a solitary one,' the phantom said. 'The previous forty-six generations of Hegemons were all lone wolves. They were very strong, strong enough to tear apart stars, sever galaxies, and suppress the ages.'

'But not one of them, at the moment of life and death, would have their heart supported by a wisp of spiritual power spanning the star sea.'

Shi Potian's fingers moved slightly. It was an instinctive reaction when he heard the phrase 'a wisp of spiritual power spanning the star sea,' wanting to touch his chest—where the Azure Dragon Hall Master token was located.

The phantom saw it. It didn't say anything, just continued: 'Third.'

This time, it was silent for a long time. So long that Shi Potian thought it would not speak again.

Then, that eternal will spoke its final evaluation of this forty-seventh generation inheritor: 'You have a sentence in your heart.'

'A sentence your grandfather could not say before he died.'

Shi Potian's pupils shrank suddenly. The phantom's voice was very light, so light that it seemed as if it were not speaking to him, but to some old man who had long passed away but had never truly left: 'He spent his whole life regretting.'

'Regretting that he didn't dare to walk out of that martial arts hall when he was young.'

'Regretting that he held a hoe for thirty years and never held a blade for a single day.'

'Regretting that the last sentence he said before dying was not 'I tried my best,' but—'

'In this life, I never really had a fight.'

Shi Potian's heart twitched violently. That was the scene he had not dared to look directly at during the eighth trial, when the flood of memories of thirty-seven generations of Hegemons impacted his Soul.

The old man wearing washed-out blue work clothes, standing at the entrance of the empty martial arts hall. Those hands, covered in calluses like his own, yet never having held a blade or sword. That sentence. The sentence he only truly understood after he stood on the path of the Ancestral Star's trials.

The phantom said: 'You want to finish that fight for him.'

Shi Potian did not answer. But his eyes, at this moment—with his whole body's bones shattered, internal organs extensively damaged, heart stopped three times, and Hegemon Blood concentration in the single digits—turned red.

The phantom withdrew the hand it had placed on top of his head. It stepped back, standing again in front of the stone gate of the ninth battle arena.

The blurry humanoid outline, for the first time, turned its head slightly. It seemed to be looking back at the eons of time, at those inheritors it had personally sent away.

Then, it spoke: 'Forty-seventh generation inheritor, Shi Potian.'

'Nine trials, you have passed eight.'

'The ninth—the Progenitor's Fist—you took head-on, without dodging, blocking, or retreating.'

'Trial complete.'

[System Prompt: You have completed the ninth trial of 'Path of the Hegemon']

[Trial Result: Passed (Perfect)]

[Evaluation: Faced the Progenitor's Fist without falling, obtained preliminary recognition of the Progenitor's Will]

[You have obtained: Hegemon Body Ancestral Star · Complete Recognition]

[You have obtained: Hegemon Body Bloodline Purity permanently increased: 64.7% → 71.3%]

[You have obtained: Physical Strength permanently increased: +80% (Cumulative)]

[You have obtained: Title 'Ancestral Star Homecoming Person' (All Attributes +15%, Hegemon Body Skill Cost -20%)]

[You have obtained: Hegemon Body Ultimate Form · Boundless Hegemon (Complete)]

[You have obtained: star token · Three (Hegemon Body Ancestral Star)]

The phantom opened its palm. Its palm was empty. But Shi Potian saw it. He saw the lines on the phantom's palm—they were not palm prints, but the imprints of star trajectories. Every line was the coordinate of an ancient star that had been struck by the Hegemon Body ancestors with their physical bodies.

At the deepest part where countless patterns intertwined, a palm-sized, dark golden token, engraved with nine fist imprints on its surface, was slowly emerging from the palm of the phantom.

[star token · Three (Hegemon Body Ancestral Star)]

[Type: Special Key / Token / Legacy Voucher]

[Quality: Legendary (Unique)]

[Description: The final token forged by the Progenitor of the Hegemon Body lineage, who spent nine hundred years fusing fragments of his own fist bones with the essence of the Ancestral Star's core. This token is not only the third key to opening the Ancient Star Road, but also the witness to the highest Legacy of the Hegemon Body lineage.]

[Features:]

[1. Progenitor's Fist Imprints: The surface of the token is engraved with nine fist imprints of varying depths, corresponding to the nine trials. Each fist imprint contains a trace of the Progenitor's original Hegemonic intent.]

[2. Bloodline Resonance: This token is deeply bound to the holder's Hegemon Body Bloodline. It cannot be used by anyone who is not an inheritor of the Hegemon Body; forcing contact will cause the token to self-destruct.]

[3. Ancestral Star Protection: Holders of this token gain +50% to all attributes and -30% cooldown on all Hegemon Body skills while within the Hegemon Body Ancestral Star.]

[4. Star Road Guidance: When three star tokens are simultaneously within a 100-meter radius of the same spatial coordinate, this token will automatically release the complete coordinates for the first pass of the Ancient Star Road.]

[Inscription on the back: 47th Generation Inheritor · Shi Potian]

[Inscription Status: Engraved (Eternal)]

The token completely detached from the phantom's palm and drifted slowly toward Shi Potian.

It drifted very slowly, so slowly that it seemed to be giving this 47th Generation Inheritor one last chance to reconsider.

Shi Potian did not reach out to catch it.

It wasn't that he didn't want to.

It was that his hands were completely unable to execute any movement at this moment—the aftereffects of exchanging seven hundred and thirty-one punches during the seventh trial had completely erupted under the impact of the ninth trial.

He just watched the token drift, bit by bit, to his chest.

Then—the token gently pressed against his heart.

It merged into him on its own.

[star token · Three Bound]

[Bound to: Shi Potian]

[Binding Method: Deep Bloodline Binding]

[This token cannot be traded, dropped, or stripped away by any means.]

At the same instant, tens of thousands of light-years away from the Hegemon Body Ancestral Star, in the Big Dipper Star Field · Yan State · Chaos Valley, Lin Ye stood before the window on the third floor of the main hall, looking at that dark golden star in the night sky.

The Storage Ring in his embrace suddenly trembled violently.

Those two star tokens, which had been silent for seven full days—one stolen from the Valley of Buried Soldiers in Purple Mountain, the other obtained from the Purple Mountain Altar, and currently lying side by side in the deepest part of his Storage Ring—simultaneously erupted with a blinding silver-white light.

The light pierced through the spatial barrier of the Storage Ring, through the fabric over his chest, and through the wall of the third floor of the main hall—forming a kind of visible resonance across the sea of stars with the direction of that dark golden star in the night sky.

Lin Ye lowered his head.

He saw the phantoms of those two star tokens slowly emerging in his palm.

And beside them, a third phantom—dark golden, covered in fist imprints, and engraved with the eternal inscription "47th Generation Inheritor · Shi Potian"—was taking shape.

[System Prompt: Third star token detected as activated.]

[Current Status: Three tokens gathered (Spatial coordinates not within the same range).]

[Three-token resonance intensity: 47% → 62% → 81% → 93% → 100%]

[Conditions met: All three star tokens have appeared, and a complete resonance link has been established between them.]

[Ancient Star Road · First Pass Trial Ancient Star · Stable Portal]

[Countdown to opening: 7 days]

[Note: The portal will officially open when all three star tokens are simultaneously within a 100-meter radius of the same spatial coordinate.]

[Current holder of "star token · Three": Shi Potian]

[Current coordinate: Hegemon Body Ancestral Star · Ninth Trial Area]

[Estimated return time: Unknown]

Lin Ye looked at that System prompt and was silent for a long time.

Then he raised his head and looked back at that dark golden star in the night sky, which was several times brighter than it had been last night.

He did not speak.

He simply squeezed the phantoms of the two star tokens in his palm.

There, Shi Potian's name was being eternally engraved alongside his token within the dark golden light.

Hegemon Body Ancestral Star, Ninth Trial Area.

Shi Potian was still standing in the same spot.

After that star token merged into his chest, he felt a power he had never experienced before, extremely strange yet extremely familiar, slowly surging from deep within his heart.

It was not Hegemon Blood.

It was something older, deeper, and closer to the Origin of this ancient star than Hegemon Blood.

It was the Ancestral Star's core resonating with him.

It was the fist imprints of the 37th generation Hegemon resonating with him.

It was that phantom—the eternal will of the Hegemon Body Progenitor—resonating with him.

[System Prompt: You have obtained "Hegemon Body Cultivation Technique · Complete"]

["Hegemon World Scripture" · All three volumes]

[Grade: Emperor Scripture Grade (Highest Legacy of the Hegemon Body lineage)]

[Description: A supreme Body Refining Emperor Scripture forged by the Hegemon Body Progenitor using the insights from his life of battles. It is divided into nine Realms: "Body Refining," "Bone Refining," "Marrow Refining," "Organ Refining," "Soul Refining," "Intent Refining," "Dao Refining," "World Refining," and "Void Refining," with each Realm corresponding to a Hegemon Body ultimate combat technique.]

[Currently unlocked: First Volume (Body Refining to Soul Refining)]

[Unlock condition: Completed the nine trials and obtained the Progenitor's recognition.]

[First Volume Contents:]

[1. Body Refining Chapter: Hegemon Body Golden Body (Complete) — Passive Physical Body strength increased by 200%, all physical damage reduced by 50%.]

[2. Bone Refining Chapter: Star-Shattering Fist (Complete) — Concentrates all body strength into one punch, dealing 300% - 800% attack damage, 60-second cooldown.]

[3. Marrow Refining Chapter: Hegemon Blood Boiling (Complete) — Actively burns Hegemon Blood to enter the "Hegemon Without Bounds" state for 30 seconds, all attributes +150%, immune to all control effects.]

[4. Organ Refining Chapter: Undying Heart (Complete) — After the heart is destroyed, one can consume 30% Hegemon Blood concentration to force it to beat again, 72-hour cooldown.]

[5. Soul Refining Chapter: Ancestral Star Protection (Complete) — Summons the phantom of the Hegemon Body Ancestral Star for empowerment, gaining 90% damage reduction for 30 seconds and inflicting continuous mental pressure on surrounding enemies.]

[Middle Volume / Lower Volume unlock condition: Level ≥ 90 (Dragon Transformation Realm) / Level ≥ 150 (Saint Realm)]

[System Prompt: Your combat power rating has been recalculated.]

[Original combat power rating: 55000-62000 (Can fight level 52-56 normal players)]

[New combat power rating: 83000-91000 (Can fight level 63-67 normal players)]

[Increase magnitude: +51%]

Shi Potian looked at the System assessment line "Can fight level 63-67 normal players" and was silent for three seconds.

Then, he looked down at his pair of hands, which were still unable to make a fist.

Still fractured.

Still with torn tendons.

Still covered in bloodstains and calluses.

But he knew that from this moment on—these hands were different.

The phantom was still standing by the stone gate.

Its outline was much fainter than before.

That will, spanning through eternity, was irreversibly dissipating after completing the Legacy, delivering the token, and recognizing the 47th Generation Inheritor.

"Progenitor." Shi Potian spoke.

His voice was still hoarse, still broken, still difficult to recognize.

But this time, the phantom heard it.

It tilted its head slightly.

"...What is it?"

Shi Potian was silent for a moment.

Then, he asked a question he had wanted to ask ever since he entered the Ancestral Star trial but had never dared to:

"In your life... how many fights have you had?"

The phantom did not answer.

For a very, very long time.

So long that its outline had faded until it was almost transparent, so long that the stone gate began to slowly close, so long that Shi Potian thought it wouldn't answer—that eternal will, for the last time, resonated deep within his Soul:

"...Countless."

"Won countless."

"Also lost countless."

"Died three times."

"Lived back three times."

"Every time I came back to life, it was to fight the next battle."

It paused.

In that voice, for the first time, appeared a kind of extremely faint, extremely light, almost imperceptible emotion—not pride, not regret, not a lament for the eternal years.

It was calm.

"The path of a Hegemon has no end."

"Every punch thrown is to fight the next punch."

"Every battle finished is to fight the next battle."

"This is the Hegemon Body."

The last wisp of the phantom's outline dissipated into countless fine golden light spots in the gap as the stone gate closed.

Those light spots did not fall to the ground, nor did they drift away, but slowly rose toward that layer of dark golden energy turbulence that never had stars—merging into one with the Ancestral Star's sky.

Shi Potian stood in place.

For a long time.

So long that his pair of shattered hands finally began to slowly heal.

So long that the dark golden star token on his chest finally stopped its violent resonance with its two companions tens of thousands of light-years away, turning into a stable and lasting pulsation.

So long that the stone gate in his field of vision completely closed, merging into the terrain of the Ancestral Star, as if it had never existed.

Then, he turned around.

He walked toward the first trial area.

Toward that piece of Ancestral Star primordial stone that bore his fist imprint.

Toward that lava river he had cut off, which still hadn't fully resumed its flow.

Toward that mountain he had collided with and shifted by 4.7 meters, which still stood silently.

Toward that field of star debris he had torn apart with his own hands, which was still slowly drifting in the Void Realm.

He did not look back.

But he knew—from now on, no matter where he went, no matter how strong the opponents he faced, no matter how many fights he had, how many times he won, how many times he lost, how many times he died and came back to life—

This dark golden ancient star, with 127 times the gravity, no sky but only fist imprints, the place where his grandfather's Soul returned, the burial ground of the 37th generation Hegemon, the Origin and end of the Hegemon Body lineage's eternal will—would forever be his home.

Five days later.

Big Dipper Star Field · Yan State · Chaos Valley.

By the window on the third floor of the main hall, Lin Ye was still standing there.

That dark golden star in the night sky was already so bright that it was faintly visible even during the day.

The resonance between the two star tokens in the Storage Ring in his embrace and the third one tens of thousands of light-years away had stabilized into a regular pulsation once per minute, like a heartbeat.

Footsteps came from behind.

Su Qingyue walked to his side, without speaking, simply placing a newly received encrypted communication Jade Slip gently in his palm.

There was only one line of text in the Jade Slip:

"Token obtained. Cultivation Technique complete. Returning within seven days." — Shi Potian.

Lin Ye finished reading and tucked the Jade Slip into his embrace.

Outside the window, that dark golden star seemed to have brightened a bit more than it was a moment ago.

He did not speak.

But he knew—the three tokens were gathered.

Seven days later, when Shi Potian returned from the Ancestral Star, the three star tokens would be in the same room in Chaos Valley for the first time.

The gate to the Ancient Star Road would officially open at that moment.

And he—the leader of the Heavenly Court, the possessor of the Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body, the Rebirth who had lived two lives—would lead his companions to step onto that ancient road that no one had walked in twelve thousand years.

To charge into the first Trial Ancient Star.

To break through the arena where ten thousand races vied for supremacy.

To seize the title of invincible under the starry sky.

To—for the upcoming Dark Turmoil, for the inevitable Fusion of the two Realms in one year, for the people and things he was trying his best to protect—seize even one more second of an advantage.

The night outside the window was deep.

But he knew that dawn was not far away.

The star token in his embrace was pulsating regularly at a frequency of once per minute.

That was the heartbeat of Shi Potian, who was traversing the sea of stars, crossing the Void Realm, and heading toward Chaos Valley—heading home.

Seven days later.

Chaos Valley main hall, teleportation array.

Golden light shot up into the sky.

When the light dissipated, a figure—bathed in blood, with multiple fractures, Hegemon markings so faint they were almost invisible, yet with a back still straight as a spear—stood in the center of the teleportation array.

Shi Potian.

He lowered his head, looking at the pair of hands that had just been pulled from the Ancestral Star's crust, not yet cleaned, still stained with dark golden dust and dried blood.

Then, he raised his head.

Looking at Lin Ye.

He did not say "I'm back."

He did not say "I got the star token."

He did not say any unnecessary nonsense to claim credit, complain, or express loyalty.

He simply slowly raised his right hand, making a fist.

It was a fist with thick knuckles, covered in calluses, with permanently deformed finger bones, yet containing enough power to withstand three punches from a level 70 Old Ancestor phantom without falling.

He looked at that fist.

Then, he looked at Lin Ye.

"Boss."

His voice was still somewhat hoarse, but much clearer and much calmer than seven days ago.

"In the future, if anyone dares to surround our people—"

He paused, the corners of his mouth slowly curling into an arc.

In that arc, there was no smugness, no showing off, not even the excitement a battle maniac feels when facing a strong enemy.

There was only a kind of very faint, very light calmness, as if merely stating the weather:

"I'll take them out one punch at a time."

Lin Ye looked at him.

Seven seconds.

Then Lin Ye nodded.

"Good."

He took out the two star tokens that had been waiting for seven days from his embrace.

The silver-white light and the dark golden light, at this moment, lit up simultaneously.

[System Prompt: Three star tokens detected within a 100-meter radius of the same spatial coordinate.]

[Ancient Star Road · First Pass Trial Ancient Star · Stable Portal]

[Opening conditions: Met]

[Open now?]

Lin Ye did not hesitate.

He reached out his hand, and together with Shi Potian, gripped the three tokens floating in mid-air.

[Opening confirmed]

[Portal generating...]

[Estimated completion time: 30 seconds]

Above Chaos Valley, that portal leading to the eternal star road, which no one had ever seen before—was, bit by bit, tearing through the Void Realm.