78: Azshara and Yunxi

The opening of the Star Brilliance Hall affected more than just the Human Federation.

The Tristan Empire, Capital Star, "Abyssal Eye" Imperial Palace, the core of the Empire.

Unlike the Human Federation's style, which was filled with a sense of technology and orderly beauty, the Empire's architectural style was extremely ferocious and oppressive.

The massive palace was constructed from dark red, active bio-metal that seemed to still be writhing, and an energy core hung high in the dome, emitting an ominous red light like a dying star.

The air was scorching, filled with the scent of sulfur mixed with metal; this was the external manifestation of the Empire's mainstream Cultivation Technique, "Molten Core Art," having reached a profound Realm.

At this moment, inside the Empire's highest-spec military hall, the atmosphere was as heavy as solid magma.

Two thousand figures, radiating terrifying energy fluctuations, stood solemnly under the throne like statues.

They were all pillars of the Empire, Stellar-level Experts!

The number was shockingly close to two thousand one hundred! Far exceeding the Federation's count of three hundred!

Their majestic Aura intertwined, causing the space within the hall to slightly distort, and the light grew dim and indistinct.

However, these big figures, who could normally make a planet tremble just by stomping their feet, now all slightly lowered their heads, casting their gazes with awe toward the supreme throne.

The throne was carved from a single, massive piece of dark red crystal marrow that seemed to have blood flowing inside it, and a figure sat atop it.

The Empire's current Empress, the eleventh monarch, [Crimson Blood Empress] Aisara Tristan!

She wore imperial robes that seemed to be woven from solidified fire and shadows, her graceful figure containing the power to incinerate stars.

Her face was stunningly beautiful, but it was a beauty that carried aggression and destruction; her scarlet hair, like flowing magma, hung down to her waist.

As she opened and closed her Phoenix eyes, her pupils were a pure dark gold; wherever her gaze fell, even space itself seemed to be scorched through and ignited by it.

Stellar Level Peak!

A Stellar Level Peak who Advanced from an Innate Star Body!

Although not the legendary Innate Moon Body, relying on the Empire's deep Foundation of over nine hundred thousand years and secret royal techniques, her strength was top-tier among Stellar Level Peak experts, steadily suppressing old-guard experts like Venerable Yuehua and Qin Pojun.

At this moment, Empress Aisara was toying with a dark red data chip that kept changing shape; there was no expression on her beautiful face, but deep within those dark golden eyes, a starburst seemed to be brewing.

"Is the intelligence confirmed?" Her voice rang out, not loud, but carrying a texture like metal rubbing against metal, clearly reaching the ears of every Stellar Level Expert with unquestionable majesty.

Below, a Stellar Level general clad in heavy armor with a ferocious burn scar on his forehead stepped forward; he was the Empire's military Marshal, [Star Burner] Gorton, his voice like two star cores colliding:

"Your Majesty, confirmed without error! The highest-level 'Shadow' lurking in the Federation's capital circle has transmitted top-secret information—the 'Star Brilliance Hall' located at the poles of Kunlun Star suddenly opened three days ago!"

"Star Brilliance Hall?" A Stellar Level minister with a sinister face, surrounded by black energy tentacles, frowned. "What is that?"

Another female Stellar Level Expert in charge of intelligence, [Dark Spider] Vira, explained in a shrill voice:

"According to the fragmented information we obtained at a great cost, the 'Star Brilliance Hall' is suspected to be closely related to the life and death of the Federation leader, Yun Xi. If her time limit were not approaching or if she had not already passed away, this hall could never have opened!"

As soon as these words were spoken, an irrepressible sound of gasping and energy fluctuations erupted within the hall!

The Star Brilliance Hall opened!

Yun Xi's time limit has arrived?! This news was like dropping a supernova into boiling magma!

"Hahaha! Heaven bless the Empire!" A hot-tempered Stellar Level general couldn't help but laugh wildly. "That old hag is finally going to die! The hundred-thousand-year time limit! She has reached her end!"

"That's right! Venerable Yuehua is at least nearly ten thousand years away from her time limit! Other Stellar-level Experts are even less likely! Recently, no Planetary Level Peak hero who made contributions sufficient to open the Star Brilliance Hall has fallen in the Federation! The only explanation is that Yun Xi is dead!" Another general excitedly agreed.

"Your Majesty! The opportunity for war has arrived!" [Star Burner] Gorton knelt on one knee, his voice loud and filled with endless killing intent. "Once Yun Xi dies, the Federation will have no pillar of support! Venerable Yuehua is not to be feared! Our Empire's warriors are enough to crush the likes of Qin Pojun! Please, Your Majesty, give the order! Send the entire army! While the Federation is leaderless, trample human civilization in one fell swoop and pull out this thorn stuck next to our territory by the roots!"

"Please, Your Majesty, give the order!"

"Trample the Federation!"

The Stellar-level Experts roared in unison, their terrifying killing intent mixed with energy fluctuations almost blowing the roof off the hall!

The Empire's over nine hundred thousand years of Foundation and the power of over two thousand Stellar-level Experts had long filled them with superiority and desire for aggression toward the Human Federation, which had only one hundred thousand years of history and three hundred Stellar-level Experts. If it weren't for that woman named Yun Xi...

On the throne, Empress Aisara remained expressionless, only lightly tapping her fingertips on the armrest of the throne, creating a soft sound that knocked against the Soul.

The boiling killing intent subsided slightly, and everyone waited for the Empress's final decision.

However, just then, a relatively calm voice, but one filled with deep wariness, rang out:

"Your Majesty, colleagues, please calm down."

The one who spoke was an old man wearing simple scholar robes; he was the head of the Empire's Academy of Sciences, [Star Calculator] Aolong, an Advanced Stellar Level, known for his wisdom and caution.

"Aolong, what fallacy do you have now?" Marshal Gorton snorted with dissatisfaction.

Aolong ignored Gorton and looked at the Empress on the throne, bowing. "Your Majesty, is Yun Xi... really dead?"

"The intelligence is solid! The Star Brilliance Hall has opened!" Gorton retorted.

"The opening of the Star Brilliance Hall may indicate that her time limit is approaching, but it does not necessarily mean she is already dead." Aolong said slowly, a wise light flickering in his eyes. "Have you all forgotten the 'conflict' that occurred over ten thousand years ago when we first bordered the Federation?"

As soon as the word "conflict" was uttered, the entire hall instantly fell silent.

All the Stellar-level Experts who had experienced that era couldn't help but show lingering fear on their faces.

Even some Stellar-level Experts who ascended later had heard from their Seniors about that nightmare that almost caused the Empire to collapse.

Aolong's voice carried a hint of distant memory and indelible awe: "Yun Xi, that woman... she was too terrifying. Her wisdom, her decisiveness, especially that unfathomable... Law of Space of hers!"

"Law of Space..." someone repeated in a low voice, fear in their tone.

Among all Laws, Time is supreme, and Space is King! This is no empty statement!

In vast interstellar warfare, an expert who controls the Law of Space is a nightmare that no civilization wants to face!

They can easily tear through fleet formations, conduct ultra-long-range precision strikes, and even... directly threaten your homeland!

Aolong continued, his tone heavy: "Over ten thousand years ago, our late Emperor was still alive. He was also a Stellar Level Peak, a man of great talent and strategy, who believed that because the Federation had just been established and its Foundation was unstable, it was the best time to strangle it in the cradle. Thus, we launched a war of annihilation."

His words pulled everyone's thoughts back to that era of raging war, where the light of one person overshadowed billions of fleets.

Over ten thousand years ago, the Empire detected a new, rich Star Domain, only to find that it had already been occupied by a nascent civilization called the "Human Federation."

The late Emperor of the Empire at the time, that equally brilliant and ambitious ruler, after assessing the Federation's strength—which had only one Stellar Level Peak, Yun Xi, and fewer than three hundred Stellar-level Experts—decisively decided to launch a blitzkrieg, wanting to swallow this fat piece of meat.

The Imperial army pressed toward the border, with over one thousand Stellar-level Experts leading hundreds of millions of invincible fleets, charging directly at the Federation's Capital Star—Kunlun Star!

The Empire's strategy was simple and brutal: capture the leader to capture the bandits! Concentrate absolute superior power and, with thunderous momentum, slay the Federation leader, Yun Xi! Destroy Kunlun Star! As long as Yun Xi died and the capital was destroyed, the Federation would inevitably collapse without a fight!

At the time, the young Princess Aisara, as the Empire's most outstanding heir, accompanied the army and witnessed with her own eyes the battle that she would never forget for the rest of her life.

She still remembered the Imperial fleet like a tide of destruction, covering the sky and the earth, surrounding the Star Domain where Kunlun Star was located so tightly that not even water could leak through.

The late Emperor personally sat on the flagship, his Aura majestic, as if he could crush stars with a raise of his hand.

On the Federation side, the forces were vastly disparate; the number of warships was less than one-tenth of the Empire's, and the number of Stellar-level Experts was several times fewer!

All Imperial soldiers believed that this would be a crush with no suspense.

Until... that figure appeared...

She did not board any warship, nor did she have any guards.

She just like that, alone, slowly stepped out from Kunlun Star and stepped into the cold vacuum of the Universe!

A simple white dress, spotless under the reflection of starlight, her bare feet suspended in the air, as if she were stepping on invisible stairs.

Her black hair cascaded like a waterfall, her face calm; her left eye was as clear as a newborn infant's, while her right eye was as deep as the eternal starry sky.

Her appearance instantly drew the gaze of everyone.

Before that world-destroying legion, her figure appeared so tiny, so lonely.

However, when she raised her eyes and her gaze swept across the Empire's vast military formation, an invisible, Soul-trembling Aura swept out like a cosmic storm!

That was not the crushing of energy, but the overriding power of the Law!

It was the Dominator of space!

"This place is the territory of our Human Federation."

Her voice was ethereal, yet it clearly resonated in the minds of every soldier of the Empire, carrying an unquestionable will.

"Those who cross the border! Die!"

The late Emperor issued a roar of fury from within the flagship, believing this to be a provocation!

Over a thousand Stellar-level Experts of the Empire simultaneously released their Aura, attempting to crush her!

But the next moment, a scene occurred that shattered the courage of all the Empire's people.

Yun Xi merely raised her hand gently.

She made a light grasping motion toward the densest direction of the Empire's military formation.

There were no earth-shattering explosions, no barrage of energy beams.

That patch of space, along with the dozens of main battleships, over a hundred thousand small fighters, and... three Stellar Level primary generals who could not dodge in time, were like plasticine gripped by an invisible cosmic giant hand, instantly collapsing and twisting...

Then... completely vanished!

It was not destroyed; it was directly "erased" from the Universe!

Not even a single piece of wreckage remained!

Silence! A deathly silence!

Everyone was stunned!

What kind of power was this?!

This had completely exceeded their understanding of Stellar Level power!

"Space... Grand Annihilation!" The head of the Empire's Academy of Sciences exclaimed in shock, his face turning pale.

Yun Xi's gaze shifted to the Empire's flagship, looking at the late Emperor within.

"Retreat! Or...! I shall descend upon the Empire's heartland and visit your life-bearing planets one by one."

Her tone remained calm, yet it carried a chill and power that could freeze the Soul.

The late Emperor was both shocked and furious; how could he let it end like this?

He ordered all Stellar-level Experts to attack together, sparing no cost to slay Yun Xi!

A battle of extreme brutality erupted.

Yun Xi's figure flickered in the sea of stars like a phantom.

She did not engage the Empire's army head-on at all, utilizing the Law of Space to its limit—shrinking distance into inches, crossing several astronomical units in a single step; folding space to return the Empire's fleet attacks back along their original path; and creating space cages to briefly trap Stellar-level Experts before delivering a thunderous blow...

She was like an invisible Grim Reaper, weaving wantonly through the Empire's military formation; every time she struck, large swaths of warships would turn into cosmic dust, or a Stellar Level Expert would fall!

The Empire's prideful numerical advantage appeared so laughable before her absolute quality and strange Law!

She even attempted to break through the defense line multiple times to strike at the Empire's flagship, aiming directly at the late Emperor!

The late Emperor was forced to join forces with several Stellar Level Peak royal elders to barely withstand Yun Xi's elusive attacks.

That war was less a confrontation between two civilizations and more Yun Xi alone, confronting the entire Tristan Empire!

Relying on her own strength, she dragged the Empire's vast expeditionary force to a standstill at the border of the Federation's Kunlun Star Domain!

They could not advance an inch!

The turning point of the war occurred during a brutal surprise attack...

The late Emperor underestimated Yun Xi's determination and the strangeness of the Law of Space; Yun Xi seized the opportunity, paying the price of heavy injury to forcibly tear through space and break into the interior of the flagship!

The young Princess Aisara witnessed with her own eyes that white-clad woman, who was like a god and a demon, appear before her Imperial Father.

There were no extra words, only the collision of Laws.

That battle shattered the interior space of the flagship and caused the starry sky to become chaotic!

In the end, the late Emperor relied on royal secret treasures and burned his life Origin to heavily injure Yun Xi, but he himself was exhausted, reaching his final moments.

The late Emperor lay on the shattered throne, clutching his daughter Aisara's hand, looking at Yun Xi, who was still standing not far away despite her chaotic Aura, his eyes filled with unwillingness, shock, and a hint of... admiration?

He used his final breath to speak to Yun Xi, and also to all the Empire's experts:

"Yun Xi... you win... it is not the fault of the war... it is the defeat of the Law... let my daughter... go back... otherwise... the Empire's current one thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven Stellar-level Experts... will spare nothing... to perish together with your Federation... the Empire... has not produced an Innate Moon Body in over nine hundred thousand years... I did not expect... that you... a Federation of only a few tens of thousands of years... would produce... a monster... like you..."

This was a threat, and also a helpless choice.

Yun Xi looked at them quietly, her plain white dress stained with specks of golden blood, her face pale, but her eyes remained clear and firm!

She was silent for a long time. Finally, she nodded slowly.

"Accepted..."

"Sign an agreement. Stellar-level Experts of the Federation and the Empire shall not directly participate in interstellar wars; they may only guard their planets."

"If we are to perish together, I can easily retreat and wait for my heavy injuries to recover! If you harm one person of my Federation, I will destroy one city! If you destroy one city of my Federation, I will annihilate one life-bearing planet of the Empire!"

... Recalling this, the grand hall was deathly silent.

Even though over ten thousand years had passed, the peerless elegance of that white-clad, barefoot woman who stood against a country alone remained like a nightmare, branded deep into the Souls of every witness.

Dean Aolong took a deep breath and looked at the Empress on the throne, who was expressionless, but in whose dark golden eyes a hint of complex reminiscence flashed, and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, Yun Xi's intelligence is nearly demonic. How could she not know what her approaching end means for the Federation? The opening of the Star Brilliance Hall at this moment, how can we know it is not a feint she intentionally laid out? The purpose is to lure us into attacking, and then, relying on her final strength and that terrifying Law of Space, she would drag half of our Empire's Stellar-level Experts to the grave with her before she dies, buying ten thousand, or even one hundred thousand years of peace for the Federation?!"

"She is absolutely capable of doing it!" Aolong's voice carried ironclad certainty.

This speculation made many radical generals calm down, cold sweat breaking out on their backs.

That's right, that woman, what is she not capable of?

Empress Aisara finally spoke, her voice carrying a trace of cold mockery, not knowing whether she was mocking her subordinates or that unbearable past:

"So, what does Lord Aolong mean?"

Aolong bowed and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, the safest plan is to wait! Wait until the Federation's Star Calendar reaches exactly one hundred thousand years!"

He raised his head, his eyes flashing with the light of shrewd calculation: "The one hundred thousand year lifespan of Stellar-level Experts is an iron Law of the Universe! Even if Yun Xi is stunningly talented, she has absolutely no possibility of breaking it! Once the ten-thousand-year time point passes, she will be truly dead! At that time, we can launch a total attack, and it will be foolproof! The closer it gets to the Federation's 100,000-year calendar! The more the Empire's Stellar-level Experts must gather together! To prevent Yun Xi from acting like a dog driven to the wall! And launching a final counterattack before death!"

"It is merely a mere two hundred years; our Empire has waited over ten thousand years, so what is missing these last two hundred years?"

The grand hall fell into silence again. Everyone looked at the Empress on the throne, waiting for her decision.

Empress Aisara slowly stood up, her imperial robes fluttering without wind, dark red energy circulating around her body like a living thing.

Her gaze swept across the crowd of Stellar-level Experts below, and finally looked outside the grand hall, as if piercing through endless space to see that Star Domain that had brought shame to her Empire for ten thousand years.

"Lord Aolong's words are reasonable."

Her voice echoed in the grand hall, carrying the decision of an Empress.

"Pass on my decree!"

"All departments shall secretly prepare for war and accumulate strength. Closely monitor all movements of the Federation, especially Kunlun Star!"

"But, without my final order, no Stellar Level expert is allowed to step into the Federation's territory by even half a step! Stellar-level Experts who do not need to guard planets are to return to the Imperial Palace!"

"I want to see with my own eyes... the moment the Federation's Star Calendar flips past one hundred thousand years!"

She did not say what would be done after that moment. But the cold killing intent already explained everything.

"We respectfully obey Your Majesty's decree!" The Stellar-level Experts replied in unison.

The Empire, this terrifying beast of war, once again lay dormant, waiting for the best opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to its prey.

And all of this stemmed from the ten thousand years of residual prestige left behind by that white-clad, barefoot figure from over ten thousand years ago!

The name of Yun Xi! Shocking a country alone, peerless in elegance!

Even though her end is suspected to have arrived, she can still make a massive interstellar Empire with two thousand Stellar-level Experts not dare to cross the line by even half a step!