83: Technology VS Cultivation 2

"Terrifying power."

Li Zhenguo was now a member of the Mind Legion. His physical body had long since aged and died, but his consciousness lived forever in the quantum network.

"This kind of weapon must be strictly restricted."

"Agreed."

Qin Jiuge was rarely this serious.

"But remember, your enemies possess similar or even stronger powers. The 'Karma Dao Law' of the Cultivation World is essentially the same as this."

According to the star map provided by Qin Jiuge, humanity discovered an affiliated civilization near Overlord's cultivation planet.

It was the exact same Tier 1 civilization that destroyed Blue Star in the original timeline, known as the "Iron Heart Race."

"They send a fleet every ten years to collect 'Garden Materials' for the cultivation planet—which is to say, the coordinates of life-bearing planets."

The intelligence department reported,

"The next dispatch is in three months."

After intense debate, the command center ultimately decided: take the initiative, eliminate this fleet, and give the Iron Heart Race a "warning."

Three months later, in the Void Realm 0.3 light-years away from the Iron Heart Race's home planet,

a fleet consisting of three hundred warships was performing its final space jump calibration.

Suddenly, all jump engines failed.

"What is going on?"

The fleet commander roared in the communication channel.

Answering him was a calm human language broadcast, transmitted directly into every ship via quantum entanglement:

"Iron Heart Race, you have acted as accomplices to tyranny, assisting in the destruction of three hundred and twenty-seven civilized worlds. Today, judgment descends."

The next second, all three hundred warships were simultaneously erased from reality.

It was not an explosion, nor a disintegration, but rather a complete disappearance, as if wiped off a canvas by an eraser.

Almost simultaneously, a line of text appeared on all screens of the Iron Heart Race's home planet:

"The next one is you. Leave Overlord, or perish."

The Iron Heart Race's leadership fell into a panic.

But what frightened them even more was that no matter what methods they used, they could not trace the source of the signal,

nor could they delete the text; it was as if it were branded directly onto reality itself.

In the end, the Iron Heart Race chose silence.

They dared not betray Overlord, but they also dared not send out any more fleets.

This hesitation eventually drew the attention of the Cultivation World.

Overlord was selecting the 1,001st planet as a garden for Chu Xinger.

Suddenly, he frowned slightly.

"What's wrong, Overlord?"

Chu Xinger leaned on his shoulder, playing with a never-withering Starshine Flower in her hand.

"The Iron Heart Race's tribute is three years late."

Overlord said indifferently,

"And, I can sense their fear."

He closed his eyes, and his Divine Thought crossed the galaxy to descend upon the Iron Heart Race's home planet.

In an instant, he read all the relevant memories.

"Interesting."

Overlord opened his eyes, a hint of interest flashing in them,

"A low-level civilization that should have been wiped out by them is not only resisting but also threatening them in return?"

"What kind of civilization is it?"

Chu Xinger asked curiously.

"It's called 'Blue Star,' a world that doesn't even qualify as a Tier 1 civilization."

Overlord said disdainfully,

"They probably obtained some relic or Legacy. Ants that gain a little success think they can shake a giant tree."

He waved his hand and summoned a Disciple:

"Send the Qingming Sect to handle it. Turn that Blue Star into a Star Tear Flower garden. Doesn't Xinger like that shade of blue?"

"Yes, Sect Master."

The Qingming Sect was one of the three thousand Sects under Overlord's command. The Sect Master, Immortal Master Qingming, was a powerful expert at the Body Integration Stage, with one hundred thousand Disciples under his command, having once conquered seven Tier 2 civilizations single-handedly.

For them, a target like Blue Star should have been easy pickings.

The Qingming Sect dispatched an expeditionary force of three thousand Cultivators, boarding three ancient starships, and set off toward Blue Star in a grand display.

According to tradition, they should have first sent an envoy to deliver a "Garden Transformation Notice," giving the Blue Star civilization a choice: "Submit or Perish."

But in order to please Overlord, Immortal Master Qingming decided to carry out an extermination strike directly—

"Let those ants know the consequences of resisting the Sect Master."

However, when their fleet arrived at the edge of the Solar System, they encountered a situation that was completely beyond their understanding.

"Report, Sect Master! Abnormal spatial structures detected!"

A Disciple said in panic:

"The entire star System is wrapped in a layer of... 'Reality Membrane'!"

Immortal Master Qingming frowned and released his Divine Thought to investigate.

The next moment, his expression changed drastically.

That membrane was not just a defense, but a type of Domain—within the membrane, all cultivation Laws were distorted and suppressed.

The moment his Divine Thought made contact, it was forcibly repelled, and a portion of it was even "contaminated," causing waves of stinging pain.

"This... This is a method that could only be mastered at the Mahayana stage!"

Immortal Master Qingming was shocked,

"No, even stronger!"

"Qingming Sect."

A voice resounded directly in his consciousness, calm and cold,

"You have three breaths to choose: seal your own cultivation and surrender; or, die."

"Arrogant!"

Immortal Master Qingming was furious. Despite his inner unease, the dignity of his Sect could not be provoked.

"Set up the Nine Heavens Immortal Execution Array!"

Three thousand Cultivators simultaneously summoned their Magic Treasures, the sky full of light illuminating the dark Void Realm, and the terrifying fluctuations of spiritual energy even caused cracks in space.

This was a terrifying power capable of destroying a star System.

From the direction of Blue Star, there was no reaction at all.

It wasn't until the array was fully deployed and the destructive energy surged toward Blue Star like a tsunami that a calm command sounded in the human command center:

"Activate the causality law weapon, Mode Three."

The next second, Immortal Master Qingming discovered with horror that the Cultivation Technique he was casting... had been forgotten.

No, not forgotten; rather, the "existence" of this Cultivation Technique had been erased from the timeline.

Following that, all knowledge, memories, and Cultivation Techniques related to the Nine Heavens Immortal Execution Array were erased.

Three thousand Cultivators stopped in the Void Realm, bewildered and at a loss.

They remembered they had come to execute a mission, remembered they were to set up an array, but they could not recall how to set it up or what Cultivation Techniques to use.

"One breath."

The voice sounded again.

Immortal Master Qingming finally felt fear:

"Retreat! Retreat immediately!"

But it was already too late.

"Two breaths."

"We surrender! We will seal our own cultivation!"

Immortal Master Qingming roared.

"Three breaths. Time is up."

There was no light, no explosion, no screams.

Three thousand Cultivators and three ancient starships disappeared from the Universe completely, as if they had never existed.

Only some scattered personal items—a jade pendant, half a Cultivation Technique manual, a few Spirit Stones—proved they had ever been there.

The Iron Heart Race saw all of this through remote observation, and the entire civilization fell into a silence of pure terror.

They finally understood what they were facing.

And far away on the cultivation planet, the moment Immortal Master Qingming disappeared, Overlord opened his eyes abruptly.

"Qingming's Soul Lamp... has been extinguished?"

A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes,

"And he didn't even send out a distress signal?"

Chu Xinger was watering flowers; hearing this, she turned her head:

"Is that Blue Star really that powerful?"

"Interesting."

Overlord was not angry; instead, he smiled,

"It's been a long time since I've encountered such an 'accident.' It seems I will have to pick this garden myself."

Inside the time-acceleration space, human civilization had developed for ninety-five years.

Today's Blue Star had completely changed.

On the surface, it was still a blue planet, but in reality, the entire planet had become a massive battle fortress.

Beneath the oceans were factories tens of thousands of meters deep, the planetary core had been transformed into an infinite energy furnace,

the moon had been armed into a mobile fortress, and the sun was partially encased in a Dyson sphere, providing near-infinite energy.

More importantly, the overall form of human civilization had changed.

90% of the population had completed Quantum Soul Encoding, living in a virtual "Mind Universe," with their physical bodies preserved in highly protected cloning pods.

Their consciousnesses could live forever in the network, and their thinking speed was a million times that of old humans.

The remaining 10% of the population were "Reality Anchors"; they retained their physical bodies, lived in heavily protected surface cities, and maintained the human foundation of civilization.

Qin Jiuge stood in the main control room, which had expanded to cover the entire bottom of the Pacific Ocean, looking at the light screen before him.

It displayed the current strength assessment of human civilization:

Civilization Rank: 2.9 (Quasi-Tier 3 Civilization)

Military Strength: causality law weapon × 12, Reality Reconstruction Device × 3600, Time Freeze Domain × 1

Strategic Deterrence: Universal Broadcast System (can announce the coordinates and weaknesses of the cultivation planet to the entire Universe)

Ultimate Weapon: Demon God Engine (Qin Jiuge provided the blueprints, human construction completion 87%)

"The final five years."

Qin Jiuge said softly:

"Overlord won't wait a hundred years. He has already been provoked."

Just as he expected, three days later, the observation station discovered an anomaly.

The cultivation planet, that behemoth with a diameter a hundred times that of Blue Star, began to move.

It did not perform a space jump, but instead flew directly toward the Solar System at a speed that seemed slow but was actually terrifying.

At this speed, it would arrive in five years.

"He is coming himself."

Li Zhenguo's holographic image appeared beside Qin Jiuge.

"All simulation deductions show that our win rate is no more than 30%."

"That is because you have not yet fully mastered the Demon God Engine."

Qin Jiuge said calmly,

"The final 13% completion requires a real battle to break through."

He turned to face the camera for the global broadcast.

At this moment, all of humanity, whether consciousness entities or those with physical bodies, were watching.

"Human civilization,"

Qin Jiuge's voice spread to every corner,

"Five years ago, you were just a 0.7-Rank civilization, like dust in the Universe."

"Now, you stand at the threshold of Rank 2.9, already capable of shaking the stars."

"But the true test only begins now. Overlord, the strongest in the Cultivation World, has come personally."

"He is not bringing a fleet, nor an army, but an entire cultivation civilization—three thousand Sects, billions of Cultivators,"

"And his own power, which is enough to distort the Laws of the Universe."

"Are you afraid?"

The world was silent for three seconds.

Then, the consciousness entity of a young engineer responded first:

"We have undergone ninety-five years of preparation. We gave up our physical bodies, changed our form of existence, and even reshaped the essence of our civilization."

"If all of this cannot give us the courage to face the enemy, then what is the meaning of our existence?"

Then came the second, the third... billions of voices converged into a single will:

"Fight!"