"The Heroes' Assembly—the time has been set." The words from Brain Unit No. 1 instantly changed the room's atmosphere, which had been relatively calm moments before. The Heroes' Assembly! Mentioned back in the Holy Martial Hall, it was finally moving into the implementation phase.

"Six months from now." Brain Unit No. 1 interpreted the message just received: "The martial artists representing the Four Great Divine Beasts have jointly announced that from this moment forward, martial artists on all planets are forbidden from engaging in private life-or-death duels. In exactly six months, the Heroes' Assembly will take place. If any individuals or factions still hold grudges, everything must be settled there! Before the Assembly convenes, anyone who dares to fight privately will be deemed to be challenging the Four Great Divine Beast martial artists, and intervention will surely follow to eliminate the provocateur! Regardless of your status—even if you are the son, brother, or any close relative of a Divine Beast martial artist—you will be slain without exception!"

The message, sharp in its wording, conveyed the shared intent of the four Divine Beast martial artists, setting a final boundary for all practitioners. This imposed time limit acted simultaneously as a binding spell, a whip spurring them forward, and a means of culling the weak.

Those unable to withstand the pressure of the deadline would inevitably face collapse, while those who endured it would have undergone an unparalleled spiritual baptism.

A full six months free from the immediate threat of death—a period entirely dedicated to martial cultivation! After that, it would immediately revert to the naked law of the jungle: the strong survive, the weak perish!

Among those who practice martial arts, how could there be no enmity? Many of these grievances were levels deep into blood feuds. What would happen six months down the line? Too many unforeseen events could occur in half a year. Six months could see a person's skills stagnate completely, standing still the entire time.

Conversely, six months could launch someone's martial path into sudden eminence, making them seem utterly different from their former self. An opponent who was once an equal might be felled in a single blow. It was a half-year filled with unknowns and variables—a half-year where one might achieve world renown, or be crushed by an enemy’s fist on the dueling stage. This would be a period free from all distractions, a half-year where the entire body and spirit could be wholly devoted to the martial way.

It was a stretch of time neither excessively long nor too brief. The Four Great Divine Beast martial artists had meticulously calculated the maximum potential that could erupt from martial artists fully immersed in their training under this atmosphere of intense pressure. The news had arrived with startling suddenness, without the slightest prior warning.

Although they had heard mention of the Heroes' Assembly repeatedly since entering the Holy Martial Hall, as time dragged on without any concrete sign of it, everyone had allowed their mental guard to drop somewhat.

However, the very moment their tension eased, the Four Great Divine Beasts announced the Assembly for six months hence, instantly snapping Qin Fen and the others to peak concentration once more.

A six-month ceasefire! This news didn't just reach the founding members of Brain Unit No. 1; it instantly forced the cessation of hostilities between Zhang Hao's founding council, the nearly brutal factions fighting for the Divine Beast title on Venus, and all powers on Mars. The noisy martial world fell into a profound silence following those few words from the Four Great Divine Beast martial artists.

The young martial artists in the cold confines of the founding council room exchanged bitter smiles and shook their heads at one another.

Entering Mars had been explicitly for the purpose of vying for the Martian Divine Beast title. They hadn't expected that before the Martian Divine Beast title could even be decided, the Four Great Divine Beasts would jointly issue such a decree. Yang Lie was the first to smile: "Six months? That's a decent window. I think we actually came out ahead on this one."

Brooks nodded lightly, not denying it. For the Martian Military, which had not yet firmly established itself on Mars and currently survived only by leveraging threats between the Heavenly Gate and the Underworld—dare to move me, and I'll align with the other side—six months was the perfect opportunity to rest, recuperate, and expand both their hidden influence and their tangible martial strength.

Six months! Even Du Peng, whose face rarely showed a smile, looked pleased. For the military contingent, none of them lacked talent or understanding of the martial path; what they lacked was time, experience, and epiphany. Epiphany was something that came only by chance, and experience demanded constant, fierce combat. As for time—that was completely beyond the control of young martial artists.

It treated everyone in the world equally, whether a billionaire or a street beggar; there were only twenty-four hours in a day, and no one received more due to their status.

Qin Fen also had to admit that his most pressing deficit was time! The forced halt to all combat among martial artists, imposed by the joint action of the Four Great Divine Beasts, was news better than he could have hoped for.

"Six months..." Brooks tapped the blade at his waist, his eyes still fixed on the vast jungle displayed on the projection screen. "How strong will I be in half a year? This truly is a period brimming with infinite speculation."

Qin Fen glanced at Lin Liqiang and then at Inzarota. These two research fanatics were clearly struggling to contain themselves. Their recent raid into the Pandora Alternate Dimension had yielded countless samples vital for research. Moreover, Inzarota had even managed to secure the body of a Demon Commander whose heart was shattered but whose corpse was relatively intact.

"Let's go," Qin Fen said, momentarily setting aside his other concerns due to the Divine Beast martial artists' decree, walking toward the door. "We'll head back first. We have six months filled with infinite possibilities. Of course, everyone else shares that same boundless half-year."

Brain Unit No. 1 offered no further obstruction this time. It even utilized technological means to transfer the design schematics for various models of combat robots directly onto the hard drives of Lin Liqiang and Inzarota's personal computers.

The surviving combat robots followed Lin Liqiang and the others out of the room in perfectly synchronized steps.

Massive transport aircraft flew over the Martian sky, landing openly for the first time at the military's temporarily leased airfield.

Immediately afterward, enormous container trucks loaded roughly two hundred combat robots, along with the new metals and energy sources they had collected, sped off toward the military headquarters—a location now exposed but guaranteed not to be attacked by any faction.

The agreed-upon date of the Heroes' Assembly six months later caused all major powers to restrain their combat forces, turning instead toward developing their economies, technology, and overall comprehensive strength.

With the fighting halted, scientists specializing in new energy and new metals, backed by the sponsorship of the major Earth families, began immigrating to Mars equipped with cutting-edge instruments.

Since the Martian Military was here, and Qin Fen was here, and the headquarters of the Dragon Hall could effectively be considered here, and since the future Martian Divine Beast martial artists would also be here, arriving early to acclimatize to life on Mars was deemed a good choice. A vast quantity of new metal and new energy was immediately divided up between the two research teams.

Here, they knew they didn't need to be overly polite to Qin Fen. Great Kyoto understood perfectly: ten thousand compliments to Qin Fen were worth far less than even a tiny bit of scientific achievement in earning his admiration and appreciation.

Under Zhang Xiangyang's guidance, the Dragon Hall, in addition to fostering strong camaraderie and loyalty, possessed an efficiency so precise it was like clockwork. Even the soldiers of the Martian Military praised the newly joined members, noting their efficiency surpassed that of career soldiers, leading some to question their own military status just by observing them.

Given the six-month window, both Lin Liqiang and Inzarota temporarily set aside their dedicated focus on martial arts improvement. Compared to the allure of martial cultivation, the two found their research into New Humans far more captivating.

Any individual who joined their research group was stunned by the scope of the project, universally hailing it as a colossal undertaking that would genuinely determine humanity's future! Those participating in this endeavor felt like gods from myth!

"I really want to focus on martial arts too! But the New Human project demands all my focus, making it impossible to concentrate fully elsewhere. However, I can dedicate all my spirit to researching New Humans. Matters like the Divine Beast title—those messy, hands-on jobs—Old Qin, you’ll have to carry the martial honor for Old Yin and me for now." Beating the Wasp King! This was an issue that couldn't be bypassed.

Qin Fen believed that the decision to hold the Heroes' Assembly six months out wasn't something the Four Great Divine Beast martial artists had decided lightly on a whim.

Holding the Assembly six months later likely had some connection to the war in the Pandora Alternate Dimension. As for the exact nature of that connection, only the Divine Beast martial artists would know.

Personnel skilled in various machinery also arrived sequentially. The blueprints for the Killing God weapon left by the Gun King Master soon fell into the hands of these dedicated fanatics.

With the advent of the new metal, problems that the Gun King had previously been unable to solve in the construction of the Killing God, due to material limitations, were now resolved.

As the future primary user of the weapon, Lin Ling became the supervisor of the Killing God project. Compared to close-quarters combat, Lin Ling's sniping was truly unrivaled in the Federation! Given the right conditions, Qin Fen believed Lin Ling could snipe Tathagata! Of course, the act of killing Tathagata was one Qin Fen would entrust to no one else; he intended to do it himself.

Busy days quickly passed, and after several days managing various affairs, Qin Fen finally managed to extract himself from the whirlwind of administrative tasks, finding he no longer needed to be occupied with such trivialities.

It was only today that Qin Fen truly understood that merely delegating tasks to specialists didn't mean he could completely wash his hands of them.

Over these six months, Qin Fen hadn't pushed himself too hard. This duration was neither excessively long nor particularly short; if utilized wisely, a great deal could be accomplished in half a year!

Having cleared his minor duties, Qin Fen planned to dedicate himself to secluded meditation and rest! Having broken through to the Tiangang realm in the Pandora Alternate Dimension, Qin Fen was certain that in the eyes of the Masters and others, he was no longer just a child playing games. This time, he would engage the Masters and the others seriously, and it would be foolish not to leverage the inherent advantage he now possessed. "Qin Fen—one, one, one, one, one..."

The latest model of the instant contact device, a product of the Dragon Hall, buzzed at Qin Fen's waist. Xue Tian's languid voice came through: "Our Master from the Holy Martial Hall has arrived on Mars. They are about to land... soon..."

"Is that so?" Qin Fen strode quickly toward the base exit, asking, "Which airfield? We should go meet that spaceship."