In the Xingyu Cluster's Second Factory Sector, the Thirteenth Star Battle saw two Domerra Fire Dragons sweep past Banruo's head with a suffocating, forceful gust of wind.

Banruo bent his arms and formed a mudra, the Myriad Character Buddha Seal faintly appearing in his eyes. His left arm thrust forward while his right arm retracted, forming a posture like drawing a bow. A misty, pure white vase-energy shimmered on his right fist. Just as the two Fire Dragons swept overhead and began to climb again, Banruo let out a low cry. He swung his right fist forward, and the several-foot-long vase-energy shot out with a whoosh, piercing the bodies of both Fire Dragons. The energy burst, shattering the two Fire Dragons into dust mid-air. The few Roman warriors riding the dragons cried out as they tumbled to the ground.

Mo He let out a cackling laugh, hefting a custom-made, two-meter-long cleaver as he strode forward. The long blade swung, radiant with blade-qi, sending several Roman heads flying high into the air.

"Romans, come! Let's see if the Monk Mo He can break you!"

Amidst his wild laughter, Mo He leaped dozens of meters into the air, wildly whirling his great saber, stirring up a cyclone composed of blades and qi in the sky. Over a dozen Domerra Fire Dragons, swooping in to breathe fire, along with the Roman warriors behind them, let out a unified wail as the dusky black cyclone dragged them in from hundreds of meters away, like a black hole. The sound of snapping bone and tearing flesh followed, and great sheets of golden and crimson blood rained down from the sky.

Rolling tides of death qi continuously poured out from the shattered remains of the Roman warriors, rapidly integrating into Mo He’s body. Mo He felt a rolling heat surge through him, as if endowed with endless vigor.

"Romans, charge!" A piercing battle horn sounded. Approximately three thousand Roman soldiers, covered by a massive escort of war chariots and fighters, stormed toward the heights held by Banruo and Mo He.

A dozen new-model Roman warships roared toward them, nearly a thousand muzzles of varying sizes spitting piercing beams of intense light. Rows upon rows of fire pillars instantly blanketed the entire high ground. The earth trembled, and the mountains writhed. After the warships finished their full-power bombardment, the absolute elevation of the high ground instantly decreased by more than two meters.

"This is exhilarating!" Mo He howled maniacally. A colossal ape bio-beast, accidentally wounded by the preceding naval cannon fire, charged at Mo He with a transparent hole gaping in its belly. Mo He savagely met the giant ape head-on. He swung his right arm, crashing his fist forcefully against the beast's massive, downward-striking blow.

"Die!" Amidst his roar, the death qi within Mo He poured into his right arm without reservation. His arm instantly thickened by more than half, stretching out another three feet. Black death qi coiled around his arm, striking the giant beast's fist like a raging, open-mouthed demon dragon, boring into the creature's body. With a loud "KRA-BOOM," the beast’s body exploded, spraying blood plasma and shredded meat hundreds of meters away like rain. Hundreds of Roman warriors charging toward the heights were drenched from head to foot.

A surging tide of black qi rushed out of the beast's remains and flowed back into Mo He's body. Mo He felt the death qi within him become more than ten percent stronger than before. He roared with laughter, gave the stunned Roman warriors the middle finger, and ferociously charged into the Roman assault column with his long saber.

Banruo evaded the Roman warships' area-of-effect bombardment. He struggled up from the foot-deep layer of floating ash, frowning as he glanced back at the defensive position. All firing points and trenches, along with other defensive structures, had been destroyed. Nearly a thousand Federation soldiers who held the high ground were completely annihilated; not a single one survived. Banruo glanced darkly at the Romans charging madly toward them, let out a sharp whistle, and then shouted loudly, "Mo He, retreat!"

His long saber reaped a bloody harvest; in less than thirty seconds, over a hundred Roman warriors and a dozen chariots were destroyed by Mo He's blade. Hearing Banruo's call, Mo He angrily swept his saber, flinging the thick layer of plasma a great distance away, and roared, "Romans, you've killed another one thousand three hundred of my brothers! I remember this!"

"ROAR!" Mo He roared to the heavens, and the black qi behind him swelled intensely. A ferocious, grotesque image of the Three-Eyed Horse-Headed Wisdom King faintly took shape within the darkness. Great waves of blood surged from beneath Mo He's feet, instantly engulfing the battlefield across a kilometer radius. The hundred-meter-tall Three-Eyed Horse-Headed Wisdom King raised the bell and vajra in its hands, crashing them down onto the ground like meteors.

Blood waves churned, and black qi soared to the sky. A violent gale swept in all directions. Thousands of Roman warriors, hundreds of chariots, and nearly a hundred aircraft enveloped in the sea of blood shattered amid the crimson light. Thick death qi erupted from the bodies of the slain Romans and continuously rolled into Mo He's body. Mo He's body began to inflate; the blood vessels beneath his skin thickened to the size of a thumb. As he breathed, black qi streamed from his nostrils like twin dragons dancing in the air, causing the ground before him to crack open in several places.

"Hahahaha, the duality of life and death, the Poison Hand Buddha Heart; Namo Amitabha!" Mo He roared at the sky, silently recalling the Five Wisdom Kings incarnation of the Tathagata Buddha. Behind him, an eighteen-armed, three-headed Wisdom King began to take shape within the black qi. A dull "CRACK" sounded from within his body as the immense volume of externally surging death qi underwent a miraculous transformation, shifting from quantitative change to qualitative change.

Suddenly, a black light shot from Mo He's brow. A thumb-sized, pitch-black Sarira, accompanied by the wails of ten thousand vengeful spirits, shot out, slender threads of black light traveling far into the distance.

"Big Brother! Catch this!" Mo He, having gathered boundless death qi from the endless slaughter on the battlefield, finally condensed a Sarira using his father's secret Buddhist technique. He immediately shot forward, strode to Banruo's side, and punched heavily toward Banruo's heart. The deathly black, light-emitting Sarira shot into Banruo’s body with the force of the punch.

A massive influx of death qi flooded Banruo's body, swiftly converted into vibrant life force by the thirteen rapidly spinning chakras within him. Powerful white air waves surged up behind Banruo. Banruo silently chanted the Buddhist scriptures, mentally visualizing the Dharma Form of the Medicine Master King Buddha. A Buddha image, glowing entirely with white light and possessing a benevolent expression, materialized abruptly. With a "CRACK," a white light shot from Banruo’s chest, and a white Sarira instantly formed. A black Sarira followed closely behind, shooting out as the two Sariras spun rapidly in the air along a Tai Chi trajectory. In the blink of an eye, the white Sarira returned to Banruo’s body, while the black Sarira shot into Mo He’s brow, trailing a black streak of light. The black and white energies around the brothers intensified and gradually merged into a hazy vital force.

A piercing shriek echoed from a distance. Three Roman warriors, escorted by twelve Illusionary Race assassins, flew rapidly toward them. Blue flames several meters thick rolled around the bodies of the three Romans, sending a powerful mental shockwave across a distance of ten kilometers. Their spiritual cultivation reached an astonishing level.

Banruo and Mo He clasped hands tightly. A fierce collision erupted as Banruo's white light and Mo He's furious black and white energies—focused on their brows—slammed into the Roman attack, generating a surge of gray light that rushed forward.

The mental impact released by the three Romans violently collided with the brothers' mental attack.

With a thunderous crash, the ground directly between the two parties suddenly ripped open, creating a fissure several meters wide and hundreds of meters long. The earth shook violently. The crack widened continuously, causing the rock strata near the fissure to buckle upward, sending massive boulders flying into the air. However, in the blink of an eye, they were pulverized by an invisible force.

Banruo and Mo He grunted, staggering backward, blood oozing from all seven facial orifices. Mo He, whose killing intent was the strongest, had the skin around his eyes burst open, nearly ejecting his eyeballs.

The three Romans, however, exploded violently and died instantly. The twelve Illusionary Race assassins beside them also groaned; seven of them had their semi-transparent bodies turned to wisps of smoke by the mental shockwave.

The remaining five Illusionary Race assassins wailed loudly and rushed madly toward the brothers. Five curved daggers, sharp as a venomous serpent's fangs, whipped out five extremely fine beams of cold light, slashing toward the brothers with lightning speed.

An unpleasant serpent hiss rose from the ground. A massive, hundred-meter-long, nine-headed venomous python materialized from the thick green mist. The python's five great heads shot downward like lightning, swallowing the five Illusionary Race assassins whole. A massive dose of venom was instantly injected into their bodies, and the python, looking quite satisfied, opened its mouth and swallowed the assassins, whose colors had already begun to change, in an instant digesting them completely into a mass of toxic gas.

Medusa, her face grim, sprinted around the side of the mountain, screaming, "Banruo! Banruo! All our brothers on the high ground I was responsible for are wiped out! This lady is fighting back, fighting back!"

Banruo frantically patted the heavily wounded Mo He, shouting, "As long as we few can hold on, we cannot let the others mobilize! We would rather sacrifice one hundred thousand ordinary soldiers than lose a single brother! The Romans have deployed at least five hundred 'Jieshi'—at least five hundred of those bastards! I cannot risk sending our brothers to clash with them!" White light flickered continuously over Mo He’s body as his injuries rapidly healed, restoring him to perfect condition in the blink of an eye.

Medusa screamed again, looking frantically at another massive group of Romans swarming toward them like ants.

With a wave of her hands, accompanying Medusa's shriek, the giant nine-headed python opened its huge mouth and spewed out nine dense plumes of green mist. A slight breeze happened to blow from behind her, carrying the rolling toxic gas toward the attacking Romans. The entire battlefield was soon covered in the poisonous fog.

The Romans wearing energy armor were unaffected by the toxic gas, but they discovered with horror that the energy consumption rate of their armor had increased dozens of times over, as the green gas furiously eroded their energy shields. As for the Spirit Race servants who lacked energy armor, they dropped to the ground in neat rows, instantly dissolving into pools of toxic fluid that quickly became new poison gas, merging into the pervasive green mist.

In the blink of an eye, over five thousand Spirit Race servants were killed. The Roman high-ranking warriors, their formation thrown into disarray, immediately lowered the tone of their soaring battle horns by three keys and turned to flee.

Overhead, three new-model Roman warships sped toward them, their main cannons locked onto the only remaining three figures on the high ground: Banruo, Mo He, and Medusa. Intense light flickered from the muzzles; the main cannons appeared fully charged and ready to unleash a fatal attack.

"Get lost!" Mo He, having just recovered from his injuries, waved his hand. The cleaver blazed with black light, and a beam of black light several meters thick and hundreds of meters long shot skyward, cleaving directly into the hull of one warship.

With a resounding "CRACK," a thin fissure ran the length of the vessel. After the space of one breath, the stern propulsion engine section of the warship suddenly exploded. In an instant, the entire ship blew up into a massive fireball. The rolling flames plunged down from the sky, nearly scorching the three of them.

Banruo merely waved his hand casually. A pale golden Bodhi tree suddenly appeared above another warship. "Namo Amitabha," as Banruo softly chanted a Buddhist phrase, countless gold and silver Bodhi seeds rained down from the tree with a "pitter-patter" like a storm. These Bodhi seeds possessed astonishing penetration power; in moments, the warship was riddled with holes and crashed heavily from the sky. All the Romans inside were likewise riddled with holes, blood continuously flowing out through the countless openings in the hull.

"Haha! I love this!" Medusa laughed, doubling over. She suddenly opened her eyes, and two intense green beams shot out.

The green light swept across the last Roman warship, which softened rapidly like wax under intense heat. The potent toxins caused the warship to melt into a pool of viscous metallic solution.

"Go!" Banruo roared. After destroying the three new-model Roman warships, the trio immediately began to retreat backward. This was the forty-fifth defensive position Banruo had voluntarily abandoned this week! The Roman offensive was too fierce, their new warships too numerous, and the Jieshi and various bio-beasts too powerful. The Earth Federation army was essentially retreating daily, suffering tens of thousands of casualties every day.

On a hill directly opposite this defensive high ground, Heso Jin frowned as he looked at the still-smoking position ahead.

Porphyras bowed respectfully to Heso Jin. "Your Highness, the enemy has retreated again."

Heso Jin shook his head. "They haven't lost; it's a tactical withdrawal. Their commander is very smart. His troops are no match for mine, so he is using his subordinates' lives to stall for time. He is waiting for reinforcements from the Earth Federation!"

Porphyras asked cautiously, "Then, Your Highness means?"

Heso Jin let out a few displeased snorts. "I made a mistake. If I had known the commander of this Thirteenth War Zone was so formidable, I should have swept the enemies in the other twelve war zones first."

Stomping his foot in anger, Heso Jin said in a low voice, "But now that it has come to this, he has successfully stalled for seven days!"

Gritting his teeth tightly, Heso Jin squeezed out a chilling order through his teeth: "Stop conserving strength! My Imperial Guard is deployed in full force! Damn Earthlings! Decisive battle! Porphyras, I will personally lead all the Jieshi in the assault! You command all the warships and wipe out every Earth position ahead of us."

At the very moment Heso Jin issued his order, on a hill ahead, several anti-aircraft guns roared. A low-flying Roman warship had its energy shield torn apart by the cannons, and dozens of large-caliber anti-ship missiles immediately struck the vessel through the ruptured shield. The brand-new Roman warship was pierced by dozens of huge holes and shattered in a massive explosion.

"Damn it!" Heso Jin roared again. "How can the Earthlings still resist? Why do they still have the strength to resist? I will act myself! I will act myself!"

Before the words even faded, the Roman warships patrolling overhead, bombarding exposed Earth Federation firing points, suddenly burst into flames and exploded one after another.

Fifty 'South Heaven Gate' heavy dreadnoughts and one hundred and seventy 'North Heaven Gate' battleships plunged into the atmosphere of the Thirteenth Star without slowing down from outer space. The two hundred and twenty powerful new warships unleashed a barrage of ten thousand cannons, inflicting heavy damage on the surprised Roman fleet instantly!

These new warships, manufactured by Hadwor Defense Corporation, surpassed the Roman new-model warships: they were faster, their armor was thicker, their shield output was stronger, and their firepower was more ferocious. The over two hundred warships aggressively rammed into the Roman battle lines, fighting with a desperate, close-quarters fervor usually seen in ground infantry combat.

"Damn it, Earthling reinforcements! How did they arrive so quickly?"

Heso Jin and Porphyras exclaimed in unison.

An Earth warship whistled past the hill, its main cannon firing repeatedly, causing the energy shields of a hastily retreating Roman warship ahead to flicker continuously. After three consecutive hits, the Roman warship's shield shattered, and the fourth shot struck its stern thrusters, instantly vaporizing half the hull.

"Damn it," Heso Jin roared again. "Roman Imperial Guard, deploy with me! You bastards, if our latest Super Warship were here, these damned Earthlings wouldn't stand a chance!"

Porphyras carefully advised, "Your Highness, according to the latest intelligence, repairs on the Super Mothership have been completed, and the battleship production line aboard it has begun trial operation. The designed Super Mothership will be delivered to you in one month."

"One month!" Heso Jin’s face turned extremely somber.

Biting down hard on his lip, Heso Jin suddenly took out a small communicator and angrily connected to a specially established secure channel. "Teacher, I believe it is time for you to intervene personally. There are many strong individuals here; would you be satisfied with their power?"

Abruptly, the Earth warship that had swept past overhead executed a sharp turn and rushed toward them. The ship’s high-energy cannons fired at maximum speed, scattering the Romans on the hill where Heso Jin and Porphyras stood. Two high-energy beams flashed past Heso Jin's head, terrifying Porphyras into grabbing Heso Jin's hand and pulling him down the mountain.

Heso Jin furiously threw off Porphyras's arm. He shrieked, his eyes blazing with golden light, and unleashed a mental shockwave toward the Earth warship overhead.

An answering shriek came from above. Siren, clad in a pale silver-purple cloak and wielding an ancient bronze sword, leaped down from the warship. He also unleashed a mental shockwave toward Heso Jin.

Aredia followed closely behind Siren. Dozens of purple-black fireballs, the size of human heads, spun rapidly around her. With a crisp shout from Aredia, the fireballs, carrying faint sounds of thunder, shot out randomly. The entire hilltop suddenly convulsed, and dozens of mushroom-cloud pillars soared into the sky. Several thousand of the most elite Roman warriors screamed as they turned to ash amidst the overwhelming firelight.

"BANG!" Two overwhelmingly powerful mental shocks collided violently.

The mountain peak beneath Heso Jin and Porphyras suddenly disintegrated, sending hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of massive rock howling and scattering in all directions. Many Romans who had narrowly escaped the fiery hell were crushed into paste by the rapidly shooting boulders.

Heso Jin calmly raised his hands, roaring to the sky, "Be destroyed, Earthlings!"

Siren, hovering high in the air, groaned. His clothing disintegrated simultaneously, and countless extremely fine blood threads spurted from the pores of his body. Heso Jin's strength clearly exceeded Siren's expectations; his mental impact was more than double that of the second-fused Siren.

Aredia screamed, darting to Siren's side, grabbing him, and transforming into a streak of fire as they fled toward the warship overhead.

"The final destruction is inevitable."

"Ultimate darkness will reign supreme."

"Only power can transcend the darkness."

"Offer your power, offer your life, offer your soul; you shall become one with me and possess infinite strength to resist the coming destruction."

From afar came a low, hoarse voice. As this voice appeared, the surrounding atmosphere began to fluctuate abnormally.

Heso Jin displayed a cruel, sinister smile: "Teacher, if you intervene personally, you will have to kill every Earthling on this planet. We strictly adhere to the Declaration of Seclusion; you absolutely cannot appear on the battlefield!"

Overwhelming black flames materialized from nowhere, and two 'South Heaven Gate' heavy dreadnoughts quietly melted within the black flames.

Porphyras gasped in horror. "Nightwalker, the Roman Kingdom's last 'Guardian'!"

Heso Jin stated indifferently, "The last Guardian, the first apostate of the Roman Gods, the first heretic who worships the dark evil god of the Earthlings."

Porphyras bent over in terror, daring not to say another word on the subject.

A Roman man wearing exquisitely ornate black armor, a massive crown upon his head, and wielding a three-meter-long grand scepter, appeared as majestic as a god, trailing living black fire from a distance. He waved his staff and chanted in a deep voice, "Today, I have received the decree of the True God... His Excellency, the Great Dark Destroyer Diablo, proclaims that all Earthlings on this planet shall become part of my body, part of my strength, part of my soul."

With a faint, dismissive wave, a Nantianmen-class heavy battleship, over ten kilometers distant, suddenly disintegrated. The thousands of Federation soldiers aboard screamed as they were reduced to ash within the black flames that spontaneously erupted. Streaks of blinding, intense black light shot forth from the fire, continuously pouring into the man's body.

The black flames surged, increasing in both coverage and viscosity, while the dark radiance emanating from the man's eyes grew even more piercing.

"Be destroyed, Terrans."

The colossal Quanjì was raised high, and serpentine dragons of black fire coiled into the sky, launching themselves toward the reinforcement fleet brought by Siren.