New York, the Gu Family Mausoleum.

Within the grounds, Gu Xiechen knelt before the headstones of his parents, a bouquet of white tulips set neatly before him.

Kan Hua, Siren, Aredia, Ducat, Lily, Little Daoist Zhang, and True Daoist Zheng stood arrayed in a straight line behind Gu Xiechen, their expressions solemn, like a row of statues.

Fuya.Ming and Jin knelt close beside Gu Xiechen. Fuya.Ming held her hands together, silently praying for his parents. Jin’s pair of violet eyes darted about, sneakily glancing at the stern-faced Gu Xiechen, occasionally wriggling her body to stealthily pull a face at him.

Ducat watched Gu Xiechen’s back, feeling only an inexpressible warmth and comfort swell in his heart. A month prior, Xiao Yiqiu had been interred in the Xiao family ancestral tomb with the utmost ceremony, his name also officially inscribed in the Xiao family genealogy. Of course, the seven consecutive nights of nightmare visitations by the reanimated dead that plagued the Xiao family, and the incident where thousands of clan members were viciously mauled and nearly disfigured by their zombie poultry and pets—these events were classified secrets within the Federation. But Ducat knew who was responsible, which only brightened his mood and deepened his sense of kinship and closeness with Gu Xiechen and Kan Hua.

With a soft sigh, Gu Xiechen bowed his head to the graves.

“Well, since you won't speak up, I’ll take that as your consent. Fuya.Ming as your daughter-in-law; I think that’s quite fitting. A Queen, no less. Our Gu family now has ties to royalty, wouldn't you say? Back in the day, we’d be treated as Imperial Merchants for such a connection.”

“Take care of yourselves down there. Unless something unexpected happens, I won’t be joining you anytime soon. However, Gu Juechen will be down there. When he arrives, make sure he doesn’t get an easy welcome.”

“The entire Earth Federation is migrating to Paradise Star. This is the Gu family’s ancestral ground; you wouldn’t want to leave your homeland. So, I’m not moving you. Don’t be lonely. I’ll come back to see you whenever I can. Rest assured, I am doing exceedingly well—better than ever before.”

Clapping Fuya.Ming sharply on the shoulder, Gu Xiechen stood up and executed a deep, respectful bow. Fuya.Ming and Jin hastily rose to follow his gesture. Gu Xiechen reset the protective array around his parents’ tombs, and only then did the group slowly walk toward the mausoleum entrance.

Standing near the main gate of the mausoleum, one could see countless ships, large and small, slowly lifting off in the distance. Each vessel was packed with jubilant Federation citizens, who were boarding the warships with their entire households, heading for the legendary Paradise Star, rumored to hold infinite resources and breathtaking environments.

The migration effort had been ongoing for a month, with the seven super-motherships—recently refitted by Ducat—now joining the exodus. Given their immense capacity, each mothership could effortlessly ferry over two quintillion Federation citizens along with all their cherished belongings and equipment. This was an unprecedented mass relocation; not only the citizens were moving, but every portable item on Earth was being taken. From battleship production lines down to a few pet Silkie chickens, everything was destined for Paradise Star.

With ample warships and sufficient time, the relocation proceeded methodically. Over the past month, more than twenty-four billion Federation citizens had already been dispatched to Paradise Star and the Thirteenth Star Cluster. The remaining six billion would follow within the next month and a half. The later shipments would consist less of people and more of heavy machinery.

“Siren, Aredia, you two will have a busy time. The Special Service Bureau must coordinate with other departments to ensure the smooth evacuation of the remaining populace,” Gu Xiechen said with a smile as he watched the ships ascend. Siren and Aredia nodded and smiled their assent.

“Ducat, I’m relying on you heavily for the motherships. We don't have enough crew to operate them, so we’ll have to trouble you and Little Xiao,” Gu Xiechen turned to Ducat. Ducat nodded firmly, without speaking a word. In his heart, he felt no need for unnecessary pleasantries with Gu Xiechen. Simply doing whatever Gu Xiechen required to the best of his ability was enough.

The group watched the ceaseless stream of taking-off ships for a long moment, a strange emptiness settling in their chests. Humanity was finally leaving the nurturing soil of its home planet, truly venturing into the boundless cosmos. Earth, nearly hollowed out, could no longer sustain the endless demands of billions of people. Leaving Earth for Paradise Star was a leap forward—the beginning of the entire human race stepping into the universe, toward a brighter future.

A profound sense of loss washed over Gu Xiechen. Was this how a child felt leaving its mother? Humanity had departed Earth, but here remained humanity’s root and soul. He glanced back at the frost-covered graves of his parents and smiled deeply. Yes, the root and soul of all humans remained on Earth; this planet would always be their mother star.

Outside the mausoleum, the main engine of a small warship flared to life. Gu Xiechen, Fuya.Ming, and Jin were heading to Paradise Star, where countless matters awaited their coordination. Were it not for Gu Xiechen’s need to pay respects, Fuya.Ming and Jin would not have hurried back to Earth. Fuya.Ming was there to pay respects to her deceased in-laws as Gu Xiechen’s future wife, and Jin… nobody knew why she insisted on tagging along.

Outside the orbit of Pluto in the Solar System, a graceful, thirty-kilometer-long vessel shaped like a colossal, stylized bird, its surface armor gleaming with a smooth radiance like cast crystal, silently phased out of the void. It exhibited no kinetic or energy signature, nor did it generate any unusual sound; the ship simply materialized like a phantom.

Immediately following, two identical warships leaped out of the void. The three vessels hovered silently, seemingly scanning the surrounding environment. After about thirty seconds, they accelerated almost instantaneously to half the speed of light, quickly reaching a cruising velocity just shy of light speed, closing rapidly on Neptune’s orbit and settling directly behind the planet.

A probe, crystal clear and seemingly forged from crystal, less than thirty centimeters in diameter, was launched from one of the warships. The instant it launched, the probe warped into subspace, reappearing moments later, having bypassed the numerous detection systems established by the Earth Federation near the planet. It penetrated the Earth-Moon orbit without alerting anyone, then disintegrated into hundreds of thumb-sized sensor clusters that enveloped the Earth.

Invisible scanning waves swept across the planet, relaying massive amounts of data back to the three warships.

Inside the command bridge of the first ship that appeared, a tall, commanding, and exquisitely handsome young man, dressed in a crisp, immaculate uniform, was seated upon a throne carved from natural crystal. His hands gently caressed the face of a stunning young woman who was resting with her head on his lap. He held her cheeks as if appreciating a priceless artifact, planting soft kisses upon her face while murmuring sweet, low endearments.

The girl gazed up at the young man in a daze, her face flushed a shade that seemed capable of dripping blood.

Suddenly, a figure materialized within the command bridge.

It was as if Jin herself had stepped into the bridge. The Jin standing before the young man was perfectly identical to her true form—every subtle smile, every gesture, was vividly rendered, even the fine strands of her hair moving in a non-existent breeze were clearly visible.

The command bridge lacked the complex control panels and numerous operators typical of standard warships. The circular bridge, approximately five hundred meters in diameter, contained only one hundred and twenty alloy chairs arranged in a circle around the central figure. Each man or woman, handsome or beautiful, sat ramrod straight. Before each person floated a transparent crystal sphere about one meter in diameter. Their hands rested upon these spheres, and faint glints of sharp intelligence occasionally flickered in their partially open eyes.

“Target acquisition in progress.”

“Iris scan, identity confirmed.”

“Fingerprint and palm print scan, identity confirmed.”

“Lip print scan, identity confirmed.”

“Internal skeletal contour scan, identity confirmed.”

“Genetic tracking lock confirms target identity.”

A woman opened her eyes and nodded to the young man seated centrally. “General, the target is confirmed as Jin, Junior Commander of the Hook Breaker Coterie.”

The young man’s hands, which had been playfully tracing the contours of the girl in his lap, suddenly froze. He lifted his head and stated calmly, “Destroy the target completely. Ensure absolute annihilation, with no trace of artificial intervention. Everything must appear as a natural disaster.”

After a moment of thought, the young man smiled. “Activate Plan One.”

The woman acknowledged, “Yes. Plan One initiated. Calculating spatial overlap coordinates. All reserve vessels begin charging. Spatial folding projection system on standby.”

In subspace, a squadron of nine bird-shaped mega-warships hovered motionlessly within a surging tidal surge of spatial energy. Several beams, no thicker than a thumb, shot from the sterns of the vessels, tightly encircling a massive black celestial body nearly a thousand kilometers in diameter, anchoring it against the violent spatial currents.

This was a neutron star of immense mass. Although its diameter was only a thousand kilometers, its total mass was staggeringly large. Some believed that the universe's most terrifying monster, the black hole, was merely the result of a neutron star undergoing further collapse. Others hypothesized that by applying specific energy pulses to stimulate a neutron star’s decay, it could be triggered into a chain reaction, similar to a nuclear bomb, causing it to instantly collapse and decay, thus creating an artificial black hole in a very short time.

The instant a certain message was transmitted from real space where the Solar System resided, piercing alarms blared across the nine warships. The vessels released their tractor beams from their sterns and arranged themselves in a perfect circle around the neutron star. The prows of the nine ships suddenly ejected a fluid, crystalline substance that rapidly coalesced into a colossal, ten-thousand-meter-long triangular prism spike. Accompanied by a pleasant, resonant clang, the tip of the spike fractured, splitting into dozens of smaller crystal spikes, each a thousand meters long, extending in all directions.

Each of the smaller spikes began to radiate faint, peculiar light. The magnificent light flows across the outer armor of the nine warships suddenly dimmed, as if all their energy was being channeled into these spikes.

The three bird-shaped warships in the Solar System slowly approached Earth. The young general gazed thoughtfully at the super-motherships suspended outside the Earth’s atmosphere and chuckled softly, “It seems they are undergoing stellar migration? Hm… this planet has been excavated to such depths? Truly a low-tier species that shows no respect for its own homeworld.”

Flicking a finger, the general narrowed his eyes at the frozen image of Jin within the command bridge and sighed wistfully, “What a rare beauty. A pity she must be destroyed. Violet pupils, violet hair—such noble, inviolable purple. Truly… a great waste.”

The atmosphere in the bridge became profoundly strange as all occupants turned to look at the suspended figure of Jin. The young general sighed a few times and issued a calm command: “Begin targeting lock! In subspace, the crystal spikes deployed from the prows of the nine warships begin charging. Minute beams of light shoot from the spikes, weaving a vast net around the neutron star. Gradually, the beams grow denser and stronger; the neutron star loses its discernible shape, becoming only a blinding cocoon of light floating in the boundless subspace.”

In the command bridge of the bird-shaped warships within the Solar System, a middle-aged man urgently reported to the general:

“General, the spatial folding system is fully primed. This projection requires a massive energy expenditure, necessitating your authorization to use Divine Crystal energy. Calculations indicate this folding projection will deplete all residual energy in our allocated Divine Crystals.”

The young general’s brow furrowed, and he spoke with displeasure, “It will exhaust all remaining energy? That’s our quota for a hundred standard years… But… fine. Forget it.”

A blue crystal sphere floated out from the general’s chest. He casually placed his hand upon it and stated flatly, “In the name of the Empire, authorization is granted to the Goro.Man Detachment of the Nebula Corps, Imperial Guard, to utilize Divine Crystal energy. This is an Imperial Royal Strategic Top-Secret Mission; this authorization shall not be officially recorded.”

Following the general’s decree, the nine bird-shaped warships in subspace erupted with blinding light and heat. An immense surge of energy gathered and churned in subspace, its violent wave gradually expanding outwards, pulverizing the approaching subspace energy turbulence. The energy was so potent that the neutron star, encased in its light cocoon, appeared to shrink by several kilometers in diameter under the pressure of the energy wave for that instant.

In the Solar System bird-ships, the young general shot a fierce glance at the image of Jin and barked, “Spatial Fold Projection—program initiated! Inject that neutron star into the core of this low-level civilization’s homeworld to ensure total destruction of the target! Repeat: Spatial Fold Projection program initiated!”

The one hundred and twenty individuals in the bridge spoke in unison, “Spatial Fold Projection program initiated, spatial coordinates locked, Black Hole Excitation program commencing!”

In subspace, the intense light emitted by the nine bird-shaped warships abruptly retracted. The crystal spikes at their prows shot out countless dazzling filaments of light. These filaments sliced through the void, tearing apart the section of space containing the neutron star. Intense light erupted, and bizarre spatial energies radiated outward wildly. The massive neutron star suddenly unleashed a blinding black beam of light and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Gu Xiechen, with Fuya.Ming on one arm and Jin forcefully clutching his other hand, managed to board the warship’s ramp after some struggle.

The group entered the ship’s cabin and waved through the viewport at Siren and Aredia standing on the grass outside. Siren grinned and waved back heartily, shouting toward the ship, “Once this matter is settled, Aredia and I are getting married! Make sure to invite a few important, high-status figures to witness the ceremony—don’t forget!”

Gu Xiechen roared with laughter, about to send a mental message to tease Siren, especially wanting to ask if that little one whose color had shifted was finally normal again, when an extremely profound sense of terror surged from the depths of his heart. This dread and despair were identical to what he had sensed through Turtle Divination a month ago in the ancient town of the Xiao family. A deep fissure suddenly split open on his palm, and a torrent of blood sprayed out.

Disaster was imminent, yet Gu Xiechen could not discern its origin. He looked around in horror, feeling as if his neck vertebrae had been sealed with cement, requiring every ounce of his strength just to turn his neck slightly. His divine sense felt pressed down by immense mountains; no matter how hard he strained, it could only expand outward inch by painstaking inch.

As if watching an old twenty-four-frame black-and-white film, Gu Xiechen saw Siren and Aredia slowly lift their feet and turn slowly, moving toward a team of Special Service vehicles speeding toward them. Siren continued to wave back at Gu Xiechen as he walked, occasionally blowing him kisses. Aredia’s beautiful, serene face was alight with happiness; her entire attention was focused on Siren, and she occasionally reached out to smooth Siren’s wind-tousled hair.

The surrounding air seemed to solidify—the wind ceased flowing, the clouds stopped drifting, and within the scope of his divine sense, even the river water appeared frozen in place.

Gu Xiechen looked in horror at Fuya.Ming beside him and saw her smiling as she spoke to him. He clearly saw the sound waves forming in the air from her voice, saw the circular arcs of sound slowly radiating outward, slowly moving toward his ears. He even saw a few specks of dust slowly drifting down toward Fuya.Ming, yet being blown far away by the slight breeze created by her own speech.

Large beads of cold sweat erupted from Gu Xiechen’s pores. He took a deep breath, his divine sense and True Essence revolving at an unprecedented speed.

The Pagoda of the Azure Heaven burst forth with a cyan light enveloping Gu Xiechen’s body. His Soul Pearl throbbed with a terrifying frequency, and vast quantities of Grand Yin Scorching Flames poured forth from the pearl, incessantly scorching the physical form of the Solar True God. Gu Xiechen’s body trembled—trembled in sync with the vibrating frequency of his Soul Pearl. It was a frequency capable of atomizing alloy; such high-frequency vibration caused the Primordial Chaos Qi and Turbid Qi contained within Gu Xiechen’s cells to secrete in massive amounts, pouring into his Dantian.

“D-d-danger! E-escape!” Pure instinct roared deep within Gu Xiechen’s soul. The high-frequency oscillation of the Soul Pearl propelled the vibration frequency of Gu Xiechen’s divine sense to an unbelievable speed. Within this localized area, the speed of Gu Xiechen’s divine sense even surpassed light speed, exceeding the maximum limit this space could sustain.

Escape, escape, escape! Gu Xiechen screamed internally. But he did not know where to flee or how to escape. His Soul Pearl spun wildly, and every event he had encountered since beginning his cultivation flashed before him. The memories and experience he had drawn from the Golden Star beside his Taiji Vortex surged into his Soul Pearl like a tide, merging with his soul.

A specific memory was suddenly extracted from the flood of Gu Xiechen’s recollections by the cyan light emitted from the Pagoda of the Azure Heaven: his experience discovering Xiao’s mining base. There, Gu Xiechen’s divine sense had registered the peculiar energy fluctuation frequency of a spatial jump point, and he had imitated that fluctuation with his own divine thought.

The very next instant, Gu Xiechen’s divine sense instinctively began to vibrate, following the highest frequency among those energy fluctuations. The entire Soul Pearl erupted with brilliant five-colored flames, almost burning the bead itself to ash. A massive amount of pure Soul Origin power merged into Gu Xiechen’s Sea of Consciousness, stimulating his spiritual perception to rapidly enhance.

Hiss, hiss, hiss… A black, flickering void gradually appeared in the air before Gu Xiechen. Looking through that void, one could see the turbulent chaos of subspace.

“Go!” A fierce shout tore from Gu Xiechen’s throat. With a sweep of his wide sleeve, he gathered Fuya.Ming, Jin, Kan Hua, Ducat, and Lily, and plunged into the void faster than lightning.

The Stellar Grand Shift Divine Ability—an ability lost to the Earth Cultivation World—was reborn through Gu Xiechen. The current cultivation world only possessed minor shifting techniques capable of instantaneous movement over a few hundred miles. The Stellar Grand Shift Gu Xiechen was using now was a divine ability employed by Mahayana cultivators who had passed their Heavenly Tribulations, or high-level Loose Immortals in antiquity, when traveling between stars. It demanded immense power and an exceptionally high precision of divine sense; failure to locate the coordinates accurately would result in being lost forever in the vast spatial torrent.

The Taiyin Profound Pearl sensed Gu Wuchen’s terror and despair. The ashen-white pearl suddenly surged out of his Dantian, transforming into a bright moon hanging high above his head. A barrier composed purely of Taiyin Qi firmly shielded Gu Xiechen. Boundless Primordial Pure Qi and Primordial Turbid Qi erupted from within Gu Wuchen, continuously being converted into Taiyin Qi by the Taiyin Profound Pearl. A portion of the Taiyin Qi formed the protective barrier around everyone, while the rest flowed into Gu Wuchen’s body, becoming part of his cultivation.

The very instant Gu Wuchen’s divine sense tore through the void, a brilliant radiance flashed across his body. The primordial shackles that had been bound to Gu Xiechen since eternity were forcibly broken by his surging divine sense and true essence. Everything within Gu Xiechen’s vision was the vast void, the boundless universe. As his divine sense swept out, everything within a radius of a hundred thousand li became perfectly clear. Every single cell in his body was releasing magnificent, unshakable power. His aura grew madly, gradually reaching a new peak.

The second layer of the Taiyin Scripture, Chapter on Man, reached the Mahayana stage. Gu Xiechen’s skin suddenly shattered with a crisp hiss, turning into countless specks of powder that drifted away. New skin, utterly clean, fair, and devoid of luster, rapidly grew in its place.

The Dao of Taiyin was subtle and unassuming. At this moment, Gu Wuchen resembled a precious bead that had retracted all its light—outwardly unremarkable, yet internally pregnant with radiant light and endless essence.

In the next instant, Gu Xiechen, along with Fu Ya, Ming, and the others, flashed near the orbit of Mars. A large volume of blood erupted from Gu Xiechen’s pores. As if maddened, he once again unleashed a powerful divine sense to tear space apart. The group continued to teleport and flash forward. After just a few breaths, Gu Xiechen brought them to Pluto, currently at its aphelion.

Several low-level Christaloids were roaming aimlessly across the surface of Pluto. They suddenly spotted Gu Xiechen’s party. The few Crystaloids immediately lunged forward, adopting a posture of fighting to the death.

“Scram!” A roar finally tore from Gu Xiechen’s throat. He struck out with a Flying Waterfall Sleeve attack, and the Crystaloids were instantly pulverized.

The next moment, tears of blood jetted from Gu Xiechen’s eyes, mixing with blood and spraying dozens of meters away. “SirenArethusa” Gu Xiechen cried out tragically to the heavens.

A neutron star, nearly a thousand kilometers in diameter, materialized inside the Earth’s core, displacing the planet’s original nucleus. The neutron star’s immense gravity caused the Earth to undergo violent collapse in one ten-thousandth of a second. Almost simultaneously as Gu Xiechen escaped with his party via teleportation, the Earth evaporated from the vastness of space, transforming into a negligible ‘membrane’ on the surface of the neutron star.

A sharp black light flashed within the neutron star, which itself began an irreversible collapse. The space near Earth twisted, and a massive black hole shockingly appeared. This black hole connected to the subspace, spewing torrents of annihilation-level subspace energy outward in the form of high-energy rays.

The Moon and the immigrant fleet anchored outside Earth’s atmosphere flashed with a strong light before being vaporized into fine smoke by the terrifying energy—smoke that was then completely devoured by the black hole.

Within the subspace, a horrific refractive spatial explosion suddenly erupted. The power of this explosion was comparable to the collision of a black hole and a supernova that Gu Wuchen had previously encountered.

Nine bird-shaped warships lightly leaped out from the periphery of the Solar System, escaping the terror of the subspace detonation. The nine vessels skimmed past Pluto, flying so close they nearly grazed the scalps of Gu Xiechen and his group. Three more warships rapidly converged with the first nine.

The fleet hovered silently in the void. The young general in the flagship’s command cabin leaned back casually with his arms crossed, smiling faintly as he watched the black hole begin to devour everything around it.

“A perfect plan. An inexplicable subspace explosion breached the spatial barrier, creating a small black hole near the home world of a low-level civilization in some remote galaxy in normal space! What a pity that we witnessed this, yet lack the means to save these unfortunate lower-order beings.”

The young general yawned and weakly chuckled toward the one hundred and twenty subordinates in the cabin. “They haven't joined the Star Alliance yet, have they? We shouldn’t have violated the Alliance’s ‘Mutual Civilizational Rescue Edict,’ should we?” He puffed out his chest slightly and sighed wearily, “I am a law-abiding individual. If they had joined the Alliance, I would at least have attempted to rescue the beautiful women of this race!”

A middle-aged man smiled slightly. “No, General. A civilization this primitive could never join the Alliance; at least, I have no such memory. This star sector is too remote, too secluded; it’s impossible for any advanced civilization to arise here.” After a pause, the man sneered, “According to the data transmitted by the probes, this civilization’s technological level is extremely inferior. Though those seven giant motherships are somewhat interesting, that’s all. They probably got lucky and stumbled upon some heritage from an ancient civilization, striking an unexpected windfall.”

The young general nodded in strong agreement. “Indeed, an unexpected windfall, which is why they started interstellar migration. It’s not surprising; if they could build warships that massive—even if the design philosophy is archaic—they should have possessed interstellar migration capabilities long ago.”

Waving his hand dismissively, he inquired, “Target confirmed for destruction?”

A woman pressed her hands onto a crystal sphere before her. After about ten seconds, she happily opened her eyes and nodded. “No signal returned from the Gene Tracking Tracker. Target confirmed for destruction!” As soon as the woman finished speaking, the figure of another woman suddenly materialized within the command cabin.

Purple long hair, purple eyes, a long purple gown, coupled with exquisite arm guards carved from purple crystal on her hands—this woman gave the impression of a glittering amethyst gem. Her appearance shared over ninety percent similarity with Jin, but her aura was far more mature, regal, and supreme, entirely different from Jin’s youthful innocence.

“Golo, Mann, is the mission complete?” the woman asked faintly, narrowing her eyes.

“Your most loyal servant, Golo, Mann, has completed your entrusted task, most revered Empress!” The young general, Golo, Mann, knelt on one knee, bowing his head deeply. “Target confirmed for destruction; no feedback signal returned from the Gene Tracking Tracker.”

“Then…” The woman’s expression did not shift at all. She stated coldly, “Then that is excellent. Destroy the Gene Tracking Tracker in your possession.”

Golo, Mann wordlessly tapped the floor. A large bulge rose from the glittering crystal floor, which flowed like water ripples. A fist-sized, exquisite instrument shot up from below, spinning dizzily before Golo, Mann.

Golo, Mann lifted the Gene Tracking Tracker for the woman to inspect. A stream of purple flame erupted from his palm, instantly burning the instrument to ash.

The woman’s expression visibly relaxed. After pondering for a moment, she waved her hand with utmost grace. “I do not wish for anyone to know this Gene Tracking Tracker ever existed… Golo, Mann, the post of Governor of the Empire’s Wolsom Sector is vacant. Your experience and ability are sufficient to shoulder this heavy responsibility.”

“Assume your post with the utmost speed, and firmly control the Wolsom Sector.”

Golo, Mann visibly froze, then knelt before the woman again, ecstatic yet tinged with incredulous suspicion. “There is no generosity greater than yours, Your Majesty the Empress. Golo, Mann will forever be your most loyal servant—he was, he is, and he will be—just as the Datalia family has been loyal to your lineage. Golo, Mann, Datalia will always be your loyal retainer.”

The woman nodded with satisfaction, and her figure instantly dissipated.

Golo, Mann slowly raised his head. He stared blankly at the empty air before him, then suddenly flipped over, leaping seven or eight meters high, screaming in ecstatic frenzy: “Governor of Wolsom! Governor of Wolsom! Governor of Wolsom, commanding one hundred legions of the Empire… the most critical regional lord of the Empire… I am the youngest governor in the history of the Polaris Empire!”

Accompanied by Golo, Mann’s excited shouts, the twelve bird-shaped warships suddenly emitted a gentle, soft glow, and they vanished soundlessly into thin air.

Gu Xiechen let out a low roar toward the sky. He forcefully clapped his sword-case, and a beam of black and white light flashed. The True Magnetic Two-Essence Splitting Sword rapidly retreated into the spatial barrier, aiming for the warship closest to him.

In an instant, the sword light pierced the warship thousands of times. A massive rain of light sprayed from the ship’s hull. The warship’s energy shield shattered, and the hull cracked with hundreds of fine, deep fissures stretching over ten li. A flash of brilliant light followed, and the warship exploded violently. The True Magnetic Two-Essence Splitting Sword, riding the firelight of the explosion, swept toward the other eleven warships.

Boom, boom, boom… Eight of the small fleet commanded by Golo, Mann were destroyed for no discernible reason. Only four warships, having already increased their speed to the maximum, managed to escape by sheer luck.

Golo, Mann shrieked in terror, “What is going on?”

No one could answer him. Everyone in the command cabin stared with ashen faces at the eight massive fireballs far behind them. Almost instinctively, the pilots of the four remaining warships pushed their speed to the maximum, fleeing desperately through the chaotic energy storm of subspace.

The sword light flashed, and the True Magnetic Two-Essence Splitting Sword reformed into a cluster of black-and-white True Magnetic Two-Essence light before Gu Xiechen. Within the light stood a middle-aged man, looking perhaps fifty or sixty years old, frozen stiff. He stared at Gu Xiechen with an expression of absolute horror, bordering on despair. He had escaped into subspace with his ship; why was his vessel suddenly destroyed, leaving him stranded in this inexplicable, perilous place?

Gu Xiechen stared coldly at the man, slowly extending his right hand, which was encased in a shield formed of Taiyin Qi, and snatched the man’s head.

The soul-searching technique recorded in the Great Desolation Scripture was activated. The Taiyin Blazing Flames surged into the man’s sea of consciousness, instantly shattering his soul. All his memories appeared before Gu Xiechen, completely unreservedly.

“Polaris Empire Royal Guard Nebula Legion, Golo, Mann Detachment! Their commander is the Polaris Empire Royal Guard Major General, Golo, Mann, Datalia!” Gu Xiechen released his hand, the True Magnetic Two-Essence Light compressed in the center, slicing the man into dust.

“Siren.00Arethusa.00And…00”

Gu Xiechen’s face suddenly turned pale. He let out a long cry to the heavens, and his recovered True Essence surged out of his body without restraint, tearing open the void before him once more.

The Starry Sky Grand Teleportation was activated. Gu Xiechen, carrying the pale-faced Fu Ya and Ming, transformed into a streak of ashen-white cold light, instantly crossing the void and returning near Earth.

Earth was completely annihilated. Only a black hole about one hundred kilometers in diameter remained in its place. The surrounding space was distorted by the black hole’s enormous gravity, creating an area miles wide that appeared utterly black, as if nothing existed there, yet the immense gravitational pull could be clearly sensed.

The Taiyin Qi encased Gu Xiechen. The Innate Taiyin Qi remained completely unaffected by the black hole’s gravity, allowing Gu Xiechen to hover motionless in space.

“Dad, Mom, and so many brothers…” Gu Wuchen stared blankly at the black hole, his face bone-white, his eyes gradually turning red. His heart pounded forcefully, like the impact of heavy artillery. Hot blood slowly flooded his retinas, turning everything he saw into a blood-red hue.

Federation immigrants and scientific researchers were prioritized, followed by ordinary citizens. Of the Hadwar Defense Company’s soldiers, apart from those already deployed, nearly one million newly conscripted mercenaries and tens of thousands of veterans returning for repairs remained on Earth. The relatives of scientific personnel like Bill and Roxx were also still on Earth, busy visiting Earth’s famous scenic spots.

But now, so many people had died in this disaster orchestrated by the Polaris Empire.

Besides those beside Gu Xiechen, there were six billion Federation citizens who hadn't evacuated in time.

On the seven supermotherships were tens of thousands of elites carefully selected from the Federation Army, learning the operational procedures and coordinating the functions of the various departments. They were the cream of the Earth Federation Military—and all were annihilated, not a single person remaining. The actual combat strength of the Earth Federation Military had been weakened by at least sixty percent. Even more devastating, among them were hundreds of thousands of outstanding reserve officers from the Federation Military Academies—nearly all the reserve officers the Earth Federation had cultivated in the last two decades.

Twenty years of effort, wiped out in one morning. Gu Xiechen didn't know how he would face Poison Wolf.

“What happened… How did they find Earth? Why did they attack the Earth Federation?”

“Spatial folding projection attack? Is this the technology that can achieve the terrifying power equivalent to a top-tier Golden Immortal, using a technique like the ‘Mustard Seed Holds a Thousand Miles: Mirror Flower Water Moon Illusionary Annihilation Forbidden Art’ from Xianfa?”

“Why? Why would they attack Earth? Was there no reason at all?”

“Dad… Mom…”

Darkness swept over Gu Xiechen. He seemed to see his father and mother standing before him, holding hands, standing in an endless field of white tulips.

Amidst the crimson light, the figures of Gu Ye and the young girl Jing suddenly disintegrated. The white tulip petals shattered, turning into countless specks of blood-colored powder that sprayed outward.

“I only ever wanted to be a businessman in peace.”

“I never had ambition.”

“I never had excessive desires.”

“I only wanted to inherit the family business and become a true merchant.”

“I believed in the merchant’s code: always leave a way out for others, so you can meet again later. I believed in the principle of ‘Harmony brings Wealth’; I always gave people leeway and never forced anyone to death.”

“I tried my best not to create mortal enemies. Over the years, I avoided making deadly feuds.”

“I am a merchant. I have always believed I am just a merchant.”

“But… why did you have to be so absolute? Two trails of blood tears dripped from the corners of Gu Xiechen’s eyes. His heart gradually turned colder, then colder still, until a sheet of profound ice sealed it tight.

“The ‘Mustard Seed Holds a Thousand Miles: Mirror Flower Water Moon Illusionary Annihilation Forbidden Art’—you left no chance for survival.”

His divine sense suddenly registered a faint signal wave coming from an extreme distance—a signal from several subspace communication repeaters mounted in high orbit.

Gu Xiechen was momentarily stunned. He opened a tiny aperture in the Taiyin Qi, allowing the wave to enter.

On his personal terminal, the image of Poison Wolf popped up. Poison Wolf’s face was ashen, and he was drenched in sweat. He cried out hoarsely, “What happened on Earth? Why is there no feedback signal at all? Where are the seniors? Where are the seniors of the Dao Alliance? The Gods Federation has launched a massive invasion! The entire Thirteenth Consecutive Star Defense Line has collapsed! Twenty supermotherships have fallen into enemy hands!”

Gu Xiechen, dazed, let out a mournful cry to the heavens. He gazed deeply at the black hole before him and smiled gently at Poison Wolf.

“Earth has been completely destroyed. Master and the others are following the star map I gave them to explore and seek treasure on the legendary twelfth planet of the Solar System. They left half a month ago and should still be en route.”

“The Gods Federation has mobilized troops? They are courting death.”

A sharp pain swept through Gu Xiechen’s pupils, and his two eyes turned into a sinister, terrifying dark red—a crimson hue like two ghostly flames.

“Farewell, Dad, Mom!”

Gu Xiechen flicked his wrist, tossing out one warship, and retreated into the cabin with everyone else.

Ducat’s pupils also turned a deep blood-red. He stared fixedly at the black hole, two trails of bloody tears rolling silently down his face.

“Farewell, Mom…”

Gu Xiechen, his heart like profound ice, stood in the command cabin with a faint smile and issued a gentle order.

“Ducat, let’s set sail for the Thirteenth Consecutive Star… No—kill everyone in the Gods Federation.”

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