As the world-core of the final Unity Stage battlefield was shattered, the first phase of the terminal war for the World-Domain Battlefield finally drew to a close.
Within their respective battle zones, Sister Nan, Meng Yan, Han Li, Zhang Daniu, Chang Qing, Chang E, and the others all fell into a long, heavy silence after their conflicts concluded.
The strength of nearly every individual among them had seen a terrifying increase. In normal times, they would have been so exhilarated they would not have been able to sleep.
But such excitement never existed for those who had crawled their way out of hell. Every survivor was someone who had clawed their way out of a demonic nest. A single mistake would have meant being buried in this place forever.
Yet, this was not even the most agonizing part. This was not the hell of a single man; it was the hell of a collective.
Under Qi Ping's leadership, the citizens of the Star-Sea World had merged into a single entity, long transcending their days as enemies who viewed each other with indifference. At this stage, they were building a stable cultivation world they had never dared to imagine. Compared to the old days—where stepping out the door meant worrying about marauder cultivators or being targeted for showing the slightest wealth—the Star-Sea Nine Domains were incomparably more secure.
The warriors preparing for the Star-Sea defense had seen each other, even if they didn't know every name. But now, more than half of them were dead.
Staring at the broken, lifeless corpses of their companions, everyone felt a single sensation: suffocation.
The battlefields that had sent back no news at all were even more deafening in their silence. That silence represented only one outcome: total annihilation. Not even a single relic would be left behind.
Everyone knew this was not the end. The enemies were too many, and the cruel slaughter was far from over.
When the final battle of the Unity Stage was decided, everyone snapped out of their silence. Anxious and apprehensive, they looked up at the phenomena appearing in the sky.
Pristine spiritual energy showered down from the heavens, allowing everyone's injuries and spiritual power to recover to a certain degree.
Shortly after, a mysterious spatial fluctuation carrying the power of teleportation emerged, enveloping every person.
In the final moment before being transported to the ultimate battlefield, the survivors looked at one another. They saw the same trepidation reflected in every pair of eyes.
'If Qi Ping loses... is there any hope of winning this war?'
...
At the center of the endless World-Domain Battlefield stood a super-battlefield that spanned the ages.
Here, the ground was marred by countless scars left by ancient conflicts.
Broken weapons...
Shattered fangs and scales...
Countless desiccated corpses lay strewn about, the vast majority belonging to races that had never even appeared in the Star-Sea World. These bodies had long lost all their power, yet one could still sense their past majesty and strength from the residual spiritual rhythm clinging to them.
Their durability, having resisted decay through countless eons, hinted at how magnificent they had once been.
However, no matter how brilliant those existences were, they could only fall here, becoming one of the myriad corpses—a mere backdrop for this ancient battlefield, or perhaps even nourishment for some unknown entity.
Without a doubt, this was a super ancient battlefield capable of shocking anyone.
Anyone descending here would be stunned by the sights. A peerless powerhouse who stood above all in their own world was nothing more than a grain of dust under the weight of infinite time here.
Regarding this mysterious ancient battlefield, there was a saying:
"Only by stepping here can one see a corner of the true universe."
"Even the most brilliant genius, upon arriving here, will tuck away their former arrogance."
However, none of these shocking sights were as dazzling as the monument standing at the center of the battlefield.
It was a mottled stone tablet doused in endless blood. The power of infinite time flowed over it, yet could not erode it in the slightest.
More unnervingly, any living being entering this place—no matter which corner of the battlefield they were in or how far they were—could clearly see this stone tablet and every name written upon it.
It seemed that every name was written in a different script or symbolic language.
...
"Is this the central battlefield where the final showdown will take place?"
"How many companions are left?"
"Where is the Star-Emperor?"
As the figures of the Star-Sea World appeared across this ancient battlefield, everyone immediately looked around with frantic urgency.
Soon, they were stunned by the scene before them.
"What are those things? The pressure from those corpses is terrifying!"
"Those weapons feel far stronger than our spirit tools, yet they are all snapped?"
"What is that stone tablet? It clearly feels tens of thousands of miles away, yet why is it so clear?"
At this moment, they were like country bumpkins seeing the world for the first time. Even though they had mentally prepared themselves, they were still shocked beyond measure.
It was too overwhelming. This shock was no less than a mortal witnessing the cultivation world for the first time. The terror of the greater universe surpassed everyone's imagination.
Each person felt their own insignificance deeply. The sliver of complacency they had gained from their transformation through the power of Gilded Providence vanished instantly.
For every person witnessing this, their worldview was infinitely widened in a single moment.
However, the shock was quickly suppressed. Their hearts were not on the scenery; the fate of their homes and their very lives hung in the balance. How could they care about such things? It was only because the scene was so staggering that they paid it any attention at all.
Looking at the sparse crowd around them compared to the grand spectacle of their departure, a sense of inexplicable desolation flashed through their hearts.
More than half the people were gone. The cruelty of war was on full display.
Simultaneously, following the grief, an extreme rage and killing intent rose in their hearts. Before, they were powerless, but now their strength had significantly improved. After surviving life-and-death battles and crawling out of hell, everyone's strength and realm were soaring—especially their capacity for combat and slaughter.
Those of the Star-Sea World still standing here had nearly all evolved to a new level. They radiated intense killing intent and an ever-strengthening aura.
The unique growth potential of the human race was manifesting at this moment.
Humans were considered one of the races with the fewest innate special abilities in the universe. They also possessed complex flaws—laziness, greed, and malice. Their tendency for internal strife was among the highest.
But simultaneously, beneath these flaws and mundane traits, humans possessed incredible growth potential and the ability to learn any supernatural talent. While most races relied on innate traits, humans relied on cultivation techniques, possessing complex and bizarre methods, some of which rivaled the famous super-divine abilities of the universe.
And while humans had complex flaws, they sometimes exhibited an equally complex divine nature.
Traits like fearlessness in the face of death, sacrifice, and life-and-death coordination were, at certain times, no worse than those of naturally loyal races like the Insectoids or Bee Swarms.
However, those naturally loyal races would never possess the high growth potential of humans, nor would their individuals frequently produce powerhouses capable of shocking the universe.
The frequent emergence of peerless geniuses was extremely rare in other races.
This complex nature gave humans a high reputation in the universe. If one were to rank the top ten races, humans would certainly occupy a seat.
However, this race was too unstable. Sometimes they were extremely powerful and difficult to deal with; other times, they would start killing each other for no reason before the enemy even arrived, allowing others to clean them up with zero effort.
Looking at the history of the last million years, the human race was generally in a state of decline, slowly falling from its peak.
The primary reason was excessive internal warfare. Countless people who should have become the core strength of the race died under the blades of their own kind.
The other races of the universe, and even humans themselves, had long grown accustomed to this.
However, recently, some human Great High Priests had leaked alarmist rumors:
Over the last million years, human power had plummeted from its peak at an unnaturally fast rate, suggesting a hidden hand behind the scenes. Some even speculated that this was an extermination plan targeting the human race—leveraging their flaws to wipe them out completely.
This alarmist conclusion wasn't accepted by many and was buried in the vast world without causing a ripple.
Perhaps some believed it was true, but who cared? How could the nature of the human race be changed by a single sentence?
One of the greatest characteristics of humans was that they never learned from history. This race simply could not control itself perfectly.
But why would anyone want to completely erase humans?
Some humans who believed the theory speculated that it was because the incredible divinity and growth potential displayed on the opposite side of their flaws had become the source of fear for certain entities. This was a race full of threats.
If someone could perfectly unleash those traits, it would bring an incredibly terrifying threat.
Although the possibility was low, no one could rule it out. Perhaps some entities had seen something in a corner of the future.
Of course, this belonged to the true upper echelons of the human race. The people of the Star-Sea World, including Qi Ping, would not know this.
The Star-Sea World's information was currently completely blocked. They had almost no exchange or contact with other human worlds, unable to obtain even basic information, let alone high-level secrets.
Yet, the current state of the Star-Sea World happened to validate the human threat to a certain extent.
Someone had actually managed to bring the divine brilliance of humanity to such a peak!
Once the details of this war spread, it would inevitably cause a massive stir within certain circles.
Given the immense disparity in power, the fact that the Star-Sea World could achieve a fifty-percent win rate could already be described as a miracle.
The reason for this miracle was that under a unique system and guidance, the divine nature of humanity had completely erupted, and their flaws had been effectively circumvented.
More startlingly, at this moment, that divinity showed no signs of fading. Instead, it showed signs of rising.
This could be seen in the expressions of every Star-Sea survivor crawling out of hell.
"Kill!"
"Kill every enemy at any cost!"
"Use every method and every means to slaughter them all!"
At this moment, they were terrifying. They did not fear death, and there was no internal strife. There was only absolute will and horrifying potential.
Without a doubt, if anyone could crawl out of this hell, their future path would be smooth. They would have secured an entry ticket to the peak of the universe.
Without such an experience, it was nearly impossible to temper such growth potential and divine will.
However, all of this was tied to a single source—the only Sovereign to emerge in the history of the Star-Sea World. The Star-Emperor, Qi Ping.
His existence was the greatest guarantee for the high-speed advancement of the Star-Sea World. Without his protection, this train would quickly derail. Aside from the person who had pulled the Star-Sea World out of endless chaos and sinking, no one else had the qualifications or prestige to be the conductor.
And now, at this special juncture, everyone—regardless of strength or talent—began searching for the figure of the Star-Emperor.
Even the Little Azure Dragon, the Master of Life and Death, and Ji Qingyue were doing the same.
Just as everyone was searching for Qi Ping, desperate to know the outcome of that peak battle, a terrifying fluctuation pulsed through every corner of the battlefield!
Yin-Yang dragons, golden streams of light, spatial blades, terrifying black flames, and god-level auras... terrifying scenes suddenly manifested in the sky!
This was also a characteristic of this ancient battlefield. Although the battlefield was exceptionally large and people of different ranks were separated, under normal circumstances, they should not have been able to see each other.
But here, it was different. Regardless of your realm, as long as you wanted to see, the scene of that battlefield would automatically manifest.
This was also the cruelty of this battlefield. Every living being here would witness the life and death of those they cared about with their own eyes.
The more you cared, the more you would see. Cruelly, some would witness the living beings of their entire world being slaughtered to the last. If one could not endure it, their Dao-heart might collapse. Such things were not rare here.
But at this moment, before the eyes of all Star-Sea citizens and other beings, the combat scene of Qi Ping appeared.
When the figure clad in golden armor, bearing the Spatial Wings and holding the Sovereign Mountain-River Seal appeared, every person from the Star-Sea World instantly erupted in a fervor!