Chapter 1 All Settled

"Alright, now that Ding Meng is back, everything is settled. The Shadow Eater has disappeared, and the gap in the current battle situation needs to be rearranged. It just so happens that people from Mingyuan are coming, which is a good thing." Feng Xue, the old man Li Yuan from the Nine Luminaries, smoothed things over.

In reality, he wasn't one to smooth things over, but at times like this, Yan Ruo was a taciturn person, and getting him to say anything was harder than ascending to heaven. Of the Nine Luminaries, the only one with a good relationship with Destiny Garden was the Li family.

If he didn't speak up, Dong Jun and Li Cheng颐 would probably start fighting right then and there.

He knew Dong Jun's strength. As the core capable of suppressing and countering the entire White Star's trump card, he alone represented the majority of the Nine Luminaries' power.

If they really fought, he was afraid Li Cheng颐 would be slapped to death.

"Cheng頤, Dong Jun must have his own reasons for doing what he did. You're not aware of many of the inside details. I'll tell you about them privately later." Li Yuan looked at Li Cheng頤.

Understanding his meaning, Li Cheng頤 didn't want to fall out with Dong Jun right now. After all, the conflict hadn't reached that point. He was just extremely dissatisfied with the old man's stubbornness.

He immediately snorted coldly and stormed off.

Dong Jun's face darkened, feeling like he'd lost face as well.

He had secretly notified the people from Yuanying to go and clean up the situation, but he hadn't expected the situation to turn out like this.

"The area of the Shadow Eater will be filled by Mingyuan, the rest remain as is, meeting adjourned!" he said coldly.

"With Mingyuan's attitude, I'm afraid this matter" Shan Wang, ranked second, said worriedly.

"If he can't do it, then he can roll back to the surface and stop embarrassing himself here!" Dong Jun turned into white light and disappeared from the spot.

The other Nine Luminaries exchanged glances.

"Now that's great, the old man's stubborn temper, he does what he says, and now he's met a prickly pear," Shangguan Xia, the Nine Lives Taoist ranked third, laughed.

"Sooner or later, they'll have to fight to test each other's strength," Li Yuan sighed. "I'll take my leave first to talk to Mingyuan. Yan Ruo, you come with me."

Silver Sparrow Yan Ruo opened his mouth to speak, but Li Yuan grabbed his sleeve, and he had no choice but to fly in the direction of Li Cheng颐.

The others dispersed. Those familiar with Ding Meng also went to the medical fortress to check on the situation.

As for the military's upper echelons and legion commanders, they didn't dare say a word. The Nine Luminaries were the most decisive power in the Earth-Moon region, aside from the Emperor.

Often, a single one of them could decide the outcome of a small battle. So, any big shot in the military was just a little brother in front of them.

On the other side.

Li Cheng颐 stood alone on the edge of the orbit, in the silver-gray area between the two fortresses, gazing at the vast starry sky outside the force field.

Swish!

Li Yuan and Yan Ruo landed behind him. The light of their flying instruments slowly dissipated, returning to their backs and transforming into weapon boxes.

"Little Yi, that old codger Dong Jun is just like that..." Li Yuan said helplessly.

He was already old, and he still had to step in as a mediator. It was truly exhausting.

"Elder Li, it's not that I don't want to give you face, but if I hadn't stepped in this time, who knows how chaotic the situation would have become? Are you not aware of that?" Li Cheng颐 turned around and sighed.

"He's just like that. Even if he's wrong, he'll never admit it. Actually, something like this happened many years ago. Back then, one of his juniors completely trusted his arrangements and ended up mistakenly entering a trap, dying in a space graveyard near White Star..." Li Yuan sighed.

"If that's the case, then why" Li Cheng颐 frowned. These stubborn people were the most hateful, but since he was on his side, he couldn't just slap him to death, which was why he was annoyed.

"As for Ding Meng, Mu Tong does have follow-up arrangements, but your appearance disrupted everything. But none of that matters anymore. What matters is that your actions were better than the outcome he had arranged. So... everyone is silent on the surface, but in reality, everyone except the Zhao family is inclined toward you," Li Yuan explained.

"It's a pity, if you weren't a Dead Angle person. There would definitely be a seat for you in the Nine Luminaries."

As he said this, he forcefully patted the taciturn Yan Ruo on the side.

".Not bad," Yan Ruo squeezed out after a while.

".Actually, Dong Jun praised you before, saying that if you weren't a Dead Angle person, you would be the best successor to the Nine Luminaries... It's a pity," Li Yuan said speechlessly, quickly continuing the conversation himself.

".Elder doesn't need to comfort me." Li Cheng颐 wasn't interested in wasting his energy on fighting with an old man.

"Speaking of which, I actually have some doubts in my mind. Now that the Nine Luminaries have witnessed the power of the Black Sea creatures, with existences like Shadow Dragons everywhere in the Black Sea, why not vigorously develop the exploration and research of the Black Sea and Dead Angles?"

"It's actually very simple" Li Yuan sighed, "It's not that we haven't researched it, but we used to put all our efforts into it, and as a result... there were big problems, and we had to stop all research."

"You actually tried it before?" Li Cheng颐 was stunned.

"Otherwise, where do you think all the real Dead Angles on Earth and Moon came from? Back then, in order to study the Dead Angle Black Sea, too many cases of outrage were committed. Later, although there were some results, on the whole, the disadvantages outweighed the advantages. Driven by a mysterious force, the royal family had no choice but to prohibit large-scale exploration on the surface," Li Yuan said.

He walked to the side, leaned on the railing, and looked at a transport ship slowly flying by in the distance, his eyes flashing with traces of reminiscence.

"Back then, they even found a fixed passage to other Dead Angles. Everyone thought they had found hope, a hope to fight against the artificial intelligence silicon-based life.

Unfortunately, later... something big happened, and everyone realized that the Black Sea and Dead Angles were even more troublesome black holes than silicon-based life. That's why the Solidarity Association declined and disappeared completely."

"And now, various traces left by the experiments at that time still remain in various places, and many of them are secretly being restarted by Utopia and Star Lake. Actually, you should know if you think about it, can Utopia and Star Lake, with their scale, small as they are, really accomplish those experiments that require mobilizing a large amount of resources and manpower? Can they really complete the experiments in the modern era, where there are surveillance cameras everywhere, without being discovered by the authorities?"

Li Yuan's words made Li Cheng颐 silent. He suddenly thought of that strange little fatty back then, and that suddenly emerging, completely different style of Jie Tian Mie Di Shen Xian Xin Jue (Heaven Severing Earth Extinguishing Divine Restriction Heart Art) Flower Language

All of this showed that the past of Earth and Moon was far from as simple as what was recorded in today's classics and historical materials.

"It seems you've thought of it," Li Yuan nodded. "The Black Sea Dead Angle is very dangerous, and in fact, we don't know much about it. Dong Jun knows more about this aspect. The royal family also has some secrets and related information. If you want to know, it's best to have more contact with the royal family. It just so happens that you have some relationship with the prince, a good entry point."

"Yes, thank you for the advice, Elder," Li Cheng颐 nodded.

"Don't think too much, shouldn't you Dead Angle people be more unrestrained than us normal people?"

Li Cheng頤 smiled and didn't speak anymore.

Seeing that he was okay, Li Yuan didn't say anything more, and left with Yan Ruo.

The Li family and Yan family are now forces on the same side as Mingyuan, so they naturally don't want to see Li Cheng颐 and Dong Jun fall out.

Watching the two leave, Li Cheng颐 stood in place, carefully feeling the Shadow Dragon King essence he had just swallowed.

The power of that essence was still pouring into his body continuously, and the concentration of blood in his body was much greater than when he had just swallowed it.

The invisible shadows surrounding his body were also more numerous than before, his body was becoming more solid, and his limbs were also becoming stronger.

'Let's leave Dong Jun alone for now. The Shadow Dragon King essence seems to be an all-round improvement for me.

From physique to speed to strength and recovery, etc. But...'

Li Cheng颐 looked down at his chest.

He was still at the Fourth Seal. One Giant Force Imprint, one fusion imprint of Pine Pattern Qi and Qing Yuan Pill Method, this actually counts as two, and one Shadow Dragon King innate bloodline imprint from before.

The other Flower Language and amplification, etc., did not show any imprint traces. Martial arts haven't reached that level yet.

'According to the research on the Death Energy system, the other places that are not imprinted should not have reached my current limit, so they cannot sublimate and naturally appear imprinted.'

Li Cheng颐's eyes seemed to be able to see through, seeing the fourth imprint on his chest, which was the innate imprint belonging to the Shadow Dragon King, and it was this imprint that showed that his body was rapidly absorbing the Shadow Dragon King essence just now.

When the body undergoes sublimation again, an imprint pattern should naturally appear on the chest.

But...

Li Cheng颐 looked at the state of the imprint, it was slowly growing like roots, growing larger.

However, the speed of the enlargement was extremely slow. And according to this trend, he vaguely saw that before long, this enlargement trend would completely stop.

'Is the Fifth Seal a quality point?'

'And there's Shao Yin... the time I spend here is equal to a year there.' Thinking about it this way, normal people like Chen Jiahan are the most suitable to go to Midraan for development.

When Dead Angle people go over, the consumption of time will lead to a significant increase in the difficulty of the Dead Angle. This has already been verified on him and Big Bear.

So...

'Quickly end the situation here, and then mobilize the power of the whole country to search for the Eternal Wishing Book. Even if I can't completely get rid of the Dead Angle, I have to find a way to reduce the difficulty, or even just one more Crescent Moon will do.'

The Crescent Moon is a substitute for death, and it is very unreasonable. This has saved the lives of him and several people in the team. If there were no Crescent Moon, the team would have changed several times.

After confirming the arrangements, Li Cheng颐 followed the guards back to his assigned fortress.

As a top Ninth Ranker equal to the Nine Luminaries, he naturally had arrangements to be stationed in a fortress.

If he were not a Dead Angle person, his responsibilities would be even greater, and the scope of protection would be even wider.

But unfortunately...

Several hours later

One-third of the fortress groups in the Earth-Moon region sailed out hundreds of thousands of Flying Instrument command ships.

A large number of Flying Instrument warships surrounded the command ship and pounced towards the White Star fleet in the distance.

Under the starry sky, they were like a silver-black wave, or like countless lines on a canvas, bending, rotating, and shooting towards the vast white army formation.

The vanguard fighter group at the forefront, when they were still hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, launched a swarm of fish-type homing missiles.

Large swathes of missiles densely packed like raindrops rushed towards the White Star fleet.

But they were quickly detonated by countless Cyborg bodies flying out from the opposite side with high-energy laser guns.

The terrifying calculation power brought unparalleled accuracy.

But then, a group of missiles detonated in advance, and circles of invisible interference ripples washed over a large number of Cyborg bodies, causing their main brains to malfunction and stand by.

The laser rain suddenly stopped, and then a huge ship-borne cannon beam suddenly penetrated the missiles and hit the middle of the Cyborg army formation.

Thousands of Cyborgs were destroyed and crushed at this moment.

This shot also announced the reopening of the war between the two sides.

In one of the Flying Instrument command ships belonging to the Earth-Moon side, Li Cheng颐 stood with his hands behind his back, quietly watching the war scene from the front viewing window.

The silent war, in the vast starry sky, seemed like only a group of fireflies biting and devouring each other.

But only by getting closer could one see the cruelty and coldness within.

Every minute and every second, countless people were dying, dying in the cold vacuum.

(End of this chapter)