Chapter 1 The Intense Skirmish at the Border

The World Tree army and the Star Cluster Alliance forces had been engaged in a fierce border conflict for two months. World Tree was still unable to completely penetrate the Flickering World's territory. Although they had breached the Star Cluster Alliance's defenses several times, allowing their fleets to penetrate, the defense circle that the three great civilizations had built over a decade was far more complete than the temporary interception circle of the past. The mutual support network was incredibly dense, like an extremely resilient elastic net.

The deeper they were trapped, the greater the rebound force. It was impossible to gain a foothold. All World Tree forces that entered the Flickering World were either expelled or annihilated. The best record lasted less than three days, not even penetrating the outermost star system.

War reports from the Flickering World's border continuously returned to the Central Star Sea, spreading throughout interstellar society. Countless interstellar citizens had been frightened for over a decade. Now that the foreign enemy had truly invaded their homeland, many were even more terrified. However, because the Star Cluster Alliance had consistently kept the foreign enemy outside the territory, demonstrating outstanding performance, most interstellar citizens gained some confidence.

Siberian Fortress, where many Beyond Grade As had been waiting for two months.

"Hey, didn't World Tree used to like using individual powerhouses to trade pieces with us? Why are they so cowardly now? They're getting worse and worse."

In the lounge, Hunter Leader stepped on the table, his tone full of disdain.

"Probably afraid of Black Star. They captured a Tree King more than ten years ago, which must have hurt them a lot," Kant laughed.

For the past two months, no matter how they provoked or lured them, World Tree never sent out individual powerhouses to fight, calmly watching the three great civilizations' Beyond Grade As cause trouble on the battlefield.

The eager Beyond Grade As were somewhat helpless. No matter how strong their fighting spirit was, there was nothing they could do if the others didn't accept the challenge. They had even used their bodies as bait, but the World Tree powerhouses remained unmoved, refusing to come out, like shrunken turtles.

"You're overthinking it. World Tree isn't afraid of me to that extent. They should be observing the number of our individual powerhouses. They won't easily give up the trade-piece tactic. They'll probably make a move soon."

Han Xiao played with Ames' hair, answering casually.

He had been waiting here with everyone, just waiting to lure out a big fish.

These days, the three great civilizations had concealed the true scale of their individual powerhouses. Most of the dozens of new Beyond Grade As had not taken the field, and powerhouses with special abilities or great improvements, such as Hela, Ford, and Evans, had not made a move. At the same time, the Beyond Grade As who "sacrificed" themselves in the final battle of the interception circle had not appeared, allowing them to maintain their "fallen" status in World Tree's eyes.

Moreover, the Sanctum organization, unknown to others, held dozens of Rebirth candidates ready to join the battle at any time. The individual powerhouses currently displayed to World Tree were just the tip of the iceberg, all to make World Tree think the trade-piece tactic was effective and fall into the trap.

After more than a decade of collection, Oathkeeper had accumulated several Sanctum Keys. Han Xiao had never used them, treating them as strategic reserves. This was the capital for being reckless.

"Buzz buzz buzz—"

While everyone was chatting idly, an alarm suddenly blared. World Tree launched another attack on the outermost defense circle, persistent as ever.

Everyone paused. Before they could act, a remote projection of a military officer suddenly appeared in the room, speaking in a deep voice:

"Everyone, World Tree's Beyond Grade As have finally appeared. Please get to the battlefield as soon as possible."

Hearing this, Han Xiao's eyes flashed.

"They're finally here… Is there a Tree King this time?"

"Yes!"

"Which one came?"

"Two. They are the Overlord avatars of the Town Tree King and the Stabilizing Tree King."

Kress laughed and interjected, "After the last lesson, World Tree doesn't dare to let a Tree King go out alone. But this configuration is similar to the last time. They probably think that as long as they are careful, they won't fall into the trap like the Heart Tree King."

At this time, a new Beyond Grade A asked curiously:

"The Tree Kings have already appeared. What about it, Your Excellency Black Star, are you going to fight?"

"Just the Town Tree King… Forget it, I'll leave it to you guys."

Han Xiao stroked his chin, thought for a while, and clicked his tongue.

He hoped to catch a big fish, or at least the Stabilizing Tree King, preferably the Ancestral Tree King. It didn't seem worth it to expose his strength for just the Town Tree King… He simply disliked the Town Tree King, this martial artist, because his function was too singular, and his importance was far less than the other Tree Kings.

Moreover, the Beyond Grade A Association now had a cloud of strong people. There was no need for him to take action, and it was enough to kill the Town Tree King. As long as he killed this tool person and prevented him from being resurrected in the short term, he should be able to lure out the Ancestral Tree King and the Secret Tree King, which were better prey in Han Xiao's eyes.

Hela's eyes lit up, as if afraid that someone would steal her opponent, and immediately said, "Then I'll take care of this guy!"

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and unceremoniously poured cold water on her, "Although you've improved quite a bit, you're still far from killing a Tree King."

"I'll know after I try," Hela's eyes flashed with a cold light.

"Alright, just don't let him run away," Han Xiao curled his lips.

Originally, Urnos was the most stable opponent for the Tree King, but this slacker had not left the Divine Palace for more than ten years and still had no intention of participating in the war. However, now that they had Brother Netherworld, they were not short of tough guys.

At this time, Han Xiao noticed that Evans's hands were trembling slightly, and couldn't help but find it strange, "Are you afraid?"

"This is my first time on the battlefield, and it's this kind of interstellar war, so I'm a little scared," Evans said frankly.

Laki muttered in a low voice, "What's the use of being afraid? It's not like you won't die if you're afraid… I didn't expect to die just a few years after becoming a Beyond Grade A. Alas, as expected, people like me don't have the right to enjoy life…"

"Can you shut up?"

Han Xiao said in annoyance, interrupting this chat genius.

If I didn't think you were somewhat useful in combat, I would have locked you, this morale-lowering bastard, in amber today!

…

At this moment, the border battle line.

The massive World Tree fleet was attacking the defense circle head-on. The Star Cluster Alliance fleet cooperated with various space fortress strongholds to counterattack. Countless rays containing terrifying power shuttled back and forth across the vast cosmic battlefield, forming a dazzling but deadly rain of light, shooting into each other's formations and exploding swaths of spaceships into fireworks in space.

This wasn't the first time the two sides had fought, and they quickly became bloodshot, the battle situation rapidly entering a fever pitch. Squads of troops acted under the command of various military intelligences. From a macroscopic perspective, it looked like a large-scale exchange of fire, but in fact, both sides were adjusting their tactics and performing micro-operations every moment.

In the battlefield, a group of World Tree Beyond Grade As exuding amazing energy were observing the battlefield from afar under the protection of their own starship groups.

The Town Tree King stood with his hands behind his back, his sharp eyes scanning the Star Cluster Alliance's formation.

Before long, the three great civilizations' Beyond Grade A groups also arrived on the battlefield one after another, confronting each other from afar. Because only a portion of them had appeared, they seemed to be outnumbered by the World Tree powerhouses.

This batch that appeared now was mainly the Beyond Grade As who had participated in the interception circle battle. The others were hidden in the dark, watching.

Seeing this, the Town Tree King narrowed his eyes and nodded secretly.

"Hmph, they lost a lot of people last time, so they're no match for us this time."

For the past two months, he had been observing the situation of the three great civilizations' Beyond Grade As. Most of the people he saw were old opponents. Although there were some new faces, their numbers were limited, and they were probably the new Beyond Grade As from these years.

He didn't find this strange. World Tree had also been vigorously cultivating espers over the past decade, also giving birth to some new Holy Tree Messengers and Ancestral Spirits. The scale of individual power had also increased.

A portion of the enemy's individual powerhouses died in the battle more than ten years ago, while their World Tree's war dead had now been resurrected. The strength of the two sides had waxed and waned, and the Town Tree King was quite confident.

However, the Heart Tree King had already fallen. With him as a martial artist, it was difficult to kill the enemy's healer in seconds. He tried it once last time, fell into Black Star's trap, and was unfortunately killed. Therefore, the Town Tree King did not intend to repeat the same mistake. This time, he had gathered World Tree's powerhouses just to test the waters, not intending to trade pieces immediately.

Scanning the enemy, the Town Tree King suddenly focused his gaze, discovering that there was no trace of Black Star.

"That guy didn't come out? No, he must be hiding, planning to ambush."

The Town Tree King became vigilant.

The only thing he was worried about was Black Star. The Heart Tree King was sealed, and he didn't want to follow in his footsteps, secretly on guard, afraid that Han Xiao would jump out and stab him at any time.

As the saying goes, enemies are extremely jealous when they meet. The Beyond Grade As on both sides exchanged glances and charged towards each other without saying a word, immediately engaging in a melee on the battlefield, forming a large chaotic zone.

The Town Tree King activated his Liberation form without saying a word, his body shining with green light. He originally wanted to beat up the weak to force out Black Star, but he didn't expect to be intercepted by a red-haired woman.

"Your opponent is me."

Hela stood in front of the Town Tree King, her expression cold, her eyes filled with intense killing intent.

The Town Tree King's eyes flickered. He had an impression of Hela, and said lightly:

"It's you? Hmm, your self-healing ability is not bad, but you're daydreaming if you want to stop me with your strength?"

Except for Black Star, the Town Tree King was not afraid of anyone. Thinking of Hela's performance on the battlefield more than ten years ago, he didn't take her seriously at all.

Hela did not have the habit of trash-talking. Hearing this, she snorted coldly and directly burst out with a tyrannical aura, crimson death energy whistling out.

The Town Tree King suddenly felt a threat, his face suddenly changed, and looking at Hela's eyes, a look of astonishment appeared.

"She's actually become so strong?"

Without a doubt, this red-haired woman had stepped into the level of Peak Beyond Grade A, and her energy fluctuations were also at the upper-middle level of Peak Beyond Grade A… She's improved so much in just a decade?!

The Town Tree King's expression became solemn. Although there was still a gap between the two, he had to admit that the woman in front of him already had the qualifications to fight him.

He sensed the battle situation of his other companions and found that the enemy's Beyond Grade As had improved far more than the powerhouses of their World Tree. Although they were at a slight disadvantage in terms of numbers, they were not at a disadvantage.

"How did they train?!" The Town Tree King was immediately shocked.

They've made such obvious progress in just ten years. It's not that easy for Beyond Grade As to improve their combat power! Could it be that the enemy's territory is so outstanding, and everyone is a genius?!