After reading Wei Wei's explanation, Feng Qi finally understood why he was still able to access the memory stream from the Sacrifice Line.
So it turned out it was the little guy who brought him back to the Crimson Research Institute.
Although they hadn't been able to bring his Sacrifice Line self back to life, they had at least preserved his brain—ensuring that all the sacrifices on that path hadn't been made in vain.
Now that he understood, Feng Qi continued scrolling through the mailbox messages.
197. Over the years, Star City's combat power has grown rapidly. Various support facilities have been continuously improved under the efforts of the Crimson War Department. At the same time, the framework for our power classification system has taken a new direction—Gold Rank is no longer the top tier in the system.
Based on the current cultivation structure, we've simulated a new strength evaluation model. Two new levels have been added above Gold: Star Rank (Level 1–10) and Sun Rank (Level 1–10).
These two ranks haven't been officially reached by any human yet, and they're still under approval for formal adoption.
As for the little guy, since he's a Domain Creature, his strength system is fundamentally different from the one built on human cultivation theory.
To put it simply, even if the little guy has the same bloodline strength as a human, his actual combat power is way higher. That's because of differences in bloodline potential and the development path of his growth system.
So using the human system to measure him doesn't really make sense, and we can't accurately assess his real strength this way.
This new framework is entirely structured around human cultivation and potential growth paths.
213. Something funny happened recently. The anti-addiction system in the Dawn game sparked heavy protests from teenagers under fourteen. They banded together and submitted joint letters of complaint to the Supreme Council's subordinate departments, arguing that the Star City leadership was hindering their learning and growth.
Honestly, your move to create the Dawn game was genius.
Its influence in Star City keeps growing. The dungeon evaluation system and ranking mechanism are now extra credit factors for entering the combat programs at both Dawn Academy and Star City Academy.
Still, at the end of the day, it's a game—reality should always come first.
To ensure proper growth for minors, the Supreme Council held discussions and ended up adjusting the restrictions. The age limit was raised to fifteen, and daily playtime was cut by half an hour.
The little brats managed to "win" their protest, hahaha.
219. Xiao Shen's gone. As the head of the Strategic Division, he contributed a lot to the development of the Crimson Research Institute. I attended his funeral today, and it made me emotional—it made me think of you.
Star City is entering another phase of generational transition. Time really shows no mercy. But what comforts me is how visibly the next generation is growing. They have the best education and resources. The future looks bright.
Dawn Academy and Star City Academy both keep expanding their combat programs each year.
This shift has led to rapid growth in the western supply zone. Every year, loads of graduates head to the front lines to become soldiers.
And the booming front-line zones bring back a steady flow of spiritual resources.
That just proves your strategy back then was totally right. Building the supply zones and using war to sustain war has given Star City boundless vitality. Our overall strength far surpasses anything achieved in previous timelines.
239. (Priority Marked) Today, Mu Yan suddenly showed up at the Crimson Research Institute.
She brought devastating news—Mu Qing is dead.
According to Mu Yan's account, the battle with Jian Ji had lasted over ten days.
At first, during her berserk phase, Mu Qing actually had a slight edge. But Jian Ji's strength ramped up at a terrifying pace.
That was Jian Ji's first time using the Million Sword Spirit Array. He started out unfamiliar with it, but as the battle went on, he got better and better with it. His power skyrocketed.
Worse, Jian Ji still had cards up his sleeve.
Mu Yan said that Jian Ji had always been holding back on purpose. He let them think they had a chance to win, but in truth, he was only dragging things out—exhausting Mu Qing's strength bit by bit.
She also said that the infiltrated Domain forces within Winterfell weren't limited to the Sword Clan. There was also a powerful Domain race called the Shield Scale Clan.
This race's overall power couldn't match the Sword Clan's.
But they had always worked in secret to sabotage the Sword Clan, wanting to seize control of Winterfell for themselves.
But Jian Ji never acted against them directly. The truth was, the Shield Scale Clan had already been included in his long-term strategy.
That race had a very unique talent—they could mimic other races' bloodline powers and internalize stripped-down versions of those talents for their own use.
Jian Ji saw potential in that and purposely let them stay in Winterfell.
The Shield Scale Clan thought they were gradually mastering the Sword Clan's sword intent.
But in reality, what they learned was the "Sword Slave Intent" Jian Ji had deliberately let them imitate.
In the final stages of the battle between Mu Yan, Mu Qing, and Jian Ji—
As Mu Qing's emotional state stabilized and her power weakened, Jian Ji unleashed the full power of the Sword Spirit Array.
He used it to devour every single Shield Scale Clan member hiding in Winterfell, turning them into part of his Sword Spirits.
At that time, Jian Ji was already strong enough that even if Mu Qing and Mu Yan teamed up, they still couldn't defeat him.
In the end, Mu Qing and Mu Yan risked their lives and managed to seriously injure Jian Ji. Mu Qing, in order to let Mu Yan escape alive, used the last of her strength to hold Jian Ji back, buying time for Mu Yan to escape with the Crimson Rune Crystal.
The result of that battle was: Mu Qing died in combat, and Jian Ji was heavily wounded.
Actually, Mu Yan didn't live long after escaping Winterfell either. She eventually died on the road.
But Mu Yan was only a consciousness clone of the Sun. Unless her main body perished, she wouldn't truly die.
A sliver of her awareness returned to the Sun, and decades later, she re-formed into Mu Yan once more.
As soon as she returned, Mu Yan went to a forest outside Winterfell and retrieved the Crimson Rune Crystal she had lost when she died.
Then, she came to the Crimson Research Institute and handed the Crimson Rune Crystal to me.
Before she left, Mu Yan went to see Tian Shu.
In dealing with Tian Shu's frequent loss of control, Mu Yan tried many methods, but none worked in the end.
According to her, Tian Shu's power came from a latent force within his own body.
She had merely helped awaken Tian Shu's potential; she couldn't help him purge the sliver of Pillar God power that had already fused with him.
That seemingly weak trace of Pillar God power contained an immense amount of information—far more than Tian Shu could possibly handle. The only solution was for Tian Shu to gain the Infinite Memory ability, so he could withstand the overwhelming torrent of data.
Well then, it all circles back to the original problem.
How do you acquire the Infinite Memory ability?
Clearly, you've already asked Mu Yan about this before. Maybe the only place where this kind of power exists is on the ruin island she mentioned.
But if you want to go to the ruin island, you'll still need a significant increase in strength.
In the end, Mu Yan left.
She said she was heading to the Path of Ascension. The rate of Domain invasions was speeding up, and she could feel her power weakening more and more.
Aside from that, she also planned to return to the Sun itself to investigate what exactly Mo had done to make her main body so fragile.
242. The little brat found out from Mu Yan that Jian Ji was seriously injured and likely hasn't recovered yet, so he decided to go to Winterfell to avenge you.
His reasoning made sense—strike while Jian Ji is hurt and finish him off.
But even so, there were risks.
Then he said something that I had no way to refute. He pointed out that if Jian Ji's wounds healed, he'd likely retaliate against Star City or launch probing attacks.
And if that happened, the Jian Ji we'd face then would be a true nightmare.
So the only real chance to kill Jian Ji was to strike now, while he was still recovering.
Old Mist agreed with his decision.
He said that when the time came, he would personally lead the Elder Council to go with him. Even if they couldn't win, they could at least make sure the kid returned safely.
Oh, and by the time I was writing this message, they had already left.
253. The little guy and the Mist Lord are back.
According to what the little guy said, he activated his strongest Ice God Form and fought Jian Ji. The result? A complete defeat. He wasn't even remotely a match for Jian Ji, who had already activated the Sword Spirit Array—even with his injuries not yet fully healed.
Luckily, Old Mist had anticipated this and coordinated with the Mist Tribe's Elder Council to rescue the kid and bring him back safely.
After they returned to Star City, before leaving, the Mist Lord smiled and told me that the little brat had always been fixated on revenge. His heart was too restless. Only after suffering a major setback would he understand the gap between himself and Jian Ji—and only then could he truly start to rise.
Now that I think about it, Old Mist probably saw this outcome coming from the start. That sneaky old guy actually used this kind of method to motivate the kid… but I gotta admit, it worked.
The kid was clearly shaken. He's finally started focusing on growth, no longer obsessed with running off to Winterfell to get revenge.
276. The Mist Lord visited Star City again recently and brought a sea beast over one hundred meters long. Its meat was insanely high-quality, packed with rich spiritual energy. Eating it can significantly enhance physical strength. Old Mist said it was a gift for Star City.
After a discussion, the Supreme Council decided that good stuff like this should naturally go to the younger generation. They agreed to divide the sea beast into one thousand portions and award them to the top one thousand contestants in this year's combat competitions across Star City's four major academies.
In return, we also sent plenty of gifts to the Mist Tribe.
Most of the Domain Creature blood resources we gather from the front-line supply zones get sent to them. We only keep a portion for ourselves.
That's because, honestly, the Mist Tribe can make far better use of blood than we can.
And as the Mist Tribe grows stronger, Star City benefits too.
Over the years, this kind of mutual exchange and support has helped take Star City's development to the next level.
302. Lately, the Supreme Council of Star City decided to fully promote the Blood Refinement Method among the younger generation.
This round of promotion is nothing like the ones before.
The Blood Refinement Technique has now become the foundational cultivation method widely taught throughout Star City.
But most of the cultivators have only scratched the surface of the technique. They haven't been able to go deeper, mostly because it requires a ridiculous amount of resources. Back then, Star City simply couldn't afford to let everyone practice it at a deeper level.
So this time, the council focused the promotion on the under-fourteen age group.
All new generation cultivators in this age group only need to pass the cultivation assessment—which isn't very hard—and they'll receive full sponsorship from Star City. All costs related to cultivating the Blood Refinement Method during this period will be reimbursed.
As for those above this age bracket, they'll have to pay out of pocket for their cultivation expenses for now.
Like one user online joked: "In the end, it's us carrying all the burden while the benefits go to the new gen. Jealous? Yeah. Envious? Definitely. But what can you do? They are the future, after all."
329. The Living Battle Armor technology has finally reached a level where it can be equipped by warriors.
But only in its early-stage deployment.
According to current resource production capacity, around thirty-eight sets can be manufactured each year, and they'll be reserved exclusively for the most elite warriors in the Star City Military Department.
With these bio-armors that grow alongside their hosts, those warriors are expected to see a significant boost in strength.
345. Things are looking bad. Based on the info sent back by the investigation team, it seems Jian Ji's injuries have started to heal, and the Sword Clan has already begun expansion operations outward.
At the same time, the Sword Clan has sent agents toward Star City. It's clear—they've got their eyes on us now.
This guy's personality is completely opposite from Old Mist.
His approach to expansion is reckless, full-throttle, and he doesn't care about losses.
Back then, after you read the Demon Blade's memories, you described Jian Ji as aggressive, ruthless, and reckless. And now, looking at it… you were spot on. This guy really is stubborn to the core. He's actually begun expanding already.
If I'm not wrong, Jian Ji probably has some serious intentions toward Star City now.
To play it safe, the Crimson Research Institute has decided to begin its seclusion phase early—just in case Jian Ji decides to suddenly descend on Star City and start wrecking everything.
It's a low-probability event, sure, but we can't afford to take any chances.
Truth be told, even if Star City hadn't openly opposed Winterfell back then or launched a public opinion war, Jian Ji still would've targeted us.
That was already discussed in the Supreme Council meetings before the media battle even started.
Back then, Winterfell's database was synced with Star City's, and even if Jian Ji couldn't find your hidden identity in the records, he could still see that both you and Mu Qing were from Star City.
On top of that, the little brat has already been publicly recognized as the latest War God of Star City's Western Supply Zone. Put all those pieces together, and it's no surprise the Sword Clan would view Star City as an enemy.
So now, Star City has officially hit its first major development obstacle—the challenge from the Sword Clan.
In recent days, the Crimson Research Institute has been making preparations for going into seclusion.
But compared to previous timelines, this time we're way more prepared.
Whether it's in terms of resources or technology, we're far beyond what the previous timelines had. Even the underground secret base underwent a major expansion over a decade ago, bringing in a lot of new equipment.
All this new gear was developed in-house by the tech department—it wasn't bought from Future City.
Compared to the past, Star City's level of technological self-sufficiency has grown tremendously. We barely need to purchase anything from Future City now.
Still, we have to admit, there's a clear gap between us and the tech institutes of Future City and the Future Research Institute. We'll need a lot more time to close that gap.
345. The Crimson Supreme Council just wrapped up. We're getting ready to retreat into the secret base.
This time we'll adopt a semi-secluded state—still keeping contact with Star City—since, well, the Sword Clan hasn't attacked yet.
During the last meeting before going off the grid, Xiao Yang from the strategy department made a suggestion and asked me to pass it along to you.
He said the Sword Clan has now become a major threat.
If possible, try to find a way to eliminate this threat in the next timeline.
After all, your long-term goal is to resolve the hidden dangers in the other four major cities and unite humanity completely.
Right now, the situation in Victory City is unclear, so we'll hold off on touching that.
Future City is backed by the Hei Xuan faction and the Psionic Race. Making a move against them would trigger a whole chain of consequences.
As for Old Day City, that's even more untouchable.
That's because the faction infiltrating Old Day City is also backed by the territory-rooted Psionic Race.
Going after the Hei Xuan faction would make them rally the entire race against us. With our current strength, going head-to-head with the main Psionic Race is just asking to be crushed.
So the most realistic target is Winterfell.
Once the Sword Clan is dealt with, Mu Qing's Dawn Rebel Army will become a powerful ally in the future, and we can also protect the citizens of Winterfell from being harvested by the Sword Clan.
And don't forget, the Winterfell Supply Zone is one of the richest sources of spiritual resources out there.
Resolving the crisis in Winterfell would massively boost our future development—essentially giving us the combat power of an additional city.
As for how to take down the Sword Clan without harming the people of Winterfell… well, that's up to your planning.