The text on the screen faded, and a new image surfaced:
In a cold, dead star system, countless ships were roaring in unison. Giant beast-ships charged through the cosmos towards an ecological flagship as massive as a star. The gargantuan beast heads opened their maws, revealing rows of sharp, menacing teeth, ready at any moment to tear off pieces of the Xianzhou ship's wreckage.
But just as many star skiffs rose from the star-like flagship, swarming like bees to overwhelm the beast-ships one by one.
The ship-mounted weapons fired without cease. The muzzles burned with a light more dazzling than a star's. Even as the cannon barrels completely overheated, they continued to fire relentlessly under the command of the two generals, dismembering the giant beasts that had been transformed into countless ships.
The giant beasts cried out in pain, their sharp shrieks echoing in the dim, dead void. Though the sound could not travel in the silent vacuum, their movements confirmed their immense suffering—
A sharp beast claw blotted out the sky. A claw as large as a small asteroid eclipsed several star skiffs, smashing down violently and crushing them completely. Only the splinters of the skiffs, the blood plasma of the Foxians, and beast fur mixed together, falling into the star sea without a trace of life.
Scenes like this were playing out everywhere in the star system.
Foxians, Xianzhou natives, Vidyadhara... there was no distinction of status among the races on the Xianzhou. Though there might be gaps and disagreements in daily life, at this moment of defending the dignity of the Xianzhou Alliance, everyone stepped onto the battlefield without complaint.
Even knowing it was a one-way trip, the long-life Xianzhou people were still willing to give up their carefree days in the mortal world, which could have lasted for a thousand years. They would rather abandon their long, peaceful lives to step onto the battlefield and tear a piece of flesh from the Abominations of Abundance.
However... although the Xianzhou populace's morale was high, with everyone charging into the Borisin fleet with the will to die, fighting them to the death to avenge the past invasion where a coalition of Abundance followers invaded the Xianzhou Fanghu and caused half of its grotto-heavens to fall, war was not ultimately decided by morale...
The Xianzhou pilots staked their lives, countless of them spilling their blood as they charged the battlefield, but the result was anything but good.
Under the leadership of their new War Head, the Borisin were organized into hunting packs, fighting the Xianzhou fleet to the death without regard for their own lives.
Although the current Borisin were far from what they were when their previous War Head, Hulei, was still alive, no longer possessing the ability to invade the Xianzhou Alliance and burn civilizations by plundering their starships, this was still a battle of a cornered beast. They still had enough strength and ferocity to support them in tearing a bloody path through the endless encirclement, escaping the Xianzhou Alliance's trap with relatively minor losses.
After all... the Borisin did not have the same concerns as the Xianzhou Alliance.
The Borisin had various flexible combat methods to harass the main Xianzhou ships. Although both the Xianzhou Luofu and the Xianzhou Yaoqing were militarily powerful—the Yaoqing especially being a truly invincible fleet in this star sea, victorious wherever it went—they still didn't dare to truly ignore the Borisin's harassment.
Thus, under the constant harassment of the Borisin, the Alliance was actually being run ragged. The battlefield changed in an instant, and the Borisin's harassment always forced the Xianzhou Alliance to give up the great advantages they could have obtained, turning instead to protect their own main ships...
Although this situation was truly frustrating, if they wanted to use the Borisin's own methods against them, there was no possibility of that—
The Borisin's influence spread throughout the entire star sea, making them one of the most powerful factions of Abundance followers. Their crimes were too numerous to count. After drinking from the Crimson Spring at the "Lord of Long Life's" place, they began their path of conquest across the star sea.
Their biotechnology was extremely advanced. Even an advanced civilization like the Xianzhou Alliance, which had deeply studied everything about Yaoshi, The Abundance, and had developed countless extremely mysterious biotechnologies, was still hard-pressed to match the Borisin in this field. They were left far behind by the Borisin's endless novel ideas and their fantastical, almost heretical use of biomass.
But, even so, a huge problem still appeared on them...
Although the Borisin had plundered the star sea, leaving behind their brutal and violent legends across the galaxy, and their level of biotechnology was unmatched, they still couldn't be considered a "civilization."
As a powerful force with a reputation throughout the star sea, definitely able to go toe-to-toe with the Antimatter Legion, the Borisin were still using a backward tribal council system to this day.
Their social system was like that of natives still on a planet, wrapped in animal skins, who had not yet obtained FTL technology to enter the star sea. Their culture was filled with ancient traditions of the strong devouring the weak and strength being paramount. It was barbaric and bloodthirsty, entirely lacking the rationality that should belong to a "civilization."
A single tribe of theirs was called a "Hunting Pack," and a union of multiple tribes was called a "Great Hunting Pack." A tribe would often choose the strongest and most cunning Borisin as its leader, called the "Nest Father." In a Great Hunting Pack, the ritual to elect a leader involved several Nest Fathers fighting each other, with their ranks determined by strength. The one who came in first was called the "Father Wolf" or "War Head."
Just by looking at this barbaric selection method, it was clear they didn't have half a civilized appearance... These barbaric robbers appeared and disappeared like ghosts in the star sea. They had almost no hometown of their own, almost no planet important enough to be called a home...
Most of them were born on starships and died on starships—the Borisin wandered aimlessly throughout the star sea. Every part of the vast universe was their home. The "Lord of Long Life" protected them, allowing them to be at home anywhere in this star sea, losing the weakness a civilization should have...
Facing such Borisin with no nest to attack, the Xianzhou Alliance could only suffer their skilled small-scale harassment. Under their precise fleet harassment, they could only stake the lives of countless Xianzhou pilots, attempting to shoot down the Borisin's giant beast-ships one by one.
...But in a war fought like this, it wasn't just the lives of the Xianzhou people that were lost.
---o---
Xianzhou Luofu, Divination Commission.
Today was the first time Fu Xuan activated the matrix. The third eye on her forehead flickered with purple spiritual light. The rejection reaction from her powerful Xianzhou body repelled the divine pupil on her forehead. Intense pain, like waves, assaulted her mind one after another, but she didn't even frown. Her small face was completely serious as she observed the myriad changes of the world within the Omniscient Inquiry Matrix.
Input conditions, deduce the future—the working principle of the Matrix was just that simple. But in practice, this miracle belonging to the Omniscient Heavenly Lord relied on ten thousand conditions to construct an event within the Matrix, using the most exquisite jade abacus to calculate all possibilities, finally arriving at a conclusion, completing the survey of the future...
"Master Diviner, what is the situation?"
A holographic projection jumped out beside Fu Xuan. On it, Jing Yuan's expression looked incomparably serious, completely different from the usual appearance of this lazy-eyed general.
The lazy aura he usually carried was completely cleansed at this moment. He was fully armored, and his hand was tightly gripping the glaive, [Shihuo Mengshen]. Occasionally, brilliant golden lightning flashed around him. It was clear he had already entered a state of emergency combat readiness.
"I cannot divine a future of great victory, General."
Fu Xuan gently closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh.
"The Matrix has already told me the answer... We will certainly win this war, but it can hardly be called a victory."
"We can hold back a small half of the Borisin, maybe even their new War Head, Angqin, but that would be meaningless."
"We will win, but that will be months later, at the cost of nearly a hundred thousand Cloud Knights. Nearly a hundred thousand lives will die in this cold and dead star system. The Borisin will be defeated and flee, but they only need to plunder the star sea for a bit, and they can recover their strength in a few years..."
As she spoke, she opened her eyes and looked at the battle-ready Jing Yuan. A trace of sorrow flowed in her eyes, and her tone was tinged with a bit of regret:
"But we leave behind the souls of ten thousand soldiers, and can only obtain such a result?"
"...I was wrong, General. I really shouldn't have advised to send troops just because of one prophecy and Herta's provocation. In this war, the soldiers turn to white bones, and a share of that sin should be mine."
As she spoke, her tone became somewhat desolate:
"I truly don't have the ability to be a general. If I became a general, how many more people on the Xianzhou would die?"
Looking at Fu Xuan's sorrowful expression, Jing Yuan couldn't help but sigh. His face softened a bit, and he comforted her in a low voice:
"It's not your turn to say that, Master Diviner... You are not the one to give the order to ambush the Borisin. Feixiao and I approved that report. If there is truly a fault, the fault lies with us."
"The Master Diviner performed her duties. What fault is there? Even if we were to discuss gains and losses, it should fall on me and Feixiao for being too eager for merit. How could it fall on you, the diviner who negotiated with Herta and fulfilled her duties?"
Jing Yuan said, then laughed, his tone carefree:
"Alright, Master Diviner, don't hold it in... Since we've already secured a victory, even if it's a small one, you shouldn't blame yourself like this."
"If you're truly feeling frustrated and can't let it out, why not think of another way for us? Think about how we can turn this small victory into a great one? Feixiao and I are both prepared to fight the Borisin..."
"A way... what way is there now?"
Fu Xuan's face was tangled, her tone quite helpless:
"I have indeed tried my best to divine these past few days... I calculated various battle tactics, but the results all led to the same destination, no different."
"The truth is, our army can't pull away from the Borisin. The large encirclement has consumed too many troops, and the Borisin's guerrilla warfare is too good at dragging things out... What this war burns is not just the blood and bones of the soldiers, but also one trade route after another."
"The reason we will let go of that large half of the Borisin at the end of this war is ultimately because there is no money left in the treasury. This protracted war will eventually drag down the Cloud Knight guards, leading to the Borisin forcefully breaking through and escaping completely..."
Fu Xuan said, her face quite helpless. She truly couldn't think of any useful method:
"This war ultimately comes down to supplies and money... The Borisin can rob us, but we have no way to replenish from anywhere."
Jing Yuan nodded thoughtfully as he listened to Fu Xuan's words. He rubbed his chin and asked contemplatively:
"...Then if we ask for reinforcements, ask for help from the other ships, is there a chance for a great victory?"
"It's too late, General."
Fu Xuan's words cut off Jing Yuan's idea. "Even if we sound the bells now, we can't get reinforcements here within a year and a half—the closest, the Fanghu, has already closed itself off to the world to recuperate. The next fastest to arrive is the Zhuming, which is trading with the Klymt Constitutional State in the Stella Yamazaki star system of the Levaladuri star cluster, thousands of light-years away..."
"It's too late... Unless a divine weapon descends from the heavens, with the Reignbow Arbiter's heavenly punishment sweeping the universe, otherwise this war has only one ending..."
"But the Luofu and Yaoqing no longer have a Kanyun Mirror... If the general can ask for help from the Yuque and find a way to get that Kanyun Mirror, I am willing to personally go to the battlefield, report to the Reignbow Arbiter, and call down the heavenly punishment edict."
Jing Yuan's face was serious. Fu Xuan opened her mouth as if wanting to say something more, but was interrupted by Jing Yuan without hesitation, giving the straightforward girl no chance to speak:
"Don't say such things in the future, Master Diviner... We have already lost one Yuque Taibu. We cannot lose another Luofu Taibu."
"Feixiao and I will enter the battle immediately. Perhaps we can secure victory... Wait for our good news, Master Diviner."
The Jing Yuan on the holographic projection smiled, simply adjusted his armor, and prepared to enter the battle, to go with the female general of the Yaoqing to kill into the Borisin's formation and have a good exchange with their new War Head.
But Fu Xuan just sighed:
"It's useless... Unless the Reignbow Arbiter bestows another miracle, the battle will only be a stalemate. There will be absolutely no change..."
"Unless the Reignbow Arbiter bestows..."
Just then.
Just as Fu Xuan hadn't finished speaking, the edge of the sky was dyed with a trace of dark golden brilliance.
After that, the dark golden light became more and more intense. The entire star system was illuminated by the flashing light.
Fu Xuan and Jing Yuan looked up in astonishment, only to see a god leaning in. His face revealed a blazing fury. A terrifying heavenly might descended from His body. For a moment, no one in the entire star system could move another inch; all were frozen there.
The stalemated battlefield, which had been like a meat grinder splashing blood and gore, was now completely still. An eerie silence fell upon the battlefield.
And the next moment, the god at the edge of the sky raised His hand.
He held a lantern in His hand, a transparent lantern. The dark golden flame within was constantly leaping, rising and falling as if with His anger.
He opened the lid of the lantern, tilted it slightly, and an endless stream of dark golden lantern fire flowed out, sweeping across the entire star system like a flood...
This too was a Heavenly Punishment.