Chapter 304: Firmly Confronting the Peak of the Divine Restriction Domain Lord! You Have Never Been

Chapter 304: Clash with the Peak of the God-Forbidden Domain! You Were Never Abandoned! I Shall Bear This Burden Alone!

"BOOM—!!!"

The ancient formation disk, having consumed the Butcher's very essence, erupted with a brilliance a billion times more blinding than the explosion of the brightest neutron star in the cosmos!

At the heart of this radiance, streams of psionic energy composed of the purest runes of destruction coalesced in an instant, devouring the distant Stone Race at speeds that transcended space and time.

The intermediate domain lord of the Stone Race, held fast in his grip, did not even have time to scream before being disintegrated into fundamental particles within the glare.

The Butcher’s own body, caught in that endless light, dissolved into ash with a serene smile, dissipating into the void.

This sudden, cataclysmic force, capable of threatening even the God-Forbidden domain, brought the entire battlefield to a standstill.

Even Shi Lan, locked in combat with Qin Feng, and every other Stone Race entity felt the lethal threat, forced to cease all action and channel their defensive arts to the limit to withstand the world-shattering shockwave.

Wherever the light passed, space annihilated in sheets, and the laws of reality fractured inch by inch.

Four unsuspecting extreme black-hole-level Stone Race warriors were vaporized on the spot by the terrifying torrent of psionic energy, their bodies and souls utterly extinguished.

Only Shi Lan and the three battle-hardened senior domain lords, relying on their profound cultivation and powerful life-saving trump cards, barely survived the storm of destruction.

Even so, they were battered, their psionic energy roiling and their rocky armor riddled with cracks, leaving them in a wretched state.

This momentary pause created a perfect, life-bought opportunity for the 78th Squad to retreat.

Captain Long Zhan’s eyes were bloodshot, brimming with tears.

He glanced at the spot where the Butcher had vanished, burying the heart-wrenching grief deep within, and grabbed Tami, who was stunned by the impact and sorrow, roaring with all his might: "Go! Don't let his sacrifice be in vain!"

The remaining squad members suppressed their grief, regrouped, and led by their captain, turned into streaks of light, plunging into the depths of the chaotic force field without a backward glance, vanishing in a few flickers.

As the destructive light slowly faded, only Qin Feng and the four remaining entities of Shi Lan’s side stood on the chaotic battlefield.

The void was filled with the debris of Stone Race warriors and the fading embers of a human hero, leaving a deathly silence.

Shi Lan’s face was so dark it seemed ready to drip ink.

He cast a glance toward the direction the human squad had vanished, then locked his icy gaze onto Qin Feng.

In this battle, his squad had suffered heavy losses; not a single senior domain lord had been slain, yet he had lost nearly half his men—a humiliating disgrace.

"This man is a hidden peerless prodigy of the human race!"

Shi Lan’s voice, devoid of emotion yet laden with monstrous killing intent, continued, "He has stepped into the God-Forbidden domain; his physical strength and regenerative power rival the legendary Immortal God-Stone of our race! Attack together and kill him; he must not escape! If he leaves today, he will surely become a grave threat to our race in the future!"

The three remaining senior domain lords dispersed, forming a loose encirclement that sealed off all of Qin Feng’s escape routes.

Their eyes, fixed on Qin Feng, were filled with wariness and gravity.

The earth-shaking self-detonation had left them shaken, and this monster before them, capable of clashing with Lord Shi Lan without perishing, exerted an unprecedented pressure upon them.

The four-on-one encirclement was complete.

Qin Feng, holding his Star-Swallowing Spear, hovered silently in the center of the trap.

He glanced toward the direction Tami and the others had fled, feeling a sense of relief.

Then, he turned his gaze to Shi Lan, a cold, mocking smile curling his lips.

"Heh,"

He chuckled, his voice carrying through the psionic field across the entire battlefield, "The dignified Holy Spirit Stone Race, flowing with the noblest blood in the universe, has now stooped to being dogs for these common Stone Race? Where is your pride?"

At these words, a flicker of imperceptible rage crossed Shi Lan’s ancient, dark-gold face.

Qin Feng’s words had struck the most secret, painful nerve within him.

As a Holy Spirit Stone Race member, he should have been an exalted existence, yet due to the pursuit of foolish elders within his clan, he was forced to take orders from the higher-ups of the ordinary Stone Race—a source of deep shame.

"You seek death!"

Shi Lan roared, abandoning further talk and launching the first strike.

The other three senior domain lords attacked simultaneously, four destructive assaults from different angles sealing off all room for Qin Feng to dodge.

Yet, after parrying a few rounds of attacks, Qin Feng keenly spotted a flaw.

A fatal flaw.

He realized that although it was a four-on-one siege, seemingly disadvantageous, the addition of the three senior domain lords actually made Shi Lan’s attacks noticeably restrained.

Shi Lan’s God-Forbidden domain power was too tyrannical; if unleashed fully, it would not distinguish friend from foe, easily wounding his own teammates.

Thus, he was forced to withhold a portion of his power, compressing his attack range to the limit.

This meant that while his strikes remained fierce, they lost the overwhelming, inescapable pressure inherent to the God-Forbidden domain.

This was the opportunity!

Qin Feng made his decision in an instant.

He stopped clashing head-on with Shi Lan, instead using his superior combat techniques to weave and maneuver between the three senior domain lords.

Minutes later, through a subtle shift in positioning, Qin Feng deliberately exposed a flaw that looked like exhaustion, leaving his back fully open to one of the senior domain lords.

The senior domain lord was overjoyed, believing Qin Feng was at his limit under their combined assault, and without hesitation, poured all his strength into his stone axe, aiming to cleave Qin Feng in two.

This was the moment!

Just as the attack was about to land, Qin Feng’s seemingly sluggish form suddenly erupted with a terrifying speed, completely different from before!

The ten restrictions on the [Black Sky Wings] flowed to their limit, boosting his speed to a thousand times the speed of light in an instant!

[Inch-Light] activated!

This was his ultimate understanding of the spear path, the distillation and sublimation of all his skills!

A spear-light, so condensed it seemed non-existent yet contained infinite sharpness, ignored the distance of space and transcended the passage of time. Before the astonished eyes of the senior domain lord, it struck first despite being launched last, instantly piercing his skull!

The ecstasy on the senior domain lord’s face had not yet faded before it froze, the light in his eyes rapidly dimming.

His soul, along with his indestructible skull, was utterly annihilated by this strike of [Inch-Light].

A kill in one blow!

After slaying him, Qin Feng did not pause for a second. Using the recoil from his spear, his body swayed like a phantom, turning into a streak of ultimate black light that tore through a corner of the encirclement and fled into the distance.

Shi Lan was shocked and furious; he had never expected Qin Feng to hide such terrifying speed. He wanted to pursue, but he was already a step too late.

Only a voice, bone-chilling and saturated with killing intent, echoed slowly across the silent battlefield:

"Shi Lan, next time we meet, I will surely kill you!"

While the voice still lingered in the void, Qin Feng’s figure had long since vanished into the depths of the chaotic force field.

At the same time, a cold notification sounded clearly in Qin Feng’s mind:

"Ding! Successfully killed one senior domain lord. You have gained 100 Resurrection Marks."

As Qin Feng traveled at high speed, he calmly reviewed the battle.

This fight had given him the clearest and most intuitive understanding of his true strength.

As long as it was not a monster like Shi Lan who had truly stepped into the "God-Forbidden" domain, then below the peak domain lord level, he could kill anyone he chose to!

His offensive power was sufficient to pose a lethal threat to any non-God-Forbidden domain lord.

And facing a peak God-Forbidden domain lord like Shi Lan, while the opponent could not kill him in the short term, if he were ever locked down by a top-tier trapping formation or special secret art, losing his mobility, he would eventually face the risk of falling after endless attrition.

His successful escape this time relied, in large part, on the element of surprise.

From start to finish, he had never revealed his limit of a thousand times the speed of light, leading Shi Lan to focus the battle on "killing" rather than "containment."

Had Shi Lan prioritized trapping him from the beginning, sparing no cost to set up a containment array, his escape today would surely not have been so simple.

Luck is a component of strength, yet Qin Feng knew that luck would not always stand by his side.

He tightened his grip on the Star-Swallowing Spear, his gaze growing ever more resolute.

He must become stronger!

...

On the Island of Dead Meteors, in the outer region, within a subterranean cavern obscured by natural craters and twisted metallic wreckage, deathly silence was the only theme.

Light was a luxury here.

A few illumination stones, embedded haphazardly into the fissures of the rock walls, struggled to emit their faint and weary glow.

The light was pulled and fractured against the uneven stone, casting countless mottled, flickering shadows, much like the chaotic and stifled hearts of the survivors, struggling and trembling in silence.

The air was thick with a complex, nauseating stench.

A heavy scent of blood served as the base note, as if it had seeped into the very texture of the rock;

the bitter aroma of crushed medicinal herbs tangled with the blood, a testament to the instinct for survival;

and from the deeper recesses of the cave drifted the charred smell of roasted meat, the remnants of a flavorless meal consumed solely to replenish physical strength.

These three scents mingled to form a suffocating, unique atmosphere belonging only to this desolate battlefield.

Silence shrouded everything.

The survivors of the 78th Squad sat or lay scattered in every corner of the cavern.

No one spoke; even the sound of heavy breathing seemed piercingly clear.

A vast sorrow and the dazed state of having survived a catastrophe acted like an invisible net, binding everyone firmly in place.

In the darkest corner of the cave, three severely wounded men hung on the brink of death.

Their breathing was shallow, their chests rising and falling at a rhythm so faint it merely proved they were still struggling on the edge of life and death.

Wrapped in thick bandages, they could not stop the wounds from tearing open; dark red blood seeped out, appearing an ominous, near-black hue in the dim light.

As the backbone of the squad, Captain Long Zhan—a high-level Domain Lord who had crawled through blood and fire for millions of years—now wore a face etched with unconcealable exhaustion and the wear of time.

His eye sockets were sunken, his gaze a mixture of pity and self-reproach.

He knelt beside a severely wounded comrade, personally tending to a wound that exposed bone.

His movements stood in stark contrast to his rugged exterior, careful and gentle, as if handling a priceless treasure.

Above the wound, a mass of spiritual energy and psychic power had gathered; Long Zhan was slowly combing it away, lest these remnants act like maggots, preventing the wound from healing.

Not far away, Yun Zhou sat alone on a relatively flat rock.

He was using a tattered piece of cloth to mechanically wipe his weapon, over and over again.

The blade, which had gorged itself on the blood of aliens during the battle, was now polished to a mirror sheen, reflecting a face that appeared calm but hid turbulent waves beneath.

His tightly furrowed brow betrayed his inner unrest.

He was well-traveled and of noble birth, yet even he had never experienced a battle so harrowing, so close to the jaws of death.

As for Taimi, he was like a sculpture from which the soul had been extracted.

He curled up in the most inconspicuous corner, back against the cold rock, staring blankly at the damp ground before him.

There was nothing there, yet his eyes repeatedly replayed a scene that had shattered his entire worldview—the honest, rugged smile of the veteran "Butcher," and his boastful words: "If the sky falls, we old guys will hold it up."

And finally, when the world-destroying attack of the Stone Clan Domain Lord descended, Butcher had not hesitated, using his own body to shield him.

In the instant flesh was torn and his body annihilated, Butcher had looked back at him; there was no pain in those eyes, only resolve.

This image, like the most vicious curse, played on a loop in his mind, flaying every nerve.

Immense grief, intense self-doubt, and endless remorse consumed him entirely.

Just then, in this silent, tomb-like atmosphere of oppression, a figure appeared without a sound.

He did not seem to walk in from the entrance but rather seeped out from the shadows, as if he had always been there, only allowing them to perceive his presence now.

It was Qin Feng.

His appearance instantly shattered the frozen atmosphere of the cave.

Everyone’s gaze—whether weary, numb, or pained—involuntarily converged upon him.

Qin Feng’s expression was as calm as ever, his deep eyes sweeping across the room, taking in the tragic state of the cavern.

In the end, Qin Feng did not offer any words of comfort.

Because he knew better than anyone that on this land soaked in death, after losing comrades with whom one had lived day and night, any verbal consolation would seem pale and powerless, perhaps even an ill-timed intrusion.

Action was far more powerful than words.

He silently raised his hand, and with a thought, a pile of resources radiating astonishing spiritual energy appeared out of thin air on the open ground before him.

These were no ordinary military supplies.

Among them were over a dozen crystal-clear recovery potions, within which life-light seemed to circulate; the mere aura they emitted made the surrounding wounded feel a surge of spirit.

There were also several pieces of carefully carved medicinal flesh, each containing a vast, sea-like life energy, with mysterious Dao patterns naturally appearing and fading on their surfaces—clearly the essence from the most powerful star-beasts.

More staggering still were the few fist-sized, peculiar crystals emitting a soft, emerald-green glow.

"Life Stones!"

Even the well-informed Yun Zhou felt his pupils contract sharply at the sight of those crystals, and he could not help but gasp.

Life Stones, a cosmic rarity capable of greatly accelerating healing and stabilizing the source of life; in the outside world, even the smallest fragment was worth a fortune, a healing treasure countless powerhouses dreamed of.

Yet now, Qin Feng tossed them onto the ground as if they were common pebbles.

The quality of these resources far exceeded the highest-grade supplies their frontline squad could normally obtain.

It could even be said that not even the Commander-in-Chief, Cang Lang, could have produced healing resources of this caliber so easily.

Qin Feng offered no explanation for their origin, simply saying to everyone in a concise tone: "Heal, and recover."

His voice was calm, neither high nor low, yet it carried an unquestionable power.

This power did not stem from the oppression of status or rank, but from the confidence and composure of absolute strength, as if, so long as he was here, the sky could not fall.

The crowd, immersed in grief and numbness, seemed to be pulled from the mire by this strength, subconsciously beginning to move.

Long Zhan was the first to react. He looked deeply at Qin Feng, his eyes filled with complex, indefinable emotions—gratitude, shock, confusion, and a trace of profound awe.

He did not decline, for he knew this was no time for politeness.

He picked up a top-tier recovery potion and a Life Stone, carefully walking toward a severely wounded comrade to begin treatment.

With the captain taking the lead, the other members stepped forward one by one, silently taking what they needed before returning to their places to heal against the clock.

As the cave filled once more with the spiritual glow of potions and the low groans of the wounded, that suffocating silence was finally broken.

After Long Zhan finished tending to a comrade, he walked up to Qin Feng. His tall frame bowed slightly, and he spoke in a low voice, with a solemnity never before seen:

“This time… thank you, Qin.”

His voice was raspy, heavy with exhaustion. “Though we… lost two of our brothers, we can at least say the mission was accomplished. We successfully rendezvoused with the besieged Sixteenth Squad and, despite Shi Lan’s relentless pursuit, brought them out alive.”

Yun Zhou, standing nearby, approached. He had finished wiping his blade and was sliding it back into its sheath.

He chimed in, his voice still carrying a tremor of lingering, uncontrollable dread: “Thank you is an understatement. Captain, we all know that if it weren’t for Qin… all of us, including the Sixteenth Squad we died to rescue, would have been reduced to nothing more than dust on the Island of Dead Stars by now. We would have been annihilated by Shi Lan, every last one of us.”

Yun Zhou’s words sent a jolt through every conscious member of the team.

It was true; that had been no balanced engagement, but a slaughter, pure and simple.

The power of Shi Lan, a peak Domain Lord of the God-Forbidden level, had transcended the boundaries of their comprehension.

In the face of that cataclysmic force, they, the so-called elite warriors, were as fragile as ants.

Despair was the only sensation any of them had felt at that moment.

Until… until this “newcomer,” Qin—who had always been reticent, showing no brilliance beyond the occasional insightful remark on secret arts—stepped forward. No one had expected, nor could they have imagined, that a “newcomer” who had spent only a few years among them, a junior they had always felt the need to protect, was hiding such a world-shattering, reality-defying, terrifying strength.

Long Zhan nodded heavily, the muscles in his face twitching as he recalled the scene, his shock plain to see: “To stand against a peak God-Forbidden Domain Lord like ‘Shi Lan’… this… this is simply a fairy tale!

I have served under Commander Cang Lang for tens of thousands of years, and I have witnessed his encounters with Shi Lan several times.

Even one as formidable as Commander Cang Lang, when facing Shi Lan, could only rely on his absolute familiarity with the complex terrain of these outer islands to maneuver and hide.

He utilized the island’s natural suppression of spiritual detection to avoid direct confrontation and seek opportunities for a strike.

To fight head-on? That was a thought beyond imagination!”

He lifted his head, his burning gaze fixed on Qin Feng, emphasizing every word: “And you… Qin, you actually stood your ground at the Black Hole limit! That is a peak Domain Lord of the God-Forbidden realm!”

Long Zhan’s words were like a boulder dropped into a calm lake, stirring up a monstrous storm in the hearts of every survivor.

Many of them, lacking the strength, had been forced to focus on self-preservation during the latter half of the battle and had not clearly seen the details of the duel between Qin Feng and Shi Lan.

They only knew that Qin Feng’s outburst had created their chance to escape, but they had no idea just how earth-shattering that outburst had been.

Now, hearing the highest appraisal of Qin Feng’s strength from the captain they trusted and respected most, the impact was unparalleled.

At the Black Hole limit, to stand firm against a peak God-Forbidden Domain Lord!

Each of these words was as heavy as a mountain, crushing down upon their hearts.

In an instant, every gaze directed at Qin Feng within the cave underwent a radical transformation.

If the previous gratitude and curiosity were instinctive reactions toward a savior, these looks had now shifted into an awe bordering on the worship of a deity.

They understood that the man they called “Qin” existed on a plane far beyond that of a mere “powerful comrade.”

The stunned dialogue between Long Zhan and Yun Zhou was like a sharp steel needle, piercing the shell of numbness and apathy Tami had used to shield himself.

“God-Forbidden peak…”

He muttered to himself, a glimmer of focus finally returning to his hollow eyes.

Then, that focus was swiftly swallowed by endless agony, and large, scalding tears fell without warning from his vacant eyes, tracing paths through the dust and blood on his cheeks, shattering into tiny splashes upon the ground.

His body began to tremble uncontrollably, the long-repressed grief surging like a broken dam, instantly shattering his psychological defenses.

He spoke hoarsely, his voice choked with sobs. These words were meant for everyone in the cave, but even more so, they were a long-overdue judgment upon his own soul:

“I… when I was at the Holy Academy… I often… often saw the reports sent back from the front lines…”

His words were fragmented, each one seemingly costing him every ounce of his strength. “The reports always said… ‘Our race has won a great victory, three hundred fallen in this battle, ten thousand enemies slain’… I… every time I saw such reports, I thought… I thought it was a glorious triumph, a supreme honor…”

At this point, his emotions flared violently; his hands uncontrollably gripped his messy hair, his nails digging deep into his scalp, yet he felt no pain.

“I never… I never truly cared! I never truly cared about what that ‘three hundred fallen’ actually meant!”

His voice rose sharply, laced with heart-wrenching self-reproach. “In my subconscious, I even felt… compared to the brilliant result of ten thousand kills, this was a very, very small number!

An expected cost!

A loss that had to be accepted to achieve such glory!”

He jerked his head up, his eyes, blurred by tears, filled with bloodshot agony and bone-deep regret.

“Until today… until Brother Butcher… died right in front of me to save me… only then did I truly understand! I finally understand!”

He hammered his chest with his fist, producing a dull, heavy thud.

“That is not a number! That damn thing is not just a cold number!”

“Behind every single digit is a living, breathing person!

A person who could laugh, curse, boast, and miss their family… a living, breathing human being!

It is a tragic fall!

I was… I was just an arrogant, high-and-mighty… bastard who had no reverence for life!”

Tami completely broke down.

He buried his face deep between his knees, his suppressed, animalistic whimpering echoing through the cave, breaking the hearts of all who heard it.

His worldview had been shattered by the final lesson Butcher had taught him with his life.

The knowledge from the books at the Holy Academy, the brilliant records in virtual battlefields, the grand principles spoken by his teachers—all seemed so hollow and ridiculous in the face of the cruel reality of “death.”

“Growth happens between life and death.”

This sentence, which Qin Feng had whispered to him when his Dao heart was wavering, now exploded deep within his mind like a black lightning bolt, accompanied by the deafening toll of a great bell!

Boom!

He understood.

He finally understood the true meaning of those words.

A true warrior is never defined by how many virtual enemies they have defeated in the empire’s top arenas, nor by how many exquisite secret arts they have mastered.

A true warrior is one who, after witnessing the ultimate cruelty of war and seeing death in its most authentic form, still chooses to grip their weapon once more, carrying the will and expectations of the fallen, and rises again from the blood and ruins.

Watching Tami, who had completely collapsed yet was experiencing a sort of rebirth within that collapse, Yun Zhou sighed deeply.

He stepped forward, saying nothing, simply reaching out to pat Tami’s trembling shoulder firmly.

Then, he spoke in a voice that was incredibly calm, yet heavy with immense gravity: “Tami, remember this. We survived this time because two people fought for our lives. One was Brother Butcher; he used his fall to teach you the meaning of ‘sacrifice.’”

He paused, his gaze piercing the dim air to land precisely on that figure who had remained calm from beginning to end.

His eyes, in that moment, became incredibly sharp, filled with absolute certainty and a fervor he himself had not noticed.

“And the other…”

“Is Qin Feng.”

“Qin Feng?”

The name struck Tami’s ears like a thunderclap.

He jerked his head up from his arms, his tear-stained face etched with disbelief.

He stared blankly at the reticent man who had experienced life and death alongside them, his lips trembling, unable to form a complete sentence.

“The top of the Hidden Dragon List, the ‘Fierce God’ Qin Feng who stirred the winds and clouds of the entire universe with his own strength?!”

For Tami, Yun Zhou, and the other prodigies from the core territories of the human race, that name was far too legendary to ignore.

It was more than a name; it was a legend, a myth, a peerless fiend who had risen with such meteoric speed across the ages that his radiance had eclipsed countless elders of the old guard.

Yet, to Long Zhan and the other veterans stationed here for years, this name sounded utterly foreign.

"The Fiend-God Qin Feng?"

Long Zhan looked toward Yun Zhou with a blank expression, his brows knit tight. "Who is he? Is he famous?"

The other veterans exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes filled with confusion.

They had been trapped on this island of death for too long, almost entirely severed from the outside world, and knew nothing of the recent upheavals within the human territories.

Yun Zhou sensed their doubt and explained, "Captain, it is only natural that you do not know him.

Secret realms shrouded in special laws, like the Isle of Dead Meteors or the Bloody Forbidden Zone, largely block the perception of the cosmic will.

Therefore, real-time rankings like the Hidden Dragon List or the Marquis List cannot reach this place."

"You have been stationed here for thousands of years—some, like you, Captain, for over ten millennia.

But Brother Qin Feng... the time he has truly risen into the sight of the myriad races of the universe is, to this day, barely ten thousand years.

Your timeline simply missed his legend."

Hearing Yun Zhou’s explanation, Long Zhan and the others were struck by a sudden realization, followed by an even more intense curiosity.

To be so highly regarded by Yun Zhou, the son of the Nine-Spirit King, and linked to the recent feat of shaking a peak Divine Prohibition expert—who exactly was this "Qin Feng"?

Yun Zhou took a deep breath, knowing that every word he spoke next would utterly shatter the perceptions of these veterans.

Without embellishment, he used the most concise and objective language to slowly recount a resume that could only be described as mythical:

"Brother Qin Feng is the champion of the Universal Genius Tournament, the chief of our Human Empire!"

"The chief?!"

Long Zhan gasped, a terrifying brilliance erupting in his eyes.

The weight of those words—Universal Genius Tournament Champion—was something this veteran understood all too well! It meant invincibility among his peers!

Yun Zhou nodded and continued, "After the tournament, he did not rest. In the 'Twin River' secret realm, he single-handedly suppressed the enemies of all races and seized a cosmic treasure."

"At the border outpost of the Thunder Universe Kingdom, under the gaze of all, he broke through his cultivation to enter the Divine Prohibition realm, then defied the heavens to strike upward, slaying five long-renowned alien domain lords with a single spear!"

"After that battle, his fierce reputation shook the universe, startling the highest echelons of our race and drawing the wary eyes of countless alien powerhouses!"

Every sentence from Yun Zhou was like a heavy hammer, striking the hearts of Long Zhan and the other veterans.

They looked at Qin Feng, who stood not far away with a calm expression, their minds blank.

The young man they had fought alongside, the one they had treated as a mere recruit, was actually such a legendary god of slaughter!

The way they looked at Qin Feng could no longer be described by simple awe.

It was a fervor and excitement akin to seeing a brilliant sun rise in the midst of endless darkness!

It was the ecstasy of a drowning man grasping a ship that would never sink!

Long Zhan’s body trembled violently with emotion.

He stood up abruptly, the sudden movement tugging at his wounds and sending a piercing pain through his body, yet he paid it no mind.

Tears shimmered in his tiger-like eyes.

"So... so the ethereal rumors that have circulated in the army... they were true!"

His voice trembled, almost a roar. "The human high command has not abandoned us! They have not treated us as pawns to be discarded!

They... they have sent their strongest prodigy, the brightest hope of our generation... to save us!"

In that moment, the string of "hope" in the hearts of every surviving veteran—a string long worn thin by endless despair and loneliness—was reconnected.

They were no longer a lost army; they were no longer the forgotten.

Qin Feng’s arrival was, in itself, the loudest declaration that the human high command had never given up on them!

Facing Long Zhan’s near-pilgrim gaze, Qin Feng did not shy away, nor did he offer false humility.

He accepted this heartfelt respect with composure, knowing he needed to use this to rebuild the morale of a team on the verge of collapse.

His expression turned solemn, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, and his voice, steady as a mountain, rang clearly through the cave:

"Yes."

A simple syllable, yet it carried the weight of ten thousand tons of certainty.

He looked around at them, then said, word by word, each syllable ringing like metal and stone, filled with unparalleled dominance and a sense of responsibility that brooked no refusal:

"If no one else can carry the banner, then I will!"

"The myriad races believe the Isle of Dead Meteors is a discarded piece of humanity, a rotting scrap of flesh to be cast aside at will."

"Then I shall come here myself!"

"I will use my actions to tell them that every human warrior is precious and must not be lost!"

"I have stepped forward; I have come to this Isle of Dead Meteors!"

"The karma of this place, I shall bear upon my own shoulders!"

These words lacked flowery rhetoric, yet they were filled with a power that shook the soul.

Like a raging fire, they instantly ignited the blood in the hearts of everyone present.

Whatever sorrow, whatever despair—at this moment, it seemed to be washed away by this soaring spirit!

Qin Feng watched their rekindled fighting spirit and nodded with satisfaction. "For over a decade, I have basically mapped the terrain of the outer island, the patterns of the spiritual energy tides, and the details of the alien alliance's troop distribution."

"I have a complete star map here, and I will copy it for you."

He paused, his gaze becoming sharp and majestic as he issued his first order as the "breaker of the deadlock."

"From now on, I will act alone."

"From this moment, you, and every human warrior struggling to survive on this land, have only one mission: to live!"

"At any cost, live!"

"Live until... the day I carve my way through this Isle of Dead Meteors!"

"Believe me, that day will not be long."

As he finished, Qin Feng produced a blank jade talisman.

As he poured his spiritual power into it, a torrent of data, vast beyond imagination, began to flood into it.

It was more than just a map.

It was the result of ten years of infiltrating the Isle of Dead Meteors, using over a thousand Divine Prohibition-level mechanical avatars—including countless dust-sized reconnaissance units known as "Thunderbolts"—to scan and explore the entire outer island down to the very bedrock.

It was a super-detailed, dynamic star map generated after billions of precise calculations, plans, and analyses by his auxiliary intelligence prototype, "Babel."

The value of this star map was immeasurable.

It was thousands, tens of thousands of times more detailed than the map held by the commander-in-chief, Cang Lang, which had been pieced together by the blood and lives of countless soldiers!

Almost every inch of terrain, every crater that could serve as a hiding spot, every hidden underground spiritual energy current, and even the patrol schedules and blind spots of the alien forces were clearly marked.

For the human defenders on the Isle of Dead Meteors, this was a "bible" for survival!

A moment later, the data transfer was complete.

Qin Feng placed the heavy jade talisman into Long Zhan’s hands.

Long Zhan’s fingers trembled as he received the artifact.

He could sense the vast, star-like expanse of information contained within its depths.

In that instant, his eyes and those of his comrades grew red with unshed tears.

They could not fathom what manner of resolve had driven Qin Feng—a top-tier prodigy with a future of infinite brilliance, the very star of humanity’s hope—to venture alone into this desolate death trap, a place even marquess-level powerhouses dared not tread, just to bring such precious hope to those who had been discarded and forgotten.

This debt of gratitude was heavier than the heavens and the earth.

"Take care."

Qin Feng gave a slight nod to the group, a silent farewell.

Without a hint of hesitation, he turned and strode toward the cave entrance.

His silhouette flickered through the light at the threshold before vanishing entirely into the profound darkness, as if he had never been there at all.

He chose to depart immediately for two reasons.

First, with the star map constructed, he possessed the absolute confidence to navigate the outer islands safely; he no longer needed to hide within any squad, and could even begin to offer support back to the human race.

Second, and most importantly:

The "Path of the Limit" technique he was forging, built upon the foundation of thirty billion body-refining arts, had reached one percent completion before hitting a bottleneck.

This impasse could no longer be overcome by the simulations of his mechanical avatar or the deductions of the Tower of Babel.

He required combat; he needed to test his martial theories through the crucible of a true, powerful flesh-and-blood body.

And on this Island of Dead Meteors, there was no shortage of powerful... prey.

Inside the cave, the survivors of the Seventy-Eighth Squad remained transfixed, staring at the direction where Qin Feng had disappeared, speechless for a long time.

Only the warm jade talisman in Long Zhan’s grip and the rekindled flame of hope in their hearts bore silent witness that Qin Feng had truly been there.

The high command of humanity had not abandoned them.

They were not discarded pawns.