Chapter 2747: Smoke and Fire Are Often Silent!
Jiangnan dazedly woke up, rubbing the sleep crust from his eyes.
(｡⁼̴～ก̀｡)"Mmm～ Ai Jiang? Why are you here too? This won't do! Even though you're already very realistic, after all there's a difference between human and machine... let me finish what I'm doing here first..."
Ai Jiang was frantic—was her master still groggy from sleep?
(งᵒ̌﹏ᵒ̌)ง"Forget about the difference between human and machine for now! Wouldn't actual combat be more fun later? Master, you're about to break through! If you keep staying on Lan Xing, all the spiritual energy on the entire planet will be sucked dry by you, and it still won't be enough for the breakthrough!"
"The star core will collapse because of this. Quickly change positions—the Star Sea Source Flow Cosmic Array outside has already been prepared!"
Jiangnan suddenly snapped out of his sleepy state.
∑(°口°๑)What the heck?
Breakthrough?
I was just sleeping, and this dream was so comfortable? I broke through while dreaming?
After putting so much effort into building Lan Xing like this, it wouldn't be good if I sucked it dry and blew it up!
At this moment, Jiangnan's body seemed to turn into a bottomless pit, and the energy within him was on the verge of a qualitative change!
It was about to burst out!
So he teleported out of Lan Xing in an instant!
=͟͟͞͞=͟͟͞͞ᕕ(‧̣̥̇•̀﹏•́)୨"Let's go quickly!"
As soon as Jiangnan left, the clouds that had been swirling in Lan Xing's sky gradually dissipated.
Ai Jiang quickly broadcasted:
꒰ঌ❍໒꒱"Everyone, don't panic. That was just the commotion caused by Nan Shen about to break through. Please be at ease."
The citizens of Lan Xing were all horrified.
(ʘ̅△ʘ̅๑)Are you kidding me?
Now, just a casual breakthrough by Nan Shen creates such a commotion that it could destroy a planet?
This was already beyond the comprehension of ordinary Spirit Martial Artists.
And indeed it was. Jiangnan had already reached Transcendent Ten, and the energy accumulated in his body had reached an extremely terrifying level.
He was on the firm path toward Star Devourer.
Previously, in the Star Sea Source Flow Cosmic Array, three months had passed on the outside, and Jiangnan had cultivated for two and a half years, yet he still hadn't advanced a single stage.
But he had reached the peak of Transcendent Ten, and combined with the constant fighting in the Sequence Offensive and Defensive Battle, even exhausting his willpower, he finally initiated the qualitative change to the eleventh stage!
Above the Lost Kingdom, Jiangnan appeared abruptly, his expression uncomfortable.
(›⁼̴▽⁼̴‹)"Energy? Not enough! I've dried up already!"
Ai Jiang quickly said, "Master, just stay right where you are. I'll activate the external output mode of the Star Sea Source Flow Cosmic Array."
With that, the Star Sea Source Flow Cosmic Arrays scattered around activated, burning massive amounts of Star Source Energy Blocks.
The terrifying energy torrent compressed and converged toward the center of the arrays, but instead of being injected into the star domain of the central planet, it was directly output outward.
It turned into a super-massive energy torrent, heading straight toward Jiangnan's location.
It wasn't just one array, but three Star Sea Source Flow Cosmic Arrays outputting simultaneously!
Every second, massive amounts of Star Source Energy Blocks burned into nothingness.
At this moment, Jiangnan was directly engulfed and submerged by the Star Source Energy mass, but not a bit was wasted.
His body, like a bottomless pit, absorbed all the energy, and the energy within him finally began to undergo a qualitative change.
༼(꒪ͦ皿꒪ͦꐦ)༽"Not enough! Still not enough! More!"
Ai Jiang covered her face—was her master's eleventh stage demand really this great?
Fortunately, she hadn't come unprepared.
With her command, three more Star Sea Source Flow Cosmic Arrays emerged, starting energy output toward Jiangnan.
These three were built later by humans and all were of the 1080 Source Flow Star scale.
After all, while Jiangnan and the others were fighting the Sequence Offensive and Defensive Battle, humanity's construction work never stopped.
The combined energy supply from six cosmic arrays finally met Jiangnan's needs.
The surging aura on Jiangnan's body began to increase exponentially!
Because every stage of Transcendent was a leap.
Not to mention that Jiangnan was already at the eleventh stage, having undergone the super qualitative change of the tenth stage—the improvement was unimaginable.
...
At the same time, inside the Lost Kingdom Carbon Alliance Summit venue!
Over two thousand race representatives of the Carbon Alliance gathered here, not a single one absent.
The atmosphere in the hall was somewhat serious, because Hei Shen was sitting on one side playing cat's cradle with Xing Cheng, while Xiaoli Yu stared with dead fish eyes from the side watching the fun.
Hei Shen's little black hands looked quite nimble.
Even though they were all on the same side now, seeing Hei Shen's true form still made some of them feel uneasy.
And the intense energy fluctuations outside caught many people's attention.
Nuoya's eyes lit up.
(*ﾟﾛﾟ)"Oh ho? Such a commotion? Someone among the humans is breaking through to Star Devourer? Who? Huo Shen? Or Weiwei An?"
Bannimei exclaimed in surprise:
꒰⸝⸝Õ△Õ⸝⸝꒱"So pure energy supply? Where did it come from? This almost meets the energy purity requirements for Star Devourer, doesn't it?"
Hei Shen rolled his eyes.
(꒪ั～꒪ั*)"What breakthrough to Star Devourer? My little brother? Him? Far from it!"
"This commotion is probably him reaching Transcendent Eleven, right?"
Chong Qianjin nearly spat out a mouthful of blood—it was Jiangnan causing this? No wonder he hadn't arrived yet.
Transcendent Eleven? Probably similar to Star Breaker Eleven, right?
Good heavens, he's cultivated to the eleventh stage and still hasn't qualitatively changed to Star Devourer? Did he plan to stay at Star Breaker rank until he died?
No wonder he was so strong!
After a while, the energy fluctuations disappeared.
Jiangnan suddenly appeared in his seat at the venue and sat down heavily.
His aura was more stable now, his skin emitted a precious glow, and even his body carried a faint fragrant scent of a Southern man.
Every move seemed to align with the rhythm of space, making him even more unshakable.
Jiangnan yawned, half-leaning on the conference table, propping up his chin, and sighed.
(◞‸◟)"Sigh..."
Nuoya's mouth twitched.
(￢﹏￢٥)"Didn't you just break through a stage? Why sigh? Isn't this something worth celebrating?"
Jiangnan said dejectedly: (´-～-`；)"Just one stage up, what's the use? I thought I'd qualitatively change to Star Devourer this time, but I didn't even touch the edge!"
"When will I be able to become Star Devourer? My situation is very awkward now! No one in the Star Breaker rank is my match—fighting them is boring."
"Fighting above my level against Star Devourers? I'm still lacking, can't reach them. The range and power of my skills can't compare to a real Star Devourer. I'm stuck in between and it's really uncomfortable, you know?"
Even now, aside from forbidden means like Black Hole Devouring Star, Jiangnan couldn't directly fight a Star Devourer head-on. His attributes in all aspects were a notch lower.
The gap between Star Breaker and Star Devourer was too huge!
If there was any level to challenge above, there probably wasn't one harder than this.
Manti was covered in black lines.
What the heck? You want to defeat a Star Devourer-level existence head-on while still at Star Breaker rank?
Why don't you just rebel against heaven?
Throughout history, those who could cross this chasm were few and far between. Jiangnan's combat power was already freakishly abnormal. God knows who would be his match once he broke through to Star Devourer.
But thinking of the biggest dark horse in history, Manti felt relieved.
Why was she comparing herself to a freak? Humans were never easy to deal with.
Jiangnan sighed again:
(◞‸◟)"Sigh... I think I'm probably not going to be able to participate in the third round."
As he said this, his little eyes looked toward Hei Shen, winking repeatedly, giving hints.
(๑◔▿◔ิ)✧
Hei Shen was speechless—could your intention be any more obvious?
You're thinking about the treasure I mentioned earlier, aren't you?
At the mention of this, Nuoya's expression turned serious.
"Jiangnan! How long do you think this Thousand Stars Era can last? Will the third round actually be fought?"
"Can the Thousand Stars Era hold out until the end of the Sequence War? Is it necessary to prepare for the ultimate war? I want to hear your thoughts."
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became grave. Some smaller races might not think that far, but as major race leaders, Nuoya and Manti had very long-term strategic vision and were extremely sensitive to changes in the starry sky situation.
The silence and stillness of the starry sky made them uneasy, sensing a dangerous feeling.
Everyone's eyes focused on Jiangnan, and their expressions turned serious.
Jiangnan said calmly, "No need to think about it. The end of the Thousand Stars Era has already been decided. It will inevitably head toward an irreversible collapse."
"The Apocalypse Race's Xun Zu yearns for the highest Cosmos realm, and has yet to show his face. No one knows how far he has progressed."
"The Silicon race's greedy gaze is fixed on Ai Jiang's terminal. Once they figure out the main terminal and find the so-called countermeasures, they will attack the Carbon Alliance without hesitation."
"And once Xun Zu achieves his Dao, he will also ignite the flames of war, eliminating any existence that threatens the Apocalypse Race's dominant position."
"Whichever of these two sides completes this critical step first will spark war across the starry sky, completely collapsing the Thousand Stars Era. The choice has never been in our hands..."
These words were already very straightforward.
The collapse of the Thousand Stars Era was an inevitable result, like flowers that must wither after blooming, unstoppable by human power.
Jiangnan could even foresee the arrival of war.
Nuoya laughed bitterly:
(︶益︶|||)"As expected? Damn it, I didn't expect that my generation would live to see the end of an era. I don't know if that's good luck or bad luck."
Chong Qianjin said darkly, "Since the Thousand Stars Era is destined to collapse, and the sequence rankings will turn into empty talk with the rules broken, what's the point of fighting this Sequence War? Isn't it a waste of effort?"
Jiangnan smiled. "Is it really meaningless? If the Sequence War hadn't been fought, the Carbon Alliance wouldn't exist."
"It's precisely because of the Sequence War that we can sit together today, possessing the capital to resist the changing winds and clouds of the starry sky."
"As the saying goes, heroes are made by the times. Moreover, fighting the Sequence War isn't a loss for us. Instead, we are accumulating capital, reputation, and strength. And in the subsequent chaos of disorder, these will play a role that's far from trivial."
"We are indeed competing for rankings that may become meaningless, but it's definitely not just for the rankings. You can completely think of it as a warm-up before the main event, a process of accumulating advantages for your own side."
"Don't you all realize? The real war actually started long ago..."
"Smoke and fire are often silent..."