Assisting?

Inside the fissure tunnel,

the Niu Brothers stood guard in front of the fissure, looking thoroughly bored.

Kong Yang lightly twirled a folding fan in his left hand while holding a yellowed ancient book in his right, reading with relish.

"Is the game not fun, or are the videos not interesting?"

Kong Yin's face was filled with speechlessness as she complained:

"Every day you just guard a bunch of tattered books, wasting time!"

"You..."

Kong Yang sighed, casting his gaze toward his younger sister and also toward the Niu Brothers.

"Why do you think the clan let us come to the human race for further studies?"

"Why else?" Kong Yin rolled her eyes.

"Isn't it just that routine of improving relations? They call it study and training, but really it's nothing more than coming here as hostages."

"Incorrect." Niu He shook his head, speaking in a muffled voice:

"Given the strength of the human race, they don't need hostages. We came here to learn from the human race!"

A smile appeared at the corners of Kong Yang's eyes as he raised the ancient book in his hand and nodded in approval.

"Well said, it's precisely to 'learn'!"

Kong Yin found this amusing and said with disdain:

"The clan sent you here to learn human martial arts, not these useless things!"

"Useless?"

Kong Yang's brow furrowed slightly and he shook his head.

"I see you've been too deeply influenced by Third Brother, with only martial arts in your eyes!"

As he spoke, he looked earnestly at the few of them.

"Why do you think the human race was able to grow to such a degree?"

"Technology? Martial arts? Mecha?"

With each word, Kong Yin tapped her chin lightly to show agreement.

The Niu Brothers nodded vigorously, their faces full of longing.

"Wrong, all wrong!" Kong Yang shook his head and sighed.

"These are all merely the 'result', not the 'cause'!"

"Everything does not come out of thin air."

"The human race also developed step by step to reach where they are today."

Kong Yin frowned, her gaze drifting toward the yellowed ancient book.

"You aren't going to tell me that the so-called 'cause' is this tattered book, are you?"

"Yes, and no."

Kong Yang lightly raised the ancient book in his hand and explained:

"What's important isn't this book, but the meaning it represents..."

"Heritage!"

"It's not just scientific technology and the heritage of martial arts techniques; more importantly, it's the heritage of the human spirit, such as..."

At this point, a smile naturally appeared at the corners of Kong Yang's lips.

"Li Qingshan's 'gallantry and chivalry' stems precisely from the heritage passed down generation after generation by the human race."

"Ha!"

Kong Yin was amused and said dismissively:

"Rushing in brainlessly like a fool, and you call that 'gallantry and chivalry'?"

"Do you have too many lives, or have you lived long enough? You want to study this kind of crap?"

"A bit impulsive, yes."

Kong Yang shook his head, correcting her:

"But you cannot deny Li Qingshan's 'gallantry and chivalry', especially in front of us alien races, where he was still able to cast aside prejudice and charge into battle..."

"Alliance Leader, you flatter me."

The voice rang out, and all five of them were startled, turning their heads to look.

Li Qingshan had already stepped out of the fissure at some point, looking over with an expression of shame.

"Uh..."

Kong Yang paused slightly, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Qingshan, when did you get back?"

"Just now." Li Qingshan gave a shy smile, looking ashamed:

"The four words 'gallantry and chivalry' are too heavy, I'm afraid I'm unworthy of them."

"You are worthy, perfectly worthy!"

Kong Yang's smile bloomed. Putting his mind at ease, he stepped forward and said:

"How could you be unworthy when you were able to disregard our alien status and charge at the front?"

After tossing out a casual compliment, Kong Yang cut straight to the point.

"Right, what's the situation outside the fissure? Which race is it? What's the scale? Are there any powerful experts?"

Li Qingshan's brow gradually furrowed and he sighed.

"They're gone."

"Gone?!"

Kong Yang's smile froze, the Niu Brothers stood stunned in place, and Kong Yin frowned, urging:

"What's gone? Speak clearly, what on earth is going on!"

"We arrived late."

Li Qingshan looked back toward the ten-thousand-meter fissure, saying helplessly:

"There must be other fortresses that also opened fissures on that planet opposite, and now it's already reduced to a shambles with lives devastated."

"Such a coincidence?"

Kong Yang frowned and flew directly into the fissure, followed closely by Kong Yin and the other four.

Li Qingshan smiled and followed behind.

The group of six passed through the fissure and hovered high in the air.

Beneath their feet was a charred continent.

The phrase "lives devastated" described it extremely aptly!

Kong Yin's gaze swept across the ground while she simultaneously released her perception to carefully investigate, analyzing coldly:

"The surface has only cooled down recently, the action took place no more than a month ago at most. Judging from the traces, it should be a Tier 6 expert proficient in fire-related principles..."

"It's not fire!"

Kong Yang shook his head, saying in a deep voice:

"Destroying a continent is very simple, but to cover the entire continent with a single strike without harming the strata is no easy feat. Only the top ten of the War Merit Board could possibly do it."

"I remember the information on the top ten very well, not a single one specializes in 'fire', but..."

"The number one ranked 'Fei Xingye' possesses a 72-zhang Great Sun Dharma Form!"

"Alliance Leader!"

Li Qingshan's expression startled, and he asked doubtfully:

"Are you saying this was done by 'Fei Xingye'?"

"Exactly!"

Kong Yang nodded earnestly, affirming:

"The only one I can think of is him."

"And only 'Fei Xingye' could so easily destroy a continent."

Hearing this, Li Qingshan looked down at the charred earth and couldn't help nodding in agreement.

To achieve this step was indeed no easy task.

Destroying a continent required only a single strike, taking no more than ten seconds total.

However, making the battlefield look like it happened a month ago was not so easy.

He had spent a full few minutes cooling down the entire continent to complete the "antiquing" process.

Originally, he was worried it would be seen through, but now that worry was gone.

"Alliance Leader!"

Li Qingshan's face sank, and he said coldly:

"Things are too coincidental. Could it be that 'Fei Xingye' feared the Alliance Leader would rise above him and therefore deliberately targeted us?"

"Targeted?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the brows of Kong Yang and the others all furrowed.

A mere "Fei Xingye" certainly couldn't accomplish this step.

However...

"Border fortresses opening fissures in alien starry skies all definitely have coordinates!"

"Wanting to deliberately arrange this isn't very difficult."

Kong Yin's face sank, and she complained with dissatisfaction:

"With the development momentum of our Shouyang Alliance, Elder Brother surpassing Fei Xingye and claiming the top spot on the war merit 'board' is just around the corner."

"The Ministry of Education must be sitting on pins and needles, which is why they secretly intervened to hinder our accumulation of war merits while opening the back door for Fei Xingye!"

The Niu Brothers exchanged glances and suggested:

"Kong Yang, contact Vice Minister Ye."

"He is the Vice Minister of Education, and our rankings are also part of his political achievements. He cannot just sit by and do nothing."

"Vice Minister this, Vice Minister that, and you still want to ask people for help?"

Kong Yang speechlessly shook his head, waved his hand, and deliberated:

"It's still too early to draw conclusions, perhaps it's just a coincidence."

As he spoke, his gaze turned toward Li Qingshan, and he sighed:

"Qingshan, I've made you laugh. Prejudice is everywhere, and our alien status is indeed rather glaring to others."

"Alliance Leader, I have already joined the Shouyang Alliance, and furthermore, we are friends."

Li Qingshan straightened his expression and said earnestly:

"Regardless of whether it's 'Fei Xingye' targeting us or not, I will definitely lead the charge and fully assist the Alliance Leader in reaching the top of the 'board'!"