Starfall

What does it mean to stretch for thousands of miles? You could see a small section of it on a globe!

What appeared before Li Fan was a colossal creature with a human face and a snake's body, the Zhu Long, which was hovering in near-Earth orbit.

This deity, with its crimson scales and vertical purple eyes, was being swallowed whole. Ice shards and fiery streams sprayed alternately from its mouth and nostrils, and silvery-white clouds with a slight blue glow dispersed from its mouth and nostrils. Its long and enormous serpentine body slithered and moved.

His back and abdomen shone like reddish gold under the intense sunlight, and the astonishing temperature of his entire body was visible to the naked eye, as if he were enveloped in an orange-red halo.

As the snake moved, high-speed charged particles that occasionally escaped from between its scales excited the thin air molecules and atoms in the upper atmosphere, ejecting large amounts of plasma clouds that stretched into the sky as blue, purple, or red auroras, as if illuminating a divine light.

"The Zhu Long is currently charging in the thermosphere; after all, it needs a rest after firing a shot. We can use the noise from the ionosphere as a cover, and the system won't detect it at all. The company's system also has a backdoor setting for one-click self-destruction; all we need to do is issue the self-destruct command, so it's actually quite simple."

Li Fan was truly dumbfounded.

... Is this a cruiser? The camouflage is so realistic, it looks like a living thing...

"That's because it is indeed real. It is a genetically coordinated living organism, an artificial life form with the same nature as Bio-Human, a cruiser-class bio-weapon."

"Of course, the company registered them as simulated animals for landscaping purposes. After all, the review procedures for military security equipment are too complicated, so it's a way to legally avoid taxes."

Wow... Your biotechnology is really amazing, right?

Strictly speaking, all technologies are amazing.

Grass...

"Huh? The Legion's communication signal! It's the real Legion!"

What?! We've been discovered? Our army has been defeated?

"Don't panic, it's just an encrypted message. We've already intercepted it; it contains location coordinates."

'Encrypted' information...

Li Fan glanced at the projected coordinates and saw a familiar Legion crate, which also contained gene serum injection tubes.

Oh—I see, this is probably the 'Inhuman' potion. Looks like the company's apostles have already submitted their resumes to the Legion.

"That's perfect. I changed the coordinates and packed a puppet inside. When the cruiser is shot down, it will send the information to that company's apostle. As long as he opens the coordinates, he can burn her system."

... burned out? The system?

"Yeah, burn it, brains too. Heh, believe me, she contacted the legion one minute and lost a cruiser the next. Heh, she probably couldn't be happier to die so easily. Don't forget the authorization."

Li Fan: "... I'm authorizing the system."

Yes, this cruiser also received authorization to fire, didn't it?

"Okay, done. Oh, by the way, if you're going to Kun Country, pick up that medicine on the way."

A drug that turns a person into Non-Thing? He's already too monstrous; is there any need for that now?

"Let's see how far the cult has progressed. Oh, right, you can transform yourself, right? Well, here's the genetic sequence and compositional diagram of the Zhu Long. You can transform it for fun. Consider it a bonus."

Holy crap... I can actually turn into this cruiser?!

"Why not? Didn't I say it's a 'biological being'? Of course, the Zhu Long you transformed into is just the 'basic hull.' The other energy, communication, and weapon systems are prosthetics added by the company through illegal surgeries. These things are subject to technical restrictions and cannot be transformed. However, with a physical body of this level, you can directly engage in interstellar travel."

Damn it, I can travel through space now...

Okay, actually it's a little different. This Zhu Long probably really achieved physical ascension and interstellar travel.

Now, Li Fan is using the Thousand-Faced Immortal Body, which transforms his entire body into special black charcoal dust. Furthermore, the entire process involves dismantling and consuming his True Essence of Returning to Emptiness, causing Li Fan's Nascent Soul cultivation to regress significantly...

"Since you don't want to drag this out any longer, and I think it's about time, why don't we just dismantle it now?"

How about the solution? Just... a direct burst?

"Yes, according to the Environmental Protection Law, in order to prevent artificial organisms from causing biochemical crises, developers must set up backdoors to disintegrate the organisms at the genetic level, causing the flesh and blood to collapse and burn up in the atmosphere."

The scales and bones, these unburnable remains, were broken down and thrown onto the ground. These can all be used to refine treasures, and cultivators from the Central Plains will definitely fight tooth and nail for them. They probably won't be able to care about your Ink Bamboo Mountain for a while, right?

As for the prosthetic devices the company installed, we'll dump them on the cult's territory; we'll go all the way with the act. By the way, don't you have a clone in Yinshan? We need to deploy them at specific locations. How about we throw you a piece of meat to gnaw on?"

Even my clone can get a share of the pie? Thanks!

"You're welcome, you're welcome. Is there anything else you want? There's quite a lot of random stuff on this ship. Anyway, it'll be scattered everywhere later. The apostle is in trouble himself. It doesn't matter if you pick up a couple more items since the deviation value isn't particularly high. You can't trace it back to us through your clone anyway."

Damn, how much is that pot even worth? You guys are so generous...

Forget about the small stuff. Do you have hydrogen bombs, rifles, SBS armor, and shuttles? A few hundred pieces, please?

"Several hundred items... I guarantee that if anyone picks up a rifle and starts spraying bullets everywhere, the deviation rate will be off the charts. When the company's managers arrive, the first thing they'll eliminate is this kind of oddball... Let's choose something with some camouflage. Let me take a look... Oh! There are some pretty good ones here!"

The crystal screen flashed, projecting a standing iron statue of a soldier clad in heavy armor. He stood there like a clothes rack, and his equipment looked typical of the Immortal Palace style: a helmet with a beast face, fish-scale iron armor, and a ring-hilted sword.

Seriously? Armor again? Does he even need armor? Once he masters the Cruiser Body, he'll be invincible in melee combat!

"It's not armor, it's this Iron Guard, and the entire military camp—a robot armory decorated like an Immortal Palace."

Of course, they are very outdated civilian robots. They are solar-powered and lack advanced combat equipment. The armor and swords they wear are all manufactured by the company and are of decent quality. However, they are ultimately just props used on a stage, so don't expect them to have much power.

It's about the level of fighting against Nascent Soul General from a native immortal Immortal Palace. It only has basic intelligence and can understand simple commands. You can use the puppets to gain control, then reprogram them and input new martial arts routines to increase their combat power.

As the system displayed the puppet code that seized control of the robotic guards, it zoomed out to reveal hundreds of heavily armored guards, arranged in a terracotta army-like formation, displayed on a vast platform. Surrounding them was a complex of buildings resembling a celestial Immortal Palace; the palace, though called a hangar, looked more like a tomb...

"Yes."

What is it?

"It's a mausoleum. The system records those low-level robots outside, called Immortal Tomb Guards. The mausoleum contains specimens of the corpses of ancient Immortal Palace generals, ministers, kings, and nobles. It's probably a clone gene bank collected by the Immortal Palace."

As the system revealed the treasures within the tomb, Li Fan was now numb. All he could see were rows of celestial coffins exuding a chilling aura, and the civil and military officials dressed in court attire, their appearances lifelike, as if they might open their eyes at any moment.

What's the point of collecting these people's genetic clones? They must be from a very, very long time ago, right? Could they possibly be resurrected?

"It's useless now, just a specimen. The company probably has deep control over the ancient Immortal Palace. All the officials are puppets, ready to descend as vessels for apostles at any time. Of course, without the authority, they certainly couldn't do such a thing."

Of course, clones have many uses. For example, if you want to film a period drama, you don't need to hire incompetent actors who haven't even grown a beard, can't remember the script, and don't even twitch their brow muscles throughout the entire hundred-plus episodes as extras. You can just use these 'real people' to perform."

Are you kidding me...? Filming period dramas? Your country's development level is so advanced that you'd still be watching period dramas?

"It's not about 'watching,' it's about 'being there.' Think of it as a reality show-like life experience. Some scripts are designed by the company, while others are specified by the client. Of course, the main focus is on commanding armies, conquering battlefields, achieving fame and fortune, being ennobled and appointed as generals, and unifying the world!"

This strategy still has a market; those old fogies with more money than they can spend enjoy playing this game. The thrill lies in reliving the process of 'winning everything'.

Do you understand? He's Winner in this life, and he'll still Winner when he wakes up, no matter which world, no matter which side, hundreds of lifetimes, thousands of lifetimes, forever—he'll always be Winner."

And everyone else, regardless of their suffering and joy, are merely extras in the shadow of the Winner...?

Enough is enough, let's destroy it.

Li Fan: "I'm authorizing the system."

Thus, the Zhu Long disintegrated. Its enormous eyeballs bulged out, blasted from its skull by an endless sea of blood. Endless blood and fire sprayed from the scales and belly of the entire crimson dragon. This great life form, which seemed to stretch across the sky like a celestial being, was utterly destroyed at this command. Its massive body shattered into hundreds and thousands of pieces of flesh, which fell into the atmosphere and burned under the pull of gravity, like a blood-red rain of stars suddenly falling from the night sky, descending from Yin Mountain and flying across the entire Central Plains.

At that moment, countless people throughout the Central Plains, across the Three Great Sects, the Immortal Palace, and the Profound Gate, were startled by this unexpected celestial anomaly, this sudden shower of stars. They left their seclusion, opened their mountains, looked up at the stars, and asked the heavens, "What is the purpose of this?"

Li Fan simply retracted the tentacle from his head, turned and left the cabin, without looking back at the dazzling lava in the sky.

He didn't find the blood-red starfall under the night sky to be a particularly beautiful or dazzling sight.

He didn't feel at all that the incarnation of 'Heaven,' whom Zhang Dali had failed to defeat in three lifetimes, had collapsed at his command, and that this was something to be happy about.

To be honest, all he felt was unprecedented fear.

I was so terrified that my mood dropped by three points in a row.

It is often said that young people are arrogant and ignorant.

Today, Li Fan glimpsed a sliver of the true face of 'heaven', yet felt increasingly unaware of the 'heaven's height'.

What kind of world lies on the other side of that 'door'? What kind of enemies are there? And how can we defeat them? I can't even imagine it...

However, the most crucial element is still the 'door'.

The system wanted to come over, and the immortal wanted to go over.

In this constant flow of people, the first thing to be trampled and destroyed is probably the world right at the entrance.

Li Fan understood perfectly well that what he was doing today would accelerate the conflict between the two civilizations.

All of this was his own choice; although the system did all the work, he chose to switch.

Because the legion's momentum is too strong, and because the Three Great Sects are too powerful, Ink Bamboo Mountain cannot withstand it. Therefore, it must provoke an even bigger, stronger, and more terrifying company in order to counterbalance other forces, muddy the waters, and win precious living space.

The analogy of the snipe and the clam fighting while the fisherman benefits is not quite appropriate. A more fitting description would be, "Two tigers fighting, snatching chestnuts from the fire."

Li Fan didn't know whether his actions would buy Ink Bamboo Mountain some time or hasten the end of everything.

He was also confused, unsure whether the choice he had made was right or wrong.

I wonder if rolling the dice will bring me a glimmer of hope or lead to utter defeat.

But some carefree guys were quite happy.

When Li Fan returned to his original body, amidst the falling stars and rain, a silver light darted back and forth, like a bamboo leaf caught in a hurricane, unable to touch the ground.

Xuan Tian, "Ha! Qingyue! Did you see that? The heavens are unleashing a murderous intent! Strange phenomena are appearing in the stars! Stars are falling like rain in the night! The Emperor Star is swaying! Mars is rushing towards the palace! Falling stars are tens of feet long, stretching across the northeastern sky! Originating from the division between Kan and Gen!"

This is a sign of chaos! Hahaha! Chaos has arrived! Hahaha! Hahahaha!

Li Fan turned his head to look at the circle in the drawing, completely unaware of the impending chaos, at the little girl who was already fast asleep.

"... Some people really are born for chaotic times."

Xuan Tian said, "Absolutely! Only in chaotic times can heroes emerge! How can a true man die in bed? If the bigwigs above don't fight tooth and nail, if they don't fight to the death, how can people like you and me ever get ahead! Chaotic times are the times for heroes!"

Well, that makes sense. Anyway, there's never been a smooth path to take, and the dice have already been rolled.

Like a pawn crossing a river, charge forward!

Several days later, Li Fan traversed the desolate mountains and wilderness south of Hengshan and finally arrived at the territory of Peach Blossom Mountain.

This Peach Blossom Mountain is a branch of the Kunlun Mountains in the southeastern corner, seemingly belonging to Hengshan, Kun Country, Xun Kingdom, Li Country, a strategic buffer zone. It is not far from the Li Country, and can already be seen in the distance.

However, once he arrived at his doorstep, Li Fan couldn't just rush straight in.

Because the situation here is indeed very complicated.

Peach Blossom Mountain has always had the influence of unorthodox cultivators and Cultivation Family. However, because it is too far from Heaven and too close to Hengshan, it is impossible for it to maintain the independence of Ink Bamboo Mountain and develop into a major sect.

In addition, there was the political balance between the local vassal states and the Central Plains in the past, and the fact that neither the Ruler of Xun Country nor the Nangong Family were easy to deal with.

These independent cultivator factions have always been in a state of division, essentially acting like weather vanes, siding with the Nangong Family Nangong Family when they are strong, and fawning over the Ruler of Xun Country when the Nangong Family is in decline. Occasionally, they also collude with local military leaders and powerful families in the Li Country and Kun Country. The infiltration of the Divine Cult is self-evident. What? Why not kneel to Hengshan? What are a bunch of independent cultivators? Do they deserve to kneel to Hengshan? Do you think you can just become a dog of the Nine Great Xuan Sects?

However, after Li Fan left the mountain and took a trip, the world situation changed drastically, and now the people of Peach Blossom Mountain have become unusually united, joining the protection of the Nangong Family.

There's nothing we can do if we don't join; Nangong Wudi's army is currently stationed here.

Yes, they initially joined forces to conquer the Kun Country's Divine Sect, but then betrayed them at the last minute. Now, they have isolated the 20,000 troops of the Nangong Immortal Army from the Li Country, and are entrenched in a narrow strip of land stretching from the Peach Blossom Mountain in the north to the Five Towns of the Border Continent in the south. They have erected a massive mountain array, with fortifications covering the sky and countless scouts.

It not only severed the communication Li Country and the Central Plains, but also served as a strategic hub connecting the secret alliance of the Divine Sect, Hengshan, Nangong, and Xun Kingdom. Even many warlords and powerful families in northern Li Country have secretly joined this alliance.

Therefore, although the Nangong Family had offended everyone on the surface, they secretly received support from all sides and posed no real threat.

On the contrary, in the past few days, in addition to the meteor shower that was beyond the calculations of all the immortal lords and sect leaders, another astonishing piece of news came from the northern Central Plains, which further aggravated the chaos of the situation and tilted the scales toward the side of the Divine Sect Hengshan Alliance.

In the Purple Immortal Palace, the Empress Dowager who orchestrated everything behind the scenes and worked with the Grand Tutor to stabilize the Immortal Palace has actually passed away!

There were even rumors circulating that it was because the newly appointed Guardian General was so aggressive that he came to her door to question her, and his words were so impolite that he literally angered her to death.

Although there's no evidence, isn't it suspicious that the Empress Dowager, a supreme figure, would die so suddenly—either earlier or later—just after arguing with Guardian General? Not everyone believes in superstitious beliefs like a star falling from the sky or an emperor passing away...

In short, it is an indisputable fact that this has led to discord between the Ziwei Yuan and the Grand Tutor Manor, and it is inevitable that turmoil and rifts will appear among the three enclosures.

To be honest, Li Fan almost burst out laughing when he heard these rumors.

Well, at least there's no longer a 'heaven' that can stand high above and remain uninvolved, right?

Now everyone's on the field.

The real chaos has begun.