The regular season was full of exciting moments, with teams and players showcasing their skills in fierce competition.
Han Xiao's fleet stayed on the competition planet. He watched the forum broadcasts for entertainment, and in his spare time, he sold various potions or built some machines.
Of the nine competition zones, the Shattered Star Ring zone was the most fun. The Huaxia teams were putting on a very lively show. The Black Star Army's diverse machines provided all sorts of ingenious tactics, such as the mass self-destruction tactic using nuclear-powered flight packs. Daring to use this tactic meant they had clearly given up hope and become a lazy team that knew they couldn't advance, so they started to act recklessly.
Compared to matches in other regions, the competition between the Huaxia teams is more suspenseful. Due to the gene serum sold by Han Xiao, the matches have become more unpredictable, and countless comebacks from behind have already occurred.
As the regular season drew to a close, the finalists for each region were basically finalized. To Han Xiao's surprise, Frenzied Saber's Jiangcheng Team had climbed to second place in the regional standings, second only to the teams Yushen Shashen, Yufo Shashen, and Tu Shu ·I Want to Ride the Sky·Chao, who had almost won all their matches.
Frenzied Saber's first time leading a team and achieving such results is quite remarkable. In fact, Jiangcheng is not particularly strong in a direct match, but in the new survival mode, they are like gods, repeatedly surviving to the end and accumulating a large number of points. As a result, in the second half of the competition, they successively crushed other strong teams and made it all the way to second place.
The eight teams that advanced from the Shattered Star Ring Division Finals, ranked by points, are listed below:
--Dynasty, Jiangcheng, Long Sky, Temple, Rainstorm, Fish-Fragrant Eggplant, Madman, Nine Gates.
In the individual competition, strong players such as Kings and Generals, Frenzied Saber, Hao Tian, Li Ge all made it into the top 16, while Maple Moon achieved a ranking of 38th.
Although she was unfortunately eliminated, her performance was commendable and attracted a wave of fans. Although she did not achieve the same results as in the third season of the previous life, she made a name for herself a season earlier, and many teams wanted to sign her for tryouts.
After the regular season ends, there will be a break before the conference finals begin. Because the schedule is more compact than last year, the break will not be too long.
During this period, the team and individual champions from the nine major regions will participate in the international all-star match, which is an exhibition match.
On the forum, Huaxia players left messages, eagerly anticipating seeing Dynasty face off against strong teams from other countries again. The previous world champions, the French Tulip Club, were also regional champions. As the runners-up in the previous tournament, Dynasty had the opportunity to play against the previous champions again. Although it was just an exhibition match, countless Huaxia players still hoped that Dynasty could avenge their previous defeat, maintain their dominance from the regular season, and crush them.
Before the start of the international all-star game, Han Xiao received some good news.
During the player league, the Star Beast Organization finally gathered the rare biological materials that Han Xiao requested and delivered them to Han Xiao from afar.
In the flagship's main hall, a member of the Star Beast Organization, carrying cargo, presented an alloy box with a respectful tone.
"Lord Black Star, your goods have been delivered. Leader Gorila pays his respects."
"Okay, please thank him for me. We'll have many more opportunities to work together in the future."
Han Xiao nodded, saw the deliveryman off, and then carried the box to the cultivation room.
After closing the door to the cultivation room, Han Xiao opened the box. A blast of frost-like cold air poured out, obscuring his vision. Once the cold air dissipated slightly, Han Xiao saw ten vials of liquid, each a different color. Some were multicolored, some were transparent, and some were deep blue and shimmering. These were all potions refined from the essence of rare interstellar creatures, and they were all basically related to void species.
Injecting biological agents carries the risk of mutation, which manifests as a reduction in attributes. The lower the compatibility with a creature, the more likely it is to mutate. To mitigate this risk, Han Xiao's list primarily consists of rare and Tu Shu creatures with Void Bloodlines. As a Void species himself, he has a high compatibility and is unlikely to mutate.
Void creatures are hard to find; the Star Beast Organization went to great lengths to gather them all.
Han Xiao took out the syringe and injected the syringes one by one into the body, pausing occasionally to check the reaction before injecting the next syringe after confirming that there were no adverse reactions.
The first few injections gave him a few new attributes, but the effect gradually diminished. By the sixth injection, it stopped adding attributes altogether. The last time his feat leveled up, it only happened after he continued injecting him after the previous injection stopped adding attributes.
After Han Xiao finished injecting the last vial, a notification finally popped up on the panel that brought him great joy.
[Your [Intermediate Tenacious Life] skill has been upgraded... Upgrade complete! Original skill now becomes [Advanced Tenacious Life]!]
[Advanced Tenacious Life: Increases the amount of life converted from stamina at a ratio of 1:60, increases resistance by 25%, and temporarily increases all attributes by 10% for every 40% of life lost.]
"This specialty has finally been upgraded."
Han Xiao's face lit up with joy.
Before the upgrade, the ratio of stamina to health was 1:30, but now it has become 1:60. Not only that, but there is also a new effect: for every 40% of health lost, the attributes can be increased by 10%. This new effect gave him a flash of inspiration.
"I have two feats: Health and Mana Conversion, which allow me to regenerate health extremely quickly. If a new effect is triggered every time I lose 40% of my health, it means that the longer the battle lasts, the stronger I become."
Harmon possessed similar abilities; he had witnessed their power firsthand.
"As expected of a template specialty, the boost to combat power is immediate. The only problem is... I have too much health; it takes a long time to reduce my health to 40%."
Han Xiao opened the panel and looked at his health points.
[Health Points: 117910]
"Hehe, my health has finally broken the 100,000 mark. Martial artists are nothing. Even if the Vanguard Officers of the War Realm ganged up on me, I could exhaust them to death. When the Secret War starts, I can have some fun with them."
Han Xiao chuckled.
I've gotten so fleshy I'm like a wild horse, what kind of mechanic am I? I might as well call myself a muscle mechanic.
The center of the Explored Universe is the main star region of three major cosmic civilizations, which are mutually supportive and form a tripartite balance of power. These are the three most prosperous star regions in the Galaxy, collectively known as the "Central Galaxy". Powerful beings abound, making it the center of power and wealth in the universe.
The Star Cluster Abyss is one of the three major star regions of the Central Galaxy and the core territory of the Federation of Light.
In this star system, there are some well-known forbidden areas.
"The Ancestral Land of Shadows" is one of them.
This is an artificially modified planet. Next to it is a strange, pitch-black moon, devoid of land and sea, seemingly composed of some kind of black gas.
The reason why the Ancestral Land of Shadows is a forbidden area of Star Cluster Abyss is because it is the territory of the Beyond Grade A powerhouse [Manison].
Just like the Shattered Star Ring, the Star Cluster Abyss, one of the Central Galaxy, also has Beyond Grade A powerhouses residing here, and there are more than four of them. Among the Beyond Grade A in the Star Cluster Abyss, Manison is a recognized anomaly.
No one knows his name, no one has ever seen his true face. Travelers who set foot in the Ancestral Land of Shadows have vanished without a trace, which has given Manison a mysterious and dangerous aura. People can only learn about him from fragmentary legends.
These legends can be traced back to the end of the exploration period, with records of Manison dating back over a thousand years.
In the Ancestral Land of Shadows lies a city, filled with buildings and numerous bases, with countless spaceships docked at the pier. Strangely, however, it is almost entirely deserted, exuding an atmosphere of deathly stillness and desolation.
A man runs through the deserted streets; the sound of his footsteps and the wind are among the few sounds in this desolate city.
In the center of the city stood a towering palace. He ran into the palace with its doors wide open, through the deathly silent corridors, and up the winding staircase to the top of the palace.
This is a very spacious room. At the far end of the room, on the wall, is a round black mirror with a diameter of five meters. The man came to the mirror, and the smooth black mirror reflected his face. He was plain and unremarkable, with pure white eyes, like two pieces of white crystal.
The man stared at the mirror and murmured to himself.
"Manison, I had no intention of disturbing your slumber. Something has happened. Albert has failed; the entire Shattered Star Ring team has been wiped out, and their prey has been rescued. We need your guidance."
After saying that, the man waited patiently for a response. After a while, the mirror suddenly rippled and a strange, indescribable voice rang out, ethereal yet hoarse, as if it were the whisper of some high being.
"What about the others?"
"The teams hunting in other star systems encountered no trouble; everything is normal."
"A new shadow... will convey my will."
The next moment, the pitch-black satellite in outer space suddenly shot out a thin black ray, heading straight for the Ancestral Land of Shadows, accurately hitting the top of the palace, as if transforming into a bridge connecting the two planets.
Splash--
The black mirror in the room made a rippling sound, and the next moment, ten pitch-black figures walked out of the black mirror one after another, as if they had stepped from the world in the mirror into reality. These figures were completely black, emitting tiny black particles that evaporated and disappeared in the air. It was unknown what kind of substance they were. The shapes of the figures were also gradually changing, with new limbs constantly growing and disappearing one after another.
In a few breaths, the ten figures finally took shape, and the blackness on their bodies quickly faded away, as if they had shed a layer of placenta, turning into ten creatures of different species, some humanoid and some non-human, with different appearances and physical characteristics, as if they were all living, independent life entities.
The leader was a beautiful, naked woman. With her eyes closed, she took a deep breath. This breath of oxygen seemed to awaken her dormant bodily functions, and she slowly opened her eyes. Her dull gaze gradually brightened, and she stretched and groaned comfortably.
"How long have I been asleep? I seem to have forgotten a lot of things..." The woman raised an eyebrow, a look of recollection on her face, and murmured to herself, "My name is... Stefan?"
The man beside him was already used to this scene, and nodded, saying, "Hello, Stefan, what are Lord Manison's orders?"
Manison?
Stefan felt a sense of familiarity with the name, and a flood of memories rushed to her mind. Without hesitation, she said, "He told us to continue Albert's mission, to continue capturing the targets on the list, and to bring back the escaped prey."
The man nodded. "Alright, you ten people will form the new team operating in the Shattered Star Ring. Follow me to collect your equipment, rest for a bit, and then we'll set off. Remember Albert's lesson; your operations must be even more secretive."
I'll try my best.
Stefan remained noncommittal.