They... are coming!

The blade’s tip screeched across the surface of the stubborn stone, a grating, piercing sound that echoed through the mountains, as if it were the voice of the heavens themselves replying. For a fleeting instant, Lu Chen’s mind buzzed, his body and spirit becoming one, his sea of consciousness as clear and boundless as a starlit sky. In that hazy moment, he felt as though his flesh floated weightless, his soul ascending, transforming into an immortal. Every cell in his body seemed to resonate in joyous harmony.

He stood, surveying his surroundings, as though beholding a world entirely new. His bearing and demeanor exuded countless possibilities, seamlessly blending with heaven and earth; his eyes were as lucid as a mirror. Wherever his gaze fell, every mountain and stone, every blade of grass and tree, all things revealed their finest details, each pulsating with its own rhythm.

With the power of Universal Resonance in hand, Lu Chen could now inscribe spirit patterns on higher-grade materials, no longer constrained by his cultivation. Before this, he had needed to rely on advanced carving knives, and with his limited spiritual energy, it was difficult to guarantee precision, making it nearly impossible to fully unleash his talent.

He glanced sideways at Golia, his expression as calm and clear as water.
“Next time you shake me, could you be a little gentler?”

Golia frowned, picked up the stubborn stone Lu Chen had just inscribed, and struck it with her new sword. The stone didn’t budge an inch. Suddenly, she understood.

“Haha, I get it now! I’m the one who helped you achieve the Chosen Power. If you’re the Chosen One, then I must be the Chosen Mother!”

The Chosen Mother—what a notion...

Of course, Lu Chen had only been on the verge of breaking through earlier; otherwise, he wouldn’t have ignored Golia’s question. Yet, it was true that Golia always seemed to stumble into these pivotal moments, helping him pierce that final veil just a few seconds ahead of time—the invisible barrier between man and the Way of Heaven!

It was only after achieving this that Lu Chen realized the hardest part of Universal Resonance was cultivating a heart vast enough to embrace the world, and a soul invulnerable to all things spiritual or demonic. This wasn’t just talent, but also experience and understanding. Perhaps that was the reason the disciples of the Lamplighter Sage traveled the world alone. If not for being a transmigrator, he could never have succeeded. Then again, transmigrators were, in some sense, destined by fate.

Not far away, Sirius stood clutching the stubborn stone and a handful of moss, staring blankly at Lu Chen. Indeed, a man who could make a level thirty-eight Sword Spirit Warrior submit was no ordinary person. Suddenly, she felt that this eccentric captain seemed… not so strange anymore. In fact, he appeared especially gentle—not a pretense, but a true, all-encompassing gentleness.

The young Daoist boy was dumbstruck, pointing at Lu Chen in disbelief. All these years, he had never seen his master’s stubborn stone suffer the slightest damage, yet Lu Chen had scored it with a simple blade.

“You—you—”
He turned and ran back to the cave to find his master.

Lu Chen wasted no more time. He picked up the cloth bag filled with five-colored stones.
“Let’s go, to the Forbidden Zone!”

With that, he leapt down the mountain. The wind rose beneath his feet, and he strode across the empty air. Soon, the trio returned to the Leonine, sailing the ship to the foot of the Forbidden Mountain.

Disembarking, they climbed the mountain. Lu Chen even brought out his suit of armor, which followed in automatic mode behind him—should danger arise, he could enter combat at once.

At the entrance to the Forbidden Zone, the disciples of the Five Sects on guard saw Lu Chen and felt as though they were witnessing the return of a legend. No one dared to stop him.

Lu Chen slotted the five stone keys into five hemispherical grooves, then spread his fingers, pressing them into the palm-shaped recess. Releasing his spiritual energy, he attempted to resonate with the formation. Last time, he had borrowed Golia’s spiritual energy to cover the entire array, relying on item recognition to see the details. Now, he used his own power, extending his resonant awareness into every line of the formation, merging with it completely, and then responding in kind to the five-colored stones, linking them together as one.

The mountain shook with a deafening rumble. The stone gate slowly opened.

Golia peered inside—it was pitch black, with an undercurrent of danger. She didn’t enter immediately, but patted Lu Chen on the shoulder.
“It had to be you.”

On the other side, Sirius took out a spare Healing Pill and handed it to Lu Chen.
“Captain, here.”

After days of inscribing on stubborn stones and opening the Forbidden Zone’s gate alone, it was clear she knew Lu Chen was near his limit. He took the Healing Pill and swallowed it, instantly feeling revitalized.

He glanced at Aili. Her face was still blank, but there was a glimmer of youthful spirit in her icy blue eyes. It seemed that even without mastering Universal Resonance, this had brought some healing to Aili’s mind. It had to be said, Aili cared about him—a little confidante indeed.

“Thank you, Aili!”
Lu Chen absentmindedly patted her dog-like head.

Aili didn’t react much, but suddenly lifted her head and gazed at the sky.
Lu Chen asked,
“What’s wrong?”
Sirius murmured,
“They… are coming.”

Soon after, a danger warning flashed in Lu Chen’s mind.

[A large wave of demonized low-level life forms is approaching this planet. They may damage the host’s ship. Please take evasive action.]

A demon beast tide?
How could low-level life forms travel through space?

Something felt off to Lu Chen.

Moments later, the ship’s radar reported: a massive wave of unidentified spirit forms was approaching the planet!

“Strange, they chose this exact moment—just as I opened the Forbidden Zone’s gate. Could it be that something inside tempts even a beast tide?”

Lu Chen immediately piloted the Leonine to the mountainside, blocking the cave entrance.

“You two, guard the Forbidden Zone gate. Protect the ship, and don’t let anyone—or anything—enter.”

Golia, flask in hand, shrugged.
“A beast tide, with Aili here? Is it really necessary to be so cautious?”

But Sirius was stone-faced, uncharacteristically serious.

The nearby disciples of the Five Sects, unaware of the situation, hurriedly asked Lu Chen,
“Senior, what does this mean?”

Lu Chen paused, realizing that their spiritual senses didn’t reach far enough—they had no idea the demons were coming.

“The demon horde is nearly here. Go and inform your sect masters and elders at once.”

The disciples were shocked, half in disbelief.
“Senior, are you certain?”
“According to Elder Lamplighter’s calculations, it’s not time yet!”
“How did you discover this, senior?”

Lu Chen shook his head.
“It was I who opened the gate, and today is the doomsday of the True Spirit Continent.”

Only then did the disciples grasp the severity of the situation, mounting their swords and flying off to their respective sects.

Lu Chen, with his armor, entered the Forbidden Zone.
No sooner had he stepped inside than a danger alert forced him to climb into his suit. The path was a labyrinth of traps and mechanisms—some so deadly that even his newly upgraded armor couldn’t withstand them, leaving him no choice but to dodge and evade.

Fortunately, many of the traps had degraded over time, and with the help of his danger warnings, Lu Chen struggled closer to the center.

It was a long journey.

Lu Chen had yet to reach the heart of the Forbidden Zone when the demon horde descended.

The nearest sect, Azure Mist, sounded its alarm.
Gong—
Gong—
Gong—

An ancient mountain-protection array rose over the Forbidden Mountain. The array was of high grade, but after centuries of neglect, its structure wavered, and the shield’s membrane was uneven and unstable.

The five great sects and their vassal states were too preoccupied with their own survival to send reinforcements to the Forbidden Zone.

Golia sat cross-legged atop the ship, shaking her head and swearing,
“Don’t they know the Forbidden Zone is the linchpin of defense? These ungrateful fools, so stupid it’s a wonder they haven’t already been wiped out by the demons.”

Lu Chen replied through his wrist communicator,
“It’s an emergency… Give them a little time.”

Soon, the sky was blotted out by a dense mass of demons.

Sirius looked up and murmured,
“This isn’t a beast tide.”

Lu Chen was startled. Through the ship’s cameras, he saw vast ships in the sky—asteroids refitted into giant mobile lairs. But ships they were.

The demons themselves bore long spears, faces and heads clearly defined, two wings on their backs, two legs and four arms—a total of six limbs! Their bodies bore the marks of possession, yet they controlled it perfectly. Their numbers were vast—millions strong—but most were below level twenty, many barely over ten.

Wave after wave, they crashed against the mountain-protection array.

At last, Lu Chen understood.
This was no beast tide at all, but a race of non-human, intelligent life!

He wasted no more time, fighting his way through layer upon layer of obstacles, pushing faster toward the Forbidden Zone’s center.

Ten minutes later, as the battle outside raged on, Lu Chen finally reached the heart of the Forbidden Zone.

There, before him, stood an ancient starship, intimately familiar.

He was stunned.

“This is…”