Wen Yuncheng sighed and turned to visit Xiao Shi’er and the Celestial Fox King, intending to use her own Star rank to motivate Xiao Shi’er to work harder. After replenishing Xiao Shi’er’s energy with twenty salt-baked chickens, Wen Yuncheng decided not to crush the little fox’s spirit any further, as it seemed the Celestial Fox King had also been rattled by her progress.

However, on her way back, Wen Yuncheng still couldn’t figure it out: with the Dragon Race gone, where were Teacher Yan and Teacher Qiu going to slay dragons? Dragon Island?

The more Wen Yuncheng thought about it, the more it felt wrong. She worried something might have happened to her two teachers. Don’t tell me they were captured by Fu! She hastily took out her communication stone and called Yan Ling.

The first call went unanswered. Wen Yuncheng tried again, and on the third persistent attempt, the call was finally picked up.

“What is it?” The voice was quite irritable.

“Teacher, it’s me. I didn’t see you at the academy and heard you went dragon-slaying. I was worried,” Wen Yuncheng quickly explained her reason for calling. It had been a long time since she’d heard Yan Ling sound so grumpy; Teacher Yan had been quite calm and collected these past few years. Checking the time, she saw it was already afternoon. Surely she wasn’t disturbing her, was she?

“We’re fine.” Yan Ling fell silent for a moment. A rustling sound came from the communication stone, and after a short while, Yan Ling spoke again. “You’re in the Imperial Capital? I’ll be back tomorrow… What did you need me for?”

Wen Yuncheng gave a dry laugh. “Actually, it’s nothing major… it’s just that… I’ve reached the third layer of Star Venerate. I wanted to tell you in person to make you happy.”

“Star Venerate what?”

“Third layer.”

The communication was cut.

This bit of mischief truly delighted Wen Yuncheng. She returned to her residence in high spirits, only to have Tao Jingyun show up at her door. “Yan Ling asked me to tell you that she’s not coming back. She said you should leave at once.”

It seemed Headmaster Tao had come just to pass on the message. She left as soon as she delivered it, and Wen Yuncheng didn’t try to keep her. However, Wen Yuncheng had her doubts about the content of the message. She suspected Yan Ling had probably told her to get lost.

Alas, it couldn’t be helped. Exceptional people were always the target of envy. This was likely the burden of a genius.

[I’ve noticed that you get incredibly cheeky whenever Lin Jinyu isn’t around.] Still, this version of Wen Yuncheng was strangely familiar.

[The Huanling are probably about to make their move. Be careful.]

“Alrighty~”

Wen Yuncheng spent another two days relaxing and fooling around before she started to miss her Little Ice Mountain. By the time she went to complete her practical experience, it would probably be after the war had ended and everything had settled down for their grand wedding. Sigh, that was still a long way off. Savoring the memory of Lin Jinyu’s technique, Wen Yuncheng thought to herself that Little Ice Mountain was truly unfair. She had to study hard. By the way, 1947, do you have any advanced materials? You should have a wide range of knowledge from your past, right?

[…No.]

Wen Yuncheng sighed. It seemed she couldn’t rely on cramming from a sea of data to master it quickly.

A few days later, while Wen Yuncheng was lost in thought and assembling machinery, the Huanling reappeared as if rising from the dead, just to show their faces and remind everyone of their existence. Why “just to show their faces”? Because the moment they emerged from Dragon Island, they were discovered by a dozen Star Emperors waiting outside. A brief but intense battle erupted, and before the Star Emperors could even identify which Huanling general it was, the figure had already retreated back into Dragon Island.

As for launching a full-scale assault? The Empire had yet to reach a consensus. After all, their Star Saint was still missing, and the Dragon King was holding the fort on Dragon Island. If the Star Emperors suffered heavy losses at this critical juncture, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Just as the entire continent tensed up, expecting a major move from the Huanling, Fu took action.

The intense fluctuations from a blood sacrifice formation could be felt by almost anyone with even a little cultivation. But by the time the Protectors arrived, the site of the blood sacrifice had been completely cleared out. The bodies of Fu members were piled high in the secret chamber. They had committed suicide.

It was like a cult.

Frenzied, obsessed.

With this suicidal, large-scale blood sacrifice as the prelude, the third phase officially began.

This was the phase of all-out invasion.

The planar passage detection instruments developed by the Empire completely failed the moment the Huanling blew the horn for their attack. The reason was simple-there were too many channels.

The Huanling had opted for random channels, meaning they only input the coordinates for the Starry Sky Continent without any specific target locations. This method consumed less energy.

The main force of this war was the demonic beast tribes of the Huanling Continent. They were deployed onto the Starry Sky Continent with a single command: kill. And if death was imminent, they were to self-destruct.

Forcibly conscripted by the Phantom Saint, the warriors chosen from these demonic beast tribes all fought with the determination to die. They knew from the moment they were selected that they would never return alive; not even their bones would remain on the Huanling Continent. But they were beast warriors. They would never retreat. Even in death, they would tear the flesh from their enemies.

With the start of the third phase, the Starry Sky Continent descended into chaos.

“This feels a bit like when the Huanling were probing…” But it was only a similarity. Back then, they were just testing the stability of the channels, and the demonic beasts they sent over were neither intelligent nor powerful. This time, however…

Wen Yuncheng snapped her fingers. Leaning back on her Mechanical Throne, she controlled the Floating Magnetic Disk to zip her through the streets, with over a hundred C-03 Air Wings following closely behind. Whenever she spotted a demonic beast, Wen Yuncheng would slap a spiritual brand on it, and the next second, the beast would be obliterated by the Star Power cannons of the Air Wings.

Wen Yuncheng didn’t stay in the Imperial Capital. She headed outward, killing every Huanling demonic beast she encountered along the way. The Imperial Capital was heavily fortified and wouldn’t suffer much loss even without her, but the same couldn’t be said for other towns and cities.

Since she could gain experience either way, Wen Yuncheng hoped she could save more people and help as many as possible.

The main defensive forces in the various towns and cities were the sect alliances and the local self-defense squads. The Star Emperors were tied up by the Dragon Race and the Huanling Emperors. If they tried to withdraw, Dragon Island would send out more Star Emperor-level dragons to join the fight, and the Huanling generals would break through the city defenses and push into the inner cities.

If the Huanling Emperors were left unchecked to wreak havoc within the Empire, the number of casualties among the lower-ranked citizens would be astronomical.

Before leaving, Wen Yuncheng sent a communication to the First Princess, asking Wei Qingyu to tell Lin Jinyu, once she emerged from seclusion, that she had gone ahead to provide aid to other towns.

She used novice HP potions on the injured and high-grade MP potions to replenish her own mana.

“For the Huanling!”

“For the Continent!”

The demonic beast warriors sent by the Huanling this time were fearless and brimming with fighting spirit. Wen Yuncheng suspected they all had berserker genes or had been brainwashed by the Huanling Continent; it was terrifying. Of course, this was only a portion of them. There were also beast warriors who were crying in fear, but even as they wept, they gripped their weapons and fought relentlessly.

Moreover, Wen Yuncheng couldn’t help but suspect that the Huanling had brainwashed the beast race. Otherwise, how could some beastmen be furiously shouting “Kill Wen Yuncheng” while simultaneously not recognizing her as Wen Yuncheng? It was… rather speechless-making.

Lin Jinyu emerged from her seclusion, having advanced to the second layer of Star Venerate. The moment she stepped out of the secret realm, she received the First Princess’s message and understood the current situation.

What a hassle.

However, a situation like this should be very convenient for Wen Yuncheng to farm experience.

As Lin Jinyu thought this, she placed a call to Wen Yuncheng, who answered almost immediately.

“You’re out of seclusion?”

“Yes, I’m a Star Venerate, second layer.”

“That’s great! I’m running around between towns. You know, those demonic beasts are teleporting to random locations. Maybe you should stick with the sects for now? The Star Emperors and half-Saints are tied up with the Huanling and Dragon Island, so it’s pretty chaotic in the Empire right now. But the area around the Imperial Capital should be quite safe.”

“The Empire has already dispatched troops to the nearby towns. I’ll head to the Demonic Beast Great Forest first to check things out.”

“Hmm… alright, be careful. Remember to use the bead Protector Mo gave you.” Wen Yuncheng pondered for a moment but didn’t try to stop Lin Jinyu. At the second layer of Star Venerate, Lin Jinyu was more than capable of handling herself. Besides, she herself was having a blast running around… she had to let Lin Jinyu have her own adventures. “Also, the Empire has a Heaven-rank longsword for you. It’s with the First Princess. Remember to get it from her before you leave.”

“I know.”

“Mhmm~” Wen Yuncheng let out a coquettish hum. “Big Sis Lin~ I miss you so much~”

The communication stone seemed to grow hot. Lin Jinyu was stunned for a second, then let out a low chuckle. “I miss you too.”

After ending the call, Lin Jinyu went to find the First Princess. As soon as they met, Wei Qingyu handed her the Heaven-rank longsword. “Where are you headed next? To meet up with Wen Yuncheng?”

“No, I’m going to other towns to save people,” Lin Jinyu said. “It’s better to spread our forces out.”

“The Empire is not very stable right now. You must be careful.”

“Thank you.”

With no further pleasantries, Lin Jinyu took the sword and left the Imperial Palace. She first returned to Wen Yuncheng’s residence in the Imperial Capital to refine the Heaven-rank longsword and form a contract with it, then immediately flew towards the Demonic Beast Great Forest. To her surprise, upon entering the house, she saw Number Three sitting dejectedly on the carpet, assembling some machinery.

Number Three glanced up when she entered, then lowered its head and continued its work. For some reason, Lin Jinyu sensed a hint of loneliness from it.

Lin Jinyu averted her gaze and focused on finishing the refinement of the Heaven-rank sword. But as she was about to leave, she couldn’t help but look at Number Three again, only to meet its “eyes”-eyes that Wen Yuncheng had drawn on, but Number Three was definitely looking at her.

Lin Jinyu paused for a moment, then took out the cheering C-01 Guardian from her storage ring. She carefully placed the Guardian opposite Number Three before turning to leave.

The Demonic Beast Great Forest-if the demonic beasts of the Starry Sky Continent teamed up with those from Huanling… that would be very bad. The beasts on the periphery lacked intelligence. If those traitorous sovereigns were to incite them… defending the cities would be incredibly difficult.

Wen Yuncheng could kill a Star Emperor at the first layer of Star Venerate. Now that she was at the second layer… she should at least be able to withstand an attack from a Star Emperor, right?

After hanging up, Wen Yuncheng stretched her limbs. “1947, when will the person who marked me get here?”

[Soon. Should I remove the mark now?]

“Wait a little longer,” Wen Yuncheng said with a smile. “Number Three is in the Imperial Capital anyway, so I have an escape route. Let’s see who comes to kill me first~ I have plenty of C-04 Self-Destruct Dogs on hand.”