Chapter 429

"What?!"

The Iron Claw leader's manic laughter cut off abruptly, as if an invisible hand had choked his throat.

His huge metallic head jerked toward the spectator platform, his eyes filled with incredulous anger.

"The result is void? On what grounds! We won! We paid the price of seven hundred thousand warships!"

His roar echoed through the comms channel.

Mao Xinyang's expression didn't change in the slightest; he merely waved his hand lightly.

A detailed data analysis report instantly appeared before the Iron Claw leader.

In the report, red highlighting clearly displayed the spatial interference waveform released by the Iron Claw fleet mid-duel,

and it showed a clear deviation from their pre‑filed third‑level spatial interference device.

Its power and mode of operation exactly matched the characteristics of a fourth‑level spatial anchor.

And a fourth‑level spatial anchor is a prohibited weapon that could potentially damage subspace stability.

The evidence is incontrovertible.

"You…"

The Iron Claw leader's body trembled violently with rage, yet he could not utter a word.

He had thought he was doing it without anyone knowing,

but he never imagined the Yanhuang Civilization's surveillance could be this fine.

"Considering this is your first offense and no serious harm was done,"

Mao Xinyang's voice rang out again, delivering the final judgment.

"The Arbitration Committee decides to warn the Iron Claw Civilization and confiscate thirty percent of the resources you gained in this duel as compensation for the Storm Civilization."

"The T-378 star system, jointly developed by both sides, will have its profits split fifty‑fifty."

"Do you have any objections?"

The Iron Claw leader's carapace creaked as he clenched it, but he ultimately lowered his proud head.

"No objections."

He knew he had no choice.

This duel, from start to finish, clearly conveyed a message to all civilizations:

Under the rules set by the Yanhuang Civilization, do not play any petty tricks.

Because, the "referee's" eyes are everywhere.

The first civilizational duel ended in a dramatic fashion.

Yet its impact was profoundly far‑reaching.

From that day on, the Laniakea Supercluster entered an unprecedented era of "peace."

All disputes were incorporated into the framework of civilizational duels.

There were no more sudden invasions, no more genocidal wars with rivers of blood.

Order among the seas of stars was forcibly established.

And the Yanhuang Civilization began its long accumulation upon this order.

……

Time flowed in tranquility.

One hundred years.

Three hundred years.

Five hundred years.

For the citizens of the Yanhuang Civilization, whose average lifespan has been raised to tens of millions of years, these few hundred years are merely a tiny ripple in the river of life.

But for the civilization as a whole, these five hundred years were five hundred years of painstaking accumulation leading to sudden breakthrough.

The Sky Net system had long been running stably, like a nervous system binding the entire supercluster tightly together.

Vast resources poured ceaselessly through the Dimensional Gate from every star domain into the Yanhuang Heavenly Court.

The Yanhuang Civilization's industrial capacity reached a terrifying peak.

And Qin Hao vanished completely from public view.

He delegated all mundane affairs to his subordinates' team.

He himself, taking Qian Yin, returned to the core region of the Tranquil Sea.

Here is the place with the most abundant energy in the entire Laniakea Supercluster.

Thousands of crystal planets, like the universe's most brilliant diamonds, emitted intoxicating energy fluctuations.

Qin Hao sat cross‑legged on the largest of those crystal planets.

His body seemed to have become a bottomless black hole.

The free energy in the surrounding space—the high‑dimensional energy emanating from those crystal planets,

even the void energy seeping from the dimensional interlayers, turned into visible torrents that frenziedly surged into his system.

Each of his breaths sent faint ripples through the surrounding space.

Qian Yin, meanwhile, set up a small research base nearby.

She did not disturb Qin Hao; instead, she led an elite team,

continuing to deepen their study of the relics of the Ascenders and the four‑dimensional spacetime fragments.

Qin Hao was accumulating energy,

while she was exploring the path forward for the entire civilization.

Between them formed a wonderful tacit understanding.

No words needed, yet we can feel each other's presence and support.

Qin Hao's consciousness spends most of its time immersed in the system light curtain.

【Energy Unit: ……】

The numbers on the light screen jump by an astronomical unit each second.

The energy accumulated over these five hundred years has far surpassed the total when we first slew the Overlord.

But this is still not enough.

Facing the backlash of causality law, facing the unknown "system creator", he needs more trump cards.

He needs to let the entire Yanhuang Civilization step up to a new level.

One, a step that truly lets him feel at ease.

Finally, in the 501st year of his seclusion.

Qin Hao opened his eyes.

In his eyes, the former sharpness and divine light were gone, replaced by an ancient well without ripples.

He glanced at the energy point count on the system light screen, so vast it was almost impossible to count, and slowly exhaled.

"Almost there."

He stood up, took a step, and instantly appeared in Qian Yin's research base.

Qian Yin seemed to have sensed it earlier, already brewed a pot of tea, and was waiting for him.

"Is it over?" she asked with a smile.

"Just a stage."

Qin Hao sat down, picked up the teacup, and drained it in one gulp.

"Yinyin, what level do you think our Yanhuang Civilization is at now?"

Qian Yin thought for a moment before saying:

"In technology, we have already reached the peak of the sixth-level high stage."

"Militarily, in Laniya Kaiya, we are invincible. Overall, we are truly a sixth-level peak civilization."

"Peak?"

Qin Hao shook his head.

"No, we are merely a relatively weak stage."

He looked at Qian Yin, his gaze becoming unprecedentedly serious.

"A true sixth-level peak civilization should be able to, with its own power, analyze and create rules, rather than like us, relying more on the technology I took from the system."

"Our foundation is still very weak."

Qian Yin fell silent.

She knew what Qin Hao said was true.

The development of the Yanhuang Civilization was too fast.

So fast that many basic theories hadn't been fully grasped before being replaced by more advanced technology.

This is like building a skyscraper—although it's tall, the foundation isn't solid enough.

"So, I'm preparing to give our civilization some remedial lessons."

The corner of Qin Hao's mouth curled up in an arc.

His consciousness connected to the system once again.

This time, he hesitated not at all.

"System."

He issued the command in his mind.

"Consume energy points, and construct for me……the complete technology tree of civilizations from level one to the sixth-level peak!"

【Command Confirmed.】

【Under construction……】

【Detected enormous energy required, confirm?】

"Confirmed!"

【Construction begins……】

Boom!

In Qin Hao's mind, it was as if a singularity of a cosmic big bang had been detonated.

An endless flood of information, like a burst sea of stars, instantly submerged his entire consciousness.

That was the accumulated wisdom crystals of countless civilizations over hundreds of millions of years!

Physics, chemistry, biology, energy, space, dimensions, rules……

All-encompassing, lacking nothing!

If it were any other sixth-level lifeform, even Qin Hao himself,

without the system's protection, would also have his consciousness blown apart by this terrifying information flood within 0.001 seconds, turning him into an idiot.

But at this moment, the system turned into the strongest dam, organizing, summarizing, and integrating these information floods.

Finally, this information, deep in his consciousness,

condensed into a colossal……technology tree radiating seven-colored light!

Qin Hao slowly opened his eyes; his eyes reflected the spectacle of countless stars being born and dying.

He looked at the worried Qian Yin before him and smiled.

"Honey, get ready to receive a great gift."

The next second, he stretched out his finger and lightly touched Qian Yin's forehead.