Chapter 2096: Under Eternity

Beep, the fourth batch of contestants has entered the battlefield! Please prepare, other contestants!

Rankings are updated every hour; once everyone has entered, rankings update in real time!

The battlefield broadcast that sounds every ten minutes is like the bell before a great battle, always making people feel tense.

Even though the Starlight Battlefield is vast and boundless, spanning thirty-two astronomical units, enough to hold countless Earths. But as more Fifth Stage entrants arrive, even though the battle intensity here is extremely low, it still dyes the sky over the Eternal Summit with a faint crimson. Spiritual energy surges, waves of overflowing rule power undulate across the sky like auroras.

The most noticeable thing is a huge void near the Eternal Summit.

Without a doubt, the fastest Fifth Stage civilizations have already reached the outermost periphery of the Eternal Summit. There, over a hundred civilizations have begun fierce fighting, trying to seize positions.

Although there are still more than nine days until the peak battle, the total number of Fifth Stage participants, which could reach up to a million, has already begun to drop below a million.

"Captain Lin, are we splitting up here?"

At a place resembling a spliced mountain ridge and valley, the entire team all looked toward Lin An standing at the junction, anxiously asking.

Everyone noticed the battle void ahead; among the team, besides Mo Ling who remained silent with arms crossed, not looking at Lin An, the others were somewhat nervous and worried.

Lin An led them for a much shorter time than imagined; although under Lin An's command, they later encountered two waves of Fifth Stage beings, and their coordination was still not bad.

But starting from the second encounter, the virtual members in the team began to suffer casualties. Even those who entered physically were struck down to near death.

If not for Lin An's last-minute intervention, after three rounds of encounters they would inevitably suffer heavy casualties.

As Lin An said, upon entering here, one must always be prepared for death.

"Yes, from now on it's up to you."

"However, the problem shouldn't be big."

Lin An calmly nodded toward Mo Ling.

"Mo Ling, from now on it's up to you. If you encounter a special fifth-stage space rule, you won't be able to escape. Then send me a message, and I'll rush over immediately!"

Although the probability is extremely low, after testing Mo Ling's ability, Lin An determined that a War Star-level space rule would hardly be able to trap Mo Ling.

After all, fifth-stage space abilities are inherently rare; most pursue teleportation and destructive effects, while those specializing in restrictions are almost negligible.

Unless they run into the top-tier civilization squads, Lin An still trusts Mo Ling.

Especially since he provided a large amount of potions, Lin An is confident that in the Starlight War, few people would be willing to exchange them!

"You're so talkative; I won't send you a message."

"Hmph, if you want a message, let them send it."

Turning away, Mo Ling responded to Lin An with a blank expression, clutching her small hands tightly.

Half angry words, half sincere feelings.

Unlike the others, who upon hearing this felt reassured and responded in unison, rolling up their sleeves.

As for Mo Ling, she faintly realized that what Lin An was going to retrieve was extremely important. To put it bluntly, if they truly encountered a powerful enemy, even she would be helpless.

Then she wouldn't contact Lin An, nor would she affect Lin An obtaining the item.

Even if the cost is someone's death.

Having sensed Mo Ling's thoughts, Lin An secretly sighed and simply looked toward Jiang Haochen.

"Jiang Haochen, theoretically speaking, you have the strongest survival ability."

"No, you don't need to explain anything to me. In the upcoming battle, I hope you can cooperate with Gao Tian and the others, dissuading them. Whether you earn points or not doesn't matter."

Deeply aware that Gao Tian and the others are prone to, in their eagerness to improve themselves, recklessly challenge other Fifth Stage beings.

Although he intends to train everyone, Lin An also doesn't want Gao Tian and the others to become overly radical in their rush to seize points.

There's no need.

Once he obtains that Nightmare-level Divine Artifact, he will have plenty of ways to earn points.

"Captain Lin, rest assured. We will act cautiously and wait for you near the mountain base!"

Gao Tian nodded heavily; beside him, Wen Ya couldn't help but look toward Lin An, whispering:

"Lin An, we are.. partners."

"What you've done is already enough; from now on, we won't let you worry about anything."

Without further words, Lin An nodded, then stepped forward with one foot, forcibly using his physical strength to split the boundary beneath his feet.

If it weren't for his No. 77 Guidance, he might not have noticed that deep underground here lies a huge void.

After trying to avoid leaving traces of the breach, soon, accompanied by the earth's muffled tearing sound, waves of icy yet scorching soul-like breath suddenly erupted from the ground.

Gazing at the unfathomable underground structure, Lin An confirmed he hadn't missed anything, then resolutely rushed in.

Watching Lin An disappear into the dark depths, everyone on the surface exchanged glances, then took a deep breath.

"Let's go!"

"The road ahead is up to us!"

"Believe that Captain Lin will soon catch up and meet with us!"

"Departure! This is our battle!"

"Whimper--"

"Whimper---"

The mournful, strange underground wind sounded like hell's breath, giving people an indescribable sense of oppression.

In the darkness, Lin An continually calculated how long he had been flying downward, comparing it to the route map in his mind.

It's hard to imagine, but beneath what appears to be a complete battlefield lies a huge void capable of holding several Earths. Moreover, this void occupies only one percent of the entire route.

It felt as if falling into endless void.

Almost feeling no material structure below, after a long while, Lin An suddenly saw a glimmer of light in the extreme distance.

Only seen at the end of a void resembling a snake's mouth, a deeper, more abyssal fissure was spewing high-temperature flames.

Relying on his powerful perception, Lin An was somewhat surprised to discover that this flame resembled the plasma jet of a burning star.

"Fusion reaction? A star!"

"Could there be another celestial body beneath the battlefield?"

Suppressing the suspicion in his heart, Lin An didn't hesitate and instantly accelerated into it.

Soon, as if passing through water dusk, almost at the instant Lin An rushed into the rift, a feeling of the world spinning, as if space were inverted, instantly enveloped all perception.

Before Lin An's heart could even shudder, instinctively he mobilized his power to guard.

The next second, he regained his perception.

"This is...?!"

As if entering another world, Lin An's pupils contracted, and he gazed in shock at everything before him.

That was a river of stars!

After he entered the rift, space was actually inverted.

Eternal Summit was inverted beneath his feet, while his "head" was a river of stars formed from countless stellar fragments!

Or rather.

"No, that's wrong! These glowing fragments are corpses?!"