Chapter 1527: Arrival at Planet Fortress! The Clueless Rookie Who Won

Dock 3 was moored by a colossal spaceship.

Xu Jingming, with proper authorization, easily entered it.

Soon, the spaceship lifted off.

"Hss—"

Outside the viewport, starlight streamed past in a blur.

The spaceship entered warp travel, racing toward the Outer Battlefield.

"The Seventh Combat Zone is far away.

Even with star gates, it will take over a month to travel."

Inside the cabin, Xu Jingming sat cross-legged, eyes half-closed.

In his consciousness sea, the essence of the Ninefold Soul-Refining Art flowed like a river of stars.

A T0-level soul-refining technique, its cultivation difficulty was extremely high.

Each turn required refining one's spiritual force nine times along a specific path; any slight error would damage the soul.

Fortunately, the Iceheart Crown guarded his consciousness sea, preventing major issues.

When he encountered problems, he would first note them down.

Only when they accumulated to a certain number would he enter the virtual universe to consult the Frost Crown Dominator.

Though the Frost Crown Dominator was cold and distant, he showed extraordinary patience with this disciple.

Each time, he pinpointed the exact issue, leaving Xu Jingming suddenly enlightened.

Thus, a month slipped away silently.

Xu Jingming's understanding of the Ninefold Soul-Refining Art surged rapidly; he had already reached the threshold of the first turn.

With just a few more days, he should be able to grasp how to use the system's point allocation.

"Hum—"

At that moment, the spaceship shuddered gently, exiting hyperspeed travel.

"Seventh Combat Zone, Planet Fortress 102 has arrived!

All warriors assigned to this fortress, disembark immediately!"

A rough voice echoed through the entire cabin via the public address system.

"Oh? Already here?"

Xu Jingming, immersed in cultivation for so long, had felt no passage of time.

Still, he quickly ended his practice and walked to the viewport, gazing outside.

There, in the boundless starry void, hung a planet too vast to comprehend.

Its volume equaled ten thousand times that of Blue Star!

The planet's surface was covered in dense metallic structures.

Countless gun emplacements, energy shield generators, and orbital defense platforms layered one upon another.

The black alloy armor gleamed with cold, hard luster under the starlight.

Altogether, it resembled a war fortress armed to the teeth.

On its orbit, tens of thousands of massive weapon platforms rotated slowly.

Each platform rivaled a small city, its surface flowing with deep blue energy patterns.

"This is the planet fortress..." Xu Jingming's heart trembled.

The pinnacle of Eternal Star Alliance technology!

Fully activated, it could rival the power of a Supreme Immortal!

This was the very foundation of humanity's foothold in the Outer Battlefield.

"Huh? After entering the Seventh Combat Zone, shouldn't we first go to Planet Fortress 1? Why are we directly at 102?"

"No idea. Probably some big shot is traveling with us this time."

Inside the cabin, other warriors whispered among themselves.

The reason, of course, was Xu Jingming.

His destination was Planet Fortress 102, so the ship arrived there first.

This was privilege.

"Hss—"

The spaceship's engines slowly shut down, landing steadily in the port zone of Planet Fortress 102.

The hatch opened, and a cold breeze rushed in.

The air reeked of metal and energy fluid, with a faint trace of blood.

"Everyone, line up and disembark! Proceed in order for identity verification!"

In the port zone, a powerful Cosmic Peak warrior clad in battle armor barked loudly.

Xu Jingming followed the crowd down the ramp.

Around four hundred people had landed at Fortress 102 this time.

Don't think this number is small.

These were all Cosmic-grade warriors!

In human territory, only one such warrior might appear per star region!

Here, they stood in line like ordinary soldiers.

"The planet fortress's gravity is roughly a hundred times that of Star Dome Academy, and ten thousand times that of Blue Star."

The moment he stepped onto the ground, Xu Jingming immediately sensed the difference in gravity.

True, a planetary fortress with a volume a hundred thousand times that of Blue Star would have immense mass and thus much higher gravity.

"Brother, first time in the Outer Battlefield?"

At that moment, a cheerful voice came from beside them.

Xu Jingming turned to look.

The speaker was a medium-built, good-looking young man with brown hair, smiling warmly.

Beside him stood one man and two women.

The man was burly; the two women were one with short hair and one with long hair.

"Yeah, first time." Xu Jingming nodded.

"Haha, us too."

The brown-haired youth laughed, "I'm Nok, Universe Rank Four, from the Sirius Star Region.

This is Ren, from the Fire Tree Star Region.

These are Sophia and Deir; they both come from the Glacial Star Region."

He introduced his companions one by one.

"Xu Jingming." Xu Jingming simply stated his name.

"Nice to meet you, Brother Xu."

Nok clapped Xu Jingming warmly on the shoulder, "Since we're all newcomers, why not form a team?

On the Outer Battlefield, sticking together is always better than going solo."

"Nok's right."

The tall man named Ren rumbled, "I heard the Outer Battlefield is extremely dangerous—going alone is the fastest way to die."

The two women from the Glacial Star Region said nothing, but their eyes showed agreement.

Forming a team was indeed a good choice.

It would help you quickly get familiar with the Outer Battlefield.

But Xu Jingming was here to find his senior sister.

He had already sent her, Lin Qianxue, a message that he had arrived.

Naturally, he couldn't join any team.

Seeing Xu Jingming stay silent, Nok didn't mind and continued smiling:

"I can tell you're all newcomers—you probably don't know the rules here yet."

"A Universe Peak expert will come soon to verify your identities."

"Identity verification?" Sophia asked curiously.

"Yes."

Nok lowered his voice, "In the Outer Battlefield, Universe Rank warriors are divided into regular soldiers and elite soldiers.

Generally, only those above Universe Rank Six qualify as elite."

He paused, then added with a hint of pride, "Of course, there are exceptions—like me.

Though I'm only Universe Rank Four, my combat rating meets the elite standard."

"What benefits do elite soldiers get?" Ren asked.

"Plenty!"

Nok's eyes sparkled, "You know about warbands, right? We'll all eventually be assigned to one.

But only elite soldiers are eligible to join top-tier warbands!

Top-tier warbands have stronger teammates, and their mission survival rates are far higher than regular ones!"

He patted his chest: "I have some connections with the 'Ember Warband' here.

They're a top-tier warband—I'll just give them a call and get you all signed in with me."

At these words, Sophia and the others immediately brightened, praising him:

"Big Brother Nok is amazing!"

"Perfect! Getting us into a warband would be best!"

"Haha, no problem, no problem."

Nok clearly relished these compliments.

But Xu Jingming said nothing.

How could a top-tier warband casually accept someone just because of a warrior's few words?

Nok noticed Xu Jingming's coldness, plus his silence earlier when teaming up was suggested.

A flicker of disdain passed through his mind.

He'd seen plenty of fools like this before.

On the Outer Battlefield, someone who doesn't know how to cling to power doesn't even know how he'll die!