Chapter 288: Preemptive Strategy

"The divine technique advance has been completed..."

Lin Qing felt the terrifying power within him, utterly different from before, and with a thought, a strange artifact appeared in his hand—like a radiant ice pillar, exuding a primordial, chaotic aura.

Set-type Chaos Artifact: "Silent Vacuum."

Set-type Seven-Color Artifacts are already as precious as single Chaos Artifacts, but set-type Chaos Artifacts are a thousand to ten thousand times more valuable!

"Stabilize."

Lin Qing immediately manipulated the origin of the set artifact "Silent Vacuum," modifying and fixing its form with his perfected composite divine technique.

The aura emitted by the artifact's origin began to align and draw closer to him, until it became perfectly identical.

Not long after—

"Done."

Lin Qing smiled faintly, then merged the set artifact "Silent Vacuum" into his body, instantly sensing its vast, world-like power fully controlled by his perfected composite divine technique.

This was power capable of rivaling a Chaos Child!

"Though not my life artifact, it is already sufficient."

Lin Qing extended his hand and forced out his original set-type Seven-Color Artifact: "Nine Sources World Lord."

"Nine Sources World Lord—use it to forge my life artifact."

In his future simulations, he had already forged a set-type Chaos Artifact as his life artifact.

But gathering all the rare materials took a long time; he had to elevate his Divine Core to Chaos color, find ways to gain more cosmic favor, and finally used Nine Sources World Lord as the vessel core to forge his life artifact.

"During the future simulation, I achieved Chaos Godhood, but it was extremely perilous—I nearly failed..."

Lin Qing silently pondered his next plan: "Even if I try again with decent odds, I must proceed step by step, doing everything as well as possible..."

"Hmm... first, deal with this civilization war."

He narrowed his eyes slightly. "This civilization war is the first kill move of the Yu Xingyuan Lord—how could he have arranged it to this extent..."

In the simulated future, Shanhai Realm's first civilization war occurred over a thousand years after its protection period ended, and it was matched against an exceedingly rare five-civilization melee.

Most importantly, Shanhai Realm, a newly promoted Level Two civilization, was matched against four others—including one that was a 2.7-level civilization!

Canggui Civilization.

The Canggui Civilization was an ancient civilization with tens of billions of years of history, possessing immense depth; its civilization lord was an unparalleled powerhouse who had long crossed the twenty layers of the Yu Xingyuan.

In the simulated future, he was no match for this lord—the civilization lord battlefield was lost, there was no one on the Sovereign battlefield, and even the Void battlefield was defeated.

Thus, Shanhai Realm lost its first civilization war.

There was no way around it.

It wasn't that Shanhai Realm was weak—it was that the opponent was wildly overmatched, absurdly strong.

Later, Lin Qing learned this bizarre civilization war was orchestrated by the Yu Xingyuan Lord behind the scenes, using a rare artifact capable of influencing civilization wars—the Canggui Civilization's record had been erased, causing it to be matched against Shanhai Realm.

After Shanhai Realm's defeat, the Canggui Civilization's lord did not choose to claim ten percent of Shanhai Realm's territory; instead, he made a simple request.

—He merely thought Lin Qing's talent exceptional, and asked him to retrieve a treasure from a 2.9-level civilization ruin.

In the simulated future, he never realized this was a trap; after entering the 2.9-level civilization ruin, Yuan Huang—who had lain in ambush—revealed himself.

Fortunately, Lin Qing had already known Yuan Huang was a Yu Xingyuan Apostle who would try to sever his path to Chaos Godhood, so for safety's sake, he had secretly invited the Ancestor of Tianyuan Seat to hide and protect him, thus averting the crisis.

"But this method isn't ideal..."

Lin Qing frowned slightly. "Yuan Huang, as a Yu Xingyuan Apostle, somehow became a vessel and avatar of a force belonging to the Yu Xingyuan Lord..."

In the simulated future, though he escaped this disaster, Yuan Huang fled and later transcended to become a Yu Xingyuan Deputy Lord—he killed the Immortal Realm Chaos Child, devastated all other Level Two civilizations except the Three Sacred Sites and Shanhai Realm, and destroyed countless others.

The destruction of so many Level Two civilizations' Void Sanctuaries caused massive primordial energy to return to the Void Sea, prematurely triggering the Yu Xingyuan Lord's Great Annihilation.

This chain reaction was something Lin Qing had never anticipated.

"I need a way to completely eliminate Yuan Huang as a threat..."

Lin Qing silently pondered.

Yuan Huang of the Starfall Civilization was indeed an unparalleled prodigy—his strength was such that only the Immortal Realm prodigy could reliably overpower him; even the strongest other Chaos Children were only equal to him.

In the simulated future, Yuan Huang even transcended to become a Yu Xingyuan Deputy Lord; had the Void Divine Clan not descended, there would have been no way to stop him.

"Yet Guang Wang can not only observe the futures of transcenders—he can even observe the Yu Xingyuan Lord himself. Truly terrifying..."

Lin Qing shook his head slightly, then continued pondering his next plan: "First, I must win this civilization war, preventing Yuan Huang from ambushing me in the 2.9-level civilization ruin."

He remembered clearly—the 2.9-level civilization ruin had been completely altered by the Yu Xingyuan Lord; it was now half a Yu Xingyuan dimension, allowing the Yu Xingyuan Lord to instantly manifest a sliver of his power. That was why the Ancestor of Tianyuan Seat failed to kill Yuan Huang.

Therefore, to kill Yuan Huang, I must not go to that 2.9-level civilization ruin.

Moreover, the Yu Xingyuan Lord's will constantly monitored Yuan Huang—if any transcendent being targeted him, Yuan Huang would sense it immediately.

In other words, to completely eliminate Yuan Huang, I must not go to that 2.9-level civilization ruin, must not summon the Three Ancestors, and must possess the strength to defeat Yuan Huang myself.

"If so..."

Lin Qing pondered for a long while, and a plan formed in his mind: "Then I'll do it myself—if all goes well, my power may surpass even the Immortal Realm Chaos Child."

In the simulated future, he successfully ascended to Chaos Godhood and became the Life System's Primordial Deity.

During those days as a Primordial Deity, he traveled the Void Sea and discovered many Level Three civilization ruins and opportunities.

Had he not been barred from leaving the Void Sea after becoming a Primordial Deity, he could have claimed all these opportunities—especially one destroyed Level Three ruin, which concealed clues about the fourth-generation bloodline of the Void Divine Clan.

"And those chosen heirs of the Void Tomb's city lords..."

Lin Qing silently mused: "Though only one has been born at this point, if nurtured well enough, I may yet obtain the Supreme Secret Art of 'Lan, Lord of the City!'"

If he could acquire and assimilate these opportunities in advance, his power might surpass the Immortal Realm Chaos Child.

Though he could never defeat the terrifying Yu Xingyuan Lord, once he became a Chaos God, he could at least delay the timing of the Yu Xingyuan Lord's Great Annihilation.

"First, I must win this civilization war—just revealing a hint of my power will suffice."

Lin Qing had already made his decision.

In the Shanhai Realm, atop the Bizhou Mountain.

Qi Lingxiao sat cross-legged above a sea of clouds, frowning as he pondered and calculated, helplessly propping his chin in both hands. "Why is it still just a little short? Is the Seven Phases Divine Art really this hard?"

He knew the Civilizational War was drawing near. If he could create the Seven Phases Divine Art and combine it with the Seven-Color Divine Artifacts Lin Qing had given him, he could reach the Sixteenth Layer of the Yu Xingyuan—enough to become a Void-Class citizen of the Primordial Realm.

At that point, his power would surge again, and he could decisively tip the balance of the Void-Class battlefield!

Over these years, he had worked tirelessly.

Yet despite conceiving over a hundred variations of the Seven Phases Divine Art, all theoretically viable, he had never succeeded in actually cultivating them.

Suddenly—

"Chief Qi."

A figure appeared out of thin air within the sea of clouds, standing opposite Qi Lingxiao.

"Lin Qing?" Qi Lingxiao looked up.

"How's your cultivation going, Chief Qi?" Lin Qing asked with a smile.

"The Seven Phases Divine Art is always just a little off. The theories all work—but I can't make them actualize…" Qi Lingxiao sighed, shaking his head.

"Oh?" Lin Qing remained calm.

He had known this already.

In the simulated futures, even when the Civilizational War began, Qi Lingxiao had never created the Seven Phases Divine Art; he entered the war at only the peak of the Fifteenth Layer of the Yu Xingyuan—strong, yes, but unable to sway the outcome of the Void-Class battlefield.

Of course, the reason the simulated futures lost the Civilizational War wasn't just because he, the Realm Master, had lost—the Void-Class battlefield had lost too.

Even with the cosmic insect beasts cultivated by Mo Luo, they could barely resist the well-prepared Canggui Civilization; against the enemy's Void-Class elite squads, they couldn't hold out long.

So now, to win the Civilizational War, not only must he, the Civilization Master, prevail—the Void-Class battlefield must win too.

"Chief Qi, look."

Lin Qing's will shifted, and he instantly pulled forth a mirror resembling ice crystal, within which faintly shimmered a world of countless refracted lights.

"What is this?" Qi Lingxiao asked, puzzled.

"It's called the 'Thousand Illusions Ice World,'" Lin Qing said. "It greatly enhances comprehension. It will make creating Divine Arts far easier. With its aid, you'll surely find creating the Seven Phases Divine Art much simpler."

"This…" Qi Lingxiao said, "You keep it. Your early breakthrough would benefit the Shanhai Realm more. And the Civilization Master battlefield of the Civilizational War depends on you."

"I don't need it," Lin Qing smiled. "What powerful opponent could we face in the first Civilizational War? At most, a super-strong Void Sovereign. With my strength, Chief Qi, do you think I can't win?"

Though he knew what the future held, saying this would ease Qi Lingxiao's mind.

"Then… alright," Qi Lingxiao knew this was a critical moment and didn't refuse further—he accepted it.

"Chief Qi, give it your all," Lin Qing smiled. "The Void-Class battlefield depends on you."

Qi Lingxiao nodded. "Then I'll return to seclusion."

Lin Qing smiled and bowed slightly, then vanished from the spot.

He had done all he could. Whether Qi Lingxiao succeeded now rested entirely on Qi Lingxiao himself.

Immediately after, Lin Qing composed and sent a series of messages through the Second Cosmic Network to civilizations frequently trading with the Shanhai Realm, beginning to acquire cultivation resources using the Five-Color Divine Artifacts.

As long as he cultivated a group of Void Beings and provided sufficient treasures, he could push the esoteric techniques he'd retrieved from the Legacy of the Former Kings to their absolute limit—gaining at least Fifteenth Layer peak power.

If a large number of such Void Being elites emerged, they could sweep the battlefield clean.

If Qi Lingxiao also succeeded in breaking through, he would serve as the spearhead of the Void-Class battlefield, guaranteeing victory.

As for himself, the Civilization Master?

Does the worth of the Chaos Child need asking?

…

After arranging everything in the Shanhai Realm, Lin Qing departed, heading toward a Level 2.4 Civilization in the Western Extremes of the Void Sea—

the Water-And Civilization.

Though the Bronze Demon Mountain had not provided a reception seal for the Water-And Civilization, several high-end auctions on the Second Cosmic Network sold such seals.

Lin Qing naturally purchased one under a hidden identity.

Then he piloted a Seven-Color Divine Artifact transformed into a Void Boat into the Void Realm where the Water-And Civilization resided.

As he crossed the Water-And Civilization's boundary, Lin Qing suddenly looked up, gazing toward a direction in the void, a faint smile touching his lips.

…

At the highest point of the Water-And Civilization, a towering temple floated like a mountain.

At its edge stood a handsome man with pale golden wings sprouting from his back, frowning as he stared at the world's entrance tens of millions of miles below.

"A Void Sovereign?"

The handsome man with pale golden wings frowned. "Paid for a reception seal to my Water-And World?"

Though he knew clearly the seal used by this Void Sovereign to cross his world's boundary was one he had sold, he had never expected a Void Sovereign would actually enter.

After all, the wonders and treasure sites of the Water-And World held no value for Void Sovereigns.

Now that an unknown Void Sovereign had entered, he naturally remained wary.

"Hmph. Better not cause trouble."

The handsome man narrowed his eyes slightly, then turned and returned to the temple.

Though he was merely a Void Sovereign, as the Realm Master, once he mobilized the world's power, even a Void Divine Officer who intruded could be forcibly expelled.

As long as he remained cautious and avoided surprise attacks, he'd be safe.

…

Within the Water-And World, Lin Qing flew through the air aboard his divine artifact boat, sensing the Vast Heart within his body, feeling puzzled.

"Strange…"

Lin Qing frowned slightly. "According to what I know, the child suited to become Lan Chengzhu's successor should already have been born in the Water-And World—where is he?"

Yet the Vast Heart within him gave no response—meaning the child was either not in this world at all, or was in another layer of space within the Water-And World, since the Vast Heart could sense everything within a single spatial domain.

"What a hassle... this water and this world are also a subordinate civilization under the Starfall Civilization; I can't yet reveal my identity..."

Lin Qing sighed helplessly, "Fine, I'll investigate slowly."

(End of Chapter)