Chapter 292

Boom—

Above the Shanhai Realm, a vast, pitch-black, profound fissure stretched across nearly half the realm, devouring one-tenth of its space, appearing grotesque and terrifying, with boundless spatial storms swirling endlessly around it.

Lin Qing stood atop the summit of Bu Zhou Mountain, gazing up at the massive spatial fissure, clearly seeing three battlefield spaces rapidly taking shape within it.

These three battlefield spaces were each imbued with immense, invisible laws, connected to the void sanctuaries of four other civilizations.

The Void-level Battlefield, the Dominator-level Battlefield, and the Civilization Lord's Battlefield were all rapidly forming.

"What a massive civilization battlefield."

Beside him, Qi Lingxiao couldn't help but exclaim: "In all the past civilization wars I've observed, I've rarely seen a civilization battlefield this enormous."

"After all, each of the five civilizations has contributed one-tenth of their world—especially the Canggui Civilization," Lin Qing slightly narrowed his eyes. "The Canggui Civilization's sanctuary is over ten times larger than a typical great world; even one-tenth of it is larger than our Shanhai Realm."

He murmured in awe: "Such a colossal civilization battlefield will likely take half a month to fully form."

This civilization battlefield is formed from one-tenth of each participating civilization's world; the victorious civilization may choose this battlefield as spoils and integrate it into their home world.

Civilizations as powerful as Canggui, with higher victory rates in civilization wars, naturally grow far larger over time through accumulated conquests.

It is said that the Xingyin Civilization's victory rate is absurdly high due to the presence of this generation's Yuan Huang, making its world hundreds of times larger than a normal great world.

The Shanhai Realm, grown to the limit of a great world, is merely five hundred million kilometers in diameter.

Yet the Xingyin World's diameter is said to approach four billion kilometers!

By volume, it is vastly, vastly larger than the Shanhai Realm, capable of supporting hundreds of times more population.

With such a massive world and population base, the number of geniuses born naturally multiplies.

"The Canggui World is a 2.7-level civilization."

Beside him, Yi Leina Duo couldn't help but worry: "It's said the Canggui Civilization has a history of three billion years and has produced dozens of Void Deity Officials in its history. How did our Shanhai Realm, participating in a civilization war for the first time, get matched against Canggui?"

Chu Hongjun glanced at Lin Qing, still calm, and asked: "Do you have confidence?"

"Don't worry," Lin Qing smiled. "Convene the highest council."

…

Meanwhile, news of this bizarre civilization war spread rapidly through the Void Sea, and all civilizations began paying attention to this conflict.

"The other four civilizations are so weak—how did they get matched against Canggui? What's going on?"

"Isn't this Shanhai Realm's first time entering a civilization war? Even if it has relics of a Level-3 civilization and gains hidden bonuses, this is still absurd."

"These four civilizations are truly unlucky—they ran into Canggui."

"I actually thought Shanhai Realm had a chance to win in its first civilization war."

"Indeed, Shanhai's Lord, aside from Void Deity Officials, has few equals—yet he's matched against the Canggui Lord?"

"How pitiful—he's so strong, yet his first civilization war pits him against such a foe."

Across all civilizations, the powerful either pitied, gloated, or sneered… in short, not a single one believed in Shanhai Realm's chances—they all understood—

Shanhai Realm's first civilization war would end in defeat.

It was a gap of absolute power.

On one side: a weak civilization born less than forty thousand years ago, and a Shanhai Lord who had only recently become a Void Dominator.

On the other: the Canggui Lord, with over three billion years of history and terrifying power, famed throughout the Void Sea.

The gap was too immense—there was no comparison.

Moreover, the Canggui Civilization belonged to those with profound foundations; among all civilizations in the Void Sea, very few had a realistic chance of defeating Canggui—only Level-2.8 civilizations stood a decent chance—so Canggui's victory rate in civilization wars was extremely high.

A newly risen civilization hoping to defeat Canggui?

A fantasy.

…

In the deepest reaches of the vast Canggui World.

Here was a pure darkness-formed subspace, countless pitch-black flames burning as if rising from the deepest abyss, radiating terrifying dark energy.

A colossal figure, bathed in dark flames, knelt reverently upon the ground.

The aura of this colossal figure subtly merged with the primal fluctuations of the entire Canggui World—it was none other than the Canggui Civilization Lord.

Before him stood a towering, immense pure-black Wang Zuo, hundreds of thousands of kilometers tall, larger than many stars, radiating a hidden, supreme aura as if connected to the endless Yu Xingyuan, entirely shrouded by vast Yu Xingyuan storms.

Upon the Wang Zuo sat a colossal, shadowy figure of equal height, possessing twelve arms and two blurred heads, clad in armor wrapped in Yu Xingyuan storms.

Merely a projection, yet it radiated a terrifying aura that froze and halted cosmic laws, as if the embodiment of the Yu Xingyuan.

"Great Sovereign."

The Canggui Lord, bathed in dark flames, knelt reverently: "With the treasure you bestowed, my Canggui World has indeed, as you predicted, been matched against Lin Qing's Shanhai Realm in this civilization war."

"The operation of Void Sea rules is but a small part of cosmic operation," the Yu Xingyuan Sovereign smiled gently. "I cannot interfere with cosmic operation, but influencing the rules of the Void Sea is simple."

The Yu Xingyuan Sovereign's face, filled with endless malice, sneered: "This Void Sea is merely my food—do I not decide how to cook it?"

The Canggui Lord bowed even deeper: "I humbly obey the Great Sovereign's command."

"Then first, deal with Lin Qing," the Yu Xingyuan Sovereign's gentle face smiled. "A Chaos Child with two or three tenths of a chance to achieve Chaos Deity—eliminating him is worth my intervention."

The Yu Xingyuan Sovereign's ferocious face added coldly: "Remember—no matter what, you must defeat Shanhai Realm and make him agree to accompany you to that relic."

"Rest assured, Great Sovereign."

The Canggui Lord bowed: "A newly risen Void Dominator, barely at Yu Xingyuan Layer Nineteen—he cannot possibly be my match. Shanhai Realm has existed less than forty thousand years—it cannot possibly rival my Canggui Civilization. I will win this battle without doubt."

"I await your success," the Yu Xingyuan Sovereign chuckled softly, then vanished from this space.

The Canggui Lord rose, the terrifying dark flames engulfing his body receding and vanishing completely.

"Lin Qing? Shanhai Realm?"

The Canggui Lord's gaze was calm. "If I must gain Lin Qing's trust, then I shall be amiable."

He gave no thought to this civilization war—the Canggui Civilization's three-billion-year foundation, combined with the advantages he gained after becoming a Yu Xingyuan Adept, had deepened its underlying strength even further, raising its victory rate far beyond past levels.

For the Void-level Battlefield, he had absolute confidence.

Sovereign-level battlefield?

There is no second Void Sovereign in the Shanhai Realm; the Canggui civilization is certain to win.

What about Lin Qing?

A newly ascended Void Sovereign, wielding a primordial artifact to match the power of Yu Xingyuan Layer Nineteen—that's already extraordinary.

But he is still nowhere near his match.

"Enough. On the Void-level battlefield, let the Cangyu Guards fight with restraint."

The Lord of Canggui pondered silently, "If Lin Qing sees the Shanhai Realm's losses are minimal, he will likely trust me more, and my plan will proceed more smoothly—perhaps then he will directly agree to my demand."

The Yu Xingyuan Monarch's plan was simple.

After the Canggui civilization wins, it will abandon dividing the Shanhai Realm's space, and instead change its terms: it will ask Lin Qing to assist in exploring a Level 2.9 civilization's ruin.

That ruin had long been altered by the Yu Xingyuan Monarch—even the Three Ancestors could not infiltrate it via spacetime means to rescue anyone; once the Yuan Emperor and Star Gods hidden within the ruin act, they will utterly sever Lin Qing's path to Chaos Divinity!

The plan is a chain of interlocking steps—the first step is for the Lord of Canggui himself to win the civilization war!

Of course, the Lord of Canggui had absolute confidence.

…

Shanhai Realm, Supreme Council Chamber.

"This… how is this possible? Why did our first civilization war match us against Canggui?"

"What's going on here? Is this a joke…?"

"Are we going to lose our first civilization war?"

"Losing 10% of our homeland space right away—this will have a significant impact."

"Sigh… we can only accept defeat…"

The atmosphere in the chamber was heavy; the regional representatives and councilors remained silent, exchanging private whispers, but their emotions were clearly low and helpless.

Other civilizations were matched against opponents with similar win rates and records—why did the Shanhai Realm, in its first war, draw such a monstrous foe?

It was as absurd as facing the final boss right in the starter village.

"No need to panic."

Lin Qing calmly scanned the crowd and said softly, "I have already studied the Canggui civilization. Do not worry—our Shanhai Realm will never suffer the fate of having our homeland divided. Just watch."

Upon hearing this, the councilors and representatives, though still puzzled, felt considerably reassured.

After all, it was under the leadership of this legendary councilor that the Shanhai Realm had reached today; its people naturally trusted him utterly.

Perhaps… the councilor has already negotiated with the Canggui civilization, and we won't lose space, but pay some other price?

Lin Qing understood the thoughts of these Shanhai Realm elites—after all, the Shanhai Realm was still too young, undeveloped; lack of confidence was normal.

He offered no further explanation, but immediately swept his gaze and ordered: "I will handle the Civilization Lord battlefield. For the Sovereign-level battlefield, our Shanhai Realm needs no participation. For the Void-level battlefield, only three hundred and three will be dispatched."

"Three hundred and three?"

"What?"

The representatives fell silent, now certain: the councilor must have already negotiated with Canggui—this civilization war was clearly just a formality, sending token forces.

After all, once a civilization evolves to the Grand World level and reaches its peak, its population numbers in the trillions upon trillions, and Void beings number in the hundreds of millions!

Though the Void-level battlefield's entrance is bound by invisible rules limiting the number of Void beings allowed in, the upper limit still runs into the tens of thousands.

The exact number of Void beings permitted depends on the size of the civilization's world; a standard Grand World with a five-hundred-million-kilometer diameter typically allows ten thousand Void beings into the Void-level battlefield.

These ten thousand are unquestionably the elite among all Void beings.

For the Sovereign-level battlefield, a standard Grand World may send ten Void Sovereigns.

The Civilization Lord battlefield, naturally, permits only the Civilization Lord himself.

The Shanhai Realm currently has tens of thousands of Void beings—yet the councilor sends only three hundred and some into the Void-level battlefield?

This is clearly just going through the motions.

"Three hundred and three is enough."

Lin Qing narrowed his eyes and began transmitting messages.

"Shanhai Guards, prepare for action."

"Yuan Xueqiu, Mo Luo, you also depart."

"Director Qi, I entrust the Void-level battlefield to you."

"The Civilization Lord battlefield is mine."

"For this first civilization war, our Shanhai Realm must win."

…

Three months passed in the blink of an eye.

In those three months, the civilization battlefield—larger than many Grand Worlds—had fully formed, with the Void-level, Sovereign-level, and Civilization Lord battlefields each spanning hundreds of millions of kilometers.

Mountains, lakes, oceans—all were terrains torn from the five civilizations' worlds and merged together, appearing as if naturally formed.

But…

Everyone understood: these were three battlefields.

According to the rules of civilization war—

In each of the three battlefield spaces, a primordial crystal pillar, formed from the world's primordial essence, must be completely filled with one's own energy to truly claim that battlefield space.

And the process of infusing energy is easily interrupted.

This means—

Either you are strong enough to kill every enemy, then fill the primordial crystal pillar.

Or you have means to protect the area around the primordial crystal pillar, preventing enemy interference.

The entire civilization war lasts at most 380 years; if, after 380 years, none of the primordial crystal pillars in any battlefield space have been claimed, the war ends in stalemate.

The entire battlefield space would shatter and dissipate, and every civilization would lose a tenth of its territory for nothing.

The civilization war operated by invisible rules in the Void Sea clearly meant…

The civilization war had to determine a victor and a loser!

"Everyone, set off."

Lin Qing's gaze shifted, sweeping over the three hundred-plus figures filing into the Void-Grade battlefield, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Immediately, he too transformed into a streak of flowing light and flew straight into the Civilization Lord battlefield at the very top.

(End of chapter)