[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-starting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete":3,"chapter-starting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete-starting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete-chapter-68":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Starting from the Apocalypse, I Alone Severed Eternity",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2312450,4518,"Chapter 68: Approaching","starting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete-chapter-68",68,"\u003Cp>In another world, before the spatial passage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Groups of Firefeathers continuously gathered, clad in iron armor, wielding curved greatswords.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, they lined up in perfect unison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each Firefeather’s eyes burned with fanaticism, fixed tightly on the passage, as if something wondrous drew them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Above, three-meter-long Firewing Birds swooped past.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon their backs stood Firefeathers bearing longbows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forming countless bird formations, they hovered midair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So numerous they stretched beyond sight, dense as a sea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Added to the ground formations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sky and earth seemed turned to red.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The towering Firefeather Lu Xiusi hovered in place using levitation magic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He inspected his troops in silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spatial passage would open in two hours—that would be the moment to reach Blue Star.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Originally, Blue Star’s strength could not withstand a full army of First-Rank Firefeathers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Lu Xiusi felt unease in his heart—he, as king of the Firefeather Rui family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His faith in the divine was never devout, at most a shallow believer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To him, the divine were merely a tool to rule his people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Secular power belonged to the king; faith belonged to the divine—that was the Firefeather society’s structure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the divine always stood above all; when they called for a holy war, none dared disobey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not even Lu Xiusi—otherwise his kingship’s legitimacy would be questioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could be overthrown by scheming factions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this divine command was absurd: it demanded eighty percent of the population join the war.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if failure had never been considered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Xiusi naturally disliked it—he was no king who cared for his people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet he understood one truth: if all his people died, his kingship meant nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To consider defeat before victory was the mindset of rulers like Lu Xiusi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had tried explaining the situation to the noble council, hoping to pressure the divine authority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The result, of course, was useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That day, the divine manifested, scanning the assembly with a gentle yet stern gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All who resisted lowered their heads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The flames of judgment burned across the sky; the people’s cheers echoed to the heavens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the age of the divine—their disinterest in worldly affairs meant only that they chose not to care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It did not mean they lacked control over the mundane.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The church, deeply embedded in the people’s food, clothing, housing, travel, birth, aging, sickness, and death, was the very embodiment of their power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When they cast their gaze downward, all earthly matters became jokes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their might was so solemn, their status so exalted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beyond the reach of any mortal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had Lu Xiusi not been skillful, had he sent only a pawn,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He might not even sit in this seat now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Lu Xiusi himself was uncertain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether his strategy worked—or whether the divine simply did not care about him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps they felt replacing him might destabilize things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harmful to the coming war.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But no matter what, Lu Xiusi would never again defy the divine’s command.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Perhaps I overthink it—my army will crush all.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“From now on, the Rui clan will leave the Etna world.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Live in peace and tranquility.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Shi sat quietly in the sword-practice room, surrounded by broken dummies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today was the nineteenth day, the day of the second assault’s imminent arrival.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And only one hour remained until its final onset.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Shi no longer practiced swordplay; he sat still, restoring his strength, preparing for the coming battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After four days of cultivation, Fang Shi’s White Crane Sword Art had not reached perfection,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but it had attained mastery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also consolidated Sword Weapon Mastery I, Sword Weapon Specialization I, Sword Weapon Proficiency I, and Sword Attack Lethality I.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Into a single new specialization.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“【Sword Art I】: As your battle count grows, your handling of sword weapons becomes increasingly natural. Among a hundred warriors who wield swords, your skill ranks among the top! You know how to maximize damage, how to strike enemies more easily. (Damage +3, Hit +3, Attack Speed +1, Critical Strike +1)”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only regret was that Fang Shi’s magic power remained at five points, unchanged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or rather, some magic power lingered in his lower dantian, not yet transformed into his own essence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once used, this magic power would be lost forever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It could not be quickly restored; it required slow, deliberate refinement and accumulation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when this magic power became essence would Fang Shi’s magic power increase by one point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Simultaneously, it marked the Qi Refiner’s ascent to Level 2.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ancheng, conference room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhaowen Army, Commander Chen, Professor Wang, and over a dozen senior leaders of Ancheng gathered together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They sat upright, faces solemn, eyes fixed on the mechanical clock at the center of the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The time was precisely 11:30 PM.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“One hour remains before the second assault. How prepared are you all?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An elderly man seated at the head broke the silence first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had once been a member of Ancheng’s former committee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He survived the apocalypse, rising from a sidelined position to Ancheng’s highest authority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But times had changed—highest authority was no longer a symbol of glory, but a heavy burden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The safety of Ancheng’s remaining two hundred thousand rested on his shoulders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every decision carried a heavy cost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, he worked tirelessly each day, exhausted yet never relaxing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was not that he clung to power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But at this critical moment, someone must stand firm, overseeing everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each subordinate had their own ideas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their intentions might be good, but their actions differed, even clashed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At such a time, one person must guide the direction, command the whole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Prevent internal waste, channel all strength in one direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now, only he could be that person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Military deployment is complete. Combat units are stationed on every floor, ready to deliver the first strike upon arrival.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Civil Affairs has evacuated all civilians, concentrating them in the riverside residential district.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Logistics has sufficient grain—we opened the riverside granary, enough to feed two hundred thousand for a year.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Technology Department…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As each report came in, the old man’s face relaxed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If prior simulations held, Ancheng had a high chance of surviving the second assault.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even without a single casualty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man smiled: “Then good—if everyone feels ready, that’s best.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let us await tomorrow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ding! Ding! Ding!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment he finished speaking, the wall clock struck midnight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Light—countless beams pierced through the black clouds; the earth blazed as if into daylight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone in the conference room rose at once, their gazes heavy as they watched the transformation outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second assault had arrived!\u003C\u002Fp>",1088,"2026-06-20T12:43:33.559Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","7f9330eb70f2ee7a43e0d25d9ae9a2b661474e65a1d7f64245ccfda7eb5264a8","starting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete-chapter-69","starting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete-chapter-67",109,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstarting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete-cover.jpg"]