Chapter 82: Source I, Eternal Star

July 27, 2059.

This is a day worth celebrating.

In the past year, the war bases or huge military industrial bases in various regions of the United States suffered multiple strikes from the devouring beasts; coastal regions also, as Baba Ta predicted, became the soft persimmons for the sea beasts to bite back.

Until three months ago, the star-space giant beast had no further news after its chase battle with Luofeng and others.

The United States and the European Union also finally, during this period, directed their last restraint and were all incorporated under the rule of the World Tree.

Furthermore, after months of effort, the shallow sea defense line of the continental plate was also completed on this day, marking the end of the second phase of the counteroffensive war.

Counting the war of nearly the past year, humanity also did not have smooth sailing.

During this period, the sea beasts also concentrated firepower, launching fierce assaults on the coastal defenses again and again; they even broke through the coastal defenses more than once, but having lost the two tribes of flying beasts and land beasts, the sea beasts were utterly unable to continue launching offensives toward the land.

Therefore, even if the sea beasts could break into the great rivers flowing into the sea, the narrow direction of attack would instead put them at a disadvantage; the sea beasts naturally would not bother with a thankless, laborious task.

Thus, the war firmly entrenched in the shallow seas and the middle zone continued for half a year.

Humanity relied on the endless war supplies from the rear to keep low-level sea beasts gasping in the shallows; whenever a king-level or higher beast appeared, a strong human would immediately intervene to block it.

Faced with humanity's ever-increasing rear productivity, the casualty ratio between beasts and humans has gradually evolved into a one-sided slaughter.

Nevertheless, even if the deep-sea offensive continued until the conclusion of the 【Great Wall Project】, it would still proceed without end.

The beasts in the deep sea continued to charge like moths flying into a flame at humanity's already sealed defenses.

And in the interior, under the fervor of nationwide war, not only did it provide endless supplies to the front lines, it also caused this continent to undergo an earth-shaking transformation.

The land originally ravaged by beasts has returned to human hands; vast tracts of land, though devoid of beast traces, are all wastelands.

The human world is precisely a time when a hundred undertakings await revival.

Riding the wave of nationwide war preparation, colossal machinery, ten-thousand-meter-high skyscrapers, and production lines linking entire cities, one ruin after another vanished, and industrial cities rose up from the ground one after another.

The development of human civilization over several decades combined is not as rapid as this year's changes; the world turned upside down, making every soldier returning from the front feel as if they had stepped into another era.

Of course, work in the Xin Wang Shi Jie is not merely voluntary; one can actually receive 'Dragon Gate Coin', and the virtual currency issued without limit on the Heartnet platform floods into people's virtual accounts, rewarding them according to the value they create.

As the Xin Wang Shi Jie construction brought about cities rising from the ground in the real world, the Heartnet's ability to supply real-world services quickly achieved full coverage of clothing, food, housing, and transportation.

Using Dragon Gate Coin, one can purchase in the Xin Wang Shi Jie, at network-wide published prices, any goods that Earth people know of.

All tangible industries of the real world were devoured within a short year; the real-world currency depreciated repeatedly, becoming worthless paper within just a few months.

Even so, this 'earth-shaking' change did not cause any disturbance to human society.

Production and power are both firmly grasped in the hands of the World Tree.

Those who once had capital had no ability to cause turmoil, while a vastly larger number of ordinary people, after a few months of excess, came to possess wealth surpassing their original real-world fortunes.

Contrary to people's expectations, everyone thought that after winning this war, humanity would usher in a new era.

But unexpectedly, the new era has already arrived.

Having enough to eat and wear, and a decent place to live, is something every Earth person can easily achieve by working four to eight hours a day in the Heartnet; this is the most basic warmth and sustenance guaranteed to World Tree citizens who merely need to labor.

After achieving warmth and sustenance, people always aspire to a better life, more free time, and a broader world.

Those who are enterprising and hardworking have a clear direction for their efforts.

One path is to practice martial arts and join the military; different martial artists can enter different establishments of the World Tree, different establishments enjoy different benefits, and the stronger the ability, the higher the treatment.

The levels of the martial artist world, cultivation methods, intelligent cultivation assistance, related product recommendations—every citizen can easily access all knowledge of the martial artist world and clearly see the benefits of becoming a martial artist.

Therefore, in their off‑hours, seventy to eighty percent of people engage in some basic training; even if they cannot become martial artists, they can still strengthen their physiques.

Besides becoming a martial artist, there is a second path of improvement: through study.

In the Xin Wang Shi Jie there are thousands of 'occupational transfers' targeting different professions, different knowledge, and different professional skills.

After transferring to that profession, one can study its knowledge and skills via the Heartnet and, through continual 'occupational breakthroughs', raise the occupational rank.

In the food sold in the Xin Wang Shi Jie, chefs of different grades will do the cooking, or it will be projection machinery, or chefs will personally prepare it in the real world.

A high‑grade chef profession can prepare more advanced dishes, and the remuneration is also higher.

And in the current occupational ranking list of the Xin Wang Shi Jie, mechanical engineers top the chart; the world's number one mechanical engineer, named Yao Jiu, is said to already be the head of the World Tree's Strategic Research Department.

Greater technical skill exchanged for wealth can buy more comfortable dwellings, flashy combat aircraft, and additionally, one can purchase from the World Tree objects that enhance the physique and prolong life.

The conclusion of the second phase of the counteroffensive war also signals that the war between humanity and the beasts is about to end.

At this point, humanity's desire to completely exterminate the beasts is no longer strong.

After all, in the past year's war, the standoff between humanity and beasts seems to have reverted to before the Great Nirvana, returning to the era when humanity absolutely ruled.

And the rapid development of human civilization has filled people with confidence; this time there will be no chance for the beasts to turn the tables.

On the contrary, people are considering whether to wipe out the sea beasts entirely; compared to total extermination, raising them as a sustainable 'resource' better matches many expectations.

Of course, these expectations are destined to come to nothing.

Because the front‑line war has never ceased, whether the war ends or not is not something humanity can decide unilaterally.

Only the soldiers who have participated in this war know that such a beautiful yet cruel prospect cannot be realized, for the monsters in humanity's eyes are no longer the wild beasts of the old era; they are, like humanity, a civilization full of wisdom and courage.

Humanity wishes to devour civilization, but civilization has chosen to burn itself to destruction.

By October, the average strength of the sea beasts striking the ocean defenses had reached the level of high‑rank beast commanders, yet such high‑quality beast hordes still posed no substantive threat to humanity.

Because the beasts' long‑relied‑upon numerical advantage has vanished, the density of beast‑tide incursions has plummeted to the million‑level or even lower.

Unlike the outlook at the war's onset, the expected war of attrition seems to be drawing to a close because the beasts, lacking brains, are throwing away their lives.

And in the deep sea unknown to people, Chén Chén has been facing off against the 'King' of the sea beasts for a year.

When beasts die, seven‑tenths of their life force dissipates into reincarnation, one‑tenth flows into the body of the Salted Fish, and the remaining two‑tenths all belong to Chén Chén.

Having almost exhausted the beasts' power, the Salted Fish has smoothly entered the Star‑level, even on the verge of breaking into Star‑first stage, while Chén Chén, who possesses twice the energy of the Salted Fish, still remains at the Planet‑level.

The Salted Fish is still waiting, waiting for the war of the extinct aquatic clan to reach its final moment, which will also be the time when it hands over the entirety of its aquatic power.

The gentle force can no longer affect this person before it.

When this man first arrived here, the Salted Fish could still clearly see his shadow, seeing the shadow it had been expecting waiting for it.

But now, all the sea‑brethren must be exterminated, the aquatic clans remaining in this world will also be utterly wiped out; yet when this man opens his eyes again, the Salted Fish discovers that the influence of the 'Venerable Lord' has dwindled to a tiny speck of starlight in the night sky.

"Leave, you've done well enough." That man suddenly said.

The tone and 'He' are similar in that way.

Xianyu was afraid, not of death, but afraid that if he didn't go to die, even that sliver of hope would be gone.

The source water sprayed from Xianyu's back, its color different from the surrounding dark water; the massive flow gradually turned into a small ocean in the pitch-black deep sea, and the water in that ocean gradually submerged both itself and Chén Chén together.

Xianyu's domain named Still Sea unfolded.

In the Still Sea formed from source water, Xianyu can weaken the enemy's strength to the greatest extent, reduce the enemy's speed, diminish damage from any form of attack, and also launch an all‑penetrating assault.

Although choosing to die, but as the King of the Water Clan, Xianyu also did not want to die in humiliation; a glorious, heroic death in battle would be his best fate.

Seeing Chén Chén show no reaction, Xianyu, without courtesy, gathered the surrounding source water, condensed it into twelve massive water pillars, and shot them all at Chén Chén.

The water pillars were like blue lasers, striking Chén Chén squarely at an extraordinary speed.

Is it that he doesn't want to dodge? Or that he cannot dodge?

Xianyu does not know.

But this strike, just this one strike, Xianyu will give everything he has.

Burning life, burning source, burning soul.

The ocean of the Still Water Sea slowly shrank, and Xianyu's body gradually faded, all turning the same color as the source water.

No one knows how long passed.

In the gloomy deep sea, the blue sun that had originally ignited slowly faded its light; as the light dissipated, the center gradually revealed Chén Chén's silhouette.

Peaceful, desolate.

This is how it should be in the deep sea.

The stationary Chén Chén received the final batch of power from the monsters; Chén Chén did not refuse, gathering all the power into his dantian, onto the planet within his body.

Upon the planet, the seemingly departed Mending Heaven appeared to revive, lifting its head to gaze at the sky and at Chén Chén, as if smiling.

Chén Chén will never become the "Heaven" that Mending Heaven expects, but because of Mending Heaven, Chén Chén is instead willing to make this world better.

Mending Heaven once thought itself emotionless, a reflection of "Heaven," the rule lacking in Chén Chén, but the final will instead let Chén Chén create a second world, preserving the monster species.

When Mending Heaven was born, it might have been emotionless, but after merging with heaven and earth, it could no longer exist without emotion.

What Chén Chén lacks is not "emotionlessness," but a lack of feeling for the cyclical essence in the flow of all things.

Heaven and earth share the same Dao; all things share the same source; all things are me, and I am all things.

The planet in Chén Chén's dantian constantly draws on external power; vast power converges at a point on the planet, and within the dantian world it is drawn into a vortex many times longer than the planet.

The vortex drives the planet upward, up and up, as if reaching the dome of the dantian.

Moreover, the power gathered from all around continues to replenish, and the vortex's energy keeps increasing.

Until the dantian's dome shows cracks, as if it truly wants to pierce the world inside the dantian.

"Break it."

After the final power gathered, the vortex seemed to condense into a spear; in the void, Chén Chén's silhouette gradually appeared, holding a huge spear, and he thrust it forward with all his might.

It truly pierced the dantian world.

The originally tiny crack quickly spread; for the planet's size within the dantian world, it grew one meter a day, ten meters a day, one hundred meters a day, ten thousand meters a day.

Until one day, the cracks covered the entire world.

"Pop—"

After the sound, the border of the dantian world resembled glass and shattered completely.

And after the shattering, in the endless void, a single beam of light slowly rose to the center of the void; this is the first star of this world.

In reality, Chén Chén opened his eyes once more, looked at the present world, and found that four months had passed.

Fortunately, effort is not wasted on the determined; Chén Chén successfully broke through the Star Level, and more importantly, the path ahead has finally been opened.

In that expanse of void and stars, Chén Chén's star will shine forever, and in the not‑distant future, a second and third will soon appear there.

And for this first star that opened the world, Chén Chén gave it a fine name, called the Origin Self Eternal Star.