Chapter 871: The First Will of Time, Heaven, Earth, and the Stars

On the seventh day of the eighth month, a stellar surge erupted once more in the depths of the Star Ruins.

The assembly drum on Changxing Star Island rang out, and Xu Jin immediately ceased his cultivation and rushed to the training ground.

The elite forces assembled in the shortest possible time.

The deployment order of the main combat field teams changes each time, but the vanguard reconnaissance team is always required to deploy.

As the starlight flared violently in the void, and over a dozen starships rose into the sky, about to plunge into the void, Garrison Officer Yu Guan Laohei suddenly flew out from one of the starships and weakly waved his hand, "No need—it's a dead star."

The moment Yu Guan Laohei finished speaking, the stellar cluster exploding in the distant void suddenly burst again, like a massive firework spewing sparks.

Seeing this, all the elite troops preparing to deploy showed expressions of disappointment.

A star fragment with vitality contains life force and several complete Dao principles; after a stellar surge emerges, it can resist the chaotic stellar currents triggered by the surge—the chaotic currents, however strong, remain a single whole.

But a dead star, lacking vitality, contains no life force and no complete Dao principles—it's like a rotting wooden plank; the instant the stellar surge emerges, it is shattered into countless fragments by the chaotic stellar currents.

Just like this.

"Dead stars emerging from stellar surges have virtually no value, and the quantity of celestial treasures and rare materials that emerge alongside them is extremely small—so merely by appearance, there's no need for reconnaissance." Lin Lin Dapang's voice rang out.

Following Yu Guan Laohei's words, all the elite troops preparing to deploy exited their starships, though their disappointment was mild—this situation was common.

Of course, several others still looked at Garrison Officer Yu Guan Laohei with anticipation.

In the next instant, Yu Guan Laohei casually waved his hand, "Same as always—those who want to gamble and scavenge may go on their own. Shengsizifu. No rescue beyond ten thousand li."

Upon hearing this, several True Persons instantly shot out from the star island. Lin Lin Bowei and Lin Lin Dapang turned to Xu Jin. "Great Saint, although the harvest from dead stars is minimal, you still typically get about one-tenth the yield of a living star fragment. If you want, you can try your luck—there's a chance you might pick up one or two pieces of Star Ruins Yuan Sand."

"I won't go. My focus is on advancing my cultivation right now," Xu Jin declined.

Though the risk is relatively low, it's not worth wasting time on.

The last time a star fragment appeared, Xu Jin, being new, had played it conservatively.

Next time, once he's more familiar, his harvest will increase significantly.

"Hmm, true. You're in a phase of rapid cultivation growth. Then I'll go." Lin Lin Dapang turned to the others. "What about you?"

"I'll go too," Old Wang said.

Old Li, Zhu Shengnian, and Li Li Qingchen all shook their heads—especially the latter, who was currently digesting his last harvest, and crucially, had no military merit.

Watching Lin Lin Dapang and Old Wang vanish rapidly through spatial fluctuations, Old Li sighed, "What an idiot! He's sharp in every other aspect—personality, talent, all excellent—but why is he so foolish in this?"

Hearing this, Xu Jin's heart stirred, and he turned toward another direction.

The Spring Water True Person was gazing at the spot where Lin Lin Dapang had disappeared, his refined face expressionless.

Xu Jin was somewhat surprised. The Spring Water True Person wasn't a peerless beauty—so why was Lin Lin Dapang so obsessed with her?

"One man's radish is another man's cabbage."

With a chuckle, Xu Jin vanished instantly, using spatial teleportation to return to his quiet chamber, where Yu Zhong was waiting at the door.

"Something wrong?"

"My lord, these are the intelligence reports gathered over the past few days." Yu Zhong offered a jade slip with both hands.

Xu Jin casually seized it; the moment his divine sense sank in, the over a hundred items listed by Yu Zhong became instantly clear.

Several items caught Xu Jin's attention.

【Wanquan Star Island discovered a large star fragment during a stellar surge. Three neighboring star islands provided simultaneous support. The Grand Marshal of the Tongxuan Combat Zone personally led troops to reinforce. Nineteen Star Juniors and two True Persons died. Still, they failed to capture the large star fragment.】

They did not allow the alien race to take it either—the Emperor-level powerhouse finally exploded in rage and shattered the star fragment outright.

【Jianyuan Star Island discovered a medium-sized star fragment during a stellar surge. Wuyang Star Island and Polu Star Island rushed to assist, but ultimately failed. Three Star Juniors died, and three True Persons were seriously wounded.】

From this intelligence, it was clear that whenever a medium or large star fragment was discovered, the host star island would call for reinforcements to fight jointly.

But success was extremely rare.

According to Yu Zhong's compiled data, over the past ten days, nine micro, small, medium, and large star fragments had been detected across various star islands.

Yet the only successful capture was the one on Changxing Star Island—the very one Xu Jin had participated in.

All other parties had failed.

Often, even when holding an advantage, they still failed to capture.

The reason was simple: by the final stage, whether alien or human, everyone did the same thing—if capture seemed impossible, a top-tier powerhouse would spare no cost to destroy the fragment outright.

If I can't have it, neither can you!

This was the norm in the Star Ruins.

These reports helped Xu Jin understand why Changxing Star Island had captured only one small star fragment in five years.

The difficulty was far greater than he'd imagined.

Beyond that, there were trivial bits of information.

For example, a certain True Person on a certain star island had exchanged military merit for a five-year leave, and a new True Person had replaced him.

For example, Wuyang Star Island, which had seriously wounded two True Persons, had ironically gained strength: the wounded were fourth- and fifth-realm True Persons, but the replacements were seventh- and eighth-realm!

Their strength had increased dramatically.

They had become the most sought-after ally among neighboring star islands.

Even Garrison Officer Yu Guan Laohei of Changxing Star Island had personally visited.

The purpose of the visit was mainly to build familiarity—to secure support in critical moments.

For instance, if Changxing Star Island discovered a medium star fragment, it would inevitably need to request support from the strongest forces nearby—and Wuyang Star Island was the closest.

A preemptive move.

The two other star islands near Changxing—Tulong and Lingbao—had also seen changes in their True Person-level strength, but the new appointees had not yet arrived.

Such details were numerous.

These reports gave Xu Jin a much clearer understanding of the neighboring star islands—he was no longer clueless as before.