Chapter 1 First Strike

"First wave attack!" The moment the Kro exploration ship opened its first offensive against Su Zhou, the extraordinary individuals from various countries, already prepared for battle, reacted immediately and retreated in unison.

For, under the control of AI, the five warships that had locked onto their respective positions had already begun to release all their stockpiled hydrogen warhead missiles.

This was because the war was not taking place near Earth, so most of the useful weapons could not be used. Neither the electromagnetic railguns in near-Earth space stations, nor the satellite particle cannon arrays, nor other advanced Daoist magic could function perfectly. For example, the Five Thunders Technique of the Dao Saint, a celestial-god-level Daoist magic powerful enough to dissociate the very foundation of matter, could technically be used in space, but according to the Dao Saint's current cultivation, it could only unleash its greatest power within the Earth's magnetic field.

Without atmospheric resistance, the speed of the missiles in the vacuum was unexpectedly fast. Just as Su Zhou frowned and evaded the Kro exploration ship's second wave of attacks, more than two hundred nuclear warheads simultaneously hurtled towards the alien spacecraft.

However, in that short period, the outer layer of the exploration ship suddenly unfolded a series of hatches, from which poured a large number of meter-high drones and a large number of spiritual energy light clusters. These drones and light clusters met the missiles head-on, accurately intercepting each one.

But this was precisely humanity's goal.

Explosions, followed by light.

At that moment, even for the master artisans in the lunar back base, the light radiation blooming around the exploration ship was dozens or hundreds of times greater than that of the sun, and the inconceivable electromagnetic pulse shock, if it had occurred in Earth orbit, would have been enough to completely scrap all surrounding satellites.

But this was the back of the moon, and after adjustments, most of the lunar orbiting satellites had now moved to the front of the moon. In the lunar back base, the master artisans were all observing this scene with their naked eyes, recording various data.

Everyone knew that nuclear bombs weren't very effective in space, but in the era of spiritual energy recovery, the natural phenomenon of nuclear fusion itself would produce a large amount of yang-attributed spiritual energy, and the chaotic yang-attributed spiritual energy generated by the explosion of hundreds of nuclear bombs was enough to maximally suppress the abilities of non-yang-attributed transcendents.

And now, the most powerful, yang-attributed spiritual energy user on Earth…

The Kro exploration ship was unaware of this tactical consideration. The moment they detected the changes in the surrounding spiritual energy, they began to prepare to break out. Seconds after the nuclear explosions' most intense photoelectric radiation, the spaceship opened its hatches. Immediately, a large number of drones mixed with disc-shaped fighters piloted by Kro pilots, swarmed out from the exploration ship like bees from a hive, spreading out from the center.

If it weren't for the spiritual energy turbulence caused by the chain reaction of nuclear bombs, the ship's AI should have been able to perform precise sniping, destroying distant spaceships and exoskeletal armor. But since spiritual energy couldn't be used in the short term, they would use conventional firepower to suppress the enemy and help the main ship break through.

In a short time, more than three hundred various drones and fighters flew out of the exploration ship—after all, compared to conventional warships, the specifications and volume of exploration ships were much larger. Whether it was armament, tonnage, or defensive power, it was more powerful. The drones and fighters it released accelerated directly to an initial velocity of six kilometers per second under electromagnetic ejection, and their speed continued to soar as the fighter engines ignited.

However, responsible for formulating the battle plan for the humans, and fighting against them, was none other than Captain Kotalen, who understood the Kro people extremely well!

Facing the incoming drones and fighters, the latest generation of exoskeletal armor, piloted by Earth's transcendents, also activated and launched attacks.

Yes, indeed, large humanoid mecha did not conform to scientific principles, but exoskeletal armor was essentially 'armor-shaped magic treasures' or 'full-coverage magical equipment' controlled by spiritual energy users. They were special protective gear and weapons manipulated using spiritual energy, not vehicles. And the power of the armor would undoubtedly increase with the strength of the controller.

In an instant, all the armor also accelerated to more than ten kilometers per second. If one had not reached the high ranks of transcendence, one would probably not even be able to react to crossing paths with the enemy, let alone use weapon systems to lock on and attack—for exoskeletal armor with this kind of speed, unless light-speed beam weapons were used for more than 0.5 seconds of irradiation, or kinetic weapons were used to destroy the rune formations on them by chance, there was no threat at all.

For a time, accompanied by a sky full of light beams and electromagnetic shells, dazzling flames and spiritual energy beams crisscrossed and exploded on the battlefield, and the entire field of vision seemed to be engulfed in a sea of fire. Miniature armors that could be called miniature on a cosmic scale flew through the enormous scale, continuing to maintain the encirclement and suppression of the Kro exploration ship.

But even so, this was very unnatural.

Why? In theory, a fully armed alien exploration ship should be able to suppress a non-interstellar civilization's home planet with the strength of a single ship. After all, the mass of such a behemoth alone, if it accelerated at full speed and crashed into the planet, would plunge the surface ecosystem into a semi-destroyed state.

And the answer was simple.

Because in addition to the fighters and drones, the entire exploration ship's true main firepower was all aimed at one person.

In the dark vacuum of space, beams and kinetic projectiles rained down like a storm, instantly smashing a warship behind Su Zhou to pieces. This armed warship, jointly created by the master artisans, was directly blasted into two sections, then silently exploded, becoming a silent firework in the universe, releasing a firelight that was insignificant compared to the stars.

And Su Zhou strolled through this storm of particle beams and missiles, as leisurely as if he were strolling by the West Lake. The firepower of countless drones and spaceships seemed to fear his existence, walking around him, as strange and yet harmonious as rain falling down but not wetting a person without an umbrella.

Unable to hit?

It sounded incredible, but it was actually very normal. After all, in front of a commander-level transcendent who could shatter mountains and break peaks, particle beams and kinetic artillery that only contained heat and impact were essentially no different from the stones thrown by children. He only needed to raise his spiritual energy shield and apply a force to deflect the vector, and these attacks would naturally avoid him on their own.

Quantity does not equal everything. Ultimately, no matter how numerous the beams or artillery fire, the only attacks that could hit Su Zhou were the ones coming from the front.

In other words, as long as the firepower coming from the front was handled well, there would be no difference between one ship and ten thousand ships—of course, if ten thousand ships really came, focusing the firepower would become a bit troublesome, but it wouldn't overlap too much. Su Zhou only needed to increase his current output by more than ten times to solve the problem, which wasn't a difficult task.

The sky full of fire and attacks had already stirred the battlefield within sight into a chaotic mess, but Su Zhou still pressed closer and closer to the exploration ship, leaving behind a chaotic trail of azure-purple spiritual light.

The opponent was a huge spaceship. The smallest target it was designed to attack at the beginning was a space drone several meters in size. How could it lock onto a humanoid target in this vast space?

If it could really lock on, it didn't matter anyway, because high-speed, irregular, non-inertial movement could easily shake off the opponent's attacks, just like Su Zhou was doing now.

Each time he took a step, he completely ignored inertia and rules. With the spiritual energy support comparable to a warship's core engine, he could flash thousands of meters to the left one moment, then move upward without any pause, and then dodge diagonally backwards—any prediction and lock-on was like child's play to him, because the mode of action that transcended inertia was beyond the predictive range of all normal life forms. Even AI could not predict Su Zhou's way of moving.

Not only that, with the Dragon Eye open, Su Zhou's indifferent gaze could penetrate the distant space, see through the mechanical and energy operation inside the spaceship, and easily know the direction of the opponent's attack.

Because it was a straight beam, it was easy to dodge. This technique was essentially the same as seeing through the movement of human muscles and then predicting which direction he would shoot with a gun. There was no essential difference.

A very simple technique.

However, the closer he got to the enemy, the higher the attack density of the beams and spiritual energy bullets. The aftermath of the exploration ship's firepower had already destroyed two experimental warships, leaving behind many meteorite-like impact marks on the moon.

Although this was because Earth's warships were not manned and lacked defensive mechanisms, it could be seen how fierce the exploration ship's firepower was.

And at this moment, the spiritual energy turbulence created by the nuclear bombs had gradually stabilized, and the Kro spiritual energy users, who could finally display their strength, suddenly burst out with all their strength—in an instant, deep blue spiritual energy fluctuations appeared outside the spaceship, and then locked onto Su Zhou's surroundings at mind-like speed.

Like countless tentacles entangled, deep blue tentacles carrying spiritual energy lightning bound Su Zhou, temporarily forcing him to stay in place. At the same time, spiritual energy lightning with strong destructive power was also destroying the spiritual energy shield on Su Zhou's body surface.

The overly intense spiritual energy fluctuations even affected the propagation of light, making Su Zhou's surroundings dim, like a dark cage.

Then, without any hesitation, facing the locked Su Zhou, the Kro people opened fire with all their might.

In an instant, heaven and earth were filled with light beams and spiritual energy lightning.

"Truly amazing."

Therefore, facing the surging light, Su Zhou sighed with emotion.

Just like when he charged into the ceremony site of the Lianyungang Presbyterian Church with a gun, fought against the National Preceptor Demon Emperor with knives and guns, fought against the Water God alone, and defeated Matvei in the ruins of the city.

A certain feeling that Su Zhou was already accustomed to, called excitement, was coming.

--If I stop, with continuous attacks locked on me, the high-energy particle beam capable of crossing the atmosphere and destroying surface fortifications will continue to irradiate, its destructive power will be enough to injure the shell of my human body, damage the spiritual energy organs operating in my body, even break my ribs, and destroy and penetrate my already crystallized internal organs, which will lead to the collapse of the spiritual energy circulation in my body, and a large amount of sparks will burst out from it, exploding into a cloud of fireworks in the universe.

But this was impossible.

Having predicted the opponent's attack intention two seconds before the Kro exploration ship launched its attack through energy operation, Su Zhou grabbed the hilt of the Extinction Blade.

He could hear the blade spirit cheerfully making a sonorous hum in the spirit world, and the extremely thick power of vows mixed with the huge amount of yang-attributed spiritual power left over from the nuclear explosion gathered.

The sharp edge, sharp enough to cut through thunder and divine power, and kill the undying divine tree and the united Dragon God, lit up with a light comparable to the stars.

Working hard in cultivation, Su Zhou had walked from multiple worlds to multiple battlefields, needing the power to save the world.

If he couldn't even solve these not-so-powerful aliens unscathed, how would he face a grander future?

The Divine Tree, the Silent Lord, the Pioneer, Yala… the plans of the great beings were starting to move, and Su Zhou could feel the undercurrents behind him, but it was still not enough to participate in this game.

Yala was asleep, but now Su Zhou understood the relationship between the two even more - he and Yala were actually one, he was Yala's pawn, but Yala only had this one pawn.

Su Zhou didn't mind being a pawn, but he wanted to know his side, Yala's true purpose, and this required power.

Becoming an overlord, a true celestial god, seemed to be one of the basic conditions for learning the truth of this plan.

And now, wasn't he doing what the celestial gods of the past did?

In the instant before the light burst out, Su Zhou drew his sword, condensing all the essence, energy, and spirit of his body, that vast spiritual power, and the most free spiritual power in the surrounding space, and with the dazzling divine light and flames, he slashed out from the lower left to the upper right!

The speed at which the blade passed even mixed with spiritual power to create thunder, an invisible force field was condensed, and then, it 'separated' all things.

Even spiritual light was no exception.

Even the Kro people in the exploration ship, when they saw the various beams and kinetic weapon attacks gathering towards Su Zhou, and they were all split open by a single stroke as if they had foreseen the future, they could even sense Su Zhou's complete concentration when he swung this knife, and even hear the sound of thunder exploding.

Everything vanished like a bubble.

With one slash, Su Zhou took advantage of the momentum of the slash and flew forward rapidly. The countless spiritual energy tentacles that were slashed into pieces mixed with the light clusters focused on that place and exploded. The Kro people could not yet understand how this was done.

Inconceivable—how could a high-energy particle beam be cut off by an ancient straight knife?!

But what was added to this straight knife was spiritual power that could change matter and energy, breed souls, and generate miracles! It was the power that this multiverse gave to all things and all living beings to change their own destiny. If such extraordinary power, coupled with the skills accumulated by celestial gods for hundreds of thousands of years, could not cut off a mere streamer, then it would be a great joke!

"What is this monster?!" A spiritual energy user responsible for locking onto Su Zhou shouted in the Kro people's public channel, his tone horrified: "How can a Fourth Level do such a thing?"

No one answered his doubts, but then, there were more beams, more missiles and kinetic warheads. Even the fighters and drones that were hindering the other Earth transcendents turned back, trying to harass Su Zhou.

But this only made Su Zhou use his second hand.

Taking out the World Tree spear from his personal space out of thin air, the slender silver-cyan spear was drawn by Su Zhou in an arc in space, and the invisible spiritual energy drawn from the Tree of Wisdom spread in all directions.

In an instant, all the fighter pilots approaching Su Zhou were plunged into a daze.