Chapter 600: Stellar Holy War

"What realm was the divine emissary who appeared outside Xiajing City?" asked Li Xiaofei who was particularly concerned about this question.

"Meteor Realm," his aunt replied.

A level lower than his aunt. Li Xiaofei immediately felt relieved. Moreover, his aunt’s realm had only fallen due to her injuries. Once she recovered, her strength would quickly rise again.

"Little Aunt, you said you haven’t always been watching over me." Li Xiaofei grinned smugly. "Then how did you know which divine emissary I was talking about?"

Little Aunt was silent for a moment. Then she smacked him over the head.

"Do you know what your biggest problem is right now?" she asked, changing the subject.

Li Xiaofei played along and replied, "What?"

"You’ve followed a martial path that is too scattered and unfocused. You’ve cultivated countless techniques from various martial worlds, but you still haven’t truly found your own path," she said.

Li Xiaofei nodded in agreement. He had extracted and cultivated numerous techniques from the Secret Time Pavilion to enhance his combat ability. But as his aunt pointed out, he had indeed cultivated far too many techniques without consolidating them into a clear and suitable path for himself.

In martial cultivation, specialization and mastery were key. As the saying goes, mastering one path leads to mastery of many paths. If one only dabbled in everything, they would never grasp the true essence of martial arts.

"What you need to do now is to organize all those hundreds of martial techniques you’ve learned and fuse them into a coherent system to truly find the cultivation path that suits you," Little Aunt said.

Li Xiaofei pondered seriously for a moment before asking, "Little Aunt, do you have any advice for me?"

Little Aunt shook her head and said, "The countless powerful figures who emerged from Earth all walked their own paths. Forget the Four Symbols and One Sword for a moment. Consider the Sword Immortal Li Bai, Daoist Master Li Er, or the invincible sage Wang Yangming. They all had their moment of enlightenment and forged their unique cultivation system. You are the only one who can walk your path. If you rely on others for guidance, in the end, you’ll merely be copying without essence."

Li Xiaofei was slightly surprised at the familiar names. But on second thought, it made sense. The Borrowed Troops Plan aimed to reverse the river of time and borrow talents from the past. Figures like Li Er and Li Bai stepping out of history and into the cosmic battlefield seemed entirely plausible.

Those brilliant figures of antiquity were no less intelligent than modern people. Once they embarked on the path of cultivation, their progress in realms and combat prowess might even surpass that of modern practitioners if they were given the same amount of time.

But how could he find his own path? This required careful thought. It wasn’t something that could be achieved overnight. So, Li Xiaofei decided not to rush it.

"Little Aunt, I’ve recently reached the Golden Body Realm, but I lack a proper technique to forge my golden body. Do you have any suitable techniques to teach me?" Li Xiaofei asked bluntly.

Most of the techniques he had extracted from the martial arts worlds were combat skills. Cultivation techniques were scarce. The methods he used to expand his meridians and nurture the five spirits had come from the Dragon Group website.

But now that the light network was shut down, he couldn’t contact the Dragon Group. Even if he could, the Dragon Group might not have a Golden Body technique suitable for him.

Little Aunt nodded and said, "This is one of the reasons I came to find you. I’ve prepared a Golden Body Realm technique for you, called The Formless Nine Revolutions Golden Body Manual. It’s an advanced extension of the Formless Sword Bone technique and is perfectly suited for your current realm."

The Formless Nine Revolutions Golden Body Manual? The name alone sounds impressive.

Li Xiaofei felt a surge of anticipation.

Little Aunt didn’t keep him in suspense any longer as she took out a paper-bound manual and handed it to him. Li Xiaofei flipped through it, quickly digesting its contents. Indeed, it was based on the Formless Sword Bone technique, yet it had distinct differences.

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The Formless Nine Revolutions Golden Body Manual built upon the foundation of the Formless Sword Bone. It focused primarily on tempering the bones and bone marrow. This would then purify the blood, which would then further temper the flesh.

It was, in essence, a body-refining technique that worked from the inside out. When one mastered it, one could then condense a golden body. This technique was perfectly suited for him. It felt like another creation from one of the members of the Four Symbols and One Sword.

Just then, the Corpse Emperor’s Abyssal Tower began to tremble. The previous battle had caused significant damage to the underground structure. Fortunately, the core of the structure had remained intact.

After some thought, Li Xiaofei decided to temporarily use the Corpse Emperor’s Abyssal Tower as his base. He could use the stone island to suppress the death energy within Tan Qingying’s body and preserve the wisp of vitality lingering between her brows. He had to stay to take care of her.

Moreover, someone needed to restrain and manage the numerous corpse-fied Saints, the Four Divine Corpse Generals, and the hordes of corpse soldiers. This would keep a threat to the Yiggs alive, alleviating the pressure on Xiajing City.

“Little Aunt, can you take action now?” Li Xiaofei asked.

If his aunt could intervene, then the divine emissary of Eden could be dealt with.

She nodded. “I can.”

Li Xiaofei was overjoyed.

Then she added, “However, Eden has more than one divine emissary. It’s highly likely that they also have emissaries at the Planet Realm. Furthermore, if the situation spirals out of control, Eden will undoubtedly send even stronger reinforcements to completely destroy Earth 89876.”

Li Xiaofei’s heart sank.

Little Aunt said, "That's why all of you must grow stronger as quickly as possible. The situation is always more urgent than you imagine."

Li Xiaofei nodded in agreement. He then organized the Four Divine Corpse Generals. Fortunately, Tan Qingying's lingering influence remained strong. The Four Divine Corpse Generals appeared to hold the young lady in particular reverence. They quickly ensured that the corpse horde stayed under control.

Once everything was settled, Li Xiaofei asked his aunt to oversee the Corpse Emperor’s Abyssal Tower, while he returned to Xiajing City. The situation in Xiajing City was becoming increasingly dire. The disturbances caused by the battle near the Corpse Emperor’s Abyssal Tower had already alarmed the Saints and Great Saints in the city.

However, since Xiajing City was completely surrounded by the Yiggs and the mysterious Eden emissary was watching like a hawk, none of the Grand Commanders dared to leave the city to provide assistance.

But then, the Yiggs forces sent an emissary to the city. By the time Li Xiaofei returned to Xiajing City, the Yiggs emissary had already departed.

“What?” Li Xiaofei was stunned. “The Yiggs forces want to challenge us to a martial contest, a Stellar Holy War, to determine the outcome of the conflict through combat?”

Grand Commander Hua Qinglian nodded. “Yes. The Yiggs emissary, Burns, stated that their President doesn’t want to see humanity slaughtering itself. Continuing the war would only result in devastating losses for both sides and weaken humanity as a whole. Therefore, they are willing to propose a ceasefire by initiating a Stellar Holy War.”

"Both sides would send ten martial experts each. The winner of six out of ten matches will then decide the outcome. If Yiggs wins, the Great Xia must surrender unconditionally and relinquish control of all base cities. If the Great Xia wins, Yiggs will withdraw and provide war reparations.”

“Did you agree to it?” Li Xiaofei asked urgently.

The Second Grand Commander, Chu Yuncheng, nodded. “Yes, the agreement has been signed and formalized into a national treaty.”

Li Xiaofei’s expression darkened.

The Third Grand Commander, Li Donglou, explained, “Three of Yiggs’ peak experts fell to your sword, so they have been significantly weakened. This Stellar Holy War is a reasonable proposal for Great Xia right now. We’ve lost too many of our soldiers, and we no longer have the strength to mount a decisive counteroffensive.”

The veteran general Hua Zhongyue turned toward Li Xiaofei and asked, “What are your thoughts?”

Li Xiaofei rubbed his temples.

What thoughts can I have?

If the existence of Eden and its divine emissaries weren’t a factor, the Stellar Holy War might indeed be a solid proposal. But since Eden was capable of deploying experts like the Xie family patriarch, monsters who should have been buried in the annals of time, it was entirely possible they had other similarly powerful individuals at their disposal.

Great Saints at their peak! That, in tandem with Eden’s divine arts, gave Great Xia slim odds. Even adding the Grand Commanders didn’t tip the scales in Great Xia’s favor. If the competition were only best of three or even best of five, Great Xia could take a chance. He and Little Aunt might still be able to turn the tide. But the risks were exponentially higher in a full ten-match format.

Ten matches, with six victories? Even if Little Aunt and I could secure two wins, who would claim the other four? As long as Eden’s divine emissaries participate, the Yiggs camp’s chances of victory would skyrocket.

After some thought, Li Xiaofei decided to recount everything that had happened at the Corpse Emperor’s Abyssal Tower. When he finished, the four decision-makers of Great Xia exchanged shocked and furious glances.

“When is the Stellar Holy War scheduled to take place?” Li Xiaofei asked.

Veteran General Hua Zhongyue replied, “One month from now.”

One month?

That was longer than Li Xiaofei had anticipated. But after a brief moment, he understood why. The Yiggs forces were clearly planning to seek reinforcements from Eden.

It was evident that slaying Phil Johnson and the Flame Emperor, as well as thwarting the Xie family patriarch’s assault on the Corpse Emperor’s Abyssal Tower, had left the Yiggs camp short of top-tier combatants. It seemed they needed to bring in additional reinforcements.

“Since we’ve already agreed, let’s prepare for the match,” Li Xiaofei said. “Select our strongest fighters and carefully study the match’s rules... but I think we should also prepare for contingencies. The Yiggs people aren’t trustworthy. What if they go back on their word?”

The four decision-makers nodded. Although Li Xiaofei was young, his unparalleled strength had already placed him at the pinnacle of Earth’s martial arts hierarchy. Who would dare to underestimate him? The four decision-makers gave Li Xiaofei the respect he deserved, listening attentively to his suggestions.

After a round of discussions, Xiajing City’s forces were fully mobilized. In the meantime, Li Xiaofei returned to White Deer Academy. Now that a ceasefire was in effect, many student soldiers had returned to the campus, including Li Junjie.

“Big brother!”

The moment Li Junjie saw Li Xiaofei, he froze in shock before breaking into an incredulous expression. He ran toward Li Xiaofei without hesitation .

Li Xiaofei looked at the boy before him and nodded with a smile. Li Junjie’s strength had skyrocketed in the two years and change that had passed. He had already reached the Dao Union Realm in his inner qi cultivation. When that was combined with his exceptionally strong physical body... His overall combat prowess could easily reach the Divine Realm.

Even Li Xiaofei couldn’t help but marvel at his rapid progress. And this was coming from someone who had practically been cheating his way to power.

Soon, other students gathered after hearing the news of his return, including familiar faces like Lin Wan and Zhang Xiaofan. All of them looked at Li Xiaofei with eyes filled with admiration.

Li Xiaofei was no longer the person they once thought of as a spoiled rich kid riding on a gang’s reputation. They had witnessed his recent battles. Now, Li Xiaofei was a hero of the city!