In the vast starry sky, with endless life, anything is possible.
From the innate desires of living beings, countless paths of cultivation and evolution have emerged. Viewed from a macro perspective, these can be divided into four all-encompassing directions: Life-Gene, Soul-Will, Life-Synthesis, and Sealed Celestial Path.
As for the order of these rankings, universality is the sole criterion.
In other words—
The Life-Gene evolution path is the most mainstream cultivation method in the entire universe, followed by the Soul-Will path, then Life-Synthesis and Sealed Celestial Path.
......
Awakened Beasts Race, core valley, within the cultivation sanctuary.
Countless six-hooved Quibeasts can't help but look up at the Human new-generation Eternal King advancing his realm—Andrew Han.
Rustling sounds echo.
Countless rainbow-colored rays descend from the star-mist sky.
It is precisely because of his breakthrough—his Void Rift soul true-form is undergoing boundless sublimation and convergence—that an immense, abyssal torrent of Mystery-Light is drawn forth, forming a magnificent inverted funnel suspended above Andrew.
From afar,
It even obscures the drooping head of the ancient statue!
"This is..."
"Human Andrew Han..."
"Soul-Will, Fifth-Stage Void Rift!"
All awaken from their cultivation, opening their single eyes one after another.
On the scale of life races as a whole, Fifth-Stage Void Rift might not seem extraordinary. But many Quibeasts present have not even reached Void Rift Tier; among those who have, only a small fraction have attained the fifth stage.
In fact, that's not all.
Fifth-Stage Void Rift is not to be underestimated; it is anything but weak.
This is the core valley of the Quibeasts, the heart of a third-rate life race. Naturally, many great beings reside here, making Void Rift Tier seem almost weak by comparison. But if you look across the Awakened Beasts Race's territory, any Fifth-Stage Void Rift Quibeast—regardless of their evolutionary path—is a renowned hegemon in their region! Even in Human Territory, such a being can look down on an entire stellar system.
For example, the current strongest in the Galaxis Stellar System is only Third-Stage Void Rift, and the retiring Chenriver Emperor Zhen Gu is merely Second-Stage Void Rift.
Just imagine.
Even Humanity's supreme beings are like this, let alone the Quibeasts, who are only a third-rate life race.
"Remarkable."
"A true new-generation Eternal King—well deserved."
"From my observations, this Human guest is probably not even a full epoch old... A Void Rift Eternal King under one epoch is almost unheard of. If such a genius were born in our Quibeast Race, it would be the greatest blessing."
"Huh? Incredible—look closely, Andrew Han's soul true-form is actually woven from gold and red."
"A gold-red soul true-form is quite rare. Although soul cultivation ranks second in both practitioner numbers and likelihood of reaching the highest realms, it's uncommon for two pure, distinct colors to blend together." A Cosmic Eternal Quibeast with a pure white single eye spoke softly: "Through countless ages and my long life, I've seen this happen only a handful of times."
After speaking,
It slowly closed its single eye, leaving behind a profound sigh: "I suspect Andrew Han is even stronger than we imagine."
"What?"
The sigh from a Cosmic Eternal Realm being was like a stellar storm passing through, stirring waves of shock. Only the oldest Quibeasts, who understood the true meaning, shook their heads in awe and uncertainty.
The cultivation sanctuary was utterly silent.
Gazes and expressions, faintly moved.
Even terrifying Quibeasts above the Cosmic Eternal Realm took notice: "Though life evolution is endless, Fifth-Stage Void Rift is already roughly halfway along the path."
Because Fifth-Stage Void Rift lifeforms possess many defining capabilities:
They can surpass the speed of light with their own power, alter cosmic space with a mere gesture, and even easily destroy an entire life planet.
Here, 'destroying a planet' is no exaggeration.
It does not merely mean the extinction of all life on a planet due to catastrophe.
The true meaning of this destruction does not concern living beings, but the planet itself: a Fifth-Stage Void Rift lifeform, striking with full force, can pierce or even extinguish a star core. The more exceptional ones can shatter an entire planet with a single blow.
So the question arises—
Just how powerful is an Eternal King at Fifth-Stage Void Rift?
"I feel..."
Suspended in midair, white hair floating, Andrew Han's pupils blaze with radiant gold and red: "My Void Rift soul true-form is now fully unleashed... If I strike with my full strength, I might even crush space itself!"
He acts on his thoughts immediately.
Wherever his mind leads, nothing resists—he subdues every stray thought.
Arms hanging at his sides, Andrew raises his crystalline left palm, then clenches his five fingers, channeling the full might of his soul power.
Boom!!!
It sounded like the shattering of countless suns, moons, and stars—a cosmic Heng-Sha crystal diamond crushed to dust!
Crackling noises spread outward from Andrew's palm, twisting marks stretching into the world. The molecular structure of matter was utterly overturned; invisible, colorless fissures appeared and vanished in an instant.
"This is—!"
Andrew was stunned: "It really works!"
This is the level of power wielded by a peak Cosmos Union Realm existence—
With sheer force alone, one can rend cosmic space and traverse subspace unaided!
From now on, warp-drives and subspace vessels are all but obsolete for him; Andrew himself rivals these interstellar crafts! Of course, the most advanced vessels—like the Archaic Hall's fixed-point teleportation tech—are still beyond human capability.
"Enough."
"More than enough."
Andrew could barely contain his joy, his eyes shining with excitement.
This means that, starting from one end of the Galaxis Stellar System, disregarding all subspace risks, Andrew could reach the far side in just about half a month.
It may seem that Fifth-Stage Void Rift is only slightly stronger than the fourth stage, but for an Eternal King, it's like top-tier Cosmos Union Realm power suddenly surging to its peak. From any angle, he's now vastly stronger than before.
"A completely unexpected gain."
He landed, stamping his feet twice on the crimson, rock-hard ground, then looked up at the ancient Quibeast statue.
The baptism of Mystery-Light was over; Fifth-Stage Void Rift achieved. Andrew felt the world was suddenly wonderful—even the ancient, pitch-black statue before him, once ugly and awkward, now seemed much more pleasing to the eye.
"Huh?"
Andrew blinked. The statue was motionless, yet a vast, indifferent aura suddenly swept over him.
At that moment—
A clear, melodious voice came from his left.
Like the song of an oriole, Andrew turned to see a six-hooved beast at Constellar Palace Tier: "Human King Andrew Han, please forgive my intrusion. My ancestor is Elder Xitulok of our race, and he has instructed me to assist you with all your subsequent arrangements..."
"Subsequent arrangements?"
Andrew had planned to leave immediately.
The baptism of Mystery-Light was actually a great benefit arranged for him by the Emberfire District.
This was the fundamental reason Andrew came here. No Human Eternal King in history has ever possessed a fortitude-type innate talent. Humans are flesh and blood, inherently fragile, and rarely evolve such talents.
"That's right, that's right." Unexpectedly, the female Constellar Palace Tier Quibeast was especially enthusiastic, her single eye lively as she explained in detail: "In our Quibeast Race's core valley, besides the supreme statue, there's the Hidden Quibeast Pavilion and the Talent Guidance Sanctuary. Our greatest specialty is our full range of pet beasts... It's rare for a distinguished guest to visit; since you're already here, why not take a tour before you leave?"
Pet beasts?
Andrew frowned, quietly sizing up the strange appearance of the female Quibeast.
He couldn't agree with the Quibeasts' aesthetic standards; could their so-called pet beasts really be considered pets at all?
"Ahem."
Andrew was deeply skeptical: "We Humans never keep any pet beasts."
"Just take a look! It doesn't cost anything!"
The pink, tender Constellar Palace Tier six-hooved beast lifted its slender hoof.
At the base of the million-meter-high statue, Andrew glanced around with a strange expression. Unnoticed, the cultivation sanctuary had returned to calm; the Quibeasts no longer stared, but a number of younger Quibeasts gathered, eagerly watching the pink Quibeast bouncing before him.
It felt like...
A heart attack?
——
Far, far away, with barely a trace of starlight visible.
In the empty, cold, silent starry sky—this was the territory granted by Humanity to their affiliated third-rate life race, the Quibeasts. Between Quibeast lands and the Southern Saint Ancient Kingdom lay a vast gap, nearly ten thousand light-years wide, home to countless lesser life races.
The birthplace of the Starspace Marauders is here.
The headquarters of the Chaotic Star Zone is also here.
At this moment, four enormous starships had gathered in one place, ruthlessly driving away all surrounding life matter.
"How are your preparations?"
"Let's not talk about that yet. Have the promised resources arrived? All conditions must be fulfilled in advance."
"Yes, everything's been delivered. Please confirm as soon as possible."
The four starships represented four brutal, cunning Starspace Marauder factions—each one a frenzied slaughterer of countless lives.
Silence.
After a moment—
In the main cabin of one starship, the crystalline glass reflected a bizarre lifeform. A terrifying being with ninety-nine tentacles straightened up: "The cosmic wonders and rare resources are as promised. I'm satisfied. Now, let's discuss business... For this joint ambush, I will stop at nothing!"
Immediately after—
A tentacle easily pierced the bottom of the starship, as if making a declaration. When all ninety-nine tentacles unfurled, they hung down for half a light-year!
Roar!
It radiated a bloodthirsty killing intent: "When do we begin?"
"No rush."
"We must wait a bit longer."
The other three starships whispered among themselves, growing ever more sinister. The strange beings hidden within were impossible to make out.
Only the terrifying being covered in endless tentacles growled: "Excellent, excellent! A glorious event worthy of all waiting!"
"Right in Quibeast territory!"
"Kill him!"