One Pound Meat, One More Attribute Point

However, she didn't have the nerve to be evasive with Su Heng and explained, "Yabadon, though parasitized by some entity, did say something reasonable. The Federation, because of the power in the Immortal Realm, spanned the Star Sea, but it was also due to the same power that they met their downfall. Some scientists acutely realized that disaster was inevitable and thus hoped to find a way to counter this calamity."

"They hoped to gain strength from the Immortal Realm, without being tainted by the Chaotic Power."

"The core element of this plan was the Soulless."

"Soulless..." Su Heng nodded thoughtfully, the description of the Domineering Dragon indeed corresponded to several aspects of his own experience.

"Is that girl dead?" The Domineering Dragon glanced towards where the explosion had occurred.

"Can't be certain." Su Heng shook his head slightly, "I had only sensed spatial fluctuations there, so I launched an attack. As for the actual effect, it's hard to say, she had several quality life-saving items on her. And with the distance being too great, I couldn't detect any presence on her due to the characteristics of the Soulless."

"But I do hope she survives..."

Seeing the puzzled look on Li Hongxiu's face, Su Heng explained, "Her lineage has aspects that are worth researching, this world will eventually be unified under my will, and we need to consider the future."

Li Hongxiu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, her eyes shining, "You've made a breakthrough during this retreat?"

"Mhm."

Su Heng nodded lightly and smiled, "The most critical part is already complete."

...

...

...

"Cough, cough!"

Henos struggled to climb out of the smoldering meteor crater, bending over to cough up several pieces of charred visceral tissue.

Her face was imprinted with undispellable horror, and recalling what had just happened, her heart was still palpitating with fear. Her current condition was extremely bad, with charred wounds all over her body, and her internal organs and bone marrow had sustained varying degrees of damage. The sting in her lungs with each breath was like the tide, causing her muscles to spasm uncontrollably.

Her vision was also blurred, mixed with shaky blood-colored after-images.

Henos took in a deep breath, her heart beating faster, her vibrant Life Force like a spring, spreading out through her blood vessels.

The charred skin tissue fell off, hair started to regrow, and even the highly radiated internal organs were healing themselves.

But in just a few minutes.

Henos seemed to have recovered completely, though her lips were somewhat pale.

She knew her condition was not as good as it outwardly appeared, healing her injuries came at the cost of depleting her own Life Force, and she would be in a weakened state for a long time to come.

"I hope father won't notice anything when I get back..." Henos sighed to herself in her heart.

"There's also no sign of Kulika's remains, which I suppose is good news." Although saying this felt somewhat disrespectful, Henos dared not imagine if the creature she saw in the dungeon was Kulika, she felt sure she would go insane. Only, Jialuo too...

Henos shook her head.

Despite being full of regrets, her own safety was in jeopardy.

She simply had no way to help her brother find release and had to think of a way to leave this place first.

Henos's clothes had long been incinerated in the intense heat, so she fetched a pure white priestess gown from her storage space and put it on, then fastened her belt, and drew another backup weapon. The girl stood tall with pride, her gaze determined, and her aura instantly became sharp.

In the dim light of the fire, several burly Dragon Guards were approaching.

"It's in this direction."

"Stay alert, search thoroughly, don't overlook any trace."

Although Su Heng thought such an attempt was completely futile, Li Hongxiu, who was not willing to give up, still specifically sent people to investigate.

The Dragon Guards were leading hounds that glowed a deep crimson. These hounds, with their demonic heritage enhanced, possessed an exceptionally strong tracking ability, enabling them to trace the scent of enemies tens of kilometers away. However, such acute perception was entirely ineffective against Henos. When she held her breath, her very presence would gradually fade to nothing.

Henos did not engage in a conflict with these Dragon Guards.

She merely waited for them to sweep past her before she took action again, swiftly flying towards the direction of the Outer Sea.

She arrived with hesitation, but as she left unburdened, her speed increased significantly. Henos passed through several Mythical Battlefields before she returned to the West Continent.

It was only at this moment that she finally allowed herself a slight sigh of relief.

Yet such relief did not last long before a massive alarm sounded, swirling around Henos's ears.

"What's going on?"

Henos was extremely surprised when she saw the red lights flashing on the giant fortress strongholds across the plains and between the mountains, a sign of war preparations. The enormous Volcano Cannons were all raised up, their dark muzzles aimed at the sky. These weapons from the Federation Era were incredibly powerful and could launch house-sized shells into space, where their explosive force was sufficient to threaten Titans-class Battleships.

Without a doubt, the entire West Continent was facing a threat of war.

But their enemy was still within the depths of the Mythical Battlefield at sea. Henos had just returned from that direction; there was no way she could be mistaken.

"Who could it be?"

Henos grew tense, as the number of unexpected events kept on increasing.

Boom!

The next instant.

With a massive beam of light coming down from the sky, the answer was revealed.

The hundreds of kilometers of dark clouds were swept away by the ionizing reaction of high temperature and energy, and in a blink of an eye, the previously gloomy sky became clear and bright. It was high noon, but the sunlight was completely obscured, and the sky was filled with orange-red glow. A massive black steel fortress, like a tyrant's throne, hung with an air of supremacy in the center of the sky.

A dazzling beam of light emanated from the fortress, piercing through the entire atmosphere and crashing down on a distant Monastery fortress with an unstoppable force.

The protective void shield hanging over the Monastery was as fragile as an eggshell, shattered instantaneously.

The explosion followed by a wild energy reaction emerged, a sun appearing before Henos, the intensity of the light dimming the entire world so much that Henos had to raise her hand to shield her eyes. Tears formed and blurred her vision.

When her vision cleared.

The fortress stronghold, which had taken centuries to build, along with several nearby mountains, had vanished without a trace. The Earth was torn open with ferocious gashes from which scorching lava spewed out. The world was a vision of red and those facing its edge could not even let out a scream before they were vaporized.

"Swoosh!"

With sharp, ear-piercing swooshes, a series of black meteors fell from the sky.

As they crashed to the ground, the lava erupted into waves of fire, and the distant mountains seemed to shake violently in response.

Seeing the skull markings on the drop pods, Henos felt her heart clench with violent fear, a look of terror overtaking her face, "The Dark Army!?"

The persistent nightmare had appeared once again.

Since the fall of the Federation.

This terrifying force had been relentlessly hunting the remnants of humanity, with countless refugees perishing at their hands up to this point.

And through these continuous wars, the Dark Army's power grew like a snowball, becoming ever more formidable.

Henos had already heard of their brutal deeds countless times, but at this moment, she could not afford to think carefully. As the drop pods landed and their doors opened, fully armed champions of slaughter burst forth with momentum. And on the ruins of the Monastery fortress, trapped and desperately holding on, was none other than Henos's older brother, Indra.

Despite not being in the best condition, Henos had no other choice with things having come this far.

With a long howl, she transformed into a streak of light and rushed forward, "Do not fear, big brother, I am here to help you!"