In the blink of an eye, two months had gone by. Inside the starship's command cabin, Li Xiaofei rested his legs on the control panel, holding a cup of cola in his hand. He slurped contentedly through his straw, enjoying a sense of indescribable leisure.
In front of him, fourteen projection screens displayed multiple battles between humans and beasts. Liu Diqiu was opening and closing security doors, separating Explorers into individual corridor sections. Then, Li Junjie, Nan Hua, the four Dragon Maiden sisters, Zhang Zhihong, Ren Dong, Yan Chiyu, Ximen Piaoxue, Wang Xiaofan, Gu Haochen, Ye Liuying, and others entered a separate chamber to battle their Explorer opponents.
This had been going on for a long time. In the beginning, it took five or six people to defeat a single Explorer, and even then, they were often left gravely wounded and barely clinging to life. Now, they could all battle an Explorer alone and last for half an hour without being defeated. This was no small feat.
A fully mature Explorer surpassed the Xie family's ancestor in strength. Thus, the team members had finally gained the qualifications to battle the God Warriors of Eden. Li Xiaofei was now confident that the Stellar Holy War should no longer be an issue. However, since their one-year deadline had expired yet, there was still time. A perfect training environment was a rare thing. They needed to seize this opportunity, endure more grueling battles, and maximize their strength.
Downloading martial arts techniques and entering the starship to battle Explorers quickly became the only focus of the team's daily life.
Li Xiaofei spent some time observing his team’s cultivation progress and analyzing their combat styles to provide relevant suggestions, but most of his time was devoted to his own cultivation.
He had already begun attempting to break through to the Dao Union Realm. The energy from his last severed tail was still flowing through his limbs and bones. It provided him with enough energy to refine and absorb for a considerable period. His combat strength was rising at an astonishing rate.
In the blink of an eye, another six months had gone by. The constant worry that had been weighing on Liu Diqiu’s mind gradually eased. The teleportation array in the hangar bay had not activated again. No more Explorers had been teleported over, nor had any higher-level type Reapers appeared.
It seemed like Eden had completely abandoned this starship. There were no further signals or attempts to make contact. It wasn’t just this starship. They had seemingly abandoned this Earth.
A rare period of peace descended, as humanity finally had a chance to catch its breath. Since Li Xiaofei and the others were deliberately keeping a low profile, Liu Diqiu and her sister became the de facto leaders of this scarred and nearly destroyed world.
Liu Diqiu’s plan was simple. If the Earth's environment had deteriorated to the point where the destruction of the planet was truly irreversible, then the last surviving humans would be transported onto this starship in a desperate bid to survive.
But that plan had one crucial prerequisite. Every Explorer on the starship had to be completely eradicated. They could then modify the coordinates of the eye-shaped titanium starship and execute a Subspace Jump, preventing new teleportation gates from forming.
This starship had become humanity’s final hope. The next few days passed without any unexpected incidents. In the blink of an eye, the day of parting was drawing near.
"Brother Li, we want to stay behind." Ximen Piaoxue, Wang Xiaofan, and Gu Haochen were the first to express their desire to remain instead of returning. They wanted to continue their cultivation and training to rapidly grow stronger.
Bai Qiqi and Ren Dong hesitated for a moment before also voicing their intent to stay behind. Their reasoning was simple. The Stellar Holy War consisted of ten matches, with victory requiring six wins.
They were weakest among their team members. Even if they returned, they likely wouldn’t qualify for the competition. Instead of going back to watch from the sidelines, it was better to seize this rare opportunity to train under immense pressure and accelerate their cultivation. Once they grew stronger, they could return to aid Earth. That was the truly wise choice.
"Alright, you can stay," replied Li Xiaofei, nodding in agreement.
He had considered this issue before but had refrained from mentioning it out of worry that everyone might be too eager to return to their own Earth. He hadn’t expected Ximen Piaoxue and the others to proactively make this request and save him the trouble of persuading them.
"How about... you take me with you?" Liu Diqiu suddenly spoke, her eyes shimmering with anticipation. "I really want to see your Earth and find out if it's as extraordinary as you say."
"You?" Li Xiaofei thought for a moment before rejecting the idea outright. "Forget it. Leaving aside the fact that this world is still in ruins and needs you, Liu Xisheng also depends on you. You can’t just leave your sister behind."
"I can bring her with me!" Liu Diqiu clasped her hands together in front of her chest, giving him a pleading look. "Take me with you! I just want to see and learn about your world. I’m not planning to stay permanently. Besides, I can be useful. Didn’t you say your country is under siege, and the Star Council shut down the domestic light-network system? Give me some time, and I can restore it for you without the Star Council’s authorization."
Li Xiaofei shook his head slightly. The two Earths were separated by several centuries. This ruined Earth was exactly two hundred and thirty years ahead of his homeworld’s timeline. Someone like Liu Diqiu, who hadn’t received the blessings of the Cemetery of the Ancestors, might encounter unforeseen dangers during teleportation. If something went wrong and she was erased within the folds of space-time, there wouldn’t even be a chance for regret.
"It's fine, I'm not afraid of danger. Just give it a try," Liu Diqiu continued to plead.
Li Xiaofei remained firm and refused to budge.
"Alright then, if that's the case, I won’t go. But you can take Xiaosheng with you. She doesn't have to worry about the time difference, and once she's there, she can help you restart the light core system."
Liu Diqiu compromised.
"I think I understand now." Li Xiaofei suddenly realized something. "Sending Xiaosheng to our Earth is your real goal, isn’t it?"
"Oh? You figured it out?" Liu Diqiu chuckled as she rubbed her nose with a wry grin. "I knew it. You have a kind of calmness and wisdom that even those so-called Extraordinary Ones don’t possess... That’s right, I do want to send my sister to your world. Since you all could come here, why can't we go there? Since both planets are Earth, shouldn’t we help each other and exchange what we have? We can’t just keep playing solo mode forever."
Li Xiaofei frowned in confusion as he asked, "Why do you insist on sending her there? Isn’t this place good enough? The two of you have the highest authority on this Earth. You would be safest here. Meanwhile, our world is going through an unprecedented war. The moment we return, we’ll be thrown into battle where danger lurks around every corner. I can’t stay by Xiaosheng’s side to protect her all the time."
"She wants to see rivers, streams, grasslands and lakes. She wants to witness the rolling wheat fields that ripple like a green ocean, the mountains full of wildflowers, and the way seagulls soar through the skies above the sea... Our mother mentioned them in her stories over and over again. But they have long disappeared on this dying Earth..." Liu Diqiu spoke softly.
Li Xiaofei felt a slight tremor in his heart and muttered, "The time difference between the two worlds..."
"It doesn't matter." Liu Diqiu replied, "You should have noticed that my sister’s body is different from that of an ordinary person. The time difference will hardly affect her. You don’t need to worry."
Li Xiaofei pondered for a moment before finally agreeing.
"That's great!" Liu Diqiu was overjoyed as she repeatedly expressed her gratitude. She added, "To show my appreciation, I have a gift for you. I've been working on it for a very long time, so I hope you’ll like it."
"A gift?" Li Xiaofei’s curiosity was piqued.
She’s offering me a gift? What can it be?