CHAPTER 68: CHAPTER 68: ENEMY ATTACK, WAR ERUPTS!

They could sense that the Immortal before them didn’t look much different from an ordinary Martial Artist.

But so what.

The Immortal Ship is here—not just a lifesaving grace, but a grace that preserves their legacy!

And at this moment, Martial Artist Shen Yu took a step forward.

His figure, drifting within the Gray Mist, crossed space directly and appeared right in front of them.

This sudden change startled everyone slightly, but only a little.

For an Immortal, any means is unsurprising.

"I’ve already sent out magical treasures, searching every inch of the Earth Martial Sect headquarters for survivors. Indeed, a few places have been found." Martial Artist Shen Yu raised his hand, and a projection appeared. "In total, there should be over ten thousand people—this location has the most, with over three thousand. Let’s rescue them first."

This was an unexpected delight.

Martial Artist Shen Yu had already vaguely suspected that saving Martial Arts Masters seemed to yield more Gray Mist than saving ordinary people.

However, since only refugees had been rescued before, this point had been unclear.

But now, it was confirmed.

Just these fewer than a thousand people in front of him provided nearly three hundred thousand units of Gray Mist!

That’s an average of three hundred points per person!

Even if the rest aren’t as strong, with over ten thousand people, it would still amount to several hundred thousand, maybe even over a million units.

"Thank you for your mercy, Immortal!" Xu Yuan was overwhelmed with excitement upon hearing there were nearly ten thousand survivors.

He wished nothing more than to kowtow once more to the Immortal.

The number of kowtows he’d done today had nearly equaled those in most of his life.

"No need, this is the very reason for my reincarnation." Martial Artist Shen Yu waved a hand, once again recounting the narrative of an Immortal’s reincarnation, saving the world, resolving catastrophe.

The crowd suddenly realized, as though a New World had been opened before them.

Their various reactions can be set aside for now.

On the other side, Shen Yu’s eyes shone after hearing that saving Martial Arts Masters really did grant more Gray Mist.

"In that case, promoting Martial Arts is imperative." Relying on the Gray Mist, he spoke to his other two selves in his mind, "As long as the sources of crisis are different, saving one person twice means you can get two batches of Gray Mist. Even if the power of universal Martial Arts doesn’t make a direct difference, the double earnings of Gray Mist are still vital."

"Exactly." Intersellar world Shen Yu was also delighted. "Martial Artist Shen Yu has already started passing along the Body Refining Technique to me. Experiments will begin shortly. In as little as three days, I’ll be able to produce a basic cultivation technique!"

"No need to wait for it to be perfect. We can promote and improve it at the same time." Shen Yu finalized the point.

In just these few hours, the amount of Gray Mist within the Gray Mist Space started to surge wildly again.

The main source was the Eye Worms.

After the last meeting ended, a global press conference was held, announcing the formation of the Global Meteorite Crisis Response Department, and replaying anti–Eye Worm devices to the hardest-hit areas of the crisis.

Each Eye Worm destroyed yielded about ten units of Gray Mist.

And there, there were at least four to five million Eye Worms!

Undoubtedly the largest gain yet.

Still, plentiful Gray Mist was a good thing, yet Shen Yu remained uneasy about the situation at First Forest Park.

Now that the crisis on Martial Artist Shen Yu’s side was temporarily under control, Shen Yu asked directly, "Still no progress in studying that plant?"

"Our initial judgment is—that isn’t a plant at all!" Intersellar world Shen Yu’s tone grew grave, "It’s another type of life form entirely beyond anything known. The curled-up ’seeds’ contain no cells—just a clump of unknown material. We suspect it’s an extremely special energy lifeform... But so far, we haven’t discovered any weakness or property. It’s in a state of utter dormancy, maybe even dead."

This thing is simply too bizarre.

Top scientists of interstellar civilizations have said, "It shouldn’t even exist in the real world. There’s absolutely no theoretical basis for its existence."

It’s an absolute deadlock for now.

"I see..." Shen Yu fell silent as well.

Previously, the Eye Worms and Creepers had both been dealt with easily by leveraging the powers of the interstellar and Martial Arts Worlds.

But now, things seemed to have hit a standstill.

Still, that was to be expected.

The apocalyptic scenario here is indeed awash with enigma and strangeness; no situation is beyond imagination.

It’s unrealistic to expect everything to go smoothly every time.

"No need to worry too much." Intersellar world Shen Yu consoled, "We’ll keep researching for a few more days—maybe we’ll discover something new. Besides, the first weapon trade is already finished, so the legion’s combat strength is much improved. Worst case, we’ve still got the Gray Mist."

"Mm." Shen Yu nodded. "Gray Mist is the key. This stuff is the ultimate fallback in strange situations—the more, the merrier."

But for that same reason, careful use of Gray Mist is even more crucial.

It’s best saved for critical moments.

Over the next two days, Shen Yu’s frantic running around seemed to finally change.

He spent more and more time on personal cultivation.

Though he could share Martial Artist Shen Yu’s Martial Arts Realm, this sharing wasn’t instantaneous.

It was as if the Realm existed, but had to be recovered—temporarily lost, requiring restoration.

It still took some time and effort.

As a result, even though the Gray Mist stockpile was growing, it wasn’t being used to further enhance Martial Artist Shen Yu’s power.

Meanwhile, the first batch of weapon trades with the interstellar civilization was being completed.

They focused mainly on the Eastern Country, which was about to face a crisis, and the West Country, already in a crisis of war.

In just a few days, the Eastern Country mobilized over two million soldiers to surround the entire First Forest. This efficiency was thanks to the transport infrastructure built earlier.

The entire cordon was divided into several defense lines.

The innermost positions, while most dangerous, were now armed with interstellar civilization’s era-defining equipment.

At the heart, at the military base Shan Yu had previously visited.

Old Thirteen’s Special Ops Team used reconnaissance devices authorized by Shen Yu for intense monitoring, never relaxing for even a second.

But at 3:10 p.m. on the fourth day after the prophesied date of war—

The team leader of Old Thirteen, while monitoring the forest, noticed something was off.

The peculiar plants, previously curled up and camouflaged within the forest, suddenly began to unfurl at some moment!

All at once, they pierced through their "skins" and spread at incredible speed.

On camera, the entire massive forest seemed, in an instant, to erupt into a chaotic, magnificent "wild dance"!

Countless vines burst from every plant and animal, growing madly, twisting everywhere. Everywhere was enveloped in green vines!

Then, they broke past their original boundaries, surging out of the forest.

Overwhelming, like a green tsunami!

At once, the team leader slammed his hand on the alarm, connecting every possible unit and yelled like mad:

"Enemy attack! Total enemy attack!"

This outbreak came fully five days earlier than prophesied!

Nobody had seen it coming.

But now—the war had begun!