Standing on the balcony of a tall building in An Mu City, Feng Qi looked down at the city's nightscape.
The whole place was bathed in a hazy orange-yellow light.
The night wind howled, lifting his hair.
The more he learned about An Mu City, the more Feng Qi felt that An Mu's motives were understandable.
Compared to the Elf King, An Mu was a lot more ambitious.
Maybe it was the pressure from the Elf King looming above that pushed An Mu to strive for strength and more resources.
The result was the rapid development of An Mu City.
Even though the city's construction and facilities were far inferior to Elf City, most of the people here were warriors.
The Elf King was very steady, something that could be seen from how it developed early on.
If it hadn't met humans, the Elf Race would probably have vanished.
Humans meeting the Elf King had kept the spark of civilization alive—and the Elf King too.
They helped each other survive.
But it was also humans that indirectly pushed the Elves to where they were now.
Still, the Elf King never had that kind of hunger for rapid growth or expansion, always moving forward under human pressure.
An Mu was totally different.
It was smart and knew the competition in the future would be brutal.
Now was the best chance to grow. If it didn't grab as many resources as possible and strengthen itself now, it would definitely be limited later.
When Feng Qi heard Wen Xiuqi talk about An Mu's plans, he agreed in his heart.
Looking from a future perspective, An Mu was right.
Compared to the future world, this was just like the newbie village. The competition would only get fiercer. In the future, 1500 years from now, powerful races would be everywhere, and weaker ones would be squeezed to near extinction.
Talking about rising up then would be way harder than now, by countless times.
But that didn't mean the Elf King had no foresight.
Feng Qi could understand the Elf King's thinking—it wasn't focused on land or resources at this stage, but more on using the Life Furnace to create powerful descendants.
The Elf King's ambition was to build an unbeatable generation of Elves.
Even if the Elf King couldn't keep up with them, any one of its children would have god-like power.
It was a great plan.
If it could be paired with the task contracts from Mo Yue, it would be perfect.
Too bad the Elf King didn't have that.
So it was only natural that a traitor like An Mu would be born among its offspring.
Who likes being controlled forever, stepped on by someone else—even if that someone is your creator?
Thinking it through, Feng Qi had a lot on his mind.
He used to think human nature was the most complicated, but now it seemed that any society built by intelligent beings would be complex.
Interests, freedom, ambition, power, vanity… too many things could cause divisions within a race.
That's just how this world really was.
Same with An Mu and the Elf King. An Mu could never be content under the Elf King forever.
Now that he thought about it, Lin Ran's old idea seemed so far ahead of its time.
Heaven's Will ruled the world, and all beings were equal.
In the future timeline where he met Yin Ling, Lin Ran once explained this "Heaven's Will" in detail.
He mentioned that the world didn't need a real ruler. Everything should follow set rules.
If there's someone in charge, society would eventually split apart.
For example, as the one in charge, after enjoying the perks of power, would you really let your children start at the same level as the poor?
The answer's obvious.
Most people would use their advantages to give their kids a better life.
That would lead to social division, class solidifying over time.
Breaking that fixed class system would mean tearing everything down and starting over. An Mu wanted to overthrow the Elf King and create its own order.
But that's just a cycle. In the future, An Mu's descendants might do the same.
The unity among races here was really just because of outside pressure.
Once that pressure was gone, internal order would keep breaking and rebuilding.
So Lin Ran came up with the Heaven's Will idea—put Heaven's Will above all life, with no selfish desires, running the world purely by its set rules, keeping the balance.
But Feng Qi still thought Lin Ran's idea was way too ahead of its time, with too many unrealistic parts.
If everything was fair, no one would have anything to strive for. If everything's fair, what's the point of trying? Even if you succeed, you can't pass your value to your kids. After death, all your wealth and resources would be taken by Heaven's Will and redistributed.
People would just be puppets.
How to truly solve this problem haunted Lin Ran in that timeline until he died, and he never found the perfect answer.
Back to now.
Feng Qi didn't think about it much.
Humans were in a terrible spot, not even qualified to step onto the battleground of all races 1500 years in the future.
Talking about making all beings equal was just too far off.
What he cared about was how humans could rise, how to fight off the Domain invasions, and survive the arrival of the Great Momentum.
Returning to the room, Xiao You and the others were already asleep.
The soft orange-yellow light filled the room, with Lei Ting occasionally murmuring in his sleep.
Feng Qi sat on the couch, leaned back, and closed his eyes.
When tonight was over, he'd be back on the road.
Next, he planned to head north to check out the frontlines of An Mu City, then continue west.
Understanding the situation in the Central Region would help him later when building the city alliance.
In his plans, Star City not only needed to connect with the other four major cities of the Eastern Region, but Elf City and An Mu City would also be next targets.
If all human strength could be united, he didn't believe that humans wouldn't be able to hold their ground in the fierce racial battles of the future.
The next morning, Feng Qi opened his eyes.
He glanced at the clock woven from branches hanging on the wall, then got up and decided to leave.
He woke Xiao You and the others. After a quick clean-up, they hit the road again.
By afternoon, Feng Qi had ridden a Cloud Cotton to the central district of An Mu City.
At the edge of his sight, he saw the core of An Mu City—An Mu itself.
Compared to the images he had seen, An Mu looked even more fierce and imposing.
A dark red vein ran from the roots up the trunk, spreading to the branches and crown. Every leaf on the An Mu Tree had clear dark red veins, like blood vessels pulsing with energy.
Though An Mu wasn't as massive as the Elf King, it still stood hundreds of meters tall, like a mountain at the heart of the city.
He didn't approach An Mu, just observed it from afar, standing on the Cloud Cotton.
An Mu shrank from view as they flew, making no stops, heading straight for the northern side of An Mu City.
The Central Region's situation was complicated.
He didn't know how it would all end, but whether An Mu or the Elf King won, what he cared about was the fate of humanity.
Just looking at An Mu City's development, it was clear An Mu was also trying to build up the city, improve the lives of humans in its territory, and it never exploited them.
An Mu looked evil, like a villain, but looks weren't what defined enemies.
Whoever ended up being seen as the villain by Central Region humans in the future, they'd be his enemy.
Compared to before, he had accepted the idea of allying with Domain creatures.
But he'd never accept humans being enslaved.
An Mu disappeared from view, and the scene before his eyes changed.
As night fell and the stars hung overhead, they arrived at their destination.
An Mu City – Northern Frontline.
There were no busy streets or tall buildings here, only rows of small plant-made structures.
These buildings looked a lot like tents from the Eastern Region, meant as simple shelters.
The reason for not providing better facilities at the front was because of how fast the frontline expanded.
The closer to the north, the more unfinished construction could be seen, with support facilities unable to keep up with An Mu City's pace. That's why these temporary shelters were set up for the frontline soldiers.
The legion-style expansion method made it hard for An Mu City to be as flexible as the Eastern Region's squad-based model.
The Eastern Region could build supply zones at the front, and the squads could use them as bases to explore and attack Domain Fields.
But An Mu City's legion model emphasized unity.
In terms of strength, An Mu City's legion model was clearly stronger, but it also meant it lacked the flexibility of the Eastern Region's squad model.
Looking down, he could see the defensive structure of An Mu City.
The soldiers wore matching vine armor, but very few carried weapons.
This was tied to the Central Region humans' growth system.
Humans implanted with Elf Seeds—unless they had seeds that boosted physical strength—mostly fought with spell techniques.
For example, a Lei Ting-element Elf Seed would let the soldier control lightning, drawing Lei Ting elements from nature during combat. If the environment was too harsh and elements couldn't be drawn, the Lei Ting-element Elf Seed itself stored Lei Ting energy.
The Elf Seeds had let Central Region humans skip many steps needed in the usual growth path.
For Eastern Region humans to use spell techniques, it wasn't that easy.
First, they had to learn basic methods for channeling spiritual energy into their bodies, open up a smooth pathway through their meridians, then study the structure of world elements, followed by training in sensing elements and drawing spell patterns.
Only after mastering all these could they cast spells freely in battle.
Central Region humans with Elf Seeds basically had a shortcut for spellcasting.
They didn't need the complex learning process. They could directly use their implanted Elf Seeds to sense elements and cast spells.
Training a warrior in the Eastern Region took a long time, but with Elf Seeds, as long as a kid hit ten years old and their body could handle the seed, they'd already have decent combat power. All they lacked was practice.
But this growth system had clear downsides too.
Lifespan was one part, but growth limits were another weakness.
The biggest issue was the lack of variety in spells.
For example, compare an Eastern Region spiritual cultivator with a Central Region Elf Seed warrior.
Sure, the Eastern cultivator grew slower and had to build layer by layer, but once they grasped the core of spellcasting, they weren't stuck with just one element.
It could be fire-element spell techniques, or water-element spell techniques, or Lei Ting-element spell techniques.
But for Central Region's Elf Seed warriors, their combat style was already set at ten years old. Whatever elemental Elf Seed was implanted, that was the only path they could take.
In Domain Fields with changing environments, being able to control a variety of elements clearly gave more room for flexibility.
This might also be one of the reasons the Central Region adopted a legion-based combat model.
Small squad-based warbands were easily suppressed by harsh environments where their elements could be countered, making it hard to use their abilities properly. Even if the team was set up with diverse elements, some warriors would still be useless in certain conditions.
But under the legion model, there was no such concern.
If one element was countered, the legion still had a large number of other element-based warriors to make up for it.
So, both strengths and weaknesses existed together.
As for which system was stronger, from the current perspective, the Central Region's advantages seemed greater. Humanity was on the brink of extinction, and time to train warriors was extremely precious.
Mass-producing soldiers with Elf Seeds was practically a weapon of mass destruction in war.
But looking toward the future, and considering human growth patterns, the traditional cultivation system could completely crush the Elf Seed growth system.
The only variable was the Elf King.
If the Elf King could mass-produce Elf Seeds that controlled multiple elements, some of these weaknesses would be fixed.
Feng Qi couldn't help but admire the power of the Life Furnace.
The strength of miracle items couldn't be judged by normal logic.
As long as one strong descendant was created, it meant that the potential of future generations would be elevated to that of a strong race.
The Life Furnace was basically a machine for mass-producing powerful races, and they could continue to rise with more effort. As long as enough life data was collected, there was theoretically no upper limit to the potential of descendants.
Unfortunately, human reproduction didn't work with the Life Furnace, or else, with its help, just a few generations would be enough for humanity's bloodline potential to rival any strong race.
Riding on the Cloud Cotton, they floated above the rows of simple green buildings.
Feng Qi didn't stop here and continued flying north.
Coming here wasn't just to check the northern frontlines of An Mu City, he also wanted to visit a Domain Field that An Mu City was currently trying to conquer.
According to Wen Xiuqi, this Domain Field was quite unique.
It seemed to be the site of some ancient battlefield ruins, and lately, many surprising discoveries had been made there.
After another half day's journey.
The Domain Field Wen Xiuqi had described finally appeared in Feng Qi's view.
The barrier around this Domain Field was a dark grey color, and nothing seemed unusual just from looking at it.
Feng Qi guided the Cloud Cotton to land, and Xiao You and the others jumped down one after another.
With just a thought, the Cloud Cotton no longer followed. It floated into the air by itself and headed back toward An Mu City.
The road ahead might be dangerous.
This Cloud Cotton had been borrowed from Wen Xiuqi, and it needed to be returned.
Besides, Cloud Cotton wasn't really suitable for his travel needs.
Inside the Cloud Cotton was like a big battery. If it flew too far, its energy would run out, and it wouldn't be able to float anymore. It had to return to An Mu City's Cloud Cotton mother plant for recharging.
The Cloud Cotton mother plant was like a charging station—it was the source of energy for Cloud Cotton to fly.
So carrying it around was like having a one-time-use item.
From here on, Feng Qi led Xiao You and the others forward on foot.
Crossing the dark grey Domain Field barrier, they were met with a ruined sight. Grey flakes, like burnt paper, drifted in the air, and the ground was littered with broken, rusty weapons and gear.
According to Wen Xiuqi, this might have once been a massive battlefield, with countless corpses buried underground, and wrecked equipment scattered everywhere.
Looking out, he saw many figures roaming the battlefield, searching and scavenging.
It looked like one huge treasure-hunting scene.
The chances of finding something valuable were slim, but there was still hope.
That's why Feng Qi came here to try his luck.
Scanning the area, he grinned and said,
"Let's go. If we find a miracle item, I'll treat you all to roasted meat."
Under Lei Ting's scornful gaze, Xiao You clenched her fist and cheered,
"Yay! Find a miracle, eat roasted meat!"
"You dumb ghost, like finding a miracle's that easy. You really believe that?"
"Boss says it's here, so it's here."
Xiao You turned to Lei Ting with a serious, sincere look, nodding like she wanted to convince him too.
"You're the dumbest."
"Bleh bleh bleh." Xiao You stuck her tongue out and flew after Feng Qi, who was already far ahead.
Watching Xiao You fly off, Lei Ting sighed, then looked at Taihang.
Man and dog locked eyes for a moment before Lei Ting kicked out,
"Stupid dog, what are you staring at?"
But Taihang dodged skillfully this time, then barked and lunged, biting Lei Ting's leg.
"Ow! Stupid dog, let go!"
Watching the squabble between Lei Ting and Taihang, Po Jia shook his head, then followed after Feng Qi into the distance.