The aftershock of the Judgment Matrix's collapse still echoed across the Trial Realm.
The sky looked as though it had been torn open and stitched back together, leaving behind jagged scars of unfinished rules.
But those scars didn't disappear.
They remained.
Su Wan stared at the real-time data streaming across her phone.
Her breathing quickened slightly.
"Your Majesty."
"The stability of Human Realm laws… hasn't dropped."
"In fact—"
"It's absorbing the leftover structure of the Judgment Matrix."
Shen Yan froze.
"…What does that mean?"
Su Wan looked up, barely able to suppress the excitement in her eyes.
"It means…"
"They just delivered an entire civilization-level tutorial to us."
At almost the same moment—
Deep within the Outer Domains, layer after layer of authority nodes lit up.
A command was issued.
For the first time—
It carried unmistakable emotion.
[Status Update][Target Civilization: Human Realm][Threat Level: Equivalent][Phase Change: Civilization War]
"…Equivalent?"
A low laugh echoed among the Outer Domain entities.
"So they've finally earned the right…"
"…to be treated as our enemy."
The moment the words Civilization War were recorded into the void—
Xiao Xuanyin turned around.
His voice once again spread across every corner of the Human Realm.
"From this moment on."
"The Human Realm enters wartime status."
There was no panic.
No shouting.
Everyone simply waited for his next sentence.
"The first law of wartime."
Xiao Xuanyin's gaze hardened like iron.
"During war, cultivation is no longer an individual act."
"It becomes a shared resource."
Su Wan's phone exploded with notifications.
[Human Realm Law Update][New Status: Wartime Sharing][Individual cultivation gains can feed back into the collective based on contribution]
Shen Yan sucked in a breath.
"…You're turning the entire civilization…"
"…into a single organism?"
Xiao Xuanyin nodded.
"They want to fight a civilization."
"Then we answer them with one."
The effect was immediate.
Every cultivator in the Human Realm felt something shift.
Their cultivation speed—
Increased.
Not slightly.
Significantly.
A town martial artist stared at his fist in disbelief.
"…Did a meridian just open?"
A scholar who barely qualified as a beginner suddenly lifted his head.
"I… I can feel spiritual energy!"
It wasn't a miracle.
It was the dividend of war.
Xiao Xuanyin never said:
Fight for me.
He said:
"Fight for the Human Realm."
"Fight for your own world."
And that sentence was more powerful than any speech.
The Trial Realm refreshed its rules again.
[Trial Realm Status: War Dungeon][Permission Granted: Large-Scale Cooperative Combat][Permission Granted: Rule-Level Tactical Deployment]
Su Wan glanced at the interface and chuckled softly.
"Well."
"Now this is a real raid instance."
The sky filled with mission panels.
[War Mission I]Target: Clear Outer Domain OutpostsReward: Rule Fragments
[War Mission II]Target: Capture Observation NodesReward: Civilization Points
These weren't commands.
They were choices.
But no one hesitated.
"I'm heading for the outpost!"
"I'll take the observation node!"
Zhou Tieshan stood among the crowd.
Wrapped in bandages.
Grinning like a madman.
"First time in my life…"
"I realized fighting can actually build a future."
At the moment the missions were released—
Three coordinates lit up along the edge of the Trial Realm.
Outer Domain forward bases had been forcibly deployed.
Not elites.
Mass-produced combat units.
"They're probing us."
Shen Yan's voice was low.
"They want to see if we can endure sustained attrition."
Xiao Xuanyin only glanced once.
"Then we'll show them something."
"That the Human Realm isn't afraid of attrition."
"Because every loss…"
"…only makes us stronger."
The moment he finished speaking—
A new line appeared in every combat participant's vision.
[Wartime Buff: Stronger Through Battle]Description: Continuous combat increases growth efficiency
The Trial Realm exploded with excitement.
"WHAT kind of insane buff is this?!"
"You can stack growth just by fighting?!"
Zhou Tieshan tightened his grip on his hammer.
He looked toward the direction of the Outer Domain outposts.
"So what are we waiting for?"
He grinned.
"Let's go grind."
Deep in the Outer Domains
The War Council convened for the first time.
"Human Realm Civilization."
"Confirmed entry into the long-term war list."
"The next phase—"
"Deploy Civilization Hero Units."
Back in the Human Realm—
Xiao Xuanyin stood high above the battlefield.
Watching countless people rush toward war.
He spoke quietly.
"Heroes?"
"On our side…"
"They'll only keep increasing."