From the Abyss Invasion to the Blasting Star.

“If you don’t mind, I would like to invite you to visit our ecosphere.”

After introducing himself, Galmawi extended an invitation directly.

Lu Heng was a little surprised, not expecting that the Star Realm Merchants would take the initiative to invite him to visit their ecosphere.

Ecospheres are structures built by astral merchants as they wander through astral rifts, serving as habitats.

Using "architecture" to describe it is not quite appropriate, because to form an ecosystem and provide habitat for astral merchants, such "architecture" should not be too small.

Lu Heng did not immediately accept his invitation, but instead asked, "What number are you?"

Galmawi explained, “You can call me Number 1, but we often use different identities when we appear before other civilizations. So introducing ourselves by our real names is a very formal social practice.”

Clearly, Lawrence Phoenix was not qualified to know their names.

In other words, astral merchants will only name beings who are qualified to engage in equal dialogue.

Lu Heng pressed on with curiosity, "What made you change your attitude?"

Galmawi did not hide anything and stated frankly:
"Because we detected your energy level, which is close to that of a demigod. If it were only close to a demigod, it wouldn't be surprising; we've seen many demigods during our wanderings in the astral plane."

"What really surprised us was that your promotion speed far exceeded our expectations. Because you had contact with the Creator Organization, we knew exactly how you were promoted at each stage."

"So I personally think that your civilization will develop to a higher level in the future, and you may be a good ally."

As has been proven, sufficient strength is required for equal dialogue when civilizations come into contact.

The principle is actually very simple.

In the eyes of advanced civilizations, less advanced civilizations are no different from cockroaches.

Will humans engage in dialogue with cockroaches on an equal footing?
The answer is obvious.

After a moment's thought, weighing the potential dangers of the invitation, Lu Heng finally accepted it: "Okay, I'll go take a look at your ecosphere."

Galmawi: "Thank you for accepting the invitation. If it is convenient for you now, we will guide you into the ecosphere with a beam of light."

As soon as he finished speaking, a beam of light shone down on Lu Heng.

This beam of light was very peculiar; it seemed to have come from nowhere, piercing through the ceiling of the Tempering Fortress and falling upon us.

Lu Heng turned to Master Gulu and said, "Master, I'm going out for a bit."

Master Gulu was currently focused entirely on the blueprints for the demigod-level weapon and had no time to entertain Lu Heng. He waved his hand without turning his head and said, "Go on, go on."

Lu Heng added, "By the way, there's something important I haven't told you yet. The Flame Demon crisis in the Copper Furnace Kingdom has been resolved, but the main city has been destroyed."

"Sorelwell Bronzeforge is leading his people to rebuild the main city. He plans to build the largest forge in the history of the Black Iron tribe, and intends to use it to forge demigod weapons."

“Building such a large forging furnace must be very difficult. Soreville Copper Furnace hopes you can come and help design the construction plan for the forging furnace.”

Upon hearing this, Master Gollum sprang to his feet: "What did you say? You want to build a demigod forge? When are you going? Why didn't you say so sooner?"

Lu Heng shrugged and said, "Don't worry, you can't use Astral Travel consecutively. I'll come find you again in a couple of days. Get ready."

"Alright, then go quickly. Come back quickly." After saying that, Master Goolum began to pound his palms, thinking about what to take to the Dark Iron Dwarf Kingdom this time.

Lu Heng used Void Flash to leave the Quenching Fortress and saw a beam of light shining down from the sky, which was the guiding beam projected by the Star Merchant.

The Fire Emblem Building is located on the riverbank road by the sea, surrounded by tall buildings and many pedestrians.

The beam of light pierced through the clouds and shone down from the sky, but it did not attract the attention of anyone else on the ground.

Clearly, only he could see this beam of light.

Given the level of civilization of the Astral Merchants, it is not surprising that they could create such a pillar of light.

In fact, humans can see light because photons enter their eyes.

In other words, as long as there is no photon scattering from this guiding beam, all photons will travel in a straight line and will not collide with molecules in the air to cause deflection, so people around cannot see it.

Lu Heng followed the guiding light pillar into the sky. When he reached a height of three thousand meters, the surrounding space began to distort slightly.

As space distorted, the surrounding scenery began to change rapidly. Two seconds later, darkness enveloped the surroundings, and we were suddenly transported into a spatial tunnel.

A few seconds later, the spatial fluctuations disappeared, and light returned to the scene.

The first thing you see is an energy shield, and outside the shield stands a fluorescent creature about the same height as a human.

The fluorescent organism waved its hand, opened its energy shield, and said, "Welcome, Mr. Lu Heng. The ecosphere has been replenished with 20% oxygen. I hope you like it."

Lu Heng wasn't in a hurry to go out. He looked down at his feet and saw that the area under his feet was a circular area that looked like a teleportation array.

"You are Galmawi?"

“Yes, I am Galmawi,” the fluorescent organism nodded in reply.

During the conversation, the two were only three meters apart, and this was the first time they had observed an astral merchant at such close range.

After observing for a moment, Lu Heng discovered that the life form of the Star Merchant was not humanoid; its exposed body resembled a fluorescent liquid substance.

To the naked eye, the astral merchant appears to be a fluorescent, gelatinous, soft-bodied creature.

They would use clothing, armor, or similar items to bind their gelatinous bodies and fix them into a certain shape.

As for what form the astral merchant usually takes, Lu Heng is unsure, but the Galmavi he sees so far is indeed in human form through clothing.

Lu Heng stepped out of the energy shield and looked around. His first impression of the ecosphere was that it was filled with light purple and light blue fluorescence.

It was as if everything was glowing: fluorescent plants, fluorescent buildings, fluorescent pool water, and even the insects flying in the air were fluorescent.

Aside from the fluorescent features, the entire environment of the ecosphere is very comfortable, as if you have entered a carefully cared-for glass greenhouse.

After taking two steps forward, Lu Heng discovered that there was gravity here, but it was not as strong as on Earth, about one-third the gravity of Earth.

The gravity of Earth is the resultant force of gravitational force from its mass and centrifugal force, with gravitational force accounting for a large proportion.

The same applies to other planets; generally, the larger the mass of a planet, the greater its gravity.

The gravity of Earth is six times that of the Moon.

In other words, this ecosphere has twice the gravity of the moon.

If the gravity of the ecosphere is indeed generated by gravity, then, ignoring density factors, the ecosphere's mass would need to be more than twice that of the moon to generate such a large gravity.

If an ecosphere had twice the mass of the moon, it could be considered a celestial body.

Lu Heng sensed something was wrong and subconsciously looked up at the sky. As expected, he saw land about ten kilometers away in the sky.

In other words, it shouldn't be called an ecosphere, but rather an ecotube.

That's right, this "ecosphere" is actually cylindrical.

A cylinder with a diameter of ten kilometers rotates around a central axis. Due to centrifugal force, the material inside the cylinder is compressed against the inner wall of the cylinder.

When a person stands on the inner wall of the cylinder, it feels as if they are standing on the ground with gravity. This gravity is actually generated by centrifugal force, and the gravitational force can be ignored.

After seeing the land in the sky, Lu Heng smiled and said, "Why not call it an eco-tube?"

Galmawi explained in a casual tone, "This is indeed an ecosphere. Actually, we also have ecospheres, ecospheres without gravity. However, I think you might prefer the feeling of gravity, so you chose to meet here."

Lu Heng nodded, having learned another piece of information from his answer: the Star Merchant had more than one ecosphere.

"I don't see any other astral merchants. Are you the only one here?"

Galmawi, who was standing by, replied, "There are three tribesmen here, each with different duties, and they don't have time to greet you right now."

Lu Heng waved his hand and said, "It's alright, I don't need to see every single one of you."

After a pause, Lu Heng asked again, "Your population shouldn't be too large."

Such a large ecosystem with only three astral merchants suggests that the population is indeed not very large.

Galmawi nodded in agreement: "Yes, our population is not large, and we wander in the astral rifts, which is not suitable for the propagation of our race."

Lu Heng glanced at him and smiled, "The other astral merchant I met last time said something different. He said you like to wander in the astral rifts."

Galmawi replied calmly, “Everyone has different preferences. In our group, there are indeed people who enjoy wandering. As far as I know, there are some in your group as well.”

Lu Heng did not refute this statement. After all, with a large number of individuals, it is not surprising that one or two outliers would appear.

After an hour of touring, Lu Heng had a basic understanding of the ecosphere. He turned to Galmavi and said, "We've been looking around for so long, shall we get down to business?"

Galmawi chuckled and asked, "Why do you think there are other important topics?"

Lu Heng replied sharply, "You didn't call me here just for a visit; you must have another purpose. Tell me, what do you want?"

After multiple contacts with advanced civilizations, Lu Heng has confirmed one thing: advanced civilizations also possess behavioral logic.

All actions of the Zero Civilization follow a behavioral logic, and the same applies to the Astral Merchants.

Galmawi paused for a moment, then said, "Alright. I admit, there is something else I need to discuss with you."

Lu Heng waited quietly for him to continue.

Galmawi paced back and forth, and after organizing his thoughts, he said:
"You should have already noticed that we are very interested in the Reincarnation Source Essence. I won't hide it anymore, I want to obtain the Reincarnation Source Essence, and only you can help me."

Lu Heng looked surprised and shook his head, saying, "I have already promised the Zero Civilization that I will help them find the Reincarnation Source Essence. Once I obtain the Reincarnation Source Essence, I will return it to the Zero Civilization."

Galmawi made the hand gesture he habitually used when conversing, and continued to persuade: "You can name your terms, and I am willing to offer more than the Zero Civilization in exchange."

Lu Heng frowned and asked in confusion, "If you want the Reincarnation Source Essence, why don't you go find it yourselves? Do you really have to come to me?"

Karmavi admitted, “We have been searching, but I have a feeling that you will be the one to find the source of reincarnation, so seeking cooperation with you is the best strategy.”

Lu Heng shook his head again and refused: "I have already said that I have agreed to return to the zero civilization, and I will keep my promise."

Galmawi did not give up and continued to persuade: "Have you ever thought about this? The recruitment mission is to help the Zero Civilization break the cycle."

"The purpose of the Reincarnation Source Essence is to allow the Zero Civilization to enter the next cycle. According to the goal of the summoned will, you should not return the Reincarnation Source Essence to the Zero Civilization."

Lu Heng raised an eyebrow, unsure how to respond to his point of view.

Because what he said was indeed true.

The conscription mission does indeed help civilizations that have reached zero break out of the cycle and solve the problem of civilizations stagnating.

In a sense, the actions of a zero-based civilization contradict the will to summon.

Lu Heng pondered for a moment and said, "The problem is that the Abyss Will also wants to break the cycle of the Zero Civilization. By breaking the cycle of the Zero Civilization, the Abyss Will can achieve its goal of summoning the will at the same time."

This strange state did indeed occur on the battlefield of the Zero Civilization's Abyss.

Both the will to summon and the abyss want to break the cycle of the zero-based civilization.

It's very strange that two opposing wills share the same goal regarding the Zero Civilization.

So far, apart from the Zero Civilization, in other Abyss Battlefields, the Will of Conscription and the Abyss are absolutely hostile.

In fact, in the Abyss Battlefield where the Zero Civilization emerged, the will to summon and the Abyss were also hostile.

However, while they are enemies, both share the goal of breaking the cycle of zero-based civilization.

What caused this situation?

Lu Heng couldn't figure out the reason.

In fact, no one can clearly explain what the will to conscript is.

Based solely on the analysis of the recruitment mission's objectives, the conclusion was drawn that the will to recruit and the abyss are hostile.

However, it is not absolute whether the two are truly hostile.

Galmawi continued his persuasion: "Based on my understanding of the Zero Civilization, they are unlikely to offer you a very generous reward. If I'm not mistaken, they will at most provide some intelligence or a small amount of resources, with almost no substantial rewards."

The facts are pretty much as Galmavi said.

The Zero Civilization did not offer a very generous reward.

The Reincarnation Essence is a crucial item for the Zero Civilization to save its entire civilization. Helping them retrieve the Reincarnation Essence is tantamount to saving their civilization.

However, the Zero Civilization only provided a method for advancing to demigod status; the advancement materials still needed to be found by oneself.

From a profit perspective, cooperating with astral merchants might be more lucrative.

However, Lu Heng insisted on one principle: integrity must not be lost.

Therefore, Lu Heng ultimately rejected Galmavi's proposal, shaking his head and saying, "I have already promised the Zero Civilization, and I will not break my promise. If you want the Reincarnation Source Essence, you can go find it yourselves. I accept fair competition, and everyone can rely on their own methods."

Galmawi wasn't angry. He lowered his head and said, "I admire Mr. Lu Heng's character. Even if we can't cooperate this time, I hope we can become friends." (End of Chapter)