The Last Sentinel

Huaguo Mountain is a blessed land, and the Water Curtain Cave is a celestial paradise.

"Report! The Tianchou Division of the Northern Heavenly Gate has seemingly retraced their teleportation array back to the Thirty-Third Heaven!"

"Report! The Tian'en troops at Dongtianmen are holding their positions, neither retreating nor attacking!"

"Report! The Heavenly Wrath of Xitianmen has entered the attack range of our Yanhuang Legion. He Yanhuang requests permission to attack!"

One after another, communication talismans exploded, their crimson light flickering in the operations room, casting shifting shadows on everyone's faces. On the holographic sand table, three beams of light, like three venomous snakes spitting out fangs, coiled and slithered about, each in its own place.

"Let He Yanhuang wait a little longer!"

Inside the operations room, a solemn silence reigned. Holographic blue light illuminated the entire battlefield, clearly revealing the battlefield's layout and the presence of the Heavenly Court, while crimson alarms flashed intermittently.

Qi Tian stood in front of the control panel, his expression cold and stern, but his once black hair was now completely white.

His white hair fell to his shoulders, and the interplay of silver and blue light made half of his face look like ice and the other half like fire.

His fingertips tapped the table unconsciously, one tap after another, the rhythm as steady as counting heartbeats.

Beside him, the Earth Deity of Flower Fruit Mountain frowned as he looked at the densely packed Heavenly Army appearing on the screen. "Qi Tian, ​​the Heavenly Court has three factions, three different movements. What are they thinking?"

Tu Di's hands clenched and unclenched in his sleeves, his knuckles turning slightly white. The three-pronged encirclement was clearly a thunderous strike, yet each acted independently, revealing an inexplicable strangeness.

Qi Tian's eyes gleamed: "There's trouble within the Heavenly Court!"

The land deity said, "You mean to say that Hua Xiaobai is causing trouble?"

Qi Tian: "That's not important!"

After speaking, Qi Tian waved his sleeve toward the holographic battlefield map, and beams of light appeared on the vast Sea of ​​Ruins, where black water was spreading. On these gray Tang Dynasty ruins beams, silver-blue star portals unfolded like vortices, and progress bars kept increasing in number, showing the teleportation progress of the Star Expeditionary Force.

A blue aura flowed from between his fingers, seeping into the battlefield map like a living thing, illuminating the desolate Sea of ​​Ruins inch by inch wherever it passed. The portals glowed with a cold light, and deep within the vortexes, it seemed as if stars were collapsing, or as if some enormous creature was being conceived.

Conquest Legion Group 1, progress 18.5%, estimated time required to complete teleportation is 10 hours.

The Abyss Legion, Group 1, is at 15.7% progress and is expected to complete the teleportation in 9 hours.

The Judgment Legion, Regiment 1, is 13.5% complete; the estimated time to complete the teleportation is 11 hours.

……

At that moment, the AI's report rang out beside him: "Report! Commander He Yanhuang of the Yanhuang Legion reports that the Xitianmen army under Tiannu has broken through the first line of defense and entered the visual attack range of Huaguo Mountain. The Yanhuang Legion requests permission to attack!"

Qi Tian waved his hand, and the battlefield interface changed from the entire map of Guixu Sea to the main battlefield of Huaguo Mountain.

On the map, three lines of defense can be clearly seen.

The first line of defense is the coastal defense line of Guixu within the visible range.

The second line of defense is the ground defense line at Huaguo Mountain.

The third line of defense, the core defense line of the Water Curtain Cave.

The firepower strongholds represented by the Yanhuang Legion were arranged layer by layer along the triple defense line, becoming denser closer to the core. The crimson fire points resembled a red-hot chain, link by link, firmly locking the throat of Huaguo Mountain.

Opposite the Yanhuang Legion were countless pale enemy lights. The lights were densely packed, like moths drawn to a lamp on a winter night, one after another, tireless.

Qi Tian pointed his finger at the pale point of light, and the projection of the heavenly soldiers of the Western Heavenly Gate was visualized and magnified. What came into view were rows of ancient-style Mengdong warships. These ships, with their ancient style, yet capable of using solar sails like modern spaceships, stretched out in a vast, imposing array, blotting out the sun. The sails unfurled in the void, gleaming with a cold metallic light; each sail was like a sword ready to be drawn at any moment.

Looking closer, one can see layers of protective barriers on the warship, densely packed with celestial generals clad in silver armor and blue robes characteristic of the Heavenly Court, celestial soldiers in golden armor and helmets, and serrated swords, vector guns, piercing crossbows, and siege cannons radiating energy ripples—all crammed together. The silver armor and blue robes gleamed coldly in the sunlight, like a moving glacier.

"Warning! The enemy has detected our spy satellite and is jamming it! Video transmission interrupted."

The projected image on the screen suddenly disappeared, leaving only a large number of silvery-white light spots frantically invading the interior of Huaguo Mountain through a gap in its northern region. The light spots surged into the gap like water bursting its banks, crowding together and tearing the gap in the northern region wider and wider, like a door that had been kicked open.

"Ring ring—Commander He Yanhuang of the Yanhuang Legion requests a call."

"Lord Qitian! I am He Yanhuang! Why don't you give the order to attack?" His voice was filled with anxiety and a hint of barely suppressed grievance. His gauntlets creaked as he tapped the control lever.

Qi Tian asked calmly, "Why attack?"

He Yanhuang said, "They want to destroy the origin of Flower Fruit Mountain and destroy the Great Tang Yongzhou Cauldron. Their target is you, my lord! This is a direct attack on the crystal!"

Qi Tiandao said, "The source energy is very strong. If they had the ability to destroy it, they wouldn't have allowed the Flower Fruit Mountain source energy to survive until now."

"The Yongzhou Cauldron of the Tang Dynasty has already shared the same destiny with the Yuzhou Cauldron of the Ming Dynasty. Attacking the Yongzhou Cauldron of the Tang Dynasty is like attacking the Yuzhou Cauldron. As long as the Yuzhou Cauldron of the Ming Dynasty is not destroyed, the Yongzhou Cauldron of the Tang Dynasty will exist forever!"

"As for killing me, I'd love to fight them."

"As for their attempt to steal the crystal, that was foolish."

"If this crystal is stronger than the high ground tower, or even comes with a fountain invincibility buff, then this is not stealing the crystal, this is suicide."

He spoke extremely slowly, as if recounting a pre-written script. When he mentioned the word "expectation," a faint glimmer of light finally appeared in his eyes, like a match struck in the snow, flashing and then extinguishing; when he mentioned "suicide," his tone even carried a hint of amusement, neither too loud nor too soft, yet sending chills down one's spine.

He Yanhuang was speechless for a moment, and could only say, "But, but sir, are we just going to do nothing? Our peers will laugh at us. They've all gone to reclaim the lost territories of the Tang Dynasty, and we, the Yanhuang Legion, are just sitting here watching helplessly. Our brothers' mechs are practically glowing. If we don't let them fight, I'm afraid there will be problems..."

"...Let their flagship in." Qi Tian said, "Leave all the enemies below the flagship behind."

He Yanhuang said, "Understood! You want to fight Tiannu one-on-one, right? Hahaha! Another exciting massacre to watch!"

As the order was given, the Earth God looked at Qi Tian and asked, "Are you really going to fight Tian Nu one-on-one?" The Earth God stared at him, a trace of deep worry hidden in his cloudy old eyes.

"No." Qi Tian waved his finger: "It's not a one-on-one fight, it's a crushing defeat!" He raised a finger, then slowly lowered it, his movements gentle, as if he were crushing an ant.

The local deity of Huaguo Mountain shook his head and said, "I don't quite understand where your confidence comes from. This Tian Nu is not easy to deal with. He is very likely backed by a big shot from the Heavenly Court. If his backer intervenes, your situation will be very bad."

Qi Tian laughed, "Then let's take out the big shot behind him too!"

The local deity of Flower Fruit Mountain couldn't help but exclaim, "Arrogant!"

"It's confidence." Qi Tian pointed at Wei Wo and said slowly, "You have no idea what the high-dimensional martial arts my senior brother pioneered means!"

"My senior brother directly unlocked the path of unlimited cultivation."

"Compared to the previously widely accepted one-way cultivation system, my senior brother has opened up all axes except for the height Y-axis, and at the same time opened up a self-created axis system!"

"Since the last lunar war, I have comprehended the XYZ three-axis cultivation system, and recently I have been reflecting on it over time."

"On Flower Fruit Mountain, it only takes a month, but by utilizing the entropy increase flow rate, I've allowed time to accumulate for a full hundred years!"

"I created my fourth axis outside of the three axes, which I call the β axis, the axis of the end."

"This is a completely new axis, a Dao that has never been created before. There are no preparatory plans for this Dao, and there is no way to talk about defense."

At this point, his voice suddenly lowered, but his eyes shone with an astonishing light—a light of unwavering faith, like a devout believer reciting scriptures. In the span of a month, he had carved his own shape of martial arts within the cracks, vaguely drawing an invisible line, which was his path, a road never before trodden.

"To put it bluntly, Skywrath Might is like a medieval knight armed to the teeth, while I am a fully armed Space Marine from the Star Age. Whether it's weaponry, defense, or combat logic, he has no chance of defeating me. Even if the big boss behind him were to fall, it wouldn't change Skywrath Might's inevitable fate of defeat."

The local deity of Huaguo Mountain asked, "What if the three major sources of natural disasters also join the battle?"

"Then I can only say that I'm really looking forward to it." Qi Tian cracked his knuckles: "The three great natural disasters are, in the end, just three pieces of trash. They are afraid to risk their lives when faced with important matters, but they will risk their lives for small gains. They are products of the times and their destiny. When their era passes, they will be no longer a threat."

The local deity of Huaguo Mountain wanted to say something, but Qi Tian interrupted him: "Just guard that hair of Sun Wukong well. I know your background and I know your goal. After this battle, Chang'an will be liberated, and I will leave Huaguo Mountain. Huaguo Mountain will still be yours, still the Great Sage's. My goal is to restore the Tang Dynasty. As for Huaguo Mountain and the mantle of the Great Sage, let's just forget about it. After all, the Great Sage is not dead, and he doesn't need any disciples to inherit his mantle."

Qi Tian's words weren't harsh, but they were like a nail, piercing the softest spot in Tu Di's heart. Tu Di's lips moved, but in the end, he couldn't utter another word.

As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Tian took a step forward, his figure transforming into a series of triangular, arc-shaped sci-fi phantom light bubbles that vanished without a trace.

The light shattered into billions of stardust particles in the air, drifting with the wind all the way to the end of the sky.

In front of the empty control panel, only a faint trace of white hair remained, slowly fading away.

The local deity of Huaguo Mountain looked at Qi Tian's retreating figure with a bitter smile on his old face, as if Qi Tian had revealed his deepest secret.

He stood there stunned for a long time before slowly raising his hand and touching his chest through his clothes—there was a single golden hair hidden there, slightly warm. The words that Qi Tian had seen through were like a fishbone stuck in his throat, impossible to spit out or swallow.

The wind of Huaguo Mountain carries the sweet fragrance of flowers and fruits, and the waterfall of Shuilian Cave still roars as if nothing had happened, yet it also seems as if everything has changed.