"Then how much time do we have left?"

"I don't know." Bai Cheng shook her head. "Maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months. It depends on his patience and his desire for the Imperial Sovereign Realm."

Qingniao clenched her fist, and the sound of crackling lightning softly echoed: "Is that enough time for us to get stronger?"

Bai Cheng looked at her, a faint spark of starlight glowing deep within her silver eyes.

"Enough or not, it has to be enough." She repeated what she had said in front of the Star Archive, though her tone was softer. "But this time, we won't just rely on fighting desperately."

She stood up and walked to the porthole.

The morning light spilled onto her silver hair, coating it in a layer of pale gold.

"Tell everyone that today is a rest day. Starting tomorrow, we will sort through what we've gained: Leng Ningxue's star chart, Lu Duo's Life Sense, Zi Yuan's new Saber Intent, your Thunder Control, and the scattered knowledge I saw in the final chapter... We need to piece the fragments together, find the Boss's weakness, and find a path besides a direct confrontation."

Qingniao's eyes lit up: "For example?"

"For example, the Enforcement Officers." Bai Cheng tapped the porthole with her fingertip.

"The existence behind them clearly doesn't want the Boss to ascend to Imperial Sovereign either. The enemy of our enemy is not necessarily a friend, but they can be a temporary... leverage point."

Qingniao grinned, her hearty smile finally dispelling the gloom from her brow: "Got it! I'll go tell everyone about the day off right now!"

"Oh, right, Chiyan said he found an interesting shipwreck remnant on the seabed. It had some old brewing barrels inside, and even though they were broken, they seemed to still have some residue.

Huang Yu said we could try to repair them; maybe there will be a surprise tonight."

Bai Cheng paused slightly, then the corners of her lips curled up gently.

"Go ahead," she said. "Let everyone... relax a bit."

Afternoon, Coral Canyon Shoal.

Zi Yuan stood barefoot in the knee-deep seawater, her long saber held horizontally in front of her, closing her eyes in concentration.

The tide surged past, creating °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° fine ripples around her ankles.

The newly breakthrough Purple Lightning Saber Intent circulated within her. Unlike the purely sharp saber aura of the past, the Saber Intent now possessed an elusive characteristic of flow.

That was the Rhythm of the Law she had grasped from the qi of creation, adding three parts resilience and change to her saber's fierceness.

She suddenly swung her saber.

There was no overwhelming thunderous aura; the saber edge only drew a slender purple arc in the air.

The arc light touched the water surface but didn't stir up any waves; instead, it quietly diffused as if merging into the water.

The next moment, the seawater within a ten-meter radius glowed faintly purple. The small fish and shrimp beneath the surface scattered in panic, only to stop blankly after swimming a few meters.

They were not injured, merely having their movements briefly affected by the deterrent and guiding force contained within the Saber Intent.

"Your control has improved." Leng Ningxue's voice came from the shore.

She sat on a smooth reef, with a projection of star chart fragments, taken from the Star Archive, spread across her lap.

Her ice-blue eyes scanned the flowing coordinates and annotations on the light screen, occasionally tapping her fingertip to mark certain suspicious trajectories.

Zi Yuan sheathed her saber and walked back to the shore through the water: "It's still not fluid enough. The newly comprehended Law and my original Saber Intent need deeper integration."

"It's a matter of time," Leng Ningxue said without looking up. "Your Saber Intent foundation is solid, so you'll digest it faster than others."

Zi Yuan sat down beside her, looking out at the distant sea: "Third Miss, what kind of person do you think the Boss really is?"

Leng Ningxue's fingertip paused.

The star chart on the light screen was still for a moment.

"I don't know," she finally said, her voice still cool and clear. "But to be able to distill a Constellation System from countless civilization ruins, to treat an existence like Abyssal Pupil as a chess piece, and to scheme for hundreds of years or even longer... he is either a lunatic or a genius, or both."

"Can we win?"

This time, Leng Ningxue remained silent for much longer.

"I don't know," she repeated, but her icy eyes reflected the marked light points on the star chart representing the Enforcement Officers' activity trajectories.

"But Bai Cheng is right. Instead of guessing the enemy's strength, it's better to first see the full scope of the chessboard and identify which pieces we can move."

Evening, the rear compartment of the train.

This was originally a storage room, but Lu Duo and Yu Nian had now converted it into a small greenhouse.

The air was filled with the fresh scent of moist soil and plants. Several rows of shelves held various potted plants, mostly common healing herbs from the Emerald Sea, but the three pots in the center were notably different.

They were spirit plants of heart purification, a kind of spiritual flora only mentioned in ancient records.

The vines were semi-transparent and emerald-colored, with slender leaves bearing naturally formed Runes of Tranquility on their surfaces.

Under Lu Duo's Life Law catalysis and the nourishment of the remnant qi of creation, they had grown about a foot long. Rice-grain-sized silver-white flower buds had blossomed on the vine tips, emitting a faint glow that calmed the mind.

"It's blooming! The third one is blooming too!" Yu Nian crouched in front of the pot, her eyes sparkling. "Lu Duo, your Life Resonance is incredible! Ancient books say the pure heart vine only blooms once every hundred years!"

Lu Duo sat on a stool nearby, the Light of Life from her palm gently enveloping the three vines like water ripples. Her face was still a bit pale, but her eyes were warm and smiling.

"The qi of creation and the knowledge Miss brought back played a role," she said softly.

"the final chapter mentioned the Cultivation Method for the pure heart vine. Combined with the Life Law's 'Rhythm Guidance,' it can accelerate its growth cycle. However..."

She lightly touched a silver-white flower bud with her fingertip, and the petals trembled slightly.

"Its effects haven't been verified yet. Theoretically, it can purify spiritual impurities and stabilize the mind, which should help with post-battle recovery and resisting mental erosion."

"But the specific dosage and usage still need testing."

"I can help!" Yu Nian immediately raised her hand. "I have an affinity with it and can sense its state! And... I think it really likes when I hum."

Lu Duo smiled: "Then I'll entrust it to your care. Remember to record the daily growth data, light requirements, water changes, and... what songs you hummed."

Yu Nian nodded vigorously and carefully moved the flower pot to a window position, where the last light of dusk shone.

She softly hummed an ancient lullaby of the Emerald Sea fishermen, the tune slow and gentle.

The leaves of the pure heart vine gently swayed along, and the light from the silver-white flower buds seemed to soften.

Lu Duo watched quietly, the Light of Life slowly retracting into her palm.

She recalled the overlapping remnants of civilization in Abyssal Pupil's nebula-like giant eyes, the searing pain of soul tearing when the Annihilation Technique was activated, and the fragments of joy and sorrow belonging to countless strange lives that rushed into the qi of creation's torrent.

Life is so fragile, yet as resilient as a vine.

She closed her eyes. The Life Law silently circulated within her, sensing the breathing of every plant in the compartment, sensing the surging or tranquil aura of her distant companions, and sensing the vitality of this sea region slowly recovering after its trauma.

There is still time.

she thought.

There is still time to grow, time to prepare, time... to protect.