"Turn left, avoid that war afterimage!" Bai Cheng's voice carried a hint of urgency.

To the front right, a memory fragment covering dozens of nautical miles was manifesting; it was the scene of the final decisive battle between the Stardust Remnants and the Abyss Overlord during the Second Great Cataclysm.

Silver radiance collided with darkness, and laws shattered into billions of light particles. Even if it was just a recurring afterimage, its pressure was enough to instantly shatter the souls of beings below the King Grade.

The train skimmed past the edge of the fragment, narrowly escaping danger.

Behind them, the Star Guard Battle Group showed no intention of avoiding it.

The Lion Star Guard thrust his spear forward, and starlight surged like a torrent, forcibly piercing and tearing through that war afterimage!

The fragment disintegrated, turning into a sky full of light rain.

But the speed of the Star Guards was also slowed for a fleeting moment.

"Now!" The star track in Bai Cheng's silver eyes suddenly brightened. "Ning Xue, initiate space-time warp!"

"Energy is insufficient; the warp distance is limited." Leng Ningxue's hands became afterimages on the main control console. "Three hundred nautical miles at most, and it will expose our coordinates."

"That's enough." Bai Cheng turned to look at the pursuing starlight behind them. "Warp target: the edge of the Voids Eye."

The Voids Eye, located at the deepest part of the Silent Trench, was a forbidden land connecting the cracks of the lost realms.

That was where the fourth cluster of starlight—and the last known ember—lay dormant.

"They dare to chase us into the Voids Eye?" Qing Niao smashed a fist against the cabin wall. "Even a Star Lord wouldn't dare step foot in that place easily!"

"That's why they need time to hesitate." Bai Cheng's voice was calm. "And that bit of time is our chance to ignite the final cluster of starlight."

Silver light erupted from the train's surface as space-time ripples fluctuated violently.

In the next instant, the entire train vanished abruptly, like ink dissolving into water.

Three hundred nautical miles away, at the edge of the Voids Eye.

The seawater here was no longer a viscous gel but a pitch-blackness that bordered on nothingness.

There was no light, no sound, and even the concept of space-time became blurred.

Only the massive, slowly rotating dark vortex ahead remained, like the eye of the universe itself staring at all intruders.

At the edge of the vortex, a speck of dark-gold light flickered stubbornly, like a candle in the wind.

That was the final ember left behind by the last group of Guardians before they collectively fell into the Void during the Fourth Great Cataclysm.

They had burned everything—their flesh, their souls, and even the traces of °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° their existence—just to leave a coordinate in the Void, a faint hope that "perhaps there would be successors."

Bai Cheng stepped out of the train and onto this land of nothingness.

The Star Rail Gate fully unfolded behind her, and for the first time, the light of the three clusters of starlight seemed so faint.

The swallowing power of the Void was constantly eroding everything, including convictions and laws.

She looked toward that speck of dark-gold light, the resonance deep within her soul burning to the point of near pain.

This time, there were no complex obsessions, no pollution of hatred—only the purest, near-desperate vigil.

"I'm here," she said softly.

The dark-gold light trembled slightly, like a wanderer who had waited for ten million years finally hearing the call to return home.

...

Behind the train, starlight tore through space-time.

The Twelve Star Guards descended but stopped simultaneously at the edge of the Voids Eye.

The Lion Star Guard's gaze beneath his helmet stared fixedly at the dark vortex ahead, and the hand holding his spear trembled very slightly for the first time.

Even he, a Star Rail Orthodoxy general of the middle-stage King Grade, did not dare to easily set foot in this forbidden land that even Star Lords kept secret.

"Captain?" a Star Guard beside him asked in a low voice. "Do we pursue or not?"

The Lion Star Guard remained silent for a long time before his voice squeezed through his teeth: "Message the Star Lord... The target has fled into the edge of the Voids Eye, suspected to be seeking the final ember."

"Requesting instructions."

The star message was sent, but it was like a stone sinking into the ocean.

The land of the Void isolated everything; even the connection of the star track became intermittent here.

He looked up at the silver radiance merging with the dark-gold light at the edge of the vortex, killing intent and wariness intertwining frantically in his eyes.

And at that moment, another change occurred.

On the other side of the Void vortex, a dark-red net quietly emerged.

The Enforcement Officer's purification fleet had actually arrived at this moment as well.

The leading Mind-Eroding Demon General stood at the bow, his crimson eyes locking onto Bai Cheng and the Star Guard Battle Group.

The three parties stood in a standoff on this forbidden edge where even time nearly stood still.

The storm had finally converged into the most dangerous vortex here.

Yet Bai Cheng seemed oblivious to all of this.

Her entire mind had sunk into that dark-gold ember.

The fourth cluster of starlight was about to be ignited.

The final foundation stone of the path of the emperor was slowly surfacing beneath her feet.

Bai Cheng closed her eyes, her soul completely open.

The three clusters of starlight within the Star Rail Gate lit up simultaneously, their light flowing out to gently touch that dark-gold ember.

There was no resistance, no trial—only a deep, abyss-like acceptance.

The dark-gold light slowly stretched out, like an arm that had slept for too long finally finding the person it wanted to embrace.

It flowed into the Star Rail Gate, settling quietly beside the other three clusters of starlight.

In an instant, the four clusters of starlight shone together, forming a stable Four Symbols Light Array.

The emperors imprint on Bai Cheng's forehead suddenly brightened, pale-gold patterns spreading rapidly, covering most of the imprint's area in an instant.

An unprecedented sense of stability rose from the depths of her soul, as if the foundation had finally taken root in the hardest bedrock.

The swallowing power of the Void still existed, but it could no longer shake her in the slightest.

Bai Cheng opened her eyes, her silver pupils reflecting the flowing shadows of the four clusters of starlight.

She turned around and looked at the two parties in the standoff behind her.

The Star Guard Battle Group and the Enforcement Officer fleet held each other in check across the void of darkness, their killing intent clashing silently in the stillness.

Bai Cheng took a step forward.

A ripple of pale-gold light rose beneath her feet; wherever the ripple passed, the pitch-blackness of the Void was briefly illuminated, revealing the faint, ancient patterns below.

Those were the final trails left by the long-extinguished Guardians.

The Lion Star Guard raised his spear, and starlight condensed once more.

The Mind-Eroding Demon General let out a low roar, and the dark-red net began to spread forward.

The two sides moved almost simultaneously.

Starlight cascaded like a waterfall, and the net surged like a tide, sweeping toward Bai Cheng from two directions.

Bai Cheng did not dodge.

She raised her right hand, palm upward, and the Star Rail Gate fully manifested behind her.

The four clusters of starlight flickered together, pouring out four-colored streams of light that converged in her palm into a soft yet resilient sphere of light.

The light sphere reflected the lights of Broken Shell Island, the shadow of the monuments on Sighing Cliff, the hope within the Forgotten Corridor, and that undying vigil at the edge of the Void.

"Go."

She spoke softly.

The light sphere flew from her hand, meeting the starlight and the net without a sound.

There was no explosion at the moment of impact, only a silent dissolution.

When the starlight touched the sphere, it quietly dissipated like snow falling into fire.

When the net touched the sphere, it snapped inch by inch like rotten cloth meeting sunlight.

The light sphere continued forward, flying toward the Star Guard Battle Group and the Enforcement Officer fleet.

Everywhere it passed, the darkness was illuminated, killing intent was soothed, and even the swallowing of the Void itself seemed to pause for a moment.

The Lion Star Guard's pupils constricted as he thrust his spear fiercely, pouring in all the power of the Twelve Star Guards' battle formation.

The Mind-Eroding Demon General roared, and the dark-red net layered upon itself, attempting to wrap and swallow the light sphere.

But the light sphere only trembled slightly.

The four-colored light flowed, reflecting ten million faces, ten million prayers, and ten million wisps of faint light.

Those were all the living beings in this sea area who were still struggling, all the convictions that had never been extinguished.

The starlight shattered, and the net was destroyed.

The Lion Star Guard retreated three steps, a trail of blood seeping from beneath his helmet.

The Mind-Eroding Demon General's body shook violently, and for the first time, alarm and fear were reflected in his crimson eyes.

Bai Cheng did not pursue them.

She withdrew her hand, the Star Rail Gate slowly closing, and the four clusters of starlight burned quietly within the gate.

The train slid silently to her side, and the doors opened.

"Let's go," she said plainly.

"To the next sea area, to light up the next island."

The silver shadow vanished into the darkness at the edge of the Void, disappearing in an instant.

Only the Star Guards and the Enforcement Officers were left confronting each other amidst the shattered light and shadows, along with that new, warm wisp of light deep within the Void.

Four clusters of starlight had been ignited; the path of the emperor had advanced one step further.

And the storm of the Emerald Sea still waited ahead.