Chapter 56: The Game Begins

Shen Xing manipulated all outgoing communications signals with electromagnetic force, rendering the Star Pavilion an isolated island completely cut off from the outside world.

Upon hearing Shen Xing’s words, Yao Yuan and his companions shuddered again, seized by fear. At this moment, they could not even imagine what means Shen Xing had used to block all communications.

Seeing that the five had no strength left to resist, Shen Xing turned to the six students and said, “Lock them up. They are scientists—extract as much knowledge about Earth as you can from them.”

At their teacher’s command, the students, already restless to act, leapt to their feet and strode toward the five prisoners.

“Don’t come any closer!” Yao Ling shouted desperately. She collapsed to the ground, bracing herself on one arm as she crawled backward, while raising her energy gun with the other.

Yet Ye Lian and the others continued to close in, step by step.

In her terror, Yao Ling’s hand trembled as she pulled the trigger. A blinding ray shot toward Yang Sa.

But when the energy bolt struck Yang Sa, it merely made her shoulder jerk aside as if nudged by a force. Looking at the hole burnt in the clothes her teacher had given her, Yang Sa’s temper flared instantly. Still, after glancing back at Shen Xing, she forced herself to rein in her anger.

Ye Lian and the others, seeing the failed attack, sneered openly, mocking Yao Ling’s overestimation of her own strength.

Yang Sa raised her hand. Instantly, the five captives felt their bodies go rigid, as if tightly bound by some invisible force—so much so that they could not utter a single word.

Despair and terror filled their eyes. For the first time, in the presence of these Skydome people wielding supernatural powers, they felt their own insignificance and helplessness.

As Yang Sa raised her hand again, the five felt an unseen power lift them up. Free from gravity’s hold, they floated gently into the air.

With a flick of Yang Sa’s other hand, the doors of the Star Pavilion swung open by themselves, as if guided by invisible hands.

Yang Sa strode toward the entrance, and the five, as though pulled by unseen cords, floated after her.

Though they could neither move nor speak, their minds remained keen. In that instant, they realized their mistake.

From the very beginning, they had been utterly wrong.

They had made the error of regarding Shen Xing as an ordinary man—an ordinary man from a lesser civilization, no less.

But after these days on Skydome Star, and with memories of history books resurfacing, they finally understood their own ignorance and arrogance.

The universe was vast and boundless. And beyond technology, there truly existed supernatural power.

Shen Xing understood all the secrets of Earth. Under his gaze, the Earthlings had nowhere to hide.

As for his students, they could resist energy gun attacks with nothing but their own bodies, emerging unscathed.

If the students were already so powerful, Shen Xing’s strength as their mentor was simply beyond imagining.

This must be the divine art spoken of in Skydome legend.

With such supernatural power, it was no wonder the people of Skydome revered their High Priest so deeply.

Yao Yuan and his companions found their worldview shattered.

They began to reconsider the accounts in their history books, yet their hearts remained troubled by questions. For instance, the humans of Skydome looked and spoke just like people from Earth—if gods truly existed, what was the connection between these deities and the people of Earth?

Lost in thought, the five were brought to a spacious, desolate cell beneath the ground. Once it had served as the heresy tribunal’s prison, but now, with no one daring to defy the Skydome Faith, the place had long stood empty and silent.

With a dull thud, the five were cast into the cell. Their restraints were removed, and at last, they could speak again.

The six divine attendants entered after them, their eyes filled with both contempt for the five and anticipation for the scientific knowledge they hoped to glean.

…

Back in the Star Pavilion, Shen Xing stood once more before the window, his gaze piercing the clouds, fixed on the boundless cosmos.

His exchange with Yao Yuan and the others was not merely an act of intimidation; it was a calculated move, paving the way for his next plan.

His feelings toward Earthlings had always been complicated, but after that pivotal dream, his heart had grown clear.

The world he had known before his rebirth was gone.

His home had vanished.

Now, Skydome Star was his home, and its people were his kin.

“I don’t want to be alone anymore,” Shen Xing murmured to himself.

He no longer wished to wander the universe in solitude, nor sink again into that darkness called loneliness.

The previous metallic sphere was clearly not the work of Earthlings—they knew nothing of civilization on Skydome Star.

There were other lives in this universe!

In such a vast cosmos, there were surely civilizations of unimaginable strength.

Until he possessed the power to sweep across the universe, he would not take any reckless risks.

If possible…

He wished to lead the people of Skydome to stand at the very pinnacle of the cosmos.

When Earth’s vanguard fleet detected the loss of contact with Yao Yuan and the others, they would undoubtedly act at once.

Most likely, they would dispatch armed mechs to search, since the last signal of the missing group had disappeared from the Central Temple.

Shen Xing intended to use this opportunity to awaken a sense of crisis in all of Skydome’s people.

He wanted his students to clash with the Earthlings, displaying the boundless might of divine art.

He also hoped that the presence of alien civilizations would drive the advancement of Skydome’s own culture.

Ye Lian and the other students, though young, already possessed the strength to contend with Earth’s armed mechs.

If the battle ended with a narrow victory for Skydome, the Earth vanguard would face a dilemma: whether to risk another rescue or wait prudently for the main fleet to arrive.

He needed the Earthlings to keep chasing that illusion called victory, to keep probing deeper into Skydome.

As a mirror to Earth, Skydome Star held an irresistible allure for the Earthlings.

Even if they feared Shen Xing’s divine powers, as long as hope of victory remained, they would not easily give up this land.

As for Yao Yuan and his group, Shen Xing’s plan had two facets.

First, he would extract every scrap of Earth’s scientific knowledge from them, so Skydome could strengthen itself.

Second, he would tame and reshape their minds, making them a bridge for communication between Skydome and the Earthlings.

Though Shen Xing still harbored a trace of longing for Earth, he knew he could not cast aside these feelings.

For he was human.

Emotion is the language of the human soul.

Without emotion, existence would be silent, and the world would fade to gray.

Even if worshiped as a god, a human could never become a true deity.

Gods existed in imagination and legend as the purest, most flawless symbols.

Humans, flawed and imperfect, are the world’s most genuine sensation.

In the future, Shen Xing planned to use Yao Yuan and the others to control more Earthlings, so that Skydome could fully absorb and integrate Earth’s technology.

With their cooperation, this process would proceed far more smoothly.

A glimmer of light shone in Shen Xing’s eyes.

He knew the game had only just begun.

And he was ready to face the challenges to come.