Further away, the Lion Star Guard, who had not yet fled far, suddenly stopped. He looked back, and for the first time, a look of shock and a hint of... fear appeared on the face beneath his helmet.

"A projection of the gate of gui xu... She actually... truly touched that threshold?!"

The darkness of the Deep Sea Forbidden Zone was being dispelled bit by bit by that gradually spreading, warm and pure starfire light.

The gate of gui xu slowly closed, eventually turning into a wisp of golden light that merged into Bai Cheng's body.

The golden flames on her body and the phenomenon of the star river flowing in her eyes gradually faded, returning to her original silver eyes and appearance.

Only the emperors imprint on her forehead had completely turned into a deep dark gold, like a star branded into the depths of her soul, eternal and indestructible.

She stood atop the collapsing crystal ruins, her silver hair fluttering gently in the seawater.

In front of her was the core light orb of the purified seed of world purification, suspended against the backdrop of the starry sky, along with three pure law fragments.

Behind her were her companions, who were waking up and gathering toward her.

Further away, the entire Emerald Sea belief network, sensing the disappearance of the core threat, was undergoing unknown changes.

Bai Cheng reached out and gently touched that pure orb of belief light.

Countless warm and grateful thoughts emanated from the light orb, surrounding her and eventually turning into a gentle yet majestic power that flowed into her soul, stabilizing the realm she had just broken through to.

She looked up, her gaze seemingly piercing through the endless seawater to look toward the central region of the Emerald Sea, toward the stage where the final battle between the Star Rail Orthodoxy and the Enforcement Officers would take place,

And also toward... that true path of the emperor extending toward the end of the sea of stars.

The battle of the Deep Sea Forbidden Zone ended with the purification of the seed of world purification, the fall of three Purifiers, and the collapse of the Enforcement Officer's main base.

But Bai Cheng knew that this was far from the end.

The covetousness of the Star Track Battle Group, the counterattack from the higher levels of the Enforcement Officers, the islands of the Emerald Sea that had not yet been fully liberated, the long road of reforging the star track blueprint... everything had only just begun.

She put away the seed of world purification core and the three law fragments, then turned to look at her gathering companions, a weary but exceptionally bright smile appearing on her lips.

"We won this battle."

After a pause, her voice rang out clear and firm, spreading through the silent deep sea:

"Now, let's go win... the entire war."

The silver train broke through the dissipating energy vortex and reappeared in the seawater,

carrying everyone away from the ruins of the forbidden zone that was being purified by the newborn starlight, speeding away. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The path of the emperor, having verified the true heart before the gate of gui xu, officially set sail where the starfire reignited.

...

As the silver train sped away from the ruins of the Deep Sea Forbidden Zone, the collapsing dark red crystals behind them were still slowly sinking, like the decaying bones of a dead behemoth.

But above that deathly silent darkness, a faint golden light was quietly spreading.

That was the pure light of belief emitted by the core of the purified seed of world purification, like a flower quietly blooming in the dark deep sea, softly but firmly illuminating the surrounding several nautical miles of water.

Inside the carriage, there was silence, save for the silent scrolling of data on the monitoring light screen in front of Ning Xue and the suppressed breathing of everyone else.

Blue Bird leaned against the cabin wall, his left arm wrapped in scorched bandages, with lightning crackling at the wound as it slowly healed.

He grinned, wanting to say something, but was interrupted by a fit of coughing, spitting out a mouthful of bloody foam laced with electric sparks.

"Don't move," Lu Duo's voice was gentle as emerald radiance flowed from her palm, covering Blue Bird's wound. New flesh began to grow slowly beneath the scorched skin.

"Your Thunder Dragon True Form overtaxed you too heavily and damaged your origin; you need to rest for at least three days."

"Three days?" Blue Bird's eyes widened, which immediately agitated his wound, causing him to grimace. "No way! Those Star Guard bastards haven't even..."

"They won't dare to pursue us for the time being," Bai Cheng's voice came from the main control console.

Her back was to everyone, her silver hair was still a bit messy, and her Starfire Battle Armor had already faded away, leaving her in a simple silver robe.

But everyone could feel the invisible pressure emanating from her.

It was no longer the pure sense of power from before, but a majesty that was closer to the laws themselves, making one instinctively want to submit.

That was the qualitative change brought about by the completion of the emperors imprint and the initial condensation of the gate of gui xu.

"The Lion Star Guard's spear strike seemed to heavily damage the seed of world purification, but in reality, it was to plunder the pure energy within it."

Bai Cheng turned around, faint golden phantoms of star track still flowing in her silver eyes.

"He fled immediately after succeeding, obviously knowing that the Purifiers would surely retaliate in a rage.

Now that the seed of world purification has been completely purified and the Purifiers have fallen, the Enforcement Officer's foundation of power in the Emerald Sea has collapsed.

But the goal of the Star Track Battle Group was never to help anyone; they are only out to seize benefits."

She walked to the center of the carriage and made a swipe in the air.

Five clusters of starfire shadows appeared in the air, forming a circle, and in the center of the circle was a rough star chart projection of the Emerald Sea.

At this moment on the star chart, the area representing the Deep Sea Forbidden Zone was slowly turning from dark red to pale gold.

As for the other regions, more than sixty percent of the island light points were still entangled in a dark red network.

However, those dark red lights were currently fluctuating violently, like an army that had lost its commander, falling into chaos.

"The seed of world purification was the hub through which the Enforcement Officers controlled the entire Emerald Sea belief network," Ning Xue added, the data stream in her icy eyes slowly subsiding.

"With the hub destroyed, all the corrupted nodes will lose unified instructions and energy supply.

But this is not the end—these nodes themselves already exist, like tumors rooted in the beliefs of the islands.

If they cannot be cleared as soon as possible, they will instinctively maintain themselves, or even devour each other and evolve, eventually forming new and more troublesome sources of pollution."

"So we have to take advantage of their chaos and pull them all out in one go!" Zi Yuan gripped her long blade, the intent of the Tide Breaker humming within its scabbard.

"Yes and no," Bai Cheng shook her head, her finger lightly tapping several areas on the star chart.

"Our manpower is limited; it's impossible to deal with all the islands at the same time.

Moreover, the Star Track Battle Group must be observing in the shadows, waiting for us to be weakened from [N O V E L I G H T] fighting the remaining corrupted nodes before they strike again.

This time, their target probably won't be the seed of world purification, but me."

She paused and looked at those island light points on the star chart that were still flickering and had not been corrupted.

"So our next action is not to fight alone, but... Spreading Fire."

"Spreading Fire?" Blue Bird's eyes lit up.

"The meaning of starfire has never been to burn alone," Bai Cheng raised her hand, and phantoms of five clusters of starfire appeared in her palm.

Then, tiny faint silver-white light points separated from the starfire and floated around it.

"But to ignite more sparks. Broken Shell Island, Sighing Cliff, Forgotten Corridor, Edge of the Fallen Void, Cuiluo Bay, Star Chart Island...

We already have six strongholds, six sparks of varying brightness.

Now, we want to let these sparks spread, connecting all the islands that are still resisting, forming a network of belief that covers the entire Emerald Sea."