The setting sun cast a crimson hue, as red as blood.


    The dim yellow light mingled with a startling shade of crimson, much like the blood flowing from the bones of tens of thousands on the battlefield, deste and bewitching.


    Corpsesy strewn across the ground, human and beast alike, and even huge monsters...


    Atop a mound of corpses that resembled a small hill, the woman''s white hair stained with blood danced in the mournful wind, her silver battle armor broken and shattered, the silver long spear in her hand snapped in two...


    She knelt on the remains, her head tilted skyward, her eyes softly closed, her stunning face devoid of expression.


    Behind her, a silver wheel glowed like a full moon, its surface adorned with manyplex patterns, and numerous des were connected by a thin beam of light, resembling the spirit form symbolizing power behind the gods in some mythological stories.


    The silver wheel behind the woman slowly rotated, its entire form flickering with a faint glow, at times ethereal, almost as if it could vanish at any moment.


    "Whoosh..."


    Suddenly, a sound reminiscent of a million shards of broken ss erupted over the deste battlefield, and the woman''s silver wheel dispersed into specks of light that spread rapidly across heaven and earth.


    The figure in silver armor slowly fell upon the mountain of corpses.


    ------


    On May 5, 2310, a piece of news in the Star Globe sparked global sensation—"The Empress of the Nine Heavens Falls in Battle."


    Various media scrambled to report, with military experts emerging to analyze the causes and consequences of the battle, and inte celebrities seeking attention by publishing emotive articles, stirring up past contributions of the "Empress of the Nine Heavens" to mankind, prompting a torrent of online users to mourn with tears.


    The woman known to all as the "Empress of the Nine Heavens" was, on this day, destined to be remembered throughout history andmemorated by future generations.


    "We must remember the contributions this hero has made for our humanity! We must cherish the present and strive forward! Devote ourselves to cultivation! Strive to merit honor on the battlefield!


    To defend the civilization of humanity..."


    On this very day, Mediocre University was holding a tribute ceremony dedicated to the "Empress of the Nine Heavens" on therge yground, and the principal was delivering an impassioned speech on the stage.


    Emotive and vigorous words, inspirational speeches incited a group of students on the yground to rise in their hearts not only utmost respect for that female hero, but an ignited desire toy down their lives in defense of humanity, and an aspiration for that glorious battlefield.


    Meanwhile, in a ssroom dedicated to experimentation located in a teaching building opposite the yground,


    "Bang!"


    An explosion from a boiler resounded.


    "Another failure?"


    A male student in a ck school uniform, his face covered in soot, his hands stiff in mid-air, stared nkly at the small boiler in front of him.


    The surface of the small boiler had cracked, and it continued to emit ck smoke while the liquid from its base spilled all over the tabletop.


    Fang Ren, without time to clean his smoke-ckened face, immediately opened the small boiler on the table, his clear eyes intently watching a lump of ck charcoal inside, then, with a crestfallen spirit, slumped back into the seat behind him.


    "What did I miss..."


    His brows rose slightly as he pondered with a troubled face at which step his alchemy had gone wrong.


    Contrasting with the mournful yet inspiring yground across the window, filled with tributes to a hero, he sat in this silent and deserted ssroom, face grimy and brows furrowed, seemingly out of ce.


    "Ah! It must be the Hundred Ghost Grass! The Fire Dragon Roots are too fierce, and using Cold Water Stone for cooling is still insufficient..."


    The boy with the ckened face suddenly seemed to have an epiphany, his furrowed brows instantly smoothing out, his dark pupils beginning to twinkle brightly, and the corners of his mouth curling into a slight smile.


    "ck!"


    Suddenly, the door to the ssroom burst open, and a girl in a ck school uniform with "Student Council" inscribed in red on her shoulder epaulettes ran in.


    "Fang Ren! You''ve run off here again!"


    The girl sported a pure ponytail, herrge, peach blossom eyes sparkling like jewels, her beauty and luster natural, her brows slightly knitted, her nose delicate as jade, her lips rosy and moist as cherries, her skin pale as snow—as if a mere touch would melt her like snowkes.


    Her cheeks were blushed from running, and strands of sweet sweat adorned her forehead, while her ck pleated skirt swayed gently over her slender, pristine legs.


    The boy named Fang Ren, upon seeing the girl who suddenly entered, found the smile he had just formed freeze on his lips.


    "Qian Qian..."


    Fang Ren''s heart fluttered in panic as he quickly turned away, his eyes darting around in search of something to wipe his face with.


    After all, no boy would want to present his soot-covered disgrace to the person he liked.


    "What kind of elixir are you trying to concoct now?"


    Liu Qianqian saw the scene unfold, her hands on her slender waist, and reprimanded with an exasperated face: "Today is a very meaningful tribute ceremony. How could you not attend such an important collective event? Do you realize you might get expelled? Hurry up ande back with me."


    Saying this, Liu Qianqian walked over to Fang Ren with a huff, grabbed his arm, and started to drag him away.


    "Hey, hey, hey Qian Qian, let me just wipe my face first before we go."


    "Don''t call me Qian Qian! Call me ss president!"


    "I''m saying let me wipe my face, wipe my face!"


    "I will take you down for washing!"


    Liu Qianqian, clearly infuriated, dragged Fang Ren away, her delicate and jade-like hand gripping his arm without loosening its hold.


    Fang Ren looked at the small jade hand on his arm and hesitated before his gaze, then instinctively thought to reach out and grab her hand.


    But he only extended his hand halfway before he seemed to remember something and pulled it back mid-air. A helpless smile appeared on his soot-ckened face, and then he let Liu Qianqian drag him out of the ssroom.


    If he hadn''t confessed to her yet------he would definitely have had the courage to hold her hand now.


    "Hey, here theye."


    "Damn, dragged here by the ss president again."


    "I''m saying, isn''t this guy''s method of hitting on the ss president a bit silly? Always using beingte for ss or missing it entirely as an excuse to talk."


    "Don''t talk nonsense, our Ranzi and the ss president are pretty close privately."


    "Right, he''s been rejected by the ss president twice already, haha..."


    "Hey, hey, don''tugh, we''re all good bros, what''s there to make a fuss about?"


    ...


    In the back row of the sports field, Fang Ren jogged to his ss''s row. Because the field was so vast with too many people, few noticed him.


    "Stand properly!"


    Liu Qianqian gave him a fierce re before she left, because as the deputy head of the student council, she had to give a speech on stage, so she didn''t stay with the team.


    Fang Ren chuckled awkwardly a couple of times before immediately squeezing into the lineup.


    As he had just entered, a redhead blocked Fang Ren with an outstretched arm, looking at him with a sly grin, "Ranzi, you''ve got guts using the memorial service for the Empress of the Nine Heavens as a way to flirt."


    "The Empress of the Nine Heavens... a memorial service? Eh? Isn''t Xuan Nv only twenty-five years old this year?


    How could she have..."


    Fang Ren was first stunned, then his face showed surprise.


    He hadn''t attended sses since this morning, diving straight into that small ssroom to conduct his alchemy experiment.


    He knew nothing about what had happened today.


    The "Empress of the Nine Heavens" the redhead mentioned was not a fairy from mythology, but a human woman born on Earth.


    With exceptional cultivation talents and warfare abilities, even capable of devising her own military strategies and leading wars single-handedly, simr to the abilities of the mythical Empress of the Nine Heavens, she was widely known by the public as "Xuan Nv."


    It was said that up to this year, Xuan Nv was only twenty-five years old, but she had already led humans to resist the invasion of the Void creatures and even designed thergest formation for defending Earth against these intruders.


    This formation spanned thousands of miles, maintained by seventy-two armies day and night. Without it for the past seven years, at least forty million more humans would have perished.


    It could definitely be said that this woman had made an immeasurably great contribution to the entire human species; at just twenty-five, she was already legendary.


    The redhead saw Fang Ren''s dazed expression and was a bit surprised, speaking up, "You can''t have just found out about this, can you?"


    "I didn''t know, but Xuan Nv is only twenty-five years old..." Fang Ren was still bewildered.


    "This is a memorial service, could it be for someone alive?" the redhead said.


    Fang Ren looked up at the podium on the sports field, where there was arge screen behind the stage, disying a veryrge ck-and-white photograph.


    The person in the photo was clearly the woman revered as "Xuan Nv," though the photo only showed her back in Silver Armor, with her face invisible.


    In the photo, one could see a huge Silver Wheel always floating behind her, connected with various cold weapons, its emitted silver light looking exceedingly pure and holy.


    "Heaven envies the talented."


    Fang Ren muttered while looking at the photograph on the big screen.


    The redhead nced in the same direction, shrugged his shoulders with a sigh, and said, "s, what a pity, in the end, most people still don''t know what she looks like, they only have a picture of her back."


    "Judging from the back... she must be very beautiful," Fang Renmented seriously as he scrutinized the big screen for a moment.


    "No kidding, those old soldiers who retired from the central battlefield say they''ve never seen a woman more beautiful than Xuan Nv," the redhead shot a nce at him.


    "That might be a bit of an exaggeration..."


    Fang Ren was somewhat incredulous; he hadn''t deliberately learned about those matters, but he believed that a woman more beautiful than his ss president Liu Qianqian was almost non-existent.


    "Don''t doubt it, Man, Xuan Nv''s beauty is globally recognized. I heard she hasn''t dated anyone from childhood till now..."


    While the principal was still giving a speech on stage, the conversation between Fang Ren and the redhead caught the attention of several ssmates around them, and the topic began to expand around Xuan Nv.


    Today''s weather was pleasant, with a warm sun, a gentle breeze, and blue skies with white clouds.


    Yet, in that distant horizon, one could still see a giant ck Sky Hole rotating in the sky, humanity''s battlefield------where Xuan Nv had fallen.


    This is Earth.


    But it is no longer the Earth of the past...