Starship Freedom

Another month passed.

Kaideli once again witnessed Grand Marshal Chen Yi in the midst of a battle against the rebel army, watching him part with fallen comrades in life-and-death farewells.

"What's going on... why won't this man die?" a knight commander said.

"Lord Priest, there are rumors that this Chen Yi can create clones!" another said.

"Then why didn't you say so earlier?!"

You used clones to impersonate yourself, drawing the main forces of various pursuing armies away.

Relying on the sixteen-character art of war — "When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy camps, we harass; when the enemy tires, we strike; when the enemy retreats, we pursue" — you threw them into complete disarray, wearing them down and leaving them unable to figure out your true intentions.

Taking advantage of this, you and the main rebel force raided resource depots across the region, plundered enemy supply lines, and seized massive amounts of supplies and magical tools.

The Marshal's direct force of ten thousand elite rebels now each had a full set of armor and one or two weapons.

With a warhorse for every man, this cavalry of ten thousand was incredibly mobile.

Achieving all this was certainly due to your brilliant leadership, but more importantly, it came at the cost of countless rebel soldiers' lives.

In every battle, the casualties of the human rebel army were more than ten times those of the enemy.

This great human uprising sweeping across Fubao Star had fully erupted. Countless humans had burned their bridges — it was fight to the death or nothing.

Every household was caught up in the struggle. The rebel forces spread like stars across the sky, blooming everywhere.

Year thirteen, age thirty-seven.

Drawing trait...

Trait acquired!

"Reverse Engineering" (Purple Epic): You can see through the blueprints of all immortal-craft creations, as well as the resources required to manufacture them.

Adjust trait?

Yes / No?

"This one's good!"

Another powerful functional trait joins the epic family!

In the ongoing sixth simulation, the pile of immortal artifacts Chen Yi had brought along — aside from the Ten Thousand Soul Banner — had all lost their artifact spirits.

That was because in the mortal realm, immortal artifacts were really just advanced magical tools, not even spiritual treasures.

But the Ten Thousand Soul Banner was different. In the mortal realm, Chen Yi had reforged it, and with the "Enhance!" trait applied, it had become a super immortal artifact.

When it reached the true realm, a super immortal artifact was a spiritual treasure, so it retained its artifact spirit.

Although that Duobao Fairy Maiden seemed surprised that a spiritual treasure had an artifact spirit, as if spiritual treasures shouldn't have one, this was still a method worth trying — reforging all the immortal artifacts like the Refining Demon Pot, then bringing them to the true realm!

"This trait will be very useful in the next simulation... no wait, it's useful in this one too! Repairing the starship!"

The starship left by Old Zhang was broken and needed fixing.

With this trait, combined with his own mastery of artifact refinement, fixing the starship should be no problem!

You chose yes.

You replaced "Playing Dumb" with "Reverse Engineering."

On the snow-covered land, the wind was bone-cold.

The sound of hooves came from the south, treading across the never-thawing snow of ten thousand years.

Clad in silver armor and holding a spear, Liu Ying had long since shed her former thin, timid demeanor. She now cut a striking figure — dashing, valiant, every bit a match for any man.

"Marshal! This is the Frozen Polar Region, the coldest place on Fubao Star!"

After years of fighting and advancing in a zigzag path, with countless rebels sacrificed along the way, you had crossed half the planet to reach its North Pole.

"This is the place Old Zhang mentioned. Have all units spread out and search the area — inch by inch!"

With so many people, things got done. Ten thousand cavalry might not sound like much on paper, but on the horizon they were a sea of men and horses.

Large as the tundra was, it couldn't withstand relentless searching by so many.

Months later, a starship thirty meters tall and over a hundred meters long, shaped much like a fishing boat, was found by your people.

Most of this massive vessel was buried under the ice.

Though the soldiers under your command had begun cultivating and many had become post-natal martial artists (post-natal martial artists enhance their blood energy and don't need external immortal energy), in the true realm's cultivation system, they were still just people with a bit more strength than the average man. There was no way they could haul this behemoth out.

You used the giant beasts of the frozen wastes to stack your size, growing gigantic, and easily pulled the starship free.

The rebel army erupted in cheers.

Every time you showed off this kind of ridiculous combat power, their worship and awe of you grew deeper.

You returned to normal size and stood before the starship. "Reverse Engineering" began to analyze the original blueprint and manufacturing formula of the vessel.

"I thought something capable of interstellar travel would be a monster like an aircraft carrier, able to carry a ton of people. But it's this small — can't even fit our original eight hundred..."

You frowned.

Liu Ying and the other generals overheard and laughed.

"Marshal, this ship isn't large, but it can fit one person easily — you."

"No. I told you from the very beginning — we're all leaving this third-class star together! Every rebel who joined us along the way, I made promises to them. How can I break my word?"

"Marshal, if only some of us can leave, then we'll make sure it's you first! If none of us can leave, we'll give our lives to make sure you get out!"

You patted the helmet on Liu Ying's head.

"Ying'er, if your father saw you now, he wouldn't recognize you. You've changed so much... I'm sorry for dragging you into this rebellion. You can't even go home."

"Marshal, under the oppression of the alien races, what does 'home' even mean? In the past, we lived in a daze. It was you who taught us the meaning of life. It was you who told us that begging for peace earns no respect — that only struggle can bring fairness! Only by overthrowing every oppressor can we truly have a home of our own!"

Liu Ying, as always, was the best student in your political classes. Her awareness was almost surpassing yours.

"Ying'er, I, Chen Yi, always keep my promises! If the starship isn't big enough, I'll make it bigger — big enough to carry all our rebels, and we'll all leave this third-class star together! We'll find a new home, raise our children, and let future generations avenge us and our ancestors, then fight our way back!"

These words of yours planted another seed of hope in the hearts of Liu Ying and the other generals.

Everyone's resolve burned even brighter.

With the blueprints restored by "Reverse Engineering," you now knew how to repair the starship and what materials were needed.

The materials for the core components were too rare — Fubao Star didn't have them.

Fortunately, the core components weren't damaged.

The damaged parts you needed to fix, as well as the materials to expand the starship, could all be found on Fubao Star.

"Brothers, we have more battles to fight..."

The materials you currently held weren't enough to modify the starship. You would have to seize them from the territory controlled by the Winged God Cult.

Because the core components were intact, one important function of the starship still worked — the ability to change size.

Being able to shrink and enlarge makes it much easier to carry around. Otherwise, this big thing would have to stay out on the icefield, and moving the looted materials back and forth would be a real hassle.

After studying the blueprints for a while, you finished re-binding this star vessel to yourself and named it "Freedom."

It carries the hopes of all the human rebels on Fubao Star, who long to escape this fiery pit and win their liberty.