Chapter 696 691: The True Star Realm Battlefield

He stood at the door, looking at Xu Wuyi, scanning him from head to toe before nodding.

"Not bad," Shen Jin said, his voice as hoarse but powerful as ever. "You didn't run around recklessly these past few days and stayed here to consolidate your Realm in peace. That was the right thing to do."

Xu Wuyi stepped aside. "Grandmaster Shen, please come in."

Shen Jin entered the yard. His gaze swept over the old locust tree, the hand-press water pump, and the three dusty single-story houses before finally landing on the stone block.

"Your place is quite peaceful," he said. "Even more so than my place at the Jingshan Villa."

Xu Wuyi brought over another chair. Shen Jin waved his hand, choosing not to sit. Instead, he stood under the old locust tree with his hands behind his back, looking up at the branches and leaves swaying gently in the wind.

After chatting for a while, Shen Jin spoke again.

"I came to you to fulfill my previous promise," he said calmly. "To tell you the matters concerning the Star Realm Battlefield."

Xu Wuyi stood beside him and said nothing, just quietly waiting.

Shen Jin remained silent for a few seconds before continuing. "Do you know what this universe we live in is like?"

The question was abrupt, yet incredibly grand.

Xu Wuyi thought for a moment and replied, "It's vast. There are countless galaxies and countless planes of existence."

Shen Jin nodded, then shook his head. "You're right, but not entirely. This universe is indeed huge—so huge that even if we spent our entire lives, we wouldn't be able to explore a ten-thousandth of it.

"But to us Grandmasters, what truly matters isn't how big the universe is, but that there is a special place within it." He paused, his gaze deepening. "That place is called the Star Realm Battlefield. The true Star Realm Battlefield."

Xu Wuyi listened without interrupting. He knew that what Shen Jin was referring to wasn't the Star Realm Battlefield they usually spoke of.

Shen Jin continued, "The true Star Realm Battlefield isn't in any Star Domain we are familiar with, nor is it on any Star Map. It is an independent space, a special region that has been stripped away from the main universe by some kind of power."

"Then how does one get in?" Xu Wuyi asked in confusion.

Shen Jin paused before continuing. "It has a special Rule. Or rather, a special mechanism—summoning."

"Summoning?"

"Yes, summoning," Shen Jin said. "Every once in a while, experts from various civilizations are summoned to battle using their Divine Souls. The victors receive rewards from the Star Realm Battlefield, while the defeated suffer damage to their Divine Souls and require a period of recuperation.

"The time between each summoning isn't fixed, but overall, the intervals are constantly shortening. At first, it might have only happened once a century. Later, it was reduced to a few decades, and now, it occurs every five to ten years.

"The outcome of every battle determines not only how many rewards you personally obtain, but also how much your civilization receives."

Xu Wuyi listened, his mind rapidly organizing the information.

The Star Realm Battlefield, summoning, rewards...

All these elements combined to outline a grand and complex picture, but it was absolutely impossible for it to have formed naturally.

"What are the rewards?" he asked.

Shen Jin said, "All sorts of things. Some are top-tier Cultivation Techniques, some are rare Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, some contain mysterious Energy that can improve Cultivation, and some are unique technologies capable of enhancing a civilization's technological development.

"In every summoning, the Star Realm Battlefield distributes corresponding personal rewards based on each individual's performance. At the same time, it also grants a collective reward to an entire civilization based on the overall performance of all its Summoners.

"Therefore, the selection of candidates for each summoning is an incredibly important matter that requires the utmost caution from every civilization."

Shen Jin looked at him, his gaze turning exceptionally serious.

"If the right people are chosen, the civilization reaps massive benefits. If the wrong people are chosen, not only is a spot wasted, but their poor performance might even cause the entire civilization's collective rewards to shrink.

"That is why every time the Federation receives a summons, they repeatedly filter through the top Grandmasters to pick the ones with the highest chance of success."

Xu Wuyi's eyes narrowed. He finally understood.

He understood why Shen Jin had fought with Ye Yixin, who was far away in the True Dragon Star Realm. Why that Sword Intention had been so pure and powerful. Why the Federation's intelligence regarding the True Dragon Star Realm was so detailed.

It was through the battles of the Star Realm summons that two extremely distant Star Realms could intersect.

Shen Jin looked at him and nodded, seemingly seeing through his thoughts.

"You're right. My battle with Ye Yixin took place on the Star Realm Battlefield. That is a place only Grandmasters can enter; it's an arena where the top experts of all Human Race Civilizations converge."

Shen Jin then said, "Take another look at the Star Realm we reside in."

He paused and raised his right hand, gently tapping his index finger in the air. The motion seemed casual, but Xu Wuyi clearly saw a faint phantom image materialize in midair at that exact moment.

At first, the phantom was blurry, but it rapidly cleared up, like a slowly unrolling scroll.

Within the phantom were countless specks of light. Densely packed and overlapping in layers, some were bright, while others were dim; some remained motionless, while others drifted slowly.

They clustered together to form a massive whirlpool-like structure that slowly rotated.

"This is the Star Realm." Shen Jin pointed at the phantom. "On a macroscopic scale, the universe we live in is composed of countless structures like this. Every single point of light represents a civilization."

Xu Wuyi stared at the phantom, an indescribable feeling welling up in his heart.

There were simply too many points of light—so many that he couldn't even begin to count them. Clustered so densely together, they resembled the myriad stars in the night sky or grains of sand in the sea.